70 percent of PS3 owners passing on Vita, citing price and lack of games
- Posted April 27th, 2012 at 09:44 EDT by Steven Williamson
- 22 Comments
The vast majority of PlayStation Universe readers haven’t bought PlayStation Vita. In fact, it’s come as quite a surprise to us that only 30 percent of our readers are among the early adopters, yet 100 percent own a PlayStation 3. Considering our readers are among the most hardcore PS3 gamers on the net, we had assumed that vast numbers of them would also be among the first to pick up Sony’s new handheld. If they’re not buying PS Vita, then there’s obviously something wrong.
After the results of a recent survey, and in a bid to shed some light on the reasons why sales of PS Vita are only lukewarm and the interest hasn’t yet taken off, we posed the following question to our community: why don’t you want to buy PS Vita?
Poor battery life, the high price of memory cards and lack of functionality of Remote Play are among a few of the reasons some gamers aren’t interested, but opinion largely comes down to two things: price and games.
It costs too much…
Evidently, some gamers just can’t afford PS Vita at its current price. DaveWW says that there’s “only one reason I don't have one ...... I can't afford it.” CuGuy writes that “price is the biggest factor, but admittedly I have been eyeing sluggish sales as well.”
“I would be royally pissed off if I invested that ridiculous sum of money only to have the thing tank like the PSPGo did,” he continues.
I will wait for it to get its feet planted, price drop and get some more titles under its belt.”
Kewsnoth agrees: “I want one like crazy, and would own it right now if I have the money to do so. Price is the only thing that stopped me from getting it. And it will be like that for sometime.”
It appears there are many gamers out there that really do want PS Vita but just can’t afford to buy it at its current price. At its current RRP, Sony has alienated a huge part of its potential audience, who would probably have bought it if it were on sale at a cheaper price.
Boybettaknow makes a very good point: “Would you spend more money on a handheld than you would on a home console?” He’s referring to the fact that he bought his PS3 slim for cheaper price than a PS Vita.
It’s not solely about price though. Some of our readers complain about the current lack of games, despite the fact we believe it boasts the strongest launch-line up of titles we’ve seen.
three3_times simply writes “no games, just like the ps3 at launch,” while LfCpS3 posts: “Not many games that interest me, there are a few I would buy but not worth the price of the Vita yet”
Judging by the type of audience we have at PSU, the core gaming community, we believe that the issue with games comes down to the fact that the current line-up is split between many different genres. Our readers want the core gaming experiences, such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Resistance: Burning Skies, which makes it feel much more than a souped-up Nintendo DS.
Handheld gaming is doomed
One interesting point that a number of members raise is that they believe that handheld gaming is simply on the way out. Outside of our community too we’ve spoken with numerous people who believe that smartphone and tablet gaming is now filling that gap.
TopGun states that he has no interest in portable/handheld gaming whatsoever, while the_Jim says that “all my handheld gaming is on my iPhone. And it's only angry birds or draw something... I just can't engage in a game like GTA etc (on a handheld at least). Pick up and play is the way I game when i'm away from the console. A Vita would be a waste of money for me.”
From the chatter within our own community, and outside with other PS3 gamers, it’s crystal clear that price is still the biggest issue though, while the current lack of quality games has certainly stopped some people from buying it. However, it must also be a big concern to Sony that PS Vita has possibly arrived at the wrong time, in an era where smartphone and tablet gaming is on the rise ... (continued on next page)
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DoggySmog8 |
Bigmatt8484- 12:59pm EDT - April 27th, 2012
- 1
LOL I had a 3 year old HDTV in my closet that I traded for a Vita with an 8gb memory card and Uncharted. Best trade ever!!! I love my Vita, for all of you that are on the fence about buying one you need to go get one. It is the best handheld I have ever owned I play it more than I do my consoles. Ultimate MvC3 is way better than the console version for me.
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Chark |
GT_168- 1:14pm EDT - April 27th, 2012
- 2
I need to sign in on here more often. Didn't realize there was a survey. I own a Vita, and it is a really great system. All hesitation for the system is unfounded. The price is not that high, it is comparable to other handhelds and much cheaper than tablets. You can get by on a 4gb and easily on an 8gb, there is always the physical game option. The lack of large title games are to be expected of a new console, its always been like this and I always find it strange how terrible the memory of the internet is when it has access to tons of data. The Vita hasn't seen an E3, it hasn't seen a holiday season. Vita games are good and the future of its games are going to be something amazing. It also serves as an evolving mulit-task device with internet browser, social apps, skype, etc. Any concern about the analog sticks dissolves after a short period of time, one demo won't cut it, and as with any controller your hand needs to adjust over a period of a couple hours. The Vita is leaps and bounds above the PSP.
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Beasley2K
- 1:47pm EDT - April 27th, 2012
- 3
agree completely, with a price of £270 and only one title currently available that interests me - namely Uncharted: Golden Abyss - I intend to wait a while before I invest in one. When that is I don't quite know, but I for one will certainly be getting a Vita. Those that think mobile/tablet gaming is taking over are ridiculous in my opinion, whilst I understand the appeal of pick-up-and-play games over story-driven titles that take a while to get into, the quality of Vita games will be unrivalled on the handheld market. Personally I've owned 2 PSPs, and only ever got a few games, but providing the Vita gets a strong line-up, I'll definitely be investing in one. After all, according to reviews and the system's specs, this sounds to be the best handheld ever created, and as a hardcore gamer and strong PlayStation supporter, I won't be passing that up!
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Alpha2
- 2:07pm EDT - April 27th, 2012
- 4
For 250 the vita is a great price. it has the capability to do everything a high priced android tablet can AND has decent gaming controls.
BUT. the problem is it's a game platform without games. In the 2.5 months I've had it I've only gotten one game. I have nearly 80 PSP games and over 100 PS3 games but only 1 Vita game in the launch window. I'm greatly looking forward to Gravity Rush but that's it. The concept of "keep playing" that they put foward in the ads would be great if it were true. It's inconvienent and expensive to ask people to buy two games. I might have done it sporatically with the PSP if the newer version offered more content, but they're pushing that idea way too hard and then to expect people to use the PSN+ cloud service just to download their saves to the system means more money out of pocket that I'm not willing to pay. I said from the begining that if this platform where capable of playing PSN downloadable games it would be an instant hit, but the only way to do that is via remote play and that's not favorable due to latency that makes it impossible to play an action or twitch game in that manner. I keep saying it. Make downloadable games playable on the vita and you'll have hundreds of games instantly.
Even without PSN games or Remote Play, we should have access to PSP and PSone games by now, this hasnt even really come to pass in 2.5 months of ownership. and the japanese have had it longer than us, it's no wonder it's sales are drpping there too. I can play Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess on the vita but I can't play Angry Birds? I can play a single downloadable PSP game and not a single PSone game of the 3 I have? When I can do ALL of those on my old PSP it has to make a person wonder why I even bought the vita! It's great that it may be able to do a lot of things in the future, but sony seems to have forgotten the things that it should be doing NOW. I could be playing Any of 70 PSN games on my Vita, I could be playing Large scale PSP RPGs but they declined to do the UMD program in the US that would have let you buy your games again for a discount, Granted it's stupid to once again ask people to buy games a second time even if it's for 2 - 4 dollars but it would habe been SOMETHING and people would have shelled out for it regarless of how stupid it is just to have something more to play! I'm saying this even being against the Digital download model, because they're even messing THAT up right now never mind the lack luster field of physical games. I dont want a stripped down Ridgeracer with 4 courses, It's supposed to be as powerful as a Mini PS3 for Pete's sake. NInja Gaiden? like I havent already played the exact game already on PS3? Lumines? I have two of them on the PSP already and they game play hasnt changed enough in this one to justify a purchase. especially not at 30 bucks for the physical version. most everything else is either months off or sports games which, let's face it, are not for everyone.
And I'm not even saying the battery life is horrible though because in practice I often get more than 4 hours out of it but I'm one of the few that actually know not to run it at full brightness when you dont have to or to shut it down rather than leaving it in a sleep state for a whole day. And the Memory cards are no where near as expensive as people feared but everyone wants to get the biggest card they can get at launch... the thing is why do you care right now when there is almost NOTHING to put on them! Just get an 8 gig card, the only thing worth having right now are demos! I get more game time out of the lumines demo then out of anything else and I even HAVE Uncharted already! The launch line up isnt horrible by any means, there are decent titles but half of them were decent when I bought them on the PS3 and I have no desire to buy them again.
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Paranoimia
- 2:23pm EDT - April 27th, 2012
- 7
I can perhaps understand not buying one because of the price, just about.
But... lack of games? Give over!
This system launched with one of the largest and best selections of games of any console, ever. I got mine with 6 games (Golden Abyss, Everybody's Golf, Hustle Kings, Super Stardust Delta, Escape Plan, MotorStorm RC) and a 32GB memory card imported from the US, and that little lot are still keeping me busy. And that doesn't include the freebies like Table Soccer, Fireworks and Cliff Diver - each of which are entertaining in their own unique way.
If there isn't enough in the Vita range, there's also a huge catalogue of PSP titles, with PS1 games to come, and - quite possibly - PS2 games further down the line. And full PS3 Remote Play will be with us before you know it.
If you're sitting on the fence, don't. You can get one much cheaper now than at launch (under £200 from some UK retailers) and it is absolutely worth it.
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Gameoholic007 |
Demented007- 2:43pm EDT - April 27th, 2012
- 8
I only have a PSP, but it does just fine for me.
I can kind of care less about handheld, I wish Sony would put that focus into consoles, and I kind of agree with part of the article, that handheld gaming is fading, compared where it use to be. imo
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stealth20k
- 2:48pm EDT - April 27th, 2012
- 9
ol at handhelds doomed
the 3ds is the number 1 system in the world and 7 years later the ds and psp continue to sell -
tekkenfighter123
- 5:03pm EDT - April 27th, 2012
- 10
Love the Vita, but they NEED GAMES!! How are they going to lanch in Japan first with a U.S game lanuch? I got about 6 or 7 vita games. I love just about all of them, and I play my Vita pretty much every single day, however a lot of the games got pushed back also. The month of April. Was there like 2 games to choose from? I got Diesegea for the fact I wanted somthing new to play. Otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. The battery life is GREAT! I don't undertand why people say it isn't good. It is better than the psp and from what I read the 3ds. Besides, that is a old a dumb argument. If your buying a handheld, commen sense will tell you, that you won't be able to play it for 8 hours straight. You can't do that with anything. Period. If i didn't have a good job, I can see where the price would hurt a lot of people. I did get the 32gb memory, so your looking at 400 bucks just for the system. As I said before they need more games. 1 game a month isn't going to cut it. Maybe it's a strategy. However they tuned some people off with the PSP go. I knew what sony was doing and didn't fall for that buy, however a lot of people did and won't forget that. I still can't put movies from my computer on my Vita. They make it too hard to use. Will sony ever learn that they are the cause of all thier problems? Forget the hackers and take responsiblily of your company. They have all the means at their fingertips. They just don't know how to run the company in this century.
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TheTenth666
- 5:54pm EDT - April 27th, 2012
- 11
250$??? too much??? damn why not pay in 5 months, everybody can do that!
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Sufi
- 2:15am EDT - April 28th, 2012
- 12
ank like the PSP Go? That makes no sense. PSP Go only tanked because it was an iteration...for the PSP Go to fail, the PSP has to fail first.
They simply just phased it off.
Like the PSX (PS2 with DVR functionality). What would it have to do with the PS2? Not much...it was just an experiment.
That's not to say Vita can't tank, it's just silly to compare it to the Go. -
Sufi
- 2:15am EDT - April 28th, 2012
- 13
ank like the PSP Go? That makes no sense. PSP Go only tanked because it was an iteration...for the PSP Go to fail, the PSP has to fail first.
They simply just phased it off.
Like the PSX (PS2 with DVR functionality). What would it have to do with the PS2? Not much...it was just an experiment.
That's not to say Vita can't tank, it's just silly to compare it to the Go. -
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Mr.Bishop
- 10:43am EDT - April 28th, 2012
- 15
I totally agree that people shouldn't hold back. This is such a serious handheld gaming system, its amazing. Being able to play games like unit 13 and Uncharted on the train to work is unreal.
Games will come out in due time. I'll bet anything that E3 announcements are going to make the vita a must-buy.
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Rafaelcbf12
- 11:01am EDT - April 28th, 2012
- 16
I want it, bad, but I'll wait for the VITA 2000 and a price drop, I've learned my lesson, plus, monster hunter hasn't come out yet, so there's no reason for ME to get it.
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adamdolge
- 1:53pm EDT - April 28th, 2012
- 17
Am I the only one who loved PSP and still loves it to this day? I've used it soooo much over the years, so happy with my early investment. I hope the same goes for Vita. I don't think the price is off at all considering how much it has to offer. I do tend to side with the fact there aren't that many games yet. There are decent games, and a couple really awesome games, but I'm really looking forward to Sony dropping some major franchises as Vita exclusives. Heard mixed thing on Resistnace, but even good 3rd party games (still holding my breath for Bioshock!) will make it hard to pass on Vita. I also agree that some games are actually better on Vita.
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FatherOfOne
- 3:30pm EDT - April 28th, 2012
- 19
I would have to agree with the article. I was going to buy one for my son, and he had a DS for 6 years that was about dead. He looked at the games that are coming out fo the 3DS and then the Vita and it wasn't even close for him, and cost wasn't a factor because I was buying a vast majority of it. Granted he is close to 12, but it is another data point. The poll is spot on. For my family, games that would have helped.
KingdomHearts, Invisimoles (Pokemon like game), Skylanders support, some decent RPG's (Skyrim) and more family type games along with a price of $200 with a decent memory card would go a long way.
I do think the device looks great and there is nothing stopping Sony from getting my families money in the future....
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hjkdsgweg
- 9:39pm EDT - April 28th, 2012
- 20
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