Is Vita in Trouble?

[floetry]

As some of you may know, nintendo's handheld is not hot right now. Not doing so well as originally planned. Turns out the analysts are right, and now people are opting out for cell phone games, anot not the additional handheld.

Since it only costs 100 to make the 3DS, I don't think they will hurt that much if they can recuperate sales.

According to analysts, 3ds is still expected to outsell PSV. Now, that 3ds price is dropped by 32 percent, what does that mean for playstation vita?

I'm thinking about canceling my preorder given this news..Going to see how it plays out for a year, even though I want to be an earlier adopter. There's no way sony drops the price even by 50 dollars to compete without seriously gimping features.

[TheTenth666]

3DS tech is very subpar, many people (me included) don't see 3D at all, just a mess of colors, and the ones that see it are inconvenienced by having to stay rigidly in the same position or they have to re-establish the position to see the 3D. Nintendo is trying to get into the hype of advanced technology, but lose many people of the casual market there ; the WiiU could be a catastrophe : casual won't understand what the console brings them, using an iPad as controller? the Wiicontroller was more fun!, being able to play with the controller instead of the TV? most will believe it's a handheld but it still has to be in range of the console ...
I don't see the Vita being in danger as it doesn't confuse the customer, it does what's announced, next gen gaming in a handheld, with touch gameplay and advanced Internet capabilities (would be surprised you can't use it as a phone)

[floetry]

paying 40 dollars for handhld game seems criminal in todays market and almost suicidal. not too mention when cell phone graphics happen to pass it within 2 years or so. Even if its a full portable game, consumers aren'[t going to justify paying full msrp for something outdated. Thats like me buying a game on ps2 and sony expects me to pay 59.99, its not going to happen.

By the way, paragraphs dude. They are your friend.

[Xelis]

One word. Games.

3DS has none of them.

[Ryunosuke]

There are far too many factors into the reason the 3DS and Nintendo in general has been having trouble that you cannot just say it is due to cell phone games. The market has already shown there is enough room for both dedicated handheld devices and gaming on cell phones.

You are not going to see games on cell phones that looks just as good or better than PSVita or even the better looking 3DS games. The gaming market on cell phones cannot support these higher budget titles and no developer is going to spend 3 to 4 plus years developing one of these titles with how often cellphone tech changes.

What is wrong with $40 games considering the type of games we are getting? They are a lot higher budget than the $2 to $5 games on cellphones and stuff. I for one prefer the $40 type of games over the $2 to $5 type of games. If you want a mixture, the PSVita will also have games in the $2 to $5 with Playstation Minis.

I believe both the 3DS and the PSVita will end up selling just fine. I expect the software side is where the PSVita will really improve on (sales wise) over the PSP. They may not do DS type numbers, but they don't have too. Peoples expectations are just higher than what they use to be due to the sales of the DS and some games quickly selling multiple millions that they now have unrealistic expectations for most devices and games.

We will go through the same thing with the next gen consoles when they start to release.

The price drop doesn't fix all of Nintendo's problem. Their console market was one of the reason their fiscal results were so bad and it is going to be awhile before they are able to fix that. As for their handheld they need to do a better job at consumer awareness(the consumers thinking the 3DS is nothing more than a new DS), especially considering they are also competing against their old handheld with the 3DS.

They also need to quit holding back for third-parties. It is obvious by the games shown/announced so far that Sony is not going to hold back their first-party games so the third-parties "have a chance". If Nintendo has first-party games ready they need to start releasing them. Forget about these giving third-parties a chance first before releasing first-party games. It should be obvious to them now that third-parties will abandon them the moment things looks bad regardless of what they do(short of throwing a lot of money at them).

[n@ruto-kun]

As some of you may know, nintendo's handheld is not hot right now. Not doing so well as originally planned. Turns out the analysts are right, and now people are opting out for cell phone games, anot not the additional handheld.

Since it only costs 100 to make the 3DS, I don't think they will hurt that much if they can recuperate sales.

According to analysts, 3ds is still expected to outsell PSV. Now, that 3ds price is dropped by 32 percent, what does that mean for playstation vita?

I'm thinking about canceling my preorder given this news..Going to see how it plays out for a year, even though I want to be an earlier adopter. There's no way sony drops the price even by 50 dollars to compete without seriously gimping features.

I kinda predicted that the 3DS wouldn't sell as big as it's predecessor. The reason being Nintendo handhelds appeals mostly to casual gamers. I think about 80% of its sales were bought by casuals, it's also the reason it eclipsed the PSP in terms of sales. With the advent of cellphone and tablet gaming which cater to casual obviously, it made a deep cut into the market share where Nintendo plays.

On the other hand, I don't think casual gaming will play an equal impact on Sony's Vita as it does for the Nintendo's. PS Vita will appeal both to hardcore and casual gamers alike. Two analog stick will ensure a console-like FPS gaming on the go and we all know how well FPS games sell nowadays especially in the US market. But it wouldn't hurt if Sony will try to get a pie on the casual gaming and how specifically Sony plans to do that is through the PS Suite. Plus the fact that it only costs $250 to have a solid handheld gaming device as opposed to having an expensive contract from a cellphone let alone the expensive tablets. The price difference will help the system sell well.

The 3DS will have a hardtime convincing the casual gamers who are satisfied with their touchscreen casual games on their cellphones. At the end of the day, it's the games that will contribute to eventual success or failure. Sony got covered both hardcore and casual games and in my opinion, PS Vita will outsell the PSP.

By the way, look how PSP sells despite the availability of casual gaming on cellphones. The fact that it's on it's last leg of it's life, and the fact that the PSV has already been announced it maintains a good sales and that speaks a lot for the gaming-centric device viability on the market.

[O.J. Mayo]

I hope Sony drops the VIta price before launch to 200$. They need to be competitive, otherwise when kids bring parents to a store wanting a handheld guess which one theyre gonna get? The parents will see the price 169$ for a 3ds or 249$ for a vita. Sony got effed again.

[Ryunosuke]

$250 is fine for early adopters, if they feel the hardware is worth it and the type of games they like to play are there early adopters will have no problem with paying $250. The problem with the 3DS is no one felt it was worth $250, Nintendo even admitted they raised the price due to hype from E3.

The PSP actually did really well at first, it was when support starting lacking when sales started to hurt.

[Rtc]

I don't believe the Vita will have any trouble with the games and support behind this one.

I personally have a 3DS as I do like it I honestly don't play it and it dropping price from $250 - $170 within a year crazy!

And for cell phone gaming heh I hate it I mean stuff like angry birds is fun but for short periods of time.

[Mo-green28]

I doubt it. PSP's problem was lack of games at launch and then lack of good games for awhile, also price point, and the loss of alot of support.
The other big reason was it didn't have a second analog stick. My friends would always tell me, if this thing had some good games(mainly shooters) and a second analog stick I would buy one.

It also took awhile for PSP to get casual gamers, even the hardcore took a long time to get PSPs because of lack of games and price point. I think the first year and a half only the sony hardcore fanboys(like me) bought PSP.

Now with PSVita they already knocked out having a good price point, wasn't the original PSP like $400 at launch?(Can't believe I actually got one) with Vita being extremely better and only $50 away from being half PSP's launch price that's amazing.

They built for casual and hardcore they(finally) added another analog stick,3g wireless,built in mic, 2 cameras,implemented PSN and trophies, and put in touch controls. All these features will be able to get some of everyone interested.

It all depends on the games.

They have cellphone like games,(PS minis) games that can be casual and hardcore at the same time (LBP,MOD Racers) Then they have one of playstation's biggest franchise's at the moment coming at launch.(Uncharted) With a COD game already confirmed to be in development coming at some point, and you already know all the sports games will eventually migrate to every console(Finally Madden, and NBA2K without looking like i'm playing a PS 1.5 game). On top of all that alot of your already owned PSN stuff(including movies) will be able to be played/watched on Vita at launch is amazing.

They already have the main developer's(Of course Sony Studios,Epic,Activision,EA,Capcom,Sega,Kojima Productions,THQ, and Rockstar) that they need on deck oozing at the mouth for it to make games in the future for it. Which solves PSP's developer support problem.

So until the popular branded cellphones start coming with daul analogs the real gamers will no doubt come over to PSVita's side.

This system is made, the only thing Sony has to do, which isn't an easy task for them it seems with their recent consoles, is market it right and make sure they can prevent piracy. If they can do those 2 things PS Vita is in no way shape or form, in trouble.

[F34R]

One word. Games.

3DS has none of them.

Bah, maybe today the game library is lacking, but that is how it is with most systems when they launch. With this price cut, and the upcoming games, it'll take off just like Nintendo of old.

The PSP was stuck in the same position for a while. Same price tag, same lack of games, etc. The only difference is that Nintendo aren't arrogant enough to let the price stay like that for too long. They are cutting it, and cutting deep...

[Ariakace]

Yeah, im definately not worried about the 3DS selling poorly. Right now their games list is on the pretty weak side. That will obviously change over time. Vita will do just fine. Sure you can go and spend the couple of dollars and play angry birds for 5-10 minuets at a time. thats fine, thats what phone gaming is all about. the convenience to pick up a 2 dollar game and have something to do while youre waiting in line, or in the lobby, or using public transportation. quick little bursts of gaming. Most people dont sit down using their iphone to do hardcore bejeweled gaming sessions. But they did it with their PSP and the God of War games. Believe you me ill be doing it with Mortal Kombat Vita, MLB 12 the Show Vita, Uncharted Golden abyss, and as god as my witness, if they release Soul Calibur 5 on PSVita ill crapmyself and pre-order me a coffin cause youll read about me in the papers like you all did that korean kid that died of dehydration playing starcraft (or whatever it was he died playing)

[Xelis]

Bah, maybe today the game library is lacking, but that is how it is with most systems when they launch. With this price cut, and the upcoming games, it'll take off just like Nintendo of old.

The PSP was stuck in the same position for a while. Same price tag, same lack of games, etc. The only difference is that Nintendo aren't arrogant enough to let the price stay like that for too long. They are cutting it, and cutting deep...

The major problem at the moment is we have seen little to no sign of good games coming for the 3DS, whereas the PS Vita has such a strong line up already and it's not even out yet. I honestly think the Vita will bury the 3DS this time around.

Another point to consider is the fact the 3DS is the 5th iteration of the DS, Im sure people are sick of buying the same piece of plastic over again.

[The Black Wolf]

I think the Vita will be successful. It actually has good launch titles, launch titles even better than the 3DS and on top of that it's coming out near the holidays.

[F34R]

The major problem at the moment is we have seen little to no sign of good games coming for the 3DS, whereas the PS Vita has such a strong line up already and it's not even out yet. I honestly think the Vita will bury the 3DS this time around.

Another point to consider is the fact the 3DS is the 5th iteration of the DS, Im sure people are sick of buying the same piece of plastic over again.

If you think that the games slated for the rest of the year, and beyond that we know about aren't good, then the 3DS just isn't for you. You speak of a lineup that we don't have any idea when those games are coming out. The only thing we have is five launch games confirmed... wtf? How are you even posting in here about the 3ds, etc., when the Vita is in the same boat. We know about a LOT of games on both platforms. That's about it.

[LfCpS3]

Looking at the success of COD, i really do think that packing PSV and COD together will be more of a success that we we can imagine. Many people play and love COD so imagine being able to play COD anywhere. I think SONY should play is safe by doing this and i also believe this will have more of a success than Uncharted on PSV.

As long as the core experience of COD is there on PSV then i do expect it to be as popular and maybe success.

[AaronSOLDIER]

Before the 3DS price cut, PSV would easily wipe the floor with it, but now its gonna be tough between the two.

[Thorzilla]

Oh please. Let the games sell the system, and it's got plenty for launch. The only way I see Vita failing is if Sony fail to market it correctly (which I could see happening). Other than that, the PSP had a humongous following, especially in airports. Seriously, whenever I've gone traveling these past 6 years, 2 times a year at least I've seen airports crowded with PSPs. I can see all those people getting one at launch if not eventually.

[chriharr]

It's hard to say what will happen because Vita isn't out yet, give it a year and we'll see where it's heading, personally I think Nintendo has fucked up majorly with the 3DS, it's almost crossed between a SEGA dreamcast/NEO-GEO portable, or at least feels that way. The system doesn't feel necessary to be on the market, yes the hardware is decent enough, but 3D is a stupid idea considering it's really not 3D but more of a window within window type gimmick....

The price drop shows desperation on Nintendo's part.. no one is buying because the games are friggin' expensive and it's nothing more than a slightly upgraded DS, people are happy with their current DS's and large game library that it offers... the DSi and DS lites are still selling fairly well around the world, Nintendo don't fix what's not broken.

PSP was a great system in many ways, but was too damn expensive, lacked fun playable games. Lots of projects got cancelled, UMD movies were a silly idea and a waste of money, Memory stick duo storage idea was extremely stupid SD cards or even built in memory would have been better, exclusive and proprietary does not work in a companies favour much these days and really comes across and distrustful to consumers who want cross platform freedom ease of use and features relevant to the times. UMD is a great technology but it's not for handheld consoles, portable devices need non moving parts, moving parts is a crazy idea... load times should not happen on portable consoles and I even wish home systems didn't have to load sometimes... but yeah, some great hardware, but no decent software and limited irrelevant features.

PS Vita looks great, it's everything the PSP should have been, but it kinda feels a little too late to the market for me, it's a portable PS3, I have absolutely no desire to buy it, no games really appeal to me, the PSP will be my last portable console because I find a much more immersive experience with home consoles, they can replicate the arcade titles I love playing, I can't get that on a portable system... I can't get arcade sticks on portable systems... to tell you the truth I think apple will be the platform of the future, iPad, iPhone that's where the future market is, every single mac, iphone, ipad and whatever apple brings out in the future is a fully capable fully fledged gaming platform. cheap simple fun and addictive experiences is what drives sales, think about the cheap thrills of the arcades, people seem to be embracing that mentality right now.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the 3DS VS VITA, I don't believe for one second the VITA or 3DS will reach anywhere near the sales of the original Nintendo DS and DS Lites, no way in hell the systems will cause that much of an effect because they really aren't bringing anything new and exciting to the market, they are just rehashed ideas of existing products with new and improved portable graphics processing technology.... big deal... don't get me wrong there's going to be some great games for both systems in the next few years... but I can't see anything groundbreaking... just add on series titles, more gimmicks and bloated downloadable content it feels like they're doing everything wrong... just my opinion.. most won't agree...just being honest.

A system is only as good as the games available for it, launch titles aren't always a good indication of how a system will sell, it's the second batch of titles that determines how good a system might go... round one is just the beginning... round 2 is where we see strength in the console battle...whoever maintains strong quality software will be the one that comes out as the best system of the generation.

[floetry]

There are far too many factors into the reason the 3DS and Nintendo in general has been having trouble that you cannot just say it is due to cell phone games. The market has already shown there is enough room for both dedicated handheld devices and gaming on cell phones.

You are not going to see games on cell phones that looks just as good or better than PSVita or even the better looking 3DS games. The gaming market on cell phones cannot support these higher budget titles and no developer is going to spend 3 to 4 plus years developing one of these titles with how often cellphone tech changes.

Yes you are

[Ariakace]

Yes you are

so youre telling me that in 2 years, i can get the exact same gaming experience from a 5 dollar game, that ill be able to get from the Uncharted Golden Abyss game for 40 dollars this year? And you dont suppose that people constantly reporting feeling ill from the 3D screen, a MAJOR lack of well.... even medium quality games (everyones already friggin played ocarina of time its NOTHING NEW) at launch and people just getting sick of buying yet another iteration of the same nintendo console has absoloutly nothing to do with it?

Ive played the damn thing. It gives me a major headache because i cant move my head or my hands to see the 3D effect otherwise i just see a clusterf*** of what amounts to be a game thats just annoying to play because if i hold it at the wrong angle i cant see crap from the 3D screen. Nintendo had a really cool idea with the 3D and no glasses thing, but im pretty sure its caused more barf sessions than any vomitarium Rome's seen in the last couple hundred years.

Tell you what though. You dont want it day one, dont buy it, but dont make the 3DS's current sucktitude your sole reason for not buying the PSVita.

Heres my arguement.

MLB12 The show psv/ps3 xferable
Uncharted Golden Abyss (top that)
Twisted Metal (you know its happenning)
Soul Calibur 5 (durrf!)
Mortal Kombat PSVITA (FINISH HIM, ANYWHERE)
Every other sports game Cloud compatible with your ps3 save.
God of War franchise for PSVita (its gonna happen eventually)


You dont want it? Have fun with Angry Birds 2: Angrier Birds.

[Versus]

OP if you want a PS Vita then get one. Don't let any of the analyst sway you. There are a ton of devs who have signed on to making games for the Vita. Let's just hope it can get good content on the thing.

I personally want FF remakes on it. (V,VI)

[Ryunosuke]

Yes you are

Not a chance. Better looking, higher budget games are already capable on iOS devices today, which are perhaps at or near their peak, and none of the developers/publishers are putting the money in for these higher budget/better looking games. That is because these are not the type of games the iOS/cellphone/etc. market supports.

The advantages dedicated handhelds such as the PSVita and 3DS have over iOS devices, cell phones, etc. for these higher budget is still far too great for developers to start putting in the type of money for these games on iOS devices, cel phones, etc.

[SnowHawk]

How can the Vita be in trouble when it isn't even out yet.

[sergeriver]

A Ford Fiesta looks nice but it's cheaper than a Ferrari, and Ferrari still sells a lot of cars. Different hardware. A Vita for $249 is cheaper than the $100 you pay for the 3DS IMO.