Japanese retailers discount 3G PSVITAs

[Warrior522]

24,999 yen, not enough reductions

cut the price by 40% and I'll get a second Vita as a spare and really they are underestimating Vita's future sales.

It's only the 5th in Japan, in 21 days, the Vita will sell big time, then 6 days later another hard hitter, and another hard hitter although for PSP that can work on a Vita.

The Japanese may not want a Vita today but they will in 21-27 days time, they are cautious right now due to lack of decent software.

Forgive me for being dense, but what changes in a month?

The rest of the world gets the Vita... I think...

 

[Fyrus]

That would be in more than 21 days, since it will be the 22 of February.

 

[gloweyjoey]

IIRC there was jeering from the crowd at E3 when Sony announced its exclusive partnership with AT&T to provide 3G plans in the US, which currently look like $15 for 250MB and $25 for 2GB. If its like this in Japan too, this is not surprising. It looks like the plans in Japan are hourly, the lowest being 20 hours for ¥980 (US$13) and the most being 100 hours for ¥4,980 ($65) and there is an initial sign up fee of ¥2,100 (US$27) an if you don't buy more hours within 14 days, you have to pay this sign up fee again.
Vodafone in the UK is hinting at pay-as-you-go plans.

 

[Foxi4]

The 3G model imo is pointless. I don't see the point of that model at all.

Enjoy being wifi dependent. The Vita is a portable, for people who often use online features and like to play on the go this is a great feature. I, for one, have free, unlimited 3g access along with my cell plan, so obviously this is perfect for me.

Eh, enjoy being online dependent.

How does my statement make me online dependent in any way? The only difference between your approach and mine is that you choose to look for hotspots or tether while I choose to pay a little extra just to be lazy and connect at will. Where I live, there aren't all that many hotspots and tethering will never work as well as native support. Don't feed me with the "multiplayer is not important" argument because it's moot - it's put in games for a reason. I enjoy singleplayer mode, but every now and then I may feel like playing online, and with the more expensive model I can connect at will and just about anywhere. No point in defending the cheaper model when the price difference is relatively low - all I need to do for the extra buck is not eating out a few times or buying one game less. Oh, the horror.

 

[Hop2089]

IIRC there was jeering from the crowd at E3 when Sony announced its exclusive partnership with AT&T to provide 3G plans in the US, which currently look like $15 for 250MB and $25 for 2GB. If its like this in Japan too, this is not surprising. It looks like the plans in Japan are hourly, the lowest being 20 hours for ¥980 (US$13) and the most being 100 hours for ¥4,980 ($65) and there is an initial sign up fee of ¥2,100 (US$27) an if you don't buy more hours within 14 days, you have to pay this sign up fee again.
Vodafone in the UK is hinting at pay-as-you-go plans.

Japan's 3G plans are superior, I would only need 20 hours of 3G a month since I pretty much only use the online capability for DLC and PSN games anyway, I believe I only played one game throughout the PSP lifecycle online and that Phantasy Star Portable 2 and from the games I want to buy, none of them have infrastructure just local and all have DLC.

 

[gloweyjoey]

IIRC there was jeering from the crowd at E3 when Sony announced its exclusive partnership with AT&T to provide 3G plans in the US, which currently look like $15 for 250MB and $25 for 2GB. If its like this in Japan too, this is not surprising. It looks like the plans in Japan are hourly, the lowest being 20 hours for ¥980 (US$13) and the most being 100 hours for ¥4,980 ($65) and there is an initial sign up fee of ¥2,100 (US$27) an if you don't buy more hours within 14 days, you have to pay this sign up fee again.
Vodafone in the UK is hinting at pay-as-you-go plans.

Japan's 3G plans are superior, I would only need 20 hours of 3G a month since I pretty much only use the online capability for DLC and PSN games anyway, I believe I only played one game throughout the PSP lifecycle online and that Phantasy Star Portable 2 and from the games I want to buy, none of them have infrastructure just local and all have DLC.

I would definitely rather it be hourly than based on data. You could easily eat up all of your data allowance doing a few things over a short amount of time and the hours are good for several months.

 

[wchill]

For those that are thinking that the 3G is actually useful, it definitely isn't.
In densely populated countries like Japan, you are going to have an abundance of Wi-Fi hotspots. I was in South Korea during the summer, and there was Wi-Fi pretty much everywhere except some of the more rural areas.
Carriers in Japan have unlimited data plans, whereas the Vita requires a usage-based plan. Like someone said before, why not just tether? The fact that LTE is available in Japan just makes this point stronger: why pay for a limited, slower connection when you can have a fast, unlimited one?
In addition, you CANNOT play online over 3G, only over Wi-Fi. With that, the only real reasons to get a 3G model are to have the GPS or if you are going to use the 3G for downloading stuff on the go or web browsing (you'd really only do this if you don't have a smartphone, which many people do).

The 3G model of the PS Vita should not have even existed with these limitations.

 

[thieves like us]

Carriers in Japan have unlimited data plans, whereas the Vita requires a usage-based plan. Like someone said before, why not just tether? The fact that LTE is available in Japan just makes this point stronger: why pay for a limited, slower connection when you can have a fast, unlimited one?
In addition, you CANNOT play online over 3G, only over Wi-Fi. With that, the only real reasons to get a 3G model are to have the GPS or if you are going to use the 3G for downloading stuff on the go or web browsing (you'd really only do this if you don't have a smartphone, which many people do).

The 3G model of the PS Vita should not have even existed with these limitations.

agreed!

 

[Zerosuit connor]

Things aren't looking good for the vita.
*plays 3Ds*

 

[FluffyLunamoth]

The 3G model imo is pointless. I don't see the point of that model at all.

Enjoy being wifi dependent. The Vita is a portable, for people who often use online features and like to play on the go this is a great feature. I, for one, have free, unlimited 3g access along with my cell plan, so obviously this is perfect for me.

Most of us are already wifi dependant. Can you really say that there are a lot of places around you, that you go, where you will have the time and patience to game online? Wifi is plenty, and...especially in Japan, wifi is already in most places. If you got 3G, chances are somewhere nearby has wifi.

 

[Foxi4]

As far as I know, the current limitations of the 3G system are being actively worked on and it will be revised with upcoming revisions of the firmware.

For me, 3G will be useful, even if only to use the web browser when I'm on the bus (I spend about 4 hours riding buses back and forth Uni - there is no way in hell I will remain in the range of a hotspot for more than 15 seconds.

Also, as I said earlier, where I live, there aren't many WiFi hotspots. Keyword being "I". At the end of the day, choice of hardware is a matter of personal choice. For me, 3G support makes the more expensive revision is superior. For others, it may be useless, but I find it useful. A matter of taste, really.

 

[Hop2089]

Don't forget that Wi-Fi is not free in Japan, and you have to pay subscription fees.

 

[Ace]

It's pretty apparent the Vita is turning into a bigger disaster than the 3DS.

People claim the 3DS is a success, but it only did well at the holidays because there was nothing else to buy. it wont sustain those sales after the holiday season.

Embrace the iOS future.

Eh, more like the mobile handheld market, since I'm not exactly prepared to have my brain annihilated by a single corporate elite.

Vita will come around in US and EU, for sure.

 

[Hyro-Sama]

Who cares what IGN thinks? They give dumpy reviews and predictions anyway.


Plus, since when is Japan the measure for console/video game success? PSP did well in Japan and did shitty in America. The reverse could happen with the Vita. Japan's tastes and America's tastes are different. This prediction of doom is pure bullshit. Regardless, I will definitely buy a Vita when some Limited Edition bundles start being released.

 

[Midna]

The 3G model imo is pointless. I don't see the point of that model at all.

Enjoy being wifi dependent. The Vita is a portable, for people who often use online features and like to play on the go this is a great feature. I, for one, have free, unlimited 3g access along with my cell plan, so obviously this is perfect for me.

Jesus Christ when I read that I thought I was on 4chan for a moment.

In any case, you should probably be aware that you can't game over 3G. I suppose it's great if you like to... buy games on the bus? Web browse?

 

[Ace]

Well, knowing Sony, they kept at the PS3 during its cold years, surely the same will happen again now. Consoles need time to grow, since they're declared generational since gaming consoles went commercial.

 

[DSGamer64]

At least (I heard) the 3G isn't locked to carrier.

Oh well... Wi-Fi is good enough for me.

It probably will be here in Canada for some stupid reason.

 

[DSGamer64]

The 3G model imo is pointless. I don't see the point of that model at all.

Enjoy being wifi dependent. The Vita is a portable, for people who often use online features and like to play on the go this is a great feature. I, for one, have free, unlimited 3g access along with my cell plan, so obviously this is perfect for me.

Enjoy paying that astronomic phone bill to support it, and enjoy the 2 hours of battery life you are going to get out of a phone. It's retarded to release something to play games on with cell phone support yet you can't even idle it for a full work day and then expect to play a game for a couple of hours because the battery is half dead by the time your work day is done. IF you are a commuter by train or bus and you need some entertainment for an hour or so, you would be SOL

 

[fgghjjkll]

amazon.co.jp is still selling the system for 29k JPY
Seems that not every retailer is slashing their prices ;-;

 

[Foxi4]

The 3G model imo is pointless. I don't see the point of that model at all.

Enjoy being wifi dependent. The Vita is a portable, for people who often use online features and like to play on the go this is a great feature. I, for one, have free, unlimited 3g access along with my cell plan, so obviously this is perfect for me.

Enjoy paying that astronomic phone bill to support it, and enjoy the 2 hours of battery life you are going to get out of a phone. It's retarded to release something to play games on with cell phone support yet you can't even idle it for a full work day and then expect to play a game for a couple of hours because the battery is half dead by the time your work day is done. IF you are a commuter by train or bus and you need some entertainment for an hour or so, you would be SOL

Which part of "unlimited, free access" confused you? I use the Internet on my phone nearly 24/7 and am yet to pay a penny for it, I recieved the plan after many years of being a loyal customer. It's not the fastest but it does the job as far as browsing is concerned, and I will welcome the possibility of using a larger screen as I hardly ever use my phone to *call* people or recieve calls anyways - I use them Internets.