140°

Sell The PlayStation Vita Yourself, Sony

GR: As if PlayStation Vita sales figures weren't bleak enough, even Sony is beginning to show signs of distress. In a new promotion, Sony is offering a $20 PSN card and "tons of Sony Rewards points" to PSN users who can convince their friends to purchase a PlayStation Vita. Except, this doesn't come off the way Sony intended—it comes off as desperate.

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gamerevolution.com
doctorstrange4138d ago

Anyone want to be my 'friend' whose in the mood for a vita?

007Bond4138d ago

And here you guys want ports of grade A console games on vita when it doesn't even sell haha. Honestly nobody walk around with a handheld unless your 12 years old.

sexbobomb914138d ago

Right, the Vita is meant for 12year olds and UFC fighters: http://imgur.com/a/wUDnl .

Baylex4138d ago

I have mine in my backpack, i take it with me in my car and when I ride my motorcycle i have it inside my jacket! And I'm 22... so the only kid with 12 years that dosen't take their handheld with him is you... because:
1- you're not 12 years old... maybe 11 or so..
2- you don't have a Vita.. maybe a 3DS and you keep it at home!!! God you're pathetic lol

iamnsuperman4138d ago (Edited 4138d ago )

It isn't like that. It is like the Sky box adverts which gave you Marks and Spenser vouchers every time you recommend a friend to join Sky.

It is a standard marketing tool used quite a lot by companies.

jimbobwahey4138d ago

Yeah, I've always considered the whole "Refer a friend" and such marketing strategy to be commonplace. Seems odd to see people shocked and alarmed by things like this given the tremendous amount of successful companies that utilize these kind of promotions.

iamnsuperman4138d ago (Edited 4138d ago )

Like the Sky example. Sky is doing phenomenally well in the UK yet they did such an offer because it just brings in much more customers. It really makes me worry about the people on this site/submitted to this site

Good_Guy_Jamal4138d ago

You have to admit it does seem rather desperate, all things considered (vita sales performance, first time a gaming company does this for hardware)
I want alot more than just 20 bucks for convincing someone to buy a VITA.

admiralvic4138d ago (Edited 4138d ago )

Just because you can spin something to be bad, doesn't mean it's actually bad. Plenty of sites give you bonuses for inviting a friend, several companies offer you a nice little extra (like Direct TV and the 100 bill credit) and even some contests give you extra entries for inviting others / tweeting / facebooking (basically the same thing). The is a common marketing tactic because it is common knowledge that people don't usually talk about good experiences, but will complain about bad. This marketing tactic offers you a reward for hyping the system, so people are MORE likely to speak highly of it, over simply saying nothing. Nothing desperate about it and even if you view it as "desperate", I still think any topic about it are even more desperate for hits.

EddieNX 4137d ago

It's like sucking off people for crack..... /s lmao

Wedge194138d ago

This is sad. I'm a staunch Vita supporter, but really, like you said, Sony needs to sell their own products themselves. You shouldn't need to offer me an incentive to tell my friends about the Vita, your product should be so good, and SUPPORTED that it makes me want to pitch it to my friends myself. That, or well advertised enough that they already know about it without my input.

alexcosborn4138d ago

It really is sad.

The Vita really is in trouble.

-Alpha4138d ago (Edited 4138d ago )

Look, that's true and all, and I can see why people are poking fun at it, but this is nothing new, and nothing most companies don't try to do, regardless of the success of their product. There is nothing wrong with the method, and you can't fault them for advertising.

Wedge194138d ago (Edited 4138d ago )

I agree, and as pointed out in other comments, DirecTV and other companies do it too. The difference is in the execution. Other companies promotions are a successful product that they want you to tell your friends about. In this case, it's a last ditch effort to get customers to support the Vita.

Get support on the developer side of it, and people will come in droves, without needing to offer money. The Vita really is an amazing piece of tech, truly a marvel in handheld gaming. But I can't be expected to sell my friends and colleagues on something that I don't see the developer offering a lot of support on.

If this was better supported on Sony's end, I would be handing out flyers on street corners and convincing everybody I know to purchase one.

ftwrthtx4138d ago

Someone's gotta sell it. The developers aren't helping.

Belking4137d ago

You can't blame this on developers. It's sony's responsibility to ensure that the hardware has great software support. They really need to get out of this"if we make it people will buy it" way of thinking because it really doesn't work that way with everything.

Hicken4137d ago

Care to look over the list of games for the Vita and say Sony isn't giving the damn thing great software support?

Uncharted, Unit 13, Sound Shapes, Gravity Rush, LBP, Sly Cooper, MLB The Show, Super Stardust, Wipeout, Hot Shots Golf, Escape Plan, PS All Stars are all great FIRST PARTY games, and a wide variety, to boot. That's an average of one first party game per month, and that excludes the smaller games like When Vikings Attack, Little Deviants, Treasures of Montezuma, and Hustle Kings.

Seems like Sony's giving out great support, to me. Maybe you should actually do research. Oh, but then, you'd just say it in full knowledge that you were telling lies.

... which is probably what you were doing, anyway.

Troll harder.

-Mezzo-4138d ago (Edited 4138d ago )

So i'll take it that the writer has never heard of a thing called, 'Affiliate Program', what Sony's doing is not different to an 'Affiliate Program' run by, say... Amazon, Ebay or Best Buy.

Everyone that sells stuff does this.
----------------

Sensationalism At It'S best.

iamnsuperman4138d ago

I know right. I am still surprised by some people on the internet

Good_Guy_Jamal4138d ago

People called microsoft desperate for giving microsoft points with every Gears and GTA V sold. Shouldn't be suprising that this move by Sony is evoking the same thoughts. Amazon, Best Buy and Ebay don't make a handheld game that is struggling at the moment though. Just as an after thought. . .

tachy0n4137d ago

its not distress, i got the feeling like sony is waiting for something, PS4 perhaps?

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150°

Sony CEO says although AI "has been used for creation," it's "not a substitute for human creativity"

"AI is not a substitute for human creativity. We position it as a technology that supports creativity. Creativity resides in people. We will continue to contribute to people's creativity through technology," the CEO said.

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gamesradar.com
1nsomniac2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

...not yet but 100% within the next 10 years!

..Then Sony will use it like the drop of a hat. They're no different to the others.

isarai2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

They used to be 😞 sure it was always a business, and money's always the priority, but they used to have a very strong stance on supporting artists and creativity. "Dont f#@k with the artist" was a phrase they touted a few times back in the ps1-ps3 era, a philosophy carried over from their music branch PlayStation was created from. It's not COMPLETELY gone, but it's barely there compared to what it was back then, i just want them to return to that.

Eonjay1d 19h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

I am highly encouraged by their statement about human creativity. "Dont f#@k with the artist" is exactly what they are saying. But at the same time, I don't think people understand that Sony is a corporation. If they don't realize growth, they don't get to exist. When you say 'Sony', you are talking about a bunch of investors. To speak about them any other way is a illogical and incorrect. They haven't changed. They have been a group of investors since they became a public business.

isarai2d ago

Ugh, i really wish people would stop gambling people's livelihoods by turning a project/game into their political soapbox. Im all for statements and having your own opinion, but there's more people working on this than just druckman, ham fisting your political beliefs onto just seems inconsiderate for everyone elses job security when it can result in a failure due to people avoiding it for that reason.

I play games for escape, im so tired of nearly every AAA game blatantly dragging real world issues to shove in my face when I'm trying to take a break from it all. They don't even bother to be subtle about it, quite the opposite, it's blasted and force fed to you and it's just getting exhausting

Einhander19721d 21h ago

People are taking a whole interview and cutting it down to clips that make him look bad and take what he actually was saying out of context. For example he also said things like this AI has "ethical issues we need to address"

-Foxtrot1d 20h ago

@Einhander

Why defend him at this point?

It’s not taking things out of context, he said what he said.

Old ND would never talk about soulless AI taking over so many creative things they are well known for. The whole “ethical issues” is just a good PR spin people who push this crap fall back on to make their statements not seem as bad. So many AI lovers do this.

AI has no place is so many creative based things.

Einhander19721d 21h ago

Well yeah, because everyone else is using it so they need to stay competitive. It's the same as paid online, they didn't want to go that route but their competition was making so much money they needed to add paid online just to keep up.

RaiderNation1d 18h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

AI will never replace humans in game development in terms of conceptualizing new games. Humans still need to come up with the ideas and what they want to implement. However much of the day to day menial coding could be AI driven to reduce production time and team size. I could also see AI being used for bug testing/optimization that could lead to better quality games at launch. I'm actually very optimistic about how AI can positively impact game development.

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XiNatsuDragnel2d ago

Good statement but hopefully this holds up

NotoriousWhiz1d 19h ago

People that aren't software developers just don't understand the benefits of AI. People who's only exposure to A.I is the Terminator movie and other related sci fi films won't understand the benefits it provides.

It's not about replacing human labor. It's about making human labor easier.

Many years ago, I had laser eye surgery done. It was performed by a robot. The doctor took my measurements and calibrated the machine to make sure it would do what needed be done. And then the robot corrected my vision in 10 seconds.

15 years later and I still have 20/20 vision.

Eonjay1d 19h ago

AI in and of itself is not a 'bad'. Money is bad. Money is evil, and corporations will do whatever they can to get more of it. They will find ways to implement AI to replace as may jobs as possible. This isn't even up for debate. It is the charge of the corporation to maximize returns for the investors. They have no choice. I'm a developer and I know that my job will absolutely be replaced. Therefore, I have decided to become an AI dev. AI has a lot of potential to help us solve problem on a scale most can't even imagine. The issue, as ever is that our monetary system only ever allows us to focus on greed and fiscal growth.

But I am a pragmatist. Perhaps an AI model can be built to help protect us from our most dangerous instincts and habits. And perhaps Congress can pass laws to protect us from people who would use AI to manipulate and control us (spoiler: they wont).

RaiderNation1d 6h ago (Edited 1d 6h ago )

Progress is inevitable. Nobody driving cars today is complaining that the horse and buggy is no longer around. Yes, some jobs will be lost but guess what? With innovation comes new job opportunities. It's how the cycle of the job market works.

150°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers30d ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos30d ago (Edited 30d ago )

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken30d ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g30d ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing30d ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H930d ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola30d ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn66930d ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle30d ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg31d ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos31d ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola31d ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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