Sales Projections Indicate Sony is Giving Up on the Vita

VG Republic Writes: After Sony released their sales projections for the current year, it looks as though they have succumb to the same realization most owners of the Vita have already reached; it looks like it's time to give up on the Vita. As reported by CVG, Sony released that their sales projects for the rest of the fiscal year that runs through March of 2014, and their portable sales projections between the PSP and Vita are coming in right around 5 million units world wide. It's a sad truth, but if Sony isn't projecting solid figures, then they obviously know something we don't. Gamers have been curious if this would be the case with the Vita, as the lack of games produced for the system have been either ports or HD remastered titles, providing new experiences that can't be had else where few and far between. It looks like the writing has been on the wall and Sony is taking notice.

[NYC_Gamer]

PSV might be the last handheld released from Sony

[Knight_Crawler]

You might be right.

I know allot of people on here down play smart phone and tablet gaming but you are blind if you dont see how much smart phone and tablets games have cut into the hand held market.

I said this before Sony announced the VITA and I will say it again - Sony needed to make the the VITA a hand held / smartphone device...we are living in an era where people want an all in one machine.

The PS4 and 720 will also rely heavily on providing more features than just gaming... laugh at MS all you want about them being a cable box/ media hub but MS knows what the majority of consumers want and they want a gaming device that offers tons of social media and entertainment features.

[JoGam]

At E3 Sony should give a clear indication if they are giving up or not.

If they have a bunch of Vita news at E3 I doubt they will be giving up.

[BattleAxe]

With Sony releasing their flagship smart phone the Xperia Z/ZL, I could see them doing more with their phones than the PS Vita. I like what Samsung has done by producing what looks to be a high quality controller for their Galaxy phones, and I think this is the direction that Sony will move in also.

[zeal0us]

It really shouldn't be that hard for to make the vita's successor a hand held/ smartphone device. Since Sony already made the Xperia Play.

They could a build a modified version of android for the device base off the software was use in the Xperia Play.

Dedicated games could be stored on game cards.

Far as memory goes Sony should stick to mircosd and not those expensive vita memory cards. At then 128gb would be limit instead of 32gb.

SoC,graphics, ram, camera and display should be whatever is standard at the time. Top of the line hardware would be great but at the same time could make the overall device more expensive.

[nix]

Before Vita was going to be released i was saying "please make it a phone + vita" but noh.. instead they shelled out Xperia PLAY (which i bought).

i'm loving my Vita but i still wish if i could make calls with it.

[SilentNegotiator]

3DS is selling like wildfires burn dry forests.

It's not about the phone/tablet market, it's about price. 3DS cut its price by 33% from $250 (what Vita is at now) and it has sold like flapjacks ever since.

[badz149]

It will suck a lot if only Nintendo is left in the handheld market. Sony is pushing boundaries since the PSP while Nintendo keep it low and play it safe as always thus we get a device a couple of gen behind in terms of power.

The PSP was way ahead of its time and the Vita now too. I believe that there is still life in the Vita and hopefully with more games coming, sale will pick up too

[yeahokchief]

I'm not worried. Love this thing. Really solid device. I'd complain about wanting more games, but I kinda have like over a dozen to play on my Ps3...

I was one of those who didn't really want one because straight up i don't travel anywhere, but its amazing for playing in bed. It's taking my laziness to new levels. Cuz sometimes I feel like gaming, but sitting in my recliner becomes too strenuous after 10-12 hours of gaming. The screen is so amazing and bright that you can play perfectly in the dark without needing any light whatsoever. I plan on trying to watch some movies on it later too once I get through all of the free stuff you can download onto it.

Already got over 100 hours sunk into Soul Sacrifice and still playing it beyond the Platinum trophy. The cross game/party chat works PERFECTLY. Used it in 4 player Soul Sacrifice and everything runs smooth as hell.

Looking forward to Dragon's Crown on it next.

It's going to be an interesting 2nd half of the year. A lot of things are still very uncertain with the Wii U, Vita, PS4 and 720.

And to give you a heads up. If you get a Sony Credit card, you can pick one up for $200 with a subscription to PS Plus. And you get an additional $50 the first time you use your card. And if you bought it in April, registered it and signed up for the referral program you could have gotten another $20 psn credit. That's crazy value. There's also a few ways to earn at least another $20 psn card via free sony rewards points if you figure it out.

So basically if you had planned on becoming a member of PS+ later this year you're getting $140 worth of credit for a device you're paying $200 for. I'd say this is the time to pick one up.

One thing is for sure. The worse these things sell, the sweeter the deals get for us who actually own the devices. I have bought 4 quality vita games so far for $10 a piece.

[nix]

tell me about it... i'm so used to VITA and it's advantage of mobility, i want every PS3 games to come out on VITA too.

it's like carrying a PS3 everywhere thanks to it's amazing graphics...

[chrismichaels04]

People said the same about the PSP and PS3. How did those systems turn out? Oh that's right, both of those "dead systems" are currently around the 80 million mark each. People act like Sony is new to the video game business. Bottom line.....Nintendo isn't going to stop making home consoles and Sony isn't going to stop making portable systems. These new systems just need time to breathe. Enough with the doom and gloom nonsense. I swear...some people on here spend more time talking about video games rather than actually playing them.

[SonyPS4]

Actually with the PSP you need to factor in firmware hacks. A lot of people bought PSPs to play their SNES roms, and they also pirate their PSP games. Because of this, PSP is one of the most pirated gaming platforms of all time.

PSP wasn't successful at all outside Sony's backyard. The handheld market is monopolized by Nintendo.

[dedicatedtogamers]

It's tough to imagine why Sony would do this. I hardly think that they're giving up on the Vita. Sony can't afford to give up on the Vita any more than Nintendo could afford to give up on the launch-flop of the 3DS, and look how Nintendo turned that ship around.

I would wait until E3. I know the PS4 is going to be on display. I know the PS4/Vita cross-functionality is going to be talked about. However, IF and only IF Sony seems to ignore the Vita at their own conference, then we'll know if the system is on its way out.

[Majin-vegeta]

E3 just wait people.

[moegooner88]

SCEE's Senior manager said something about a big title coming to the Vita, I am guessing it will be announced at E3.

http://n4g.com/news/1251606...

[Prodigy-X]

Wait till E3.

[Root]

Well I'd rather have them focus on the PS4 to be honest....thats just me anyway.

I'd rather them go all out for a separate smaller show for E3 just for the PSV. There's too much PS4 stuff to be revealed, I wouldn't want time at their E3 show being wasted on the PSV.

[KrimsonKody]

Well,
The Vita DOES exist, & it is Sony's product.
I think there's room to showcase both.

[Root]

At the same show.....

Nope....rather have a full show focused on the PS4, Nintendo had a separate 3DS event I don't see why Sony can't do the same with the PSV

[hulk_bash1987]

@Root

At the PS4 reveal they were really showcasing the connectivity features between the PS4 and PSV. So yeah, it's a good bet they will be highlighting both the PS4 and PSV in their conference.

Also, as a PS Vita owner, I truly hope Sony doesn't just give up on the platform. Because it does have a lot of potential and some great games for it.

[MikeMyers]

Of course there's room for both. Sony would also want to utilize E3 to advertise Vita more. What Sony has also done, that Nintendo doesn't do with the 3DS, is market how Vita is a supportive device with the console. Does the 3DS have remote play? Does the 3DS have cross-platform play between that and the Wii U? Does Nintendo have a service like Playstation Plus that has free games for both the handheld and the PS3 tied to the same price model?

[Tultras]

I'm sorry you're not interested in the vita, but 5 million other people are ( including me ).

But launching a product means that you support it.

[admiralvic]

I love how quickly people jump to conclusions and make absurd assumptions. Like this could be Sony making a guess off this years failures, since PS Plus, Cross Buy, Declassified and several other things weren't enough to get massive sales. Furthermore, this sentence "Gamers have been curious if this would be the case with the Vita, as the lack of games produced for the system have been either ports or HD remastered titles" makes me believe this person isn't that informed. If you ACTIVELY go back and look at all the PSP titles out there, a good percent of those were updated PS2 games and ports. Sure the PSP had a lot of fun games (some of the best were those ports after all), but this is nothing exclusive to the Vita.

In the end, I wouldn't read too much into it. This could be the things I mentioned earlier or they think PS4 sales will cannibalize Vita sales this holiday and lowered it. Whatever the case might be, Sony has shown support for most of their flops and will most likely continue to do so with the Vita (which should become successful in the future).

[SpiralTear]

Considering that Sony did detail the Vita functionality with the PS4 in respectable detail at the reveal conference, this sounds sketchy to me. But if it is true, it's a shame, because the Vita is a good piece of gaming hardware. Damn good.

I'll stick with the others and say to wait till E3. It's not like it's that far away anyway.

[KrimsonKody]

Sigh,
It just might be possible.
I mean, look at what happened to the PSPGo...
I had loved the Go!

Also, I don't think the Vita will be their last handheld. I think their next handheld, similar to PS4, will focus more on streamed games & less retail.

[boybato]

the PSPGo in my opinion is different. Though it has been discontinued, the PSP-3000 stayed in production.

[-Falaut-]

Sony brought up that the Vita will be a true companion device for the PS4 multiple times during the PS4 event. Yes... they are definitely giving up on the PSV o_O

[OrangePowerz]

Sales projections can get revised. When companies make their projections they look at it from a shareholder point of view. Its always better to have the projections lower at the start of a financial year and later increase them and hit a higher target than originally anticipated instead of other way around having a higher target and lowering it. The first option will lead in most cases to the share prices increasing while the second option will lower them.

There is no reason just yet to think Sony is giving up. The Vita does well now in Japan after the price cut and if they get a price drop before the PS4 launch for EU and US and integrate the connectivity between the two devices I can see it to also pick up momentum here in the western market.

[DivineAssault]

If E3 shows nothing, than i believe theyre not going to do much with it but i highly doubt that will happen.. During the PS4 presentation it was said that "vita will be PS4s main companion"... I doubt Sony will only market it as some type of advanced controller.. It will have plenty of games too.. Its having a bumpy start but itl be ok in due time.. Theres plenty of games to look forward to this year.. Tearaway, KZ, Dragons Crown, FFX HD, Muramasa, indie titles, and others i cant think of.. Watch 2014 release all kinds of great titles for vita.. & PS3, & PS4...

[boybato]

So the thing is Sony gave a realistic sales projection (taking into factor things such as that the gaming market will choose between a home console, "lack of vita releases" etc.) and it gets translated to Sony giving up on Vita?

[Omar91]

Well all I'm gonna say is if sony lets the vita die, I won't be buying anymore handhelds again

[CaptainN]

That's what the 3DS is for...everyone knows the handhedf market is Nintendo's. So giving up on portables because Sony failed is absurd!

[Omar91]

I was never a handheld type of guy. Yea I loved the gameboy back in the day but I stopped buying them after gameboy advance and never looked back. When sony announced the vita I wasn't interested, but I slowly started gaining interest and bought one. I still love my vita, but if sony decides to not support it which I doubt they won't because they even said it themselves in the sony conference that vita will play a key role next gen, then I just won't bother with handhelds anymore.

[AKR]

Wow, I see many people here saying "Wait 'till E3" - yet had this been a Wii U article, it would have been "Let it die!"

Interesting.

On-Topic: Seeing that Sony was pretty enthusiastic about having PS Vita and PS4 as a solid couple, I'd doubt they'd give up on it that easily. But then again, they are doing bad financially, so if they have a product that isn't turning a profit - they may very well do it. Will be keeping an eye on this one.

[Inception]

Maybe sony waiting what effect from KZ: Mercenary, Tearaway, God Eater 2, Dragon's Crown, or FF X/X-2 HD for vita. If this games doesn't give a significant boost for vita, than maybe it's safe to say sony give up on vita...

But it is really sad if they gave up on vita, cause i plan to buy vita on this december with Muramasa, Ys Celceta, Gravity Rush, P4G, and Soul Sacrifice...

[Hicken]

I don't get it: why would people even buy into this BS (what the article states), knowing full well the integration the handheld will have with the next PlayStation?

"Oh, we've got all these cool things planned for PS4 and Vita, but cutting our earnings expectations means we're giving up on the handheld."

That's so utterly stupid, it doesn't bear a serious response.

[Inception]

Well, imho this is not a 100% BS article. And i knew sony have some good plan for vita, including a lot of potential games in this year. Also, it's too quick to give up when more developer have a changed of heart (like Idea Factory) and decided they will give vita more attention.

But, it still worried me if sony only target vita sales for 5 million unit, and that's combine with PSP.

[Swiftfox]

I disagree with the assumption the article is making.

Sony projected their sales of the console low to be realistic. They will be launching a new console later this year, and it will compete with the PSVita for sales this holiday season. The PSP is also at the very end of it's life cycle while the Vita is still in the early years, sales are normally low on both ends. It's really no surprise given the evidence why Sony would be realistic with their expected sales of the Vita system for the next fiscal year.

[CommonSenseGamer]

What signal does it send to developers and consumers though. Its not like Vita software sales are much to talk about.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

I was just about to say that. They have to be realistic about their projections. I don't see how being realistic translates to giving up.

[TheSkullkid]

And another one falls to the beast Nintendo. Say hi to the Sega Gamegear and the Neo Geo Pocket in hell, Vita. Why do companies continually humiliate themselves by challenging Nintendo? You think they'd learned by now, but I guess they're just a glutton for punishment.

[WeAreLegion]

...because both the PSP and Vita have been profitable for Sony. They've made tons of money off of both.

The PSP is one of the most successful gaming systems in history.

[CommonSenseGamer]

That's right. Doesn't have to sell the most hardware as long as its profitable.

Hmm, I wonder if Sony fanboys can apply this same common sense to the whole 360/PS3 sales debate.

[bunfighterii]

I love my Vita but yeah even I can see, there are only 2-3 releases this year worth mentioning, and as good as Soul Sacrfice is for a handheld, it's not a killer app, and frankly right now there isn't one. Hopefully Killzone Mercenaries provides the experience that we all expected from this device, so much wasted potential right now.

[Williamson]

Better not give up on it since I love the potential it has.

[WeAreLegion]

I see Sony integrating their handheld gaming and phones. :) It would be a major selling point for Sony phones...which are already growing.

[tubers]

Transforming Xperia VITA (removable side controllers) will shoot up the VITA marketshare.

Xperia Z (arguably less popular than SG4 and new HTC One) sold about 4m in a month.

OFC they should still keep a basic/wifi only version to have more accessibility.

Maybe Sony will do it in 2-3 years instead of just a single VITA hardware refresh.

The only problem I can see is the Android OS for the VITA phone.. might be more open to hackers.

[WeAreLegion]

That's very true. Most Android games are pirated a lot more than are purchased. :/ Perhaps if they just ran the Google Play Store and apps through a separate application, it could save them from piracy.

[DJ]

It just needs another push, like a whole Re-Launch with badass games.

[radecGaming]

all handhelds is on the brink of extinction .. because of godamn phones !

[tubers]

Make a VITA model into a good flagship phone.

People gobble mobile flagships.

[Agent_hitman]

The reason why Sony PSVITA is not selling well is because, it's packed with ARM Quad Cortex CPU, similar CPU wee see on Smartphones and Tablets.

Let's admit guys, that one threat to VITA are the Convergence devices like tablets and smartphones. You can play games and Download via Google Play or iTunes.. So why would you buy a Handheld gaming device if you can play games on your gadget, with similar processor and GPU?..

Another factor is the price, Sony should lower it's price from $250-199.. Believe me, you can buy a powerful tablet like NEXUS 7 for $199, so why not lower the price of vita?.

[a_bro]

That's the problem why it's not selling. Price. 250 dollars. May sound good. But add in that memory card, and no I'm not talking about 4gb, or 8gb. It's not enough. This thing was built for digital distribution in mind. Proprietary formats suck. They hold back the systems price to the mainstream.

If I recall, back in 2011, when the world got news that the system cost $250 dollars, people where excited, the fact that the system was in complete equilibrium with the 3ds pricing, made it clear that the system was going to sell, and in fact overtake the 3ds. Once Nintendo dropped the price on the their handheld, that perception changed.

Sony of course didn't respond, which begs the question, when will they respond? As each day goes by, the system continues to tank, and for no reason. It's sad, because most owners of the handheld love the system.

[ohbaby]

Vita is dead, and I own one so no, Im not trolling just telling it how it is. Old ports, HD remakes and Indies that are releasing onto every other Sony console are not worth what I paid for this thing at launch. Sony dropped the ball, I mean seriously how the hell is there no God of War announced for the thing already. Hype sucks dont believe it.

[Veneno]

You make a halfway decent point. Where are the rest of the Vita ports of the Sony games? Wheres God of War, Gran Turismo, Demons Souls, inFamous. Maybe E3? I really really hope Gran Turismo comes to vita with a fleshed out single player and online. Theyre doing the 15 yea4s of GT right now so chances are good ♥♡♥♡

[LordHiggens]

The handheld is little more than a year old...it's already been announced that this handheld will be integrated with the PS4...I highly, highly doubt Sony is giving up on it.

[Welcome2Die]

I dont care what anyone says, the PSP was an amazing handheld! And unfortunately the Vita only has tons of potential but I really hope more developers make games for it because its such a great device....

[sherimae2413]

lowering sales forecast and make it much more realistic is considered giving up now! besides this are all just estimation!

sony have just learned from its forecast this year for the vita, and they have to cut it three times and look what happened, full of doom and gloom everywhere and now they made a realistic and lower forecast its still doom and gloom
tsk tsk tsk what a bs article ^_^

[Hanso]

Well said!

[Soldierone]

This is Sony, not Microsoft. Sony shouldn't simply release a new smart phone and pretend their latest gadget doesn't exist. Yeah, remember the Zune HD? I had one of those, was giving MS a shot with a new product since it was actually good, and got screwed.

If that happens with the vita then I'm simply done. I'm not even interested in any new phones on the market.... I'm so sick of contracts and being out dated the second you buy the phone. EVERY single phone I buy randomly can't update to the latest software within a year, even though the dang thing just released....

The reason I want Vita to succeed is to bring the console route back to handheld. I loved that PSP lasted so long, and I want Vita to do the same. I don't want a new handheld every 5 months because developers are too stupid to utilize an entire market of phones/handhelds....

[MuhammadJA]

All the Vita needs is a price drop.

[tubers]

Don't forget the memory cards.

[Protagonist]

BS!

[Adolph Fitler]

I have a Vita & I also have an Xperia Play.....the fact is, that as a console gamer, the Vita cannot be rivaled by a smartphone, but the the other fact, & more important fact is, that the masses aren't wanting the same experiences from a handheld device, that I do....
The masses want quick hit, shallow experiences such as the Angry Birds, Rope Cut, & such type typical casual appeasing games, whereas I want console type experiences.

The fact is, handhelds have always offered these shallow type experiences, due to the technology & the fact that the Gameboy, gamegears, lynx's & such came from an era that meant even console games were very basic & shallow.
Finally I get a machine that is capable of offering modern console type experiences...the depth that 3D games offers was never really available for a competitive price & as shown by people unwillingness to pay for Vita, still isn't,.......so Vita is looking to be like the dinosaur, which is a massive shame & true gamers that haven't invested in one should be ashamed, as we can kiss decent handhelds goodbye....& the reason I find it such a shame, is that smartphones WILL NEVER offer the controllability that the duel analogue sticks offer. Touchscreens just won't ever offer the accuracy & such that the old Gameboy, psp buttons, digital pad & analogue stick do, let alone the brilliance of dual analogues, shoulder bumpers & buttons on the Vita.
Even my Xperia Play sucks ass with it's bodgy, pseudo dual analogue things that it has, compared with the precision that my Vita offers. Sony should just re-release it, in a smaller version, with a phone inbuilt.

[FrigidDARKNESS]

I love the Vita but its price tag keeps the majority from owning it.

[tommygunzII]

I have a first gen PSP still. When I bought that 6 or 7 years ago i was amazed that I could play games in HD, browse the internet, watch movies and listen to music from a device that fit in my pocket. Now in 2013 you can probably get toys in Happy Meals that will do these same things.

[tubers]

Where the hell are the games that made the VITA's predecessor a beast?

(exclusives/non ports)
God of War
Granturismo
Metal Gear
Final Fantasy
Kingdom Hearts

You'd expect such and better iterations on the successor..

With the 3DS, fans got their Pokemons, Marios, Zeldas, Emblem and now MH (SS has not met the hype nor sales that stand against even MH3U 3DS)..

Sony's pretty slow with what a lot of Sony handheld users want in parallel (just go to gfaqs, ign, gt, psvita forum, even the official PSV forum.. a lot demand more and some just grapsing at the the thought of "potential")

Mantra: "PS VITA = PLS WAIT"

2014 E3.. time to wait for that.