Stop complaining, Sony's PS Vita does NOT need a price cut
- Posted June 20th, 2012 at 10:24 EDT by Adam Dolge
- 43 Comments
You don’t have to look far to find someone on the internet bitching about the price of Sony’s PlayStation Vita. In fact, let’s play a little game. I’ll bet you $249 that at least one comment below (or on N4G—hey, we know where people really like to bitch) will say Sony cannot be successful without dropping the price of the Vita. Wahhhh, get over it. I can’t justify buying the latest iPad (or any iProduct, for that matter) simply because there are better things to buy, say PS Vita games. If you really want a PS Vita and can’t afford it, well that’s a different story. If you simply think it’s overpriced, you need to play one for longer than 5 minutes at your local game shop. Now, if you want to bitch about anything related to Vita, go ahead and bitch that there aren’t enough new games—there are still plenty of PSP games to check out, and of course PSOne classics.
It’s too soon to see a Vita price cut. Some people speculated that Sony would announce a new price for the PS Vita during its press conference at E3 2012, but those are the same people that thought Kevin Butler would waddle out on stage holding a prototype of the PS4.
Where’s my sale?
So what’s the argument for a price cut? Well, there’s the logical one: you can buy a PlayStation 3 console for essentially the same price, if not cheaper, than a new PS Vita (then again, PS3 is five-year-old technology). That’s right, you can get Sony’s black behemoth, which plays awesome HD games like Uncharted 3 and God of War III, in addition to serving as your home entertainment system with 3D and Blu-ray movies. But, you can’t put your PS3 in your pocket unless you regularly wear MC Hammer pants. Vita is not a mobile version of the PS3, as much as some want it to be. It’s a brand new device with a set of new features, new games, new concepts, new social aspects, and new problems.
Technology today grows and changes like a gross viral infection and prices aren’t coming down anytime soon. Sure, I bought my cell phone from a gas station vending machine for two quarters, but I still have to spend money each month for its nonsense service. My TV cost well over $300, and my car; don’t even get me started on car prices. So when Sony said, “hey, we have the follow-up to our PSP available in both Wi-Fi-only and 3G models,” are you really surprised that it cost around that $300 mark? Are you surprised that just four months later Sony has yet to announce a price drop?
What about the games?
Sony appears to be in no rush to drop prices. Executives have routinely said they are happy with the success of Vita so far, and that the future is looking great—then again, who’s going to buy a product if the future looks terrible? Sure, during E3 the mega PS Vita game reveals felt, well, virtually non-existent. But we still have some fall backs. We can expect a Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed to eventually hit the Vita, in addition to the highly, highly anticipated Bioshock project.
For those new to PS Vita, you should absolutely check out Uncharted: Golden Abyss, FIFA Soccer, Rayman Origins, Gravity Rush, and WipeOut 2048. And luckily Sony announced during its E3 2012 presser that the Vita is getting PSOne classics—hooray!
But what else do we want to see? Well, for starters, a lot of the yearly release games—sports games and shooters, to be precise—are not getting PS Vita versions; in fact, many of these franchises are sticking with PSP. We need to see Vita added to that mix for games like NBA 2K13, FIFA 13, and whatever EA cooks up to compete against Call of Duty (read Medal of Honor). We need those big recognizable franchises to have unique Vita versions—God of War, Batman: Arkham anything, The Elder Scrolls, Grand Theft Auto, and Dark/Demon’s Souls (imagine that!).
Vita absolutely has the power to deliver something unique for all those franchises. The graphics are brilliant for a handheld gaming device, the touch controls are extremely precise, and just ... (continued on next page)
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Comments
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Bones311
- 5:24pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 1
what an unprofessionally written article. regardless of the arguments made, you're the one bltchlng now... leave it on facebook.
also what a hypocritcal site where you can say a banned word in your article repeatedly but I can't say it in the comments with out bastardizing it
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adamdolge
- 5:37pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 3
This is my opinion. I respect yours completely. The idea is that we, the writers, talk about playstation, not just spoon feed news, but to have thoughts and opinions. I'm cool if you aren't on board with that, but again, this is just an opinion and was thinking it would be good to get others to talk... that's what the internet is all about, right?
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jamzee
- 5:38pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 4
Agreed with above, how immature, I don't know anyone who has a VITA, who would know about it or is planning to get one, not because they don't like Sony, or question the technology, on the contrary, the question sadly needs to be asked is there really any place for this system in the midst of quick-thrill easy to access and use (i)phones etc? __Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Sony fan and it pains me to see people plinky plonking around on far inferior (gaming) systems on their current <i>phone<insert number>, but fear Sony could pour obscene amounts of money into this and bearly anyone buts an eyelid. __Ignore at your peril...
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Paranoimia
- 5:51pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 7
Well, regardless of whether it's "professional" or not, I for one whole-heartedly agree with the article.
When the price of the Vita was announced, everyone was saying "great price!" Now they want a price drop.
The thing to think about is not what you're paying, but what you're getting. Is it cheap? No. Is it good value? Absolutely.
If you're worried about the games, don't be. If you're picking one up now, there are plenty of games to keep you busy; I'm still occupied by the 6 titles I bought at launch, and in the new sale I might pick up Unit 13. Many more games are coming. The thing to keep in mind is that the more people buy the system, the more games will come to it - and there are more than enough games for now to keep you occupied.
As for "is there a place for Vita" - the answer is unquestionably "yes!" I have a smartphone, and phone games, no matter how cheap they may be, are - almost without exception - utter tripe. The more recent success of the 3DS alone should tell you that there's clearly a market for dedicated gaming hand-helds.
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kershizzle |
kershizzle- 5:55pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 8
I respect your opinion but it's wrong! LOL. I have a Vita and love it but it's overpriced. Vita should be $199 and not a penny over. It's never going to get developers full support until it goes mainstream and get a customer base large enough to be worthwhile developing for.
Sony is notorious for overpricing and shooting themselves in the foot. If Vita isn't $199 by holiday season the Vita will join a long list of Sony fumbles with price point.......simple as that. The Vita will be a success.... when? depends on Sony.
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Angry mob |
BlackPaladin- 6:04pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 9
i completly agree with you adam because the psvita even though its not cheap is a great addition to the hand-held library giving the gamer a near console quality game on a hand-held and i think thats worth it i have a psvita and i think that the vita dosent need a price drop right now it need games and support while the games are coming sadly the support is hardly seen but you know thats my way of thinking
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Virgil Chircu
- 6:04pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 10
thank you finally someone said it...the vita is in no way overpriced people....seriously i mean a handheld device that comes any where near the same high end specs as the vita is the galaxy s 3 which costs almost 3 times as much.......and heres what i dont get .....people pay through the nose without complaining when apple decide to bring out a new macbook or iphone when they can get an equivelant spec'd device at a fraction of the cost but all of a sudden sony offer a great feature jam packed device for only 250 and all of a sudden its "oh no its too expensive " .... the vita people is the best hardware for money device on the planet and no im not a sony fanboy actually i dont even have a ps3 i have an xbox 360 ... but when i bought the vita bundle for only 300 euro (of which the whole 300 i had earned myself) i was amazed at what it could do and amazed that they managed to squeeze a quad core cpu, gpu front and rear touchscreen and OLED screen on the front, two cameras and two proper analog sticks for just 250 euro ......if anyone reading this can find me a device that offers the same high end specs for under 300 euro(not second hand) i will then cave and say that the vita is overpriced
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mcav
- 6:17pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 11
The PS Vita is priced for what it is - Absolutely the most cutting edge mobile gaming device on the market. Nothing else has the tech, control or quality of games that the Vita has.
The writer of this article is absolutely spot on. Just because some of you are all "hurt" by it, doesn't make it less true.
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Don Oliveira |
Other_- 6:25pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 12
For what it does, and for what it offers, $250 is not expensive. It can use a price-drop for the holiday season though, sure.
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KyleOnTheRun
- 6:48pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 14
Great read, Adam. A financial culture-shock is exactly what some people need concerning the value of electronics, especially one as fully-featured and ready for primetime as Vita.
I personally feel the game library (at least in terms of strictly Vita titles) is kinda shallow at the moment, but I only say that after having played and loved the extensive launch window lineup. Still, the potential for this device is huge and, come holiday season, you're going to see exactly why Vita is worth it - especially as a bundle with AC3: Liberation.
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Nicolas Scott Howell
- 7:32pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 15
Seriously, it makes absolutely no sense. I love my Vita and having both analog controls and 2 touch surfaces for input, gaming on it is truly a next-gen experience and i have yet to use my ipad 2 for gaming again.But what i really really dont get people is this: you cheered and what not when the Vita was announced and just like the PS3 people just started bashing on it. It seriously makes no sense. The hardware is beyond fantastic, Uncharted Golden Abyss was the very first game I've ever played that made me forget it was on a portable system and the gameplay experience was like the ipad 2 + PS3 so it made it sooooo much more interesting.At $250, you can't really get as much bang for the buck on anything. ipod touch? iphone 4S? ipad 2/3? N-3DS? Sorry but no, there is nothing out there that can compete with this package. Instead of picking on the hardware, why not aim some criticisms to game developers. It worked to change ME3's ending didn't it? lol -
ShadowOfTheColossus
- 7:37pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 16
I thinks they priced it right they pried the wifi only at the same price as the last years model i have a vita wifi with uncharted,gravity rush, escape plan and other games i do not regret my decision in buying this product.
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Mr.Bishop
- 8:56pm EDT - June 19th, 2012
- 18
I personally think that the biggest issue that perception faces is the fact that people get their smartphones for so cheap... but you don't actually get that smartphone for ~$200 - the cellphone company makes you sign a contract for your soul and firstborn child to subsidize that device which really retails for $600-$800.
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