# Sony acknowledged mistakes in marketing the PlayStation Vita



## heartgold (Aug 19, 2012)

Sony PlayStation Germany Chief Uwe Bassendowski at gamescon has given out PS Vita's disappointing worldwide sales and goes on to say Sony made a mistake by not marketing Vita for the younger audience and something they wish to correct in the future. Here is a more accurate translation by neogaf below.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=41165209&postcount=1
http://playfront.de/sony-22-millionen-verkaufte-ps-vita-fehler-beim-marketing/



> Sony acknowledged mistakes in marketing the PlayStation Vita as said by Sony PlayStation Germany Chief Uwe Bassendowski at gamescom.
> 
> The most important mistake was to lose sight of the younger audience, a mistake they want to make right again. According to Bassendowski they want to change the direction of PS Vita marketing to focus on a younger audience and they want to improve their presence in corresponding media.
> 
> Furthermore Bassendowski confirmed that 2.2 million device have been sold worldwide. Specific numbers for Germany were not given



For comparison here's a graph. You can see it's on dreamcast level on terms of sales, expect dreamcast tracking is only for Japan vs PsVita worldwide sales. Now that is just shocking.


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## Guild McCommunist (Aug 19, 2012)

I'm not exactly seeing why this is relevant since we've all known the Vita hasn't been doing well.

But hi soulx while I'm at it.


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## Zetta_x (Aug 19, 2012)

I didn't realize the GBA had such momentum for shipments


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## Ryupower (Aug 19, 2012)

some else that hurting the vita is lack of key games that help sell systems in the different regions

like when MH(Monster Hunter) hits the vita in Jp
you should see a spike in sale of the system

also some regions it might  be like the how the
Xbox/360 is in JP, it sell, but not that well


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## The Milkman (Aug 19, 2012)

I'm actually starting to hope the Vita does better, I'm getting sick of hearing my fellow Nintendo fans (not on this site in particular) talk about how "PSVita haz np gaemz"


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## chris888222 (Aug 19, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> I'm not exactly seeing why this is relevant since we've all known the Vita hasn't been doing well.
> 
> But hi soulx while I'm at it.


It's news that Sony is acknowledging and trying to rectify the current issue. I'm a bit surprised you aren't exactly happy about it.



Zantigo said:


> I'm actually starting to hope the Vita does better, I'm getting sick of hearing my fellow Nintendo fans (not on this site in particular) talk about how "PSVita haz np gaemz"


Well... Payback?

Sony has a couple of good titles coming, they just need more advertising or some sort and bundle the set with a mem card so that some bitches can stop complaining.


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## Sterling (Aug 19, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> I'm not exactly seeing why this is relevant since we've all known the Vita hasn't been doing well.
> 
> But hi soulx while I'm at it.



We're driving the point home. As much as some people would like to say otherwise, the PS Vita is doing pretty terrible. At some point soulx will probably come in here, but you two should get along.


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## Clydefrosch (Aug 19, 2012)

well the gba did sell really well back in the day didnt it?

anyway, didnt sony ignore the younger audience since like... the ps3 launch? what where they expecting?


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## FireGrey (Aug 19, 2012)

I think their issue was not understanding who exactly their audience were.


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## FireEmblemGuy (Aug 19, 2012)

I still think the biggest flaw was a lack of available software. Uncharted aside, every major Vita game up until now has been a port, as far as I can think of; Persona 4 The Golden is the closest I can think of to at least a major port, like OoT was for the 3DS. The only big game I can think of coming up might be Assassin's Creed. It also hurts that it doesn't have full PSN compatibility with the games its predecessor can play. It was an overall poorly-planned launch, and they still haven't rectified those issues.

I do think the PS Vita has a lot of potential; it's packing hardware above what most high-end phones are, at a lower price. I'd love to play Disgaea 3, Persona 4, UMvC3 and the MGS games on a handheld, but I don't want to buy a $250 machine just to play ports. Still pissed about losing that Tempmas arcade tourney, so close to getting one for free.


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## Giga_Gaia (Aug 19, 2012)

The 3DS was doing just as worst when it launched, but then they released good games and it picked up. This is also true for every consoles at launch. It will happens with the Vita.


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## Scott-105 (Aug 19, 2012)

It's a shame it's doing so poorly. The system has a lot of potential, and if it doesn't sell, devs won't tap into that well of potential. I'm hoping the upcoming games, such as All Star Battle Royale boosts sales a bit.


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## mad_gamer_jad (Aug 19, 2012)

FireGrey said:


> I think their issue was not understanding who exactly their audience were.


I couldn't agree more.
The Vita is awesome and I love mine, but sony seriously can't into the handheld market. They need to understand  that trying to target the console audience with games like Ass Creed, Cawadooty, and Uncharted won't do much because of the mentality of many gamers saying "Why should I play this on a handheld when I can play a better version on the big screen."
The novelty of playing console games on the go to many casuals, is just that, a novelty. The reason why the 3DS, and the DS before it, sell like crazy is because they offer accessible "short bursts" experiences like Super mario, brain age, animal crossing, mario kart, and pokemon which then create an install base that allows bigger games like the recent Kid Icarus and RE, or others like Zelda, shooters and obscure RPGs  to flourish.
It's not just about the vita not having games, it actually has an amazing line up that's quite varied just like the 3DS, but none of these games can really push hardware or spread word of mouth
It's also slightly expensive, but you're getting your money's worth


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## xist (Aug 19, 2012)

You can make graphs show anything you want....






Ultimately it means nothing given that prevailing market conditions are never the same, nor is competitive force.

Ultimately if the Vita goes down it's a bad thing for everyone, Nintendo included. Narrowing the market to one dedicated handheld vs everything else and it's casual friend spells disaster for proper games on the go.


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## Vampire Lied (Aug 19, 2012)

The target audience should be little kids for a $250-$300 system? The problem isn't just the games available, it's the damn price. An influx of kiddie games still won't sell it. Not in this economy. Do they not watch their competitors? Lower price made sales for 3ds, not a turn towards the imagine series or petz games. If Sony doesn't lower the price, ppl still won't buy it. Even if they do come out with fluffy foo foo land instead of killzone.  SMH...Sony has no clue about what's killing them.


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## chris888222 (Aug 19, 2012)

Giga_Gaia said:


> The 3DS was doing just as worst when it launched, but then they released good games and it picked up. This is also true for every consoles at launch. It will happens with the Vita.


The Vita was known for its bolster of amazing software coming since it was announced. People's impression of the system will definitely leap. With this, the impression of the system will slide just as bad. 

ON TOPIC:
Hate to add smartphones to this conversation, but casuals will rather buy $.99 - $7.99 apps on their droid/iDevice than spend $250 - $350 on a brand new system. This applies to 3DS as well actually.

Sony really need to know who they're aiming at. Nintendo did mention that the 3DS was aimed at the mass market, but Sony right now are still quite clueless. I'm not trying to bash Sony here, but you definitely need a core aim in order for sales to surge. Right now they are pretty much just coming out games for the system with no clue who exactly will buy them.

What they are doing now isn't going to help much... "we need to aim at the more younger crowd..." Chances are you will neglect the other side, just like how you neglect the present. You must say "no. We are aiming for overal/hardcore/anythingl."


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## Satangel (Aug 19, 2012)

Come on PSV! Don't back down now! I haven't given you up, definitely not.


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## xist (Aug 19, 2012)

It's mostly irrelevant whether they know who they're aiming at when finding any advertising for the Vita is like pulling a needle out of a planet sized haystack. Many non-gamers don't even know what a Vita is, but thanks to adverts could probably name a couple of 3DS games.

Even when they do advertise (Xperia for example) it seems like they've missed their audience again...the recent Xperia adverts we had in the UK made it seem like the Xperia was targeted at 8 year olds. A concerted marketing campaign, increased consumer awareness, more games and some shift on the memory card pricing would do wonders. Realistically until they lower the manufacturing/shipping costs we can't expect a failing company to drop the price on a premium piece of hardware.


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## MasterM (Aug 19, 2012)

Zetta_x said:


> I didn't realize the GBA had such momentum for shipments


It basically didn't have any competition. And it had incredible games.
And Pokemon.


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## chris888222 (Aug 19, 2012)

xist said:


> *It's mostly irrelevant whether they know who they're aiming at when finding any advertising for the Vita is like pulling a needle out of a planet sized haystack. *Many non-gamers don't even know what a Vita is, but thanks to adverts could probably name a couple of 3DS games.
> 
> Even when they do advertise (Xperia for example) it seems like they've missed their audience again...the recent Xperia adverts we had in the UK made it seem like the Xperia was targeted at 8 year olds. A concerted marketing campaign, increased consumer awareness, more games and some shift on the memory card pricing would do wonders. Realistically until they lower the manufacturing/shipping costs we can't expect a failing company to drop the price on a premium piece of hardware.


Here's the thing:
What exactly do you want to advertise? Who is your intended audience? If you don't have a clear aim, your advertising isn't as effective.


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## xist (Aug 19, 2012)

chris888222 said:


> What exactly do you want to advertise? Who is your intended audience? If you don't have a clear aim, your advertising isn't as effective.



It doesn't actually matter who your audience is if it's just telling people there's a product out there....just show the console doing it's thing (games, interface, multimedia), use some flashy CGI and whirly graphics along with a decent soundtrack and BOOM, immediately a million times better than nothing. Don't do anything other than show a Vita doing it's thing....later you can tailor adverts for specific groups but until those groups are aware there's a console it's too high risk to stereotype the console as "for group X"


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## chris888222 (Aug 19, 2012)

xist said:


> chris888222 said:
> 
> 
> > What exactly do you want to advertise? Who is your intended audience? If you don't have a clear aim, your advertising isn't as effective.
> ...


I agree on that, still better than doing nothing.

However, they STILL need a clear aim. This form of advertising is just somehow 'buying time' for them to brainstorm.


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## Minox (Aug 19, 2012)

Personally I don't find that many of the current Playstation Vita games appeal to me in a sufficient way for me to justify a purchase of the system. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that the games that are out are bad. After all, I could just have a shitty taste in games or I could just not be the targeted customer.

The only appeal I find currently is that I'd be able to get to play some of the more interesting PSP games I missed out on since I never had one. That alone does not sell a system, but if they were to release some Playstation Vita games that appeal to me as well then maybe I'd consider getting one of my own.


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## EyeZ (Aug 19, 2012)

Yeah the price of the Vita i feel is a contributing factor, as it was when the PS3 launched.

Sony makes top quality goods, but will that appeal to the mass market?

Obviously not, also it has launched when the economic climate is at its worse.


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## stanleyopar2000 (Aug 19, 2012)

price and those godawful manditory cards.....and few third party developers are interested....Sony practically has to say "..just PLEASE develop a games for us...shut up, and take our money!!"


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## Clarky (Aug 19, 2012)

price could be justified if it had a lot more going for it right now. the memory card situation i agree is bullshit but sony has to make profit from the vita somewhere and as much as i don't like the meme, it needs an exclusive game or 2 built for the vita itself, not ports of ps3/ps2 games.


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## MelodieOctavia (Aug 19, 2012)

stanleyopar2000 said:


> price and those godawful manditory cards.....and few third party developers are interested....Sony practically has to say "..just PLEASE develop a games for us...shut up, and take our money!!"



Complaining about the memory cards is like complaining about the weather. It's happened since the beginning, and it most likely will keep happening for the foreseeable future.


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## ferofax (Aug 19, 2012)

Lol, they wanna aim for the younger audiences now?

Is Sony a bit confused in the head or what? Their PSVita is pure hardcore, if anything. They were aiming at the right audiences, for what it's worth, but the problem they need to figure out is why the living fuck are those bloody hardcore gamers not buying it? They're a very fickle bunch, and even if you do give them what they want, they'll just go find something else to want and whine about instead. Give them new IPs, they'll go looking for HD remakes or ports. Give the remakes/ports and they'll come asking for new IPs. Give em both and they'll want console features. Give em all of those and they'll want it at half the price. Ahaha.

Suffice to say, the Vita is definitely NOT a kid's toy, much like an expensive smartphone or tablet. On the flipside though, maybe that's just how they worded it, but they're actually aiming for the PARENT'S wallets instead.


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## gamefan5 (Aug 19, 2012)

ferofax said:


> *Lol, they wanna aim for the younger audiences now?*
> 
> Is Sony a bit confused in the head or what? Their PSVita is pure hardcore, if anything. They were aiming at the right audiences, for what it's worth, but the problem they need to figure out is why the living fuck are those bloody hardcore gamers not buying it? They're a very fickle bunch, and even if you do give them what they want, they'll just go find something else to want and whine about instead. Give them new IPs, they'll go looking for HD remakes or ports. Give the remakes/ports and they'll come asking for new IPs. Give em both and they'll want console features. Give em all of those and they'll want it at half the price. Ahaha.
> 
> Suffice to say, the Vita is definitely NOT a kid's toy, much like an expensive smartphone or tablet. On the flipside though, maybe that's just how they worded it, but they're actually aiming for the PARENT'S wallets instead.


Yes because it works for Nintendo (Mario, Pokemon, etc). Hell it always works aiming for younger audiences. Why? Because they're the easiest to persuade.


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## chavosaur (Aug 19, 2012)

In the entire lifespan of the psvita...
I have seen ONE commercial advertisement for it. And i watch TV alot and so do my little brothers, and there has been TONS of 3DS comercials out there. 
The vita is in no way a bad system, Sony is just not taking the right measures to market the damn thing.
Like others have said as well, they can release all the kid games they want, parents still wont buy their kids a vita because of the price. I mean, you can go out and buy a 3DS and a couple of games for the same price of just buying the vita alone! 
And again, thats still not the biggest problem. Also mentioned before, is why buy a handheld system for a bunch of games you could play on a console, and the flipping console is almost the same price as the handheld???
Dont get me wrong, i understand because I am a handheld gamer, I spend more time on my 3DS then i have spent on my Xbox and Wii combined. I understand wanting to have awesome experiences in the palm of my hand. 
But tons of other people do not. They want everything on the big screen, and if they wanna play somthing on a handheld, its to pass the time. And 9/10 times that handheld is their smartphone.


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## ZAFDeltaForce (Aug 19, 2012)

chris888222 said:


> The Vita was known for its bolster of amazing software coming since it was announced. People's impression of the system will definitely leap. With this, the impression of the system will slide just as bad.
> 
> ON TOPIC:
> Hate to add smartphones to this conversation, but casuals will rather buy $.99 - $7.99 apps on their droid/iDevice than spend $250 - $350 on a brand new system. This applies to 3DS as well actually.
> ...


Yes indeed. Sony designed the Vita to be answer to every demand out there;

Hey, iPhones are popular, let's add a touch screen.
Hey, social media is hot right now, let's add 3G.
Hey, innovative gameplay is a hit, let's add a gyroscope and back touch pad.
Hey, let's add GPS since most tech have it these days.

In the end, they get confused and fail to reach a niche market.

With all that said and done, Sony made a jack of all trades and a master of none.


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## ferofax (Aug 19, 2012)

gamefan5 said:


> ferofax said:
> 
> 
> > *Lol, they wanna aim for the younger audiences now?*
> ...


Lol, you're forgetting something. The majority of the people now that are buying those games are the ones that GREW UP ON THEM. Now they are parents, with jobs. And besides, that's where the charm of Nintendo's games are. You see them as cutesy, for kids, but they've got enough in them to attract even adults.

Sony doesn't have anything close to that. That's the problem, I guess. They need to find something their old gamers played, and more importantly, they need to NOT MESS IT UP. But I guess that means they need to make remakes. Or revive old classics. Something like that. I dunno.


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## Guild McCommunist (Aug 19, 2012)

ZAFDeltaForce said:


> Yes indeed. Sony designed the Vita to be answer to every demand out there;
> 
> Hey, iPhones are popular, let's add a touch screen.
> Hey, social media is hot right now, let's add 3G.
> ...



Touchscreens are becoming incredibly commonplace on mobile devices. It's just a fact. They're better for multimedia and such.

3G, admittedly I think it's a bit unnecessary on the Vita, but it's used for what 3G is used for plus some. Like they make quite a few Vita games leaderboard-centric so you can constantly compete on-the-go. I actually kinda like it. Mind you I don't have 3G but the Vita has compelled me for the only time in my life to care about leaderboards (Super Stardust Delta).

Gyroscopes are also becoming very commonplace. The back touchpad, again its unnecessary, but it does work very well for some things I'd never have though of.

GPS, um, see the rest of my points.

I don't see how having these things makes them "fail to reach a niche market". Also, since when did people strive to reach niche markets? They're not like Atlus, who makes games pretty much only for a niche market (at least in EU/US). You want to reach a big audience, especially when you're the one making the product.

As for the topic at hand, Sony has acknowledged plenty of times that it wants sales to do better and such. They've put out numerous statements saying "Software is our priority" and "Bundles can help sell it but a price cut may come next year". This is just another article in a long line of samey articles.


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## ZAFDeltaForce (Aug 19, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> ZAFDeltaForce said:
> 
> 
> > Yes indeed. Sony designed the Vita to be answer to every demand out there;
> ...


I guess I'm just old fashioned that way.


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## Lube_Skyballer (Aug 19, 2012)

It always thought that the Vita would be better if it were just a "hardcore" handheld.
No fancy thingies like the touchscreen, just regular buttons and analog sticks. Try to conquer the handheld with a "real" handheld. With big budget games (no damn spin-offs of console series), a fantastic screen and amazing (non-touch) although traditional controls.
I would have done this if I were boss at SCE

The Vita possesses al those functions to be a hardcore handheld, more mature handheld. They just need to trim off the excess fat, weighing it down. And have a clear target audience.
So, my tip for Sony; bring out an redesigned Vita without touchpad, 3G, gyroscope and GPS. Be an hardcore handheld aimed at the more mature audiences like the PS1/2/3 did


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## gamefan5 (Aug 19, 2012)

chavosaur said:


> In the entire lifespan of the psvita...
> *I have seen ONE commercial advertisement for it.* And i watch TV alot and so do my little brothers, and there has been TONS of 3DS comercials out there.
> The vita is in no way a bad system, Sony is just not taking the right measures to market the damn thing.
> Like others have said as well, they can release all the kid games they want, parents still wont buy their kids a vita because of the price. I mean, you can go out and buy a 3DS and a couple of games for the same price of just buying the vita alone!
> ...


This I agree. They lack severely in the marketing department.


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## Pleng (Aug 19, 2012)

MasterM said:


> it had incredible games.
> And Pokemon.



I'm glad you made the distinction, there


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## Hadrian (Aug 19, 2012)

A handheld device with a screen that DOESN'T have a touchscreen would put some customers off, it pretty much expected that a modern device would have that. People want to put their names and whatever by tapping or writing, not the awkward way we used to with just a controller.


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## GameWinner (Aug 19, 2012)

Sony is well aware of their mistakes but they aren't doing anything like a price cut or whatever else people seem to think.
What they are going for is bundles to help boost the sales.
In my opinion though, going for a younger audience with a system that's $250-$300 may be a little too over the top, while they are an easier market I think parents would think twice before giving their child an expensive piece of hardware and expect them to treat it with care.


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## gamefan5 (Aug 19, 2012)

Lube_Skyballer said:


> *It always thought that the Vita would be better if it were just a "hardcore" handheld.*
> No fancy thingies like the touchscreen, just regular buttons and analog sticks. Try to conquer the handheld with a "real" handheld. With big budget games (no damn spin-offs of console series), a fantastic screen and amazing (non-touch) although traditional controls.
> I would have done this if I were boss at SCE
> 
> ...


And so far, what has happened? The same audience that they're tareting aren't interested by it due to the lack of interesting games. They NEED to aim for different audiences. Not just one.

No fancy thingie like a touchscreen? We became so accustomed to having one that most critics and gamers would say that not having one would be absolutely ridiculous.


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## Centrix (Aug 19, 2012)

I'm sorry, but Sony you made more mistakes than just marketing from what I've seen, try taking the Vita off the market and starting over from scratch like you should have done at the begining! The Vita is a cool name but the ideas for a dual touch...(heh hum DS any one) has been done already...haven't you been paying attiention these past 6 years. DS, DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL, 3DS and now 3DS XL, just saying, and they all have dual screens, people saw through your ruse Sony they new what you were trying to pull. I want to like you system and have considered purchasing one but the joy sticks and buttons are to damn small you have a touch screen on the back of your system because lets face you couldn't stick any were else other than the back if you did your system would litterally look like the 3DS in every manner except the over all shape! I'm just spit balling here trying to help out and express my view point, you fucked up big time and didn't learn from the major mistakes you made with the PSP and PS3 and now your paying for it royally and its only going to go down hill from here! To add insult to injury nobody wants to really support the system's development for games, people we have another Turbo Graphx 16 on are hands where the only company making games for the system is one that made it!

Which is a shame because the system its self has allot of potential to be something!


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## AceWarhead (Aug 19, 2012)

Come on, Sony. Make me buy a VIta. I really want one, it looks so sexy.
Sony is probably the very first company that has posed a challenge to Nintendo's handheld reign, And Competition is good. Or else, Ninty will just do rehashes of the same thing.
They NEED advertising. I don't see one Vita advert here. Most of my friends I talk to say, "What's a PS Vita?" The key to selling ANYTHING is to advertise it well. This will be a step in the right direction for Sony.


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## gamefan5 (Aug 19, 2012)

ferofax said:


> gamefan5 said:
> 
> 
> > ferofax said:
> ...


I'm an adult and I play *mainly* Nintendo games. Think I don't know that?
Theie core audience is mainly aimed at kids and casual players.  (Ofc that doesn't mean Nintendo's hardcore audience doesn't exist, Heck by releasing the WiiU, they're trying to win the hardcore audience back.)
The players that keep playing Nintendo games (as in the 80's-90's kids that grew playing them) is just a bonus for them. That doesn't mean they don't care for them though.
Nintendo is always trying to keep their games as fun, challenging, yet simple to appeal their audience.

Now as for Sony, they severely need to keep their audience entertained, because so far, all they've done is sadly pissing them off.


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## Guild McCommunist (Aug 19, 2012)

Centrix said:


> I'm sorry, but Sony you made more mistakes than just marketing from what I've seen, try taking the Vita off the market and starting over from scratch like you should have done at the begining! The Vita is a cool name but the ideas for a dual touch...(heh hum DS any one) has been done already...haven't you been paying attiention these past 6 years. DS, DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL, 3DS and now 3DS XL, just saying, and they all have dual screens, people saw through your ruse Sony they new what you were trying to pull. I want to like you system and have considered purchasing one but the joy sticks and buttons are to damn small you have a touch screen on the back of your system because lets face you couldn't stick any were else other than the back if you did your system would litterally look like the 3DS in every manner except the over all shape! I'm just spit balling here trying to help out and express my view point, you fucked up big time and didn't learn from the major mistakes you made with the PSP and PS3 and now your paying for it royally and its only going to go down hill from here! To add insult to injury nobody wants to really support the system's development for games, people we have another Turbo Graphx 16 on are hands where the only company making games for the system is one that made it!



Saying that having a front touchscreen and a back touchpad is just an equivalent to the dual screen approach of the DS/3DS line is quite a stretch.

Have you really played a Vita? I'm a big guy, I'm 6'3" and proportioned correctly. I've got big hands. But I've actually found the Vita to be very comfortable and the buttons are actually stellar. The D-Pad is exceptional. Although I'm guessing most Vita critics are just fat neckbeards anyway with large, pudgy sausage fingers so that's probably the difference. EDIT: THIS STATEMENT WAS JOKING.

As for the rest of your statement, good lord that's just generic Sony hate. So generic in fact that it felt like you were playing "MadLibs: Sony Hate Edition".


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## DiscostewSM (Aug 19, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Although I'm guessing most Vita critics are just fat neckbeards anyway with large, pudgy sausage fingers so that's probably the difference. EDIT: THIS STATEMENT WAS SARCASTIC.



Can't be Guild without making this kind of statement.


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## Guild McCommunist (Aug 19, 2012)

DiscostewSM said:


> Guild McCommunist said:
> 
> 
> > Although I'm guessing most Vita critics are just fat neckbeards anyway with large, pudgy sausage fingers so that's probably the difference. EDIT: THIS STATEMENT WAS SARCASTIC.
> ...



I need all of my posts to contain some type of insult that is passable by saying it's a "joke".

You fat lard. JUST KIDDING.


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## Crimsonclaw111 (Aug 19, 2012)

If the Vita doesn't make it past this holiday season I'm afraid it's pretty much dead...


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## Gahars (Aug 19, 2012)

More games are coming. If you can market this better, Sony, you might just reVitalize the system's sales.


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## BORTZ (Aug 19, 2012)

xist said:


> Ultimately if the Vita goes down it's a bad thing for everyone, Nintendo included. Narrowing the market to one dedicated handheld vs everything else and it's casual friend spells disaster for proper games on the go.


While i certainly agree there is some truth there, didnt the Gameboy line go unchallenged for years?


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## Deleted User (Aug 19, 2012)

Well, it's a dying market I suppose


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## chavosaur (Aug 19, 2012)

BortzANATOR said:


> While i certainly agree there is some truth there, didnt the Gameboy line go unchallenged for years?


If i remember right, its first challengers were the gamegear and the atari lynx, and the gamegear dropped a year after the gameboy release. The lynx came out the same year as the gameboy.


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## Mikehoncho16 (Aug 19, 2012)

tigris said:


> Well, it's a dying market I suppose


If it was a dying market, the 3DS would be doing bad too you know.


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## MelodieOctavia (Aug 19, 2012)

Crimsonclaw111 said:


> If the Vita doesn't make it past this holiday season I'm afraid it's pretty much dead...



I'd love to know where you bought your crystal ball.


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## DS1 (Aug 19, 2012)

Mikehoncho16 said:


> tigris said:
> 
> 
> > Well, it's a dying market I suppose
> ...



Yeah, the 3DS WAS doing bad. They even had an early price-cut as a result. Between that and the slowly growing library, everything turned gravy. The same will happen with the Vita, but in this goddamn internet culture of, "OMG I WATCH NUMBERS WEEK TO WEEK AND RANDOMLY CALL FAILURE IF THEY SEEM LOW!!!!", you'd think it was doomed.

edit - to say nothing about the market, for which I have no opinion because I'm not an economist like everyone else on here. But yeah, the Vita will do just fine.


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## xist (Aug 19, 2012)

BortzANATOR said:


> While i certainly agree there is some truth there, didnt the Gameboy line go unchallenged for years?



I'm not quite sure what point you're making. The Gameboy was pretty much unchallenged in it's market dominance...if the Vita dies there's not just one portable format left, and Nintendo may really have to start scraping the barrel to ensure that a dedicated console can survive against mobile gaming.


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## chavosaur (Aug 19, 2012)

Lets be honest now, even if the vita did die (which i dont expect anytime soon) nintendo wouldnt be unchallenged at all. You have to remember that mobile phones and tablets are still a competition to mobile gaming. 
Hell mobile phones are still a thorn both in sony and nintendo's sides right now.


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## nando (Aug 19, 2012)

Sony just wants the biggest hardware penis but most people dont have a use for such a penis plus they are pricy and i know that the analogy got completely away feom me and it makes no sense but i wanted to say 'penis'


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## Master Mo (Aug 19, 2012)

Lube_Skyballer said:


> ...So, my tip for Sony; bring out an redesigned Vita without touchpad, 3G, gyroscope and GPS. Be an hardcore handheld aimed at the more mature audiences like the PS1/2/3 did


Hmm, I dont get it. If a developer has the exact same thought as yours he might as well just ignore the extra features. It is not like they trimmed other capabilities of the system in favor of gyro or touchscreen...

So a game like ACLib or CoDVita could be games who just ignore those "not-so-hardcore" (  ) aspects of the handheld or make them optional...

It`s the same with the WiiU gamepad... You can just ignore all that fancy magic inside or the touchscreen and it is essentially a 360-controller so it`s up to the devs!

In a nutshell: I don`t think what you mentioned would work at all. I think more ads would be good and like I said in another thread (which I agree these are getting samey) shift some PS3 game to Vita, though I had some negativ things to say about having same games on PSV and PS3 but "Cross Buy" makes the whole system awesome actually! But still I think the Sony-Brawler benefits from "Cross Buy" more then Sly3 so I would have shifted that exclussively to PSV.


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## KingVamp (Aug 19, 2012)

I really don't think if the Vita fails that it wouldn't put anymore pressure on Nintendo than they already have.
Besides I believe most people who buys a phone use it as a phone as the main point while everything else is an after thought.
I just didn't see people thinking "I want to game, so I should get a phone".

Didn't really track it enough to know if they are comparing hardware or games sells when they say mobile
are going to kill handhelds.


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## Rasas (Aug 19, 2012)

Master Mo said:


> Snip


Well it would decrease costs a bit to remove those things and if most developers aren't using it or just including it just because they can why not but it is a bit late now.


KingVamp said:


> I really don't think if the Vita fails that it wouldn't put anymore pressure on Nintendo than they already have.
> Besides I believe most people who buys a phone use it as a phone as the main point while everything else is an after thought.
> I just didn't see people thinking "I want to game, so I should get a phone".
> Didn't really track it enough to know if they are comparing hardware or games sells when they say mobile
> are going to kill handhelds.


Well most games are being released for both IOS and Android and most people go for that. Plus more people buy Apple and Samsung and it works with more recent games while older and other Android phones sometimes don't. Of course a lot of people just buy those for features, reliability and or brand but people who game should get the most recent Android and IOS device. Maybe if Sony made the Vita 3g into a phone that can play new hardcore games(not emulate older ones like the PS1 or half ass ports) or at least marketed the fact it had skype it might sell better. Plus Skype pretty much eats data, needs a 3g version sort of and a monthly plan and the lack of texting doesn't help it at all. The regular version is still available if people don't want to get a phone.


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## Mantis41 (Aug 19, 2012)

When do I use a handheld console? Waiting for the missus shopping, waiting for my son to finish cubs, on the train, on the toilet and perhaps a couple of minutes before I go to bed. I do not want an all engrossing immersive game. I just need something to do to trash a few minutes of boredom. A quick game of mini golf or pinball or perhaps some sort of shooter or platformer usually fits the bill. If I am feeling a bit more studious I'll go for puzzles, crosswords, scrabble or brain training.

I could never justify the purchase of a vita. The types of games being hyped for the Vita I could only enjoy in front of a 46" inch screen with surround sound and the base turned up or perhaps while glued to a 26" monitor while yelling curses at my mates over skype.


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## Arm73 (Aug 19, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> ZAFDeltaForce said:
> 
> 
> > Yes indeed. Sony designed the Vita to be answer to every demand out there;
> ...




Way to go Guild, you can defend the Vita as hard as you can, but it'll never catch on as a portable system compared to the DS, or even the 3DS.

Let me explain you why:

I've been trying to say this many times, but it seems nobody listens.
So let me give you a little history lesson:

When I was in high school in 1989 ( I'm old ) , Nintendo  came up with the Game Boy.It was black and white,it wasn't backlit, and it was less powerful then the current gen home console systems.But never the less , it became very successful and it sold millions worldwide.
Around the same time, more or less, Atari tried to sell a fantastic handled called " Lynx " and Sega had another marvelous handled called  " Game Gear ", and a few more came along the way. They all had bigger, brighter and colorful backlit displays. However, _they all failed __miserably__._

Yes, you can blame it on the poor marketing choices, or short battery life, but  the real reason was  that they were just too good to be handled systems, so much ahead of their time that  they could graphically compare to home consoles ( does it ring a bell , Vita/PS3 ? ) but exactly  because they were so powerful, _ they failed_.

It was actually easy for developers to port over home console games ( just like the Vita is getting its share of ports ) so instead of getting some fresh, innovative games built to be played on the go, people were getting dumbed down versions of home console games, ( PSP/PS2 anyone ? Without the second analog stick ? ) .
After the initial " woo " people were getting bored of playing the same games they had been playing more comfortable on their home systems.

The Game Boy had its limits. BIG limits. A ridiculous greenly display at 160 x 144 pixels, which was so low res that you couldn't
possibly port anything directly from the home consoles, thus forcing developers to think ' outside of the box ' and start creating new, original games, and what games may I say !
Plus it was cheap, with an incredible sturdy build quality ( I remember people flushing their GBs down the toilet and they would still work , or the one that's on display at the Nintendo world store that survived a bombing in Afghanistan ) it was child friendly and it came with every adults favorite *Tetris *!!

Can't you see why Nintendo succeeded over and over again with their handled strategy ? It's quite simple actually: Do a moderate update to the current hardware, with just enough improvement to justify the purchase, keep it one generation behind and keep it cheap. It will sell, and games will be tailor made for the system ( that's why we have such a huge, diverse library on the DS ).

What does Sony do ? Well being Sony the arrogant electronic giant that it is , they just think one dimensionally:
Whatever is out there, let's do it bigger and better, more powerful ( PS3 graphics on the go ? Come on, I'm so comfortable playing Uncharted on my couch in front of my 46" TV...).
And that the way it's always been ever since the PS2 launched.

And that's why the Vita will fail ( not miserably, but I bet you that  it won't be extremely successful either  ), because it's so powerful that real console games can be successfully ported over ( history repeats itself ).
And with better graphics and more power, developers feel the pressure of releasing big budget games that aren't exactly the best thing to play while waiting at the bus stop for example.

And smart phones. Everybody can get their quick game fixes on their phones these days.

Besides, by 2012, people aren't wooed any longer by spectacular graphic, they have iPhones, iPads, smart phones and android devices of all kind ( my 12 years old nephew has a Galaxy Samsung s3 that blows my Wii, DS and PSP away !).

People need fun , unique and original games that can't be played on a frigging phone !

So Sony got it completely wrong with the Vita. As they got it wrong with the PSP ( as much as I love my PSP3000 ) .
_It's not a marketing problem_,_ *it's an hardware problem*._

I might be interested in playing  good Vita exclusive games ( if there will be any ) maybe laying on my bed, but if I were to get one, I just couldn't see myself bringing it outside of the house.
But then again I could do just that with the lighter, bigger Wii U controller, so why bother ? 

Nintendo will always be king of the handled market, they just got the right formula ( in a nutshell cheap, underpowered hardware but with some kind of innovation to justify the purchase).

So forget about the marketing; whatever Sony will say to try to convince me that I need a Vita, won't really make a difference to me. The games DO make a difference !

P.S.
Edited the post for a few misspelled words and  because apparently it made people eyes bleeding  !


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## Narayan (Aug 19, 2012)

Mantis41 said:


> When do I use a handheld console? Waiting for the missus shopping, waiting for my son to finish cubs, on the train, on the toilet and perhaps a couple of minutes before I go to bed. I do not want an all engrossing immersive game. I just need something to do to trash a few minutes of boredom. A quick game of mini golf or pinball or perhaps some sort of shooter or platformer usually fits the bill. If I am feeling a bit more studious I'll go for puzzles, crosswords, scrabble or brain training.
> 
> I could never justify the purchase of a vita. The types of games being hyped for the Vita I could only enjoy in front of a 46&quot; inch screen with surround sound and the base turned up or perhaps while glued to a 26&quot; monitor while yelling curses at my mates over skype.


preference.
in my case a handheld would be better since i don't have a nice tv. and if i'm home i only use the computer. i rarely touch our tv.


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## Just Another Gamer (Aug 20, 2012)

The Vita is a great piece of hardware and is the better console but its problem was little to no advertising which means only those more dedicated to gaming would know about it so less sales and poor marketing since Sony didn't really market it to a specific crowd at all so no one really knows is it for casual or hardcore gaming which doesn't help in the sales and low sales means 3rd parties are hesitant to support it so not as much games that would help its sales.


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## MelodieOctavia (Aug 20, 2012)

Arm73 said:


> Guild McCommunist said:
> 
> 
> > ZAFDeltaForce said:
> ...










Not just trying to be funny. Not only is it a wall of text, (that I did skim) but it's so horribly formatted, it makes my eyes bleed.


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## KingVamp (Aug 20, 2012)

Now if Guild can give such a positive outlook towards 3ds as much as he does to Vita features. 


Mantis41 said:


> When do I use a handheld console? Waiting for the missus shopping, waiting for my son to finish cubs, on the train, on the toilet and perhaps a couple of minutes before I go to bed. I do not want an all engrossing immersive game. I just need something to do to trash a few minutes of boredom. A quick game of mini golf or pinball or perhaps some sort of shooter or platformer usually fits the bill. If I am feeling a bit more studious I'll go for puzzles, crosswords, scrabble or brain training.
> 
> I could never justify the purchase of a vita. The types of games being hyped for the Vita I could only enjoy in front of a 46" inch screen with surround sound and the base turned up or perhaps while glued to a 26" monitor while yelling curses at my mates over skype.



What Vita (and 3ds) needs is a video out, so you would have a bit of that experience there.




Narayan said:


> preference.
> in my case a handheld would be better since i don't have a nice tv. and if i'm home i only use the computer. i rarely touch our tv.


Bit off-topic,but the wii u is perfect for the situation. I didn't normally touch my TV either unless I'm playing on a console
or I know the exact time of something I want to watch.


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## Crimsonclaw111 (Aug 20, 2012)

TwinRetro said:


> Crimsonclaw111 said:
> 
> 
> > If the Vita doesn't make it past this holiday season I'm afraid it's pretty much dead...
> ...


I'm afraid /=/ everybody is. I probably should've clarified a bit more on that, but things still won't be good for Vita in the future if it fails to sale this holiday.


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## Psionic Roshambo (Aug 20, 2012)

I always wanted one of those portable TG-16's.... I mean if I am going to play portable conversions of home console games why should I buy them two times? 

The best portable system ever made, rest in peace TurboGraphix!


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## Kiaku (Aug 20, 2012)

The PSVita needs games. Not just any games--BIG games. You know, like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, God of War, etc? What happened to those? I thought about buying the PSVita before, but I changed my mind because there's a lack of good games. I DID think of Rangarok Odyssey, but what'll I do after I beat it?


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## Psionic Roshambo (Aug 20, 2012)

Crimsonclaw111 said:


> TwinRetro said:
> 
> 
> > Crimsonclaw111 said:
> ...



My take on that is, that if the Vita fails to do well this holiday season publishers are going to back burner a lot of Vita projects and this will give the perception that the Vita lacks games and no games means people will not buy the system... No people buying the system will go back to step one where publishers hold back on authorizing development of games for the system. Its a bad situation to be in.  

As much as people hate Nintendo that is one strength that Nintendo has. They are one of the top publishers/developers in the industry and have nearly enough pull to support a platform almost single handedly. So A. They sell usually the cheaper system (N64 being an exception.) and B. You know if you buy a Nintendo system that your going to at least get a couple of decent games out of it no matter what happens. In a bad economy I think sub consciously a lot of people are thinking that Nintendo is the safe bet.


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## CrimzonEyed (Aug 20, 2012)

I was thinking of buying a vita myself instead of a 3DS.
But the memory card is more expensive than the games and you must have it to play the games, not that it matter since there are no interesting games for it yet.
The only game that looked good was Gravity rush. But after testing it at a game store it wasn't nearly as fun as it seemed at first glance.


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## chavosaur (Aug 20, 2012)

CrimzonEyed said:


> I was thinking of buying a vita myself instead of a 3DS.
> But the memory card is more expensive than the games and you must have it to play the games, not that it matter since there are no interesting games for it yet.
> The only game that looked good was Gravity rush. But after testing it at a game store it wasn't nearly as fun as it seemed at first glance.


a 4gig memory card is 20$ and a vita game is around 40 to 50$. 
Maybe if you wanted a large memory card then itd be the same ammount as a game, but other then that its really not that bad...


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## gamefan5 (Aug 20, 2012)

PsionicRoshambo said:


> Crimsonclaw111 said:
> 
> 
> > TwinRetro said:
> ...


Well, so far Nintendo *IS *the safe bet. It's got games. Good ones. And there are MANY more to come. The 3DS has a bright future ahead, while Vita's future is looking rather bleak.
Vita has good games, but it's number is so insignificant. Sure, Vita has a lot of power, but what good is that if they can't even use it well?

I recall Iwata saying along the lines of this: "*Too many powerful consoles can't coexist. It's like having only ferocious dinosaurs**. They might fight and hasten their own extinction.*"

- Kind of funny, really. That's exactly what happened with the GCN. XD 
- And I fear this may happen to Vita as well.


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## GreatZimkogway (Aug 20, 2012)

Arm73 said:


> Guild McCommunist said:
> 
> 
> > ZAFDeltaForce said:
> ...



No, no, you only hit the nail half-way.  And even then, that's barely half-way.  The problem isn't graphics.  Graphics sell a game, a lot of times.  Maybe not to us who actually are "gamers" ,or play more than one series.

And it's not that "graphics are too good", either.  It's *price*.  Remember when the PSP Go launched?  It launched for as much as a PS3 cost.  That was a case of "Why buy this when I can buy a console that can do infinitely more?"  PSVita launched around the same price, $250-$300.  Mind you, the 3DS did that too, but it also had the ENTIRE(minus 3) Nintendo DS library to back it up until it got sales. 

Even with that, even with games on it, as before the price drop, it had plenty of them, it still did not pick up sales until it dropped in price.  Because the price was far too close to what a console costs.  Would you rather pay $250-$300 for a PSVita(or 3DS, as was the case) or for a PS3/360/Wii?  And the Vita doesn't have anything besides a handful of games on the PSN.  There is simply no reason to buy into it yet.  None at all. 

3DS, however, once it hit $170, it's sales picked up.  I don't have numbers, so I don't want to say skyrocketed, but as once that happened, Nintendo actually started supporting the damn thing...I'm inclined to believe they did.

And then factor in the still failing economy.  The PSVita has no games yet.  It doesn't even have a previous consoles' library to hold it above the water for a while.  Thus again, why spend the money on something you will, for now, get limited usage from?

It's a price issue.  Not a too-high-powered-graphics issue.


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## bwburke94 (Aug 20, 2012)

I expect a one-day jump on August 28 because of sports fans buying it for Madden. 3DS isn't getting Madden this year.


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## chavosaur (Aug 20, 2012)

Ah! Theres that other point brought up and it was one of the biggest faults sony has made with the vita.
They didnt keep backwards compatability.
That is another thing that has slain the vita in sales. The 3DS can support the whole multitude of games the DS had to offer. The vita? You can download a few of the old games you had for your psp. Those UMD'S? I guess they expect you to run along to gamestop and sell em for more vita stuffs. Unless you held onto your psp when you bought a vita, your UMD'S arent worth a thing anymore, and that was just bad thinking on sony's part.


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## KingVamp (Aug 20, 2012)

bwburke94 said:


> I expect a one-day jump on August 28 because of sports fans buying it for Madden. 3DS isn't getting Madden this year.


While that true, (and mess up since how they treated the first one at launch) the 3ds is getting other sports games.


chavosaur said:


> your UMD'S arent worth a thing anymore



They really didn't have a choice. UMD'S are big, easily breakable, and too slow.
Speed of loading would have took a big hit with them.


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## Rasas (Aug 20, 2012)

KingVamp said:


> bwburke94 said:
> 
> 
> > I expect a one-day jump on August 28 because of sports fans buying it for Madden. 3DS isn't getting Madden this year.
> ...


They had the UMD passport program in Japan though not all the companies allowed it. The rest of the world really got screwed....


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## Crimsonclaw111 (Aug 20, 2012)

The thing about Madden is, is that it's on consoles and bigger and better. Much like Call of Duty.


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## chris888222 (Aug 20, 2012)

chavosaur said:


> Ah! Theres that other point brought up and it was one of the biggest faults sony has made with the vita.
> They didnt keep backwards compatability.
> That is another thing that has slain the vita in sales. The 3DS can support the whole multitude of games the DS had to offer. The vita? You can download a few of the old games you had for your psp. Those UMD'S? I guess they expect you to run along to gamestop and sell em for more vita stuffs. Unless you held onto your psp when you bought a vita, your UMD'S arent worth a thing anymore, and that was just bad thinking on sony's part.


It's illogical to have a UMD disc drive on the Vita as these formats are chunky, fragile and slow.

They COULD offer a "Passport Program" in the West, where you could redownload those titles at a minor cost instead of buying them whole. This is only offered in Japan, sadly.


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## chavosaur (Aug 20, 2012)

KingVamp said:


> chavosaur said:
> 
> 
> > your UMD'S arent worth a thing anymore
> ...


oh beleive me i know how fragile they are, but think bout it. People could have spent years within the psp's lifetime collecting games they loved. They may have wanted to move onto the new system, but at the cost of not enjoying the library of games they spent forever to accumulate and spent lots of money on? Thats how many people think when deciding on buying a vita. 
Now its not a problem if you held onto your psp, but why would you wanna keep switching between two systems instead of playing it all on one system?


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## KingVamp (Aug 20, 2012)

Crimsonclaw111 said:


> The thing about Madden is, is that it's on consoles and bigger and better. Much like Call of Duty.


There are people who like to take their games on the go. Consoles wouldn't be practical for that.


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## Crimsonclaw111 (Aug 20, 2012)

KingVamp said:


> Crimsonclaw111 said:
> 
> 
> > The thing about Madden is, is that it's on consoles and bigger and better. Much like Call of Duty.
> ...


Yea, but do these people shift consoles? I'd imagine those who have a Vita want Madden, but I don't know if many people will buy a Vita just for Madden. But who knows.


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## Rasas (Aug 20, 2012)

KingVamp said:


> Crimsonclaw111 said:
> 
> 
> > The thing about Madden is, is that it's on consoles and bigger and better. Much like Call of Duty.
> ...



Remember the bundle pack with the PS3 and Vita version of MLB, EA tried a idea called cross play so they might do it with Madden and some other sports games which would help sales. Who knows?

http://www.calvertgames.com/cgblog/2012/06/03/madden-13-vita-ps3-no-cross-play-platform-saves/
Nevermind crossplay won't be happening for Madden 13....


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## chris888222 (Aug 20, 2012)

chavosaur said:


> KingVamp said:
> 
> 
> > chavosaur said:
> ...


I know this feeling.

I accumulated a lot of PS2 games I loved when I was younger. Not too long ago, when I found my PS2 in the closet and took out the games, I had to take out the whole system as well since my PS3 cannot play with those babies.


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## DSGamer64 (Aug 20, 2012)

chris888222 said:


> Guild McCommunist said:
> 
> 
> > I'm not exactly seeing why this is relevant since we've all known the Vita hasn't been doing well.
> ...



Well, maybe if Sony didn't try and buttfuck customers with their horrendous price gouging of memory cards, people would be complaining less about it. Also, the memory cards are slow as shit, which confuses me since they should be based off of the SDXC memory standard since it's a new device.

The system itself is great, I enjoy playing it and the games that I have for it, but there aren't enough games and the pricing on the memory cards needs to be cut by 25% or more. If Sony hopes to turn a profit on the Vita by overpricing their memory cards, they are sorely mistaken.


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## DaggerV (Aug 20, 2012)

chavosaur said:


> Ah! Theres that other point brought up and it was one of the biggest faults sony has made with the vita.
> They didnt keep backwards compatability.
> That is another thing that has slain the vita in sales. The 3DS can support the whole multitude of games the DS had to offer. The vita? You can download a few of the old games you had for your psp. Those UMD'S? I guess they expect you to run along to gamestop and sell em for more vita stuffs. Unless you held onto your psp when you bought a vita, your UMD'S arent worth a thing anymore, and that was just bad thinking on sony's part.



This, freakin this. Yeah yeah, UMD has it's flaw, but would've bought it day one if but to transfer all my stuff to the new console, but then I found out my UMD's were worthless and a lot of the games in PSN I loved to play weren't there for the vita. Some of that might've changed now, but as it is, it'll be a long wait waiting on games to come out, then I might buy two.


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## Narayan (Aug 20, 2012)

chavosaur said:


> KingVamp said:
> 
> 
> > chavosaur said:
> ...


those games would be vintage. same with the console.

it's the same with cassette tape/cd movies and other collections you need to replace after several years.


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## chris888222 (Aug 20, 2012)

Narayan said:


> chavosaur said:
> 
> 
> > KingVamp said:
> ...


and THAT'S why they need to introduce the Passport Program outside Japan.

Or else people's (money spent on) UMDs will be wasted.

Next time, go digital with Sony.


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## Narayan (Aug 20, 2012)

chris888222 said:


> and THAT'S why they need to introduce the Passport Program outside Japan.
> 
> Or else people's (money spent on) UMDs will be wasted.
> 
> Next time, go digital with Sony.


yes, that would be the best solution. idk the details why it's not offered outside japan though.


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## Deleted-236924 (Aug 20, 2012)

Arm73 said:


> I could be interested to play good Vita exclusive games ( if there will be any ) comfortably laying on the couch in my house, I certainly wouldn't bring it outside, if I were to get one.



Preference.
A handheld system is a handheld system. They're to be used on-the-go.
Even though it is possible to use them at home.


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## Deleted_171835 (Aug 20, 2012)

I've already went over my issues with the Vita so no point in reiterating. Price, lackluster game-library with Sony's inability to support their own system, hidden costs and more.



Guild McCommunist said:


> But hi soulx while I'm at it.


And this guys is the very definition of butthurt.


----------



## Rasas (Aug 20, 2012)

Narayan said:


> chris888222 said:
> 
> 
> > and THAT'S why they need to introduce the Passport Program outside Japan.
> ...


http://www.wired.com...dice-interview/
Pretty much he says why might be other reasons but who knows besides Sony.


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## Phoenix Goddess (Aug 20, 2012)

soulx said:


> Guild McCommunist said:
> 
> 
> > But hi soulx while I'm at it.
> ...



Butthurt _people_ saying hi? 
I didn't know butthurt people greeted their enemies.


I think the Vita is going to go down the same road the 3DS did at first. The 3DS didn't exactly have the best start, either. I still have hope for the Vita, nevertheless.


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## Narayan (Aug 20, 2012)

Rasas said:


> Narayan said:
> 
> 
> > chris888222 said:
> ...


well, i see those two are valid reasons by themselves. thanks. 

no choice for those who collected but put your umds on the shelf.


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## chris888222 (Aug 20, 2012)

Rasas said:


> Narayan said:
> 
> 
> > chris888222 said:
> ...


It's really true that Japanese software are significantly more expensive than in the US. (¥4,800 is definitely a LOT more than $39.90 - $49.90)

But this isn't exactly about cost. Final Fantasy Tactics for $10 yes that's true, however what Sony is doing is that they are betraying those who collected UMDs. They are losing their trust, especially when the Vita has BC with digital copies.

Although it is indeed $5 - $10 to transfer one game, those prices are based in Japan. If the Passport Program was introduced in the West it would (most likely) be cheaper.


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## Tom (Aug 20, 2012)

Zetta_x said:


> I didn't realize the GBA had such momentum for shipments


same here , it was the best handheld of my childhood though


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## Yumi (Aug 20, 2012)

Someone here said something about being in 2012 and that graphics do matter. Well...yeah. Haha.So obvious, I mean, let's look at the Ipod vs Walkman. IPod delivers fruity punches while Walkman shoots galaxies. In sound quality, Walkman wins. In attractiveness, the IPod wins.



Spoiler



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C5cY9oLKYg


I Literally just watched it and i am amazed. 
They have very sharp ideas with the Vita...beautiful piece of technology. Maybe it's a little 2014-ish?
True, it fails to attract the younger audience...I mean, when I looked at my Aqua 3DS's screen with OoT..colorful and well-balanced!
But look at the Vita!..awesome name for an awesome handheld! It's a 5 Star buffet!...but the foods cold.
Maybe more colorful games...with colorful Vitas may work? 
Well, I don't know but I don't see it's death yet.


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## Deleted-185407 (Aug 20, 2012)

Arm73 is spot on. The higher the specs of a machine are, the more pressure there is on the developer to create high-quality graphics, which in turn means escalated costs of development. Ignoring the fact that there's more 3DS customers than there is Vita customers, which platform do you think is cheaper to develop games for?

Shouldn't really have to say more on that, but it's definitely a significant factor.


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## DiscostewSM (Aug 20, 2012)

Next thing you know, Sony will include shovelware to their catalog like "Pretty Princess" and "Imagine" games to entice younger audiences.


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## drobb (Aug 20, 2012)

PsionicRoshambo said:


> I always wanted one of those *portable TG-16'*s.... I mean if I am going to play portable conversions of home console games why should I buy them two times?
> 
> The best portable system ever made, rest in peace TurboGraphix!




The TurboExpress.  I still have my TG-16, but alas was never able to get an express.  i may have to look for one now that im older and can afford it.  

back on topic - i think the vita suffers from lack of direction and advertising.  i have never once seen an advert for it in either print, tv, or even online, how does sony expect to sell a product with out any advertising, regardless of who its target audience is.  
plus the price is a huge factor for me, right now i cant warrant paying that much for a portable game system when i could buy a home console, for less even.
yes i have a galaxy s3, but it was not bought as a game system but rather as a phone, with all the bells and whistles i wanted, gaming was just an afterthought for me.
heck i still only have like 3 games on it, 2 puzzles and a music quiz game.


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## Gnargle (Aug 20, 2012)

STOP SAYING SALES
SHIPMENTS =/= SALES
2.2 MILLION SHIPMENTS MEAN THERE ARE EVEN FEWER SALES.


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## shakirmoledina (Aug 20, 2012)

defnitely a problem in marketing bcz they made one feel that we will have fewer mature games hence not worth buying it now.


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## Arm73 (Aug 20, 2012)

TwinRetro said:


> Arm73 said:
> 
> 
> > Guild McCommunist said:
> ...



Yaeh, I know, reading is something young people aren't accustomed to anymore these days.
I'll try to post some pretty pictures for you next time I jump in here  
Like those jungle books for kids....LOL.

Or maybe a podcast, how would you like that ?


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## Narayan (Aug 20, 2012)

Arm73 said:


> Yaeh, I know, reading is something young people aren't accustomed to anymore these days.
> I'll try to post some pretty pictures for you next time I jump in here
> Like those jungle books for kids....LOL.
> 
> Or maybe a podcast, how would you like that ?


he meant more spaces in between those texts. i read a lot and i'll tell you 70% of the time i see a wall of text like that in the internet. words cramped together. i'd skip it.

notice the post you quoted had empty lines? at least separate them into paragraphs so that we don't need to read your post in one whole burst.


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## xist (Aug 20, 2012)

I read what Arm73 posted. Improving the formatting won't make 90% of it's content any more correct in his assertions or bias.


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## MelodieOctavia (Aug 20, 2012)

Arm73 said:


> Yaeh, I know, reading is something young people aren't accustomed to anymore these days.
> I'll try to post some pretty pictures for you next time I jump in here
> Like those jungle books for kids....LOL.
> 
> Or maybe a podcast, how would you like that ?



What "young people" (I'm 27, thank you) are accustomed to, is reading posts with somewhat coherent sentence and paragraph structure. Please don't condescend to me and try to imply that I don't know how to read. That kind of statement is trite, and does someone of your age and experience little justice.


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## Langin (Aug 20, 2012)

*whatever*


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## wrettcaughn (Aug 20, 2012)

Personally, I just need a handheld that plays games.  I have other devices for anything else I might want to do.  But Sony/Nintendo aren't designing handhelds for me.  They're designing handhelds that have as much shit as possible crammed into them so they have more bullet-points to use for marketing.  If I want a console experience, I'll play on a console.  If I want 3D, I'll...nevermind, I don't care at all about 3D.  Remove the wifi, GPS, 3G, cameras, 3D, etc... and just sell me a handheld for playing games already...at a better price.


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## Arm73 (Aug 20, 2012)

Arm73 said:


> I've been trying to say this many times, but it seems nobody listens.
> So let me give you a little history lesson:
> 
> When I was in high school in 1989 ( I'm old ) , Nintendo  came up with the Game Boy.It was black and white,it wasn't backlit, and it was less powerful then the current gen home console systems.But never the less , it became very successful and it sold millions worldwide.
> ...



Sorry to double post ( sort of ) but by popular demand, here's my properly formatted post.
Thanks for the cheers, enjoy


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## Sterling (Aug 20, 2012)

@[member='Arm73']: Now that you've reformatted your post and I can read it, I have to say that I completely agree with you. I mean it's certainly not that way any more since people have certain expectations now, but I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head as to why Nintendo continues to succeed in the gaming market of handheld systems. Personally, I feel that handheld gaming systems should have more than just dedicated gaming. Music, videos, and miniature applications should become the standard. Maybe not now, but in the near future it should be. There are tons of reasons why someone would buy an iPod over a [3]DS, and not so much vice versa. The Vita may very well be ahead of its time, and it may fail, serving as a lesson to all the people in the market.


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## gamefan5 (Aug 20, 2012)

TwinRetro said:


> Arm73 said:
> 
> 
> > Yaeh, I know, reading is something young people aren't accustomed to anymore these days.
> ...


Hahahaha, people these days, they don't know how to make good paragraphs. It's as if the internet is making them dumber. As if it's void of any grammar rules.

BTW is this what you meant by, 'I love using smart-ass words to others to piss 'em off', in the thread: things you think you only do? XD
I swear, I rarely see people use the word 'trite'. Not that it's a problem that you've used it, of course. XD


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## Arm73 (Aug 20, 2012)

gamefan5 said:


> TwinRetro said:
> 
> 
> > Arm73 said:
> ...



Well I'm very sorry, I'll try to get better.

English is only my 3rd language ( I was born in Italy and I live in a German speaking country, Switzerland ) , and as such, my writing style  might be a little unorthodox at times.
But I did edit my post and try to separate it into paragraphs as suggested ( it's never too late to learn  ) however it looks even longer and more boring now !

By the way what is this  " trite " you are talking about ?


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## gamefan5 (Aug 20, 2012)

Arm73 said:


> gamefan5 said:
> 
> 
> > TwinRetro said:
> ...


Oh sorry, The 'trite' word question was meant for TwinRetro.


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## KingVamp (Aug 21, 2012)

Old8oy said:


> Personally, I just need a handheld that plays games.  I have other devices for anything else I might want to do.  But Sony/Nintendo aren't designing handhelds for me.  They're designing handhelds that have as much shit as possible crammed into them so they have more bullet-points to use for marketing.  If I want a console experience, I'll play on a console.  If I want 3D, I'll...nevermind, I don't care at all about 3D.  Remove the wifi, GPS, 3G, cameras, 3D, etc... and just sell me a handheld for playing games already...at a better price.


If Nintendo was "designing as much _ as possible crammed into them", we would have a vita 3d on are hands. I mean the 3ds is either $170 or $200 and you are seriously asking for a better price? Sorry that you don't like 3d, but wifi (seriously you meant that?),cameras and 3d ( for the people who like it) is definitely part of the games/gaming space. All that Nintendo really "crammed" in it is optional software.

I put it this way, 3ds features doesn't overpower the fact it is a gaming handheld.



Sterling said:


> Personally, I feel that handheld gaming systems should have more than just dedicated gaming. Music, videos, and miniature applications should become the standard. Maybe not now, but in the near future it should be. There are tons of reasons why someone would buy an iPod over a [3]DS, and not so much vice versa. The Vita may very well be ahead of its time, and it may fail, serving as a lesson to all the people in the market.


I'm sure in the future adding the other stuff as standard will happen even by Nintendo, but the technology would be so cheap by
then that it wouldn't cripple the fact that it is a gaming handheld or the price of it.

I'm sure we will get that perfect balance of gaming handheld and a phone in one device someday.
If Sony can get to their next handheld, they probably will just give it full phone features.


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## MelodieOctavia (Aug 21, 2012)

gamefan5 said:


> TwinRetro said:
> 
> 
> > Arm73 said:
> ...



Well, yeah, that was me, but trite isn't one of those words. I just like using it. It just sounds better than "old and tired".


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## gamefan5 (Aug 21, 2012)

TwinRetro said:


> gamefan5 said:
> 
> 
> > TwinRetro said:
> ...


Well I like this word. LOL


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## The Milkman (Aug 21, 2012)

Giga_Gaia said:


> The 3DS was doing just as worst when it launched, but then they released good games and it picked up. This is also true for every consoles at launch. It will happens with the Vita.



The vita is a half a year old, the launch window is usually a few months (2 or 3) out of its launch date. 2 months into the 3DS life it already had remakes and atleast half decent sales, by 4 months the price dropped and it sold like hotcakes. The Vita is 6 months now and while it has some alright games, ot lacks anything thay would make any casual or better yet anything short of a Sony fan jump to buy one, not only that but there are shitloads of other devices (a iPod Touch comes to mind) that does double the shit that a Vita does, at the same price, with no need for memory cards or games. The only thing that could save it at this point is an unbelievable bundle or price drop, trust me these are much more then just launch problems at this point.


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## gamefan5 (Aug 21, 2012)

Zantigo said:


> Giga_Gaia said:
> 
> 
> > The 3DS was doing just as worst when it launched, but then they released good games and it picked up. This is also true for every consoles at launch. It will happens with the Vita.
> ...


Not only that, the so-called 'bad' launch of the 3Ds wasn't as bad as everyone thinks. Know why? Because under the same launch time frame, it sold better than the DS itself.


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## chris888222 (Aug 21, 2012)

Arm73 said:


> Arm73 said:
> 
> 
> > I've been trying to say this many times, but it seems nobody listens.
> ...


I read through the whole thing. You really put in quite a lot of effort in this post especially when English is your third language.

I largely agree. Devs are (most of the time) lazy fucks and by all means they will port a game over to another platform if it is capable. The PSV is the most powerful handheld up to date, so porting will actually be quite apparent.

Again, I'm not bashing Sony. The 3DS has its share of ports (SF 3D, EX Troopers). But the Vita being the more powerful handheld makes it even easier to port home console games to the handheld.

Some exclusives are here though: Gravity Rush, Tearaway, Lumines etc.


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## Deleted_171835 (Aug 21, 2012)

chris888222 said:


> Again, I'm not bashing Sony. The 3DS has its share of ports (SF 3D, EX Troopers). But the Vita being the more powerful handheld makes it even easier to port home console games to the handheld.


Ex Troopers isn't a port. It's built for the 3DS and is _also_ releasing on the PS3.


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## chris888222 (Aug 21, 2012)

soulx said:


> chris888222 said:
> 
> 
> > Again, I'm not bashing Sony. The 3DS has its share of ports (SF 3D, EX Troopers). But the Vita being the more powerful handheld makes it even easier to port home console games to the handheld.
> ...


So that makes it being ported to PS3?

My bad.


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## xist (Aug 21, 2012)

Arm73 said:


> Around the same time, more or less, Atari tried to sell a fantastic handled called " Lynx " and Sega had another marvelous handled called  " Game Gear ", and a few more came along the way. They all had bigger, brighter and colorful backlit displays. However, _they all failed __miserably__._
> 
> Yes, you can blame it on the poor marketing choices, or short battery life, but  the real reason was  that they were just too good to be handled systems, so much ahead of their time that  they could graphically compare to home consoles ( does it ring a bell , Vita/PS3 ? ) but exactly  because they were so powerful, _ they failed_.



It's statements like this that make me doubt you were ever more than an observer of the consoles played by older siblings or friends. The Lynx, launched around the same time as the Game Boy, was so far from portable in comparison that it was like carrying around a brick, and coupled with that it had distribution and supply issues. Toss in those battery life problems and there was almost no reason why anyone would want a Lynx....it wasn't fulfilling any promises of a portable console other than the potential to play better games on the go. How could the Game Boy fail compared to a system that wasn't really up to much to start with (plus the Lynx's total lack of third party support didn't help, which admittedly is a worry for the Sony of today...)

The Game Gear, launched a couple of years after the Game Boy had an uphill struggle just like any competitor would with those timeline differences....the Game Boy already had a massive install base because it was still really the only way to game portably on the go (beyond single game set-ups like the Game and Watch series), and given that time span difference was much cheaper in comparison to a new product. The Game Gear itself was great, and people who actually played the thing loved it.....until it died on them. Because the fatal issue that drove people back to the Game Boy was that the Game Gear used almost twice as many batteries and lasted a quarter of the time. Yes this was due to the technology in the thing BUT those issues weren't unsolvable, and MORE importantly aren't relevant to the Vita.



Arm73 said:


> It was actually easy for developers to port over home console games ( just like the Vita is getting its share of ports ) so instead of getting some fresh, innovative games built to be played on the go, people were getting dumbed down versions of home console games, _{snip}._
> After the initial " woo " people were getting bored of playing the same games they had been playing more comfortable on their home systems.
> 
> The Game Boy had its limits. BIG limits. A ridiculous greenly display at 160 x 144 pixels, which was so low res that you couldn't
> ...



And again it seems you weren't actually there at the time or were just looking on. The prevalence of home consoles at the time was NOWHERE near what it is today.....the Game Gear was _praised _for it's ability to recreate games seen elsewhere, or "remix" them into new forms; people simply hadn't played them on other platforms or got tired of them. It offered great fun but because of the time disparity the majority of developers had already committed to the GB...some of those games on Nintendo's machine were amazing and would have worked equally well on the Game Gear (given a touch up) but how attractive is a return on a console which is a billionth as popular as the FIRST market penetrated handheld that's already been around for a couple of years? It's far easier to turn a profit on a system you know how to code for and has a huge install base. The Game Boy may well have had original games, but Tetris was so far from being one of them it begs the question once again.....were you really there? It's a port....my friends at the time had been tape trading it on our 8 Bit machines well before it surfaced on the GB. Yes it had many super games but my point stands about the Game Gear....each system offered a great gaming experience - people simply didn't own hundreds of games....at the time they were still expensive and if you owned either system you'd have a good selection, albeit far wider on the GB. As for build quality the Game Gear was no slouch at all...i actually dropped one off a bus onto a concrete floor and aside from some scratches it was fine.....



Arm73 said:


> _ {edited to shorten}_
> Can't you see why Nintendo succeeded over and over again with their handled strategy ? It's quite simple actually: Do a moderate update to the current hardware, with just enough improvement to justify the purchase, keep it one generation behind and keep it cheap. It will sell, and games will be tailor made for the system ( that's why we have such a huge, diverse library on the DS ).
> 
> What does Sony do ? Well being Sony the arrogant electronic giant that it is , they just think one dimensionally:
> ...



Yeah no. You argue about the Game Boy and then say it succeeded because it was one generation behind? So it was behind the Game & Watch systems?  Your argument could be applied to Phones against the 3DS and therefore imply that it's doomed because mobile games are simpler and cheaper? You can't have it all ways to suit your bias.

Sony are a competitor to Nintendo, so naturally they need to take a different approach...are you arguing that the world needs another Nintendo clone? To make an impact on a market that Nintendo have a massive head start on of course they need to take a different approach, and where Nintendo is a gaming company, prior to consoles Sony was known for it's tech....sticking to what you know in both instances. Nintendo have the right formula? Well given that the 3DS had the fastest, biggest price drop of a handheld in recent memory before it's sales figures started looking healthy it seems like someone must have spiked it with moonshine....they dropped the price and went crazy with ads....what a surprise, people found out about a console they'd not heard of before. (also Sony were wrong with the PSP? Go look at my first post in this topic...since you're ignoring generational pressure entirely, the PSP trounced the sales of the 3DS on comparing launches. The PSP suffered from awful advertising and piracy. When they ran marketing campaigns sales picked up...and really, the Wii U comparison is just embarrassing...)

Nintendo are A M A Z I N G ! ! ! at advertising A-MAZ(E)-ING! Hear a noise on the TV - it's a Nintendo ad....different tones/chimes for each system. Get in popular celebs to advertise. Appeal to each and every target market. Utilise strong gaming trademarks. They must spend a bomb on marketing research and deployment..... Sony on the other hand seem to have a blind quadriplegic mute communicating by means of breathing patterns in charge of their ads. We don't see any, and when we do they're either awful or completely off target (or make zero sense to most normal non gamers) I have no doubt that if Nintendo were marketing the Vita the figures would be immensely different.

Price does play a big role (the memory card situation is just stupid), but as much as that it's the company itself....they're running scared of the piracy seen on the PSP and so alienate everyone with their Byzantine PSN/SEN account regulation and proprietary memory solution. But if people actually knew about the Vita and it's current games the situation in the West would be different.

We LIKE gadgets. The Vita has gadgetry in spades. And despite it's small library it has some fun titles too....the idea of Ninja Gaiden on the go has me in piques of jealousy. Sony need to tell people the Vita exists....why do you think third party support is lacking? Because why have confidence in a company that seems directionless at the moment? It's not the hardware....it's the mad donkey in charge of strategy.

You can't compare systems from different periods of time due to different market forces. And whilst the lack of games is worrying, the Vita isn't doomed. The 3DS has far from the amazing library of the DS and for me, someone who pre-ordered, was such a disappointment that i sold the thing (so few games i actually wanted), but it's still succeeding by living on it's merits. THAT'S what the Vita has to do.

You're wrong Arm73, whether due to a tint in your specs or a bit of bias (the vehemence towards Sony and the unabashed Nintendo praise suggests this), but it's not the hardware that's killing the Vita. It's Sony being clueless...Oi Sony, go hire the Nintendo media team....


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## lokomelo (Aug 21, 2012)

Ok, I understand what's going on here. It is the best "specs vs fun" argue that I saw here.

I can say that I have the both 3DS and Vita, and I do not have a favorite yet, but this is the way I spend my playing time:

1- 3DS / 2- (low specs) PC / 3- smart phone / 4- Wii / 5- Vita

I like my Vita more than my phone, more than my Wii, but I still play it less, and the reason is the games, and that's because Nintendo is releasing tons of first party games, and Sony has to rely much more on third part devs. I almost do not play third party 3DS games, and if we compare third party games between Vita and 3DS, Vita wins.

To summarize my opinion. Nintendo's ability to build high selling games (I said high selling games and not better games) is far superior to Sony or any company that is developing for Vita. That's why Vita do not succeed yet.


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## chris888222 (Aug 21, 2012)

lokomelo said:


> Ok, I understand what's going on here. It is the best "specs vs fun" argue that I saw here.
> 
> I can say that I have the both 3DS and Vita, and I do not have a favorite yet, but this is the way I spend my playing time:
> 
> ...


This is based on opinion actually.

I actually like 3DS third party titles (Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, Monster Hunter etc.) more than first party titles, main exception being Super Mario 3D Land.

The Vita will have a good share of first parties too. Uncharted, Killzone, Little Big Planet etc. plus the All Stars Royale (which is also on PS3).


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## Arm73 (Aug 21, 2012)

xist said:


> It's statements like this that make me doubt you were ever more than an observer of the consoles played by older siblings or friends. ......]
> 
> ....And again it seems you weren't actually there at the time or were just looking on. ...
> ...and really, the Wii U comparison is just embarrassing...).....



No sir....I was there, I swear it !!!!
By the time the GB launched I was 16, I was in high school and being from the south of Italy I went to the next big city to buy a Gameboy and I was the first to own one in the entire school, and probably among the first to have one in the entire city !!

I never purchased an Atary lynx, but a rich kid friend of mine  brought one to class one day and wanted to sell it to me for next to nothing, and I still didn't buy it. Yes is was oversized and had a very short battery life ( and I like to compare it to the Vita, because well, it is oversized compared to a DSL or even a GBA ) but such a colorful, backlit display was unheard of at the time.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Game Gear able to play Sega Master System games ? Or the SMS games were ported over ? That's all I can remember.

I'm not ashamed of the comparison with the Wii U controller. It's quite understandable actually if you think about it.
I play my handled system in the house mainly, while relaxing in bed or on the couch. I have a very short trip to work and doesn't make any sense to bring a console with me.
Apparently the Wii U will be able to stream its games to the controller screen, so all I'm saying is that since I'm not gonna live the house with the system anyway, I might as well play Wii U games while relaxing on the bed, and it might be actually a better experience compared to the Vita, due to the larger display, and less weight ( since the controller doesn't actually have the processing hardware in it.
A pretty legitimate point of view if I may say so.

And yes, by the time the GB launched with Tetris I had already been playing it for a year or so at the Arcade, and on my home computer ( ZX Spectrum +2 ) , but still the GB made it portable, and according to critics and gamers, it was the most enjoyable version of the game to date .



> You're wrong Arm73, whether due to a tint in your specs or a bit of bias (the vehemence towards Sony and the unabashed Nintendo praise suggests this), but it's not the hardware that's killing the Vita. It's Sony being clueless...Oi Sony, go hire the Nintendo media team....



Sorry, but I don't see anything wrong with my post.
I was merely implying that to my trite eyes, it seems that history is repeating itself with this new hardware cycle, and I'm not surprised.

And by the way, I started playing arcade  videogames in 1979 , my first favorite was the Asteroids, and then Frogger and Mario Bros ( never been a big fan of DK ).


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## Just Another Gamer (Aug 21, 2012)

Arm73 said:


> > You're wrong Arm73, whether due to a tint in your specs or a bit of bias (the vehemence towards Sony and the unabashed Nintendo praise suggests this), but it's not the hardware that's killing the Vita. It's Sony being clueless...Oi Sony, go hire the Nintendo media team....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well duh, no one can see whats wrong with their post until someone points it out to them through a convincing and well written arguement which xist provided but I found you are so biased in putting nintendo up on a pedestal to see the problem with the Vita isn't its much better hardware but Sony's poor advertising or lack of advertising because they are confused who their hardware was meant to target in the first place which now causes its poor sales.

I own both a 3DS and a Vita and honestly the 3DS hasn't even been used for months while the Vita doesn't get much play atleast there are games while there are only few I want for it, can't say that for the 3DS unless I own a JPN one.


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## xist (Aug 21, 2012)

The Lynx was something novel but poorly implemented on so many levels....as a result there was little reason to own one when the alternative was the Game Boy. The Game Gear had a vast array of SMS games "ported" to it in some form or another ("re-versions" and the like)...playing Sonic on the Game Gear was a thrilling experience at the time! Columns, Streets of Rage, Ecco the Dolphin..the idea of portable gaming was so novel back then that complaining of ports was totally unheard of. Can you honestly say you remember anyone complaining that we got too many ports in those days? No, we all lapped everything up! Plus the Game Gear offered something very different to the Game Boy....

Your argument just falls down on itself over and over. The Vita/Game Gear is no good because of the ports, yet the Game Boy was amazing because it made a game you liked on your Spectrum portable??? Comparing a Vita, which isn't competing directly with the home console market with a machine purely intended for it?

You've cherry picked small bits from my somewhat length tirade about your inaccuracy in analysis, and to be fair English is my first language and it's not yours*, but you've not addressed the central theme of these posts....it's not hardware that's the issue. You haven't re-addressed the points about marketing and hardware in relation to the Vita at all, merely picked up on historic issues.

I'm not saying that the Vita is a game changer for Sony, just that it's far from a bad console, and that given the support from a company who had half a clue it could actually be doing pretty well. Nintendo games appeal to some people but not others....irrespective of whether they have the formula right for you they don't have it right for everyone. And that's why Sony NEED to get the message out there.

*I know you're trying out the word "trite" in that penultimate sentence but it doesn't work there. "My tired eyes", or "my weary eyes" might work, trite eyes doesn't. Trite is used in a more pejorative context.


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## Psionic Roshambo (Aug 21, 2012)

To be honest one of the largest reasons the original GB trounced the competition back then... Was wait for it.... batteries! The GB was sooooo much cheaper to own and play. The Lynx was awesome but unless your parents owned a battery factory you had a nice paper weight when you where out on the go. The GG had the same issue to a lesser extent. 

I wonder if anyone remembers a time when rechargeable batteries where about 20 bucks each and didn't last that long... Spoiled by NiMH kids these days  
If your parents didn't want to hand over mega bucks a week in batteries to a kid then the only portable system that made any sense at all was the GB. 

That and the system itself was cheaper to buy up front. (I did have a friend who had a Lynx and like 5 games, as long as you had it plugged in to an outlet the thing was awesome. Emulation of the system does not do it justice.) 

But seriously if you read all the reviews of the portable systems back then ALL of them talked about battery life be it GamePro or EGM or any of the other magazines of the day, and it was a real concern as who wants a portable system you have to plug into an outlet or that you have to spend your entire allowance on batteries every week (Doesn't leave much cash to buy games with...)


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