Much like in our own editorial, IGN’s Colin Moriarty has also highlighted some of the problems that the PS Vita has that may have caused it to sell so poorly in Japan.
Much like what we said, Moriarty said the PS Vita didn’t launch with one title that Japanese people will absolutely love. The Nintendo 3DS has the Mario franchise which Japanese gamers always shell out for. The PS Vita would have benefited a lot if a new Monster Hunter game was launched with the system.
Another interesting thing Moriarty mentioned is that people aren’t aware or even care about the PS Vita. He was at the airport and was playing with the device but no one really stopped by him to have a look at it. They were more interested playing on their own iPads. He said people were more interested in seeing the first PSP when it was released back in 2004/2005.
The other thing he said is that the PS Vita’s price for memory cards will also prevent people from buying the system. Although the PS Vita is priced the same as the 3DS was last year before its price drop, many gamers will have to shell out extra for a memory card.
He did mention the North American launch of the PS Vita could be better due to the games that are out. Unlike in Japan, Uncharted: Golden Abyss is a household name and as are other Sony franchises such as LittleBigPlanet and Resistance just to name a few.
As I’ve mentioned before, the PS Vita is a great device but it feels as if consumers aren’t that interested in the device as we are. Although the same thing happened with the PS3 when it first launched and that has been selling well now…
Do you feel the PS Vita can whether the storm and be successful outside of Japan come February 22nd?
TareX
January 3, 2012 at 9:43 PMThe Vita needed every help it would get, and that includes trying to tie in the PS3 name to it. like calling it the PS3 portable.
Matthew
January 3, 2012 at 10:09 PMDoesn’t work out of the box,
Doesn’t have any gotta have launch titles,
Almost 300$ for a working Vita with no game,
Extremely restrictive usage requirements, heck my son can’t even use it unless I wipe it clean,
Rip off prices for games I don’t care about, I already have “hot shots golf” on 3 systems.
Sony, do you hate your fans? What do you treat your fans so bad? Let’s get on stage and announce a new system with a price point , thank all for the applause, and fail to mention that it won’t even work out of the box …..
Lamanuwa
January 3, 2012 at 11:55 PMI think that the Vita will be more than successful. But the potential of the the device has yet to be seen by the majority of gamers. It’ll take some time to sink in. Once the value packs that come out with the Memory and a game for a great price and a few more Console grade titles kicks in, it’ll be solid.
Darrell
January 4, 2012 at 11:00 PMLet’s hope they somehow package in a free memory card, 4gb would be fine.
Retailers should try to partner with Sony to offer free memory cards with purchase.
Crystallish
January 5, 2012 at 2:43 PM@matthew: yeah, paying extra is part of the problem, you may get a working Vita plus game for 300€ in Europe or 300$ in NA, but the game has to be Ridge Racer then, which is set to be released for a budget price. (while unconfirmed, EU Gamestop listed Vita+MC+Game for exactly 298,99)
@news: the hardware will sell well, once the price drops about 50$ and/or good games come out. Japan only needs a Monster Hunter Game i guess, and it’ll bump Skyhigh.
Grant Gaines (大将)
January 5, 2012 at 3:37 PMHas to be ridge racer? I would check that math…
System: 250
4 gb card: 20 (270)
Game: 30 (300)
Games that are currently listed for 30 usd on the vita… Hot Shots Golf, Wipeout 2048, Dragons Crown (not release date game), Ridge Racer, Katamari, and Mod Nation. So there is a CHOICE in this matter all be it not huge, but more than a single title.
my guess
February 13, 2012 at 1:38 AMJust a guess on my part, but I think the vita could do well in japan eventually if they start marketing it correctly, and the right games start surfacing (as mentioned here). The PSP did pretty well there.
Here, I don’t think it has much of a chance. Marketing is, again, terrible, but it’s also just competing with to many other devices for peoples attention. That wouldn’t be so big except for the fact that the PSP’s popularity ramped down with crazy speed and never picked back up. It seems like people are less willing to put up with sony’s BS here- potentially because we aren’t into the game library as much(?). Crap like proprietary memory, stupid movie formats like UMD, and the most damning thing of all- the fact that Sony has to rely on their tech over everything because they have so much trouble getting exclusive game titles that are FUN. I can’t think of one reason I have to have a Vita, other than “because I enjoy draining my wallet for something I’ll play for a few weeks, and then only look at once every 6 months from then on”.
I have to admit, I thought sony’s formula would kill them on the games side long before this, but it actually served them well on the PS3. Possibly because during the whole hd-dvd/blu-ray hype when it was clear blu-ray was winning, PS3 was not just the cheapest, but one of the best blu-ray players you could find. It’s still a great blu-ray player, and has all the other stuff people use right now like streaming movies etc. It’s a really good home entertainment system, and I really think that’s most of what kept them alive, because while the ps3 has a handful of fun titles, it’s really just not competing with anything as far as exclusive must-have games.
I really don’t think that’s going to change with the vita, but there’s nothing technology wise in the vita that will make up for it, so I just don’t see it doing well here. I’d pick up a 3ds over a vita in a heartbeat, because when it comes down to it- after you take a way the tech gimmicks on either side (3d, touchscreens, touchpads etc etc…) nintendo just knows how to consistently make a fun game.