60°

Vita to target a younger audience by 2014, says Sony

Sony will be shifting its business strategy to target Vita at a "younger demographic" by 2014, SCEE CEO Jim Ryan has said.

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gamerzines.com
DarkBlood4508d ago

how younger can they go i dont think parents are going to shell out for thier below preteen kids

JoeReno4507d ago (Edited 4507d ago )

I'm sure by 2014 Vita will have had a price drop, and attractively priced bundles.

Oh and by the way, many many parents "shelled out" for the DS and 3DS so why wouldn't they for Vita. Hell my Brothers daughter had a 32Gb Ipod touch when she was 8, and that costs about the same as Vita does now

DarkBlood4507d ago

im referring to people who dont really like the whole video game thing with the exception of thier kids getting into it

and little worried about the responsiblity and maturity of them handling products that cost alot

i probably shouldnt really care about that anyways

dedicatedtogamers4506d ago

I think what Sony is saying is that the Vita will go directly after the DS/3DS crowd by 2014. Right now, the Vita is targeted mainly at preteen-age and up. The 3DS (well, moreso the DS but the 3DS is newer) is currently the "kids handheld" because of the price point and Nintendo label. Methinks Sony wants to combat that.

GraveLord4506d ago

Vita is $250 right now.
By 2014 it could easily drop to about $169.99. That's pretty cheap. Anyway why do you assume they would target preteens? Right now they're targeting males in their 20s. So by 2014 their focus will shift to about 12-18.

Genecalypse4506d ago

"Our view of the 'Game Boy experience' is that it's a great babysitting tool," Tretton said in a bruising chat with CNN, "something young kids do on airplanes, but no self-respecting 20-something is going to be sitting on an airplane with one of those. He's too old for that."

I guess he changed his mind

WooHooAlex4506d ago (Edited 4506d ago )

It doesn't mean we're going to get kiddy experiences. Guarantee you we will still be getting our fill of hardcore games from Sony.

By 2014, you'll probably be able to get a Vita, bundled with a memory card and a game or two for under $200. It will be easier to sell it to the parents once the price comes down a little.

Spenok4505d ago

I agree. This is only stating that there will be a bigger marketing push toward the younger crowd. However there will still be plenty of games for the "Hardcore" crowd.

Titanz4506d ago

That's why you don't ever burn a bridge you cross, my friend :P

ShaunCameron4506d ago

Yup, after finally stepping into the real world seeing plenty of self-respecting adults with DS's.

Theyellowflash304506d ago

Yeah by then they can drop the price and please the hardcore first. Im sure vita will sell in japan. America will be a bit tougher just cause Sony doesn't have the mass market games like Pokemon and Mario. I wish them luck though

golsilva4506d ago

yeah but at least they are trying. modnation racers, lbp are their attempts to do so. granted, will they immediately be on the same level as pokemon or mario, no but its all about building it up. if mr and lbp do well critically and is well received by gamers then sales will be pretty good. Then future iterations will build on this. So yeah its all about their attempts of creating mainstream franchises, which takes time.

badkolo4506d ago

so when ms goes casual everyone is up in arms but when sony says they will do so with vita they get a pass??. interesting

Bathyj4506d ago

The difference is Sony will cater to everyone. They arent going to abandon the core gamers and dripfeed them releases.

dedicatedtogamers4506d ago

Big difference: MS did it. Sony only said it. It remains to be seen if Sony will completely dump their fanbase like Microsoft did when Kinect came out.

Game4life4506d ago

sony has plenty of studios to do both hardcore and casual. You can tell from some of their studios doing move games for casuals while others are still pumping out hardcore games

SuperBeast8114506d ago

LOL so just like the xbox did huh? teens/adults then get the kids lol

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150°

PlayStation Vita Issues Have Tarnished the Legacy of an Otherwise Great System

The Vita is a well-designed system, albeit one that Sony left for dead as soon as it hit its first bump in the road. If it weren't for a couple negative quirks, it might have even been one of the best handhelds ever made. Unfortunately, those quirks have turned into awful problems as of late, and have only served to tarnish the legacy of what has otherwise been an excellent cult system.

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playstationenthusiast.com
lptmg2417d ago

I like the Vita a lot. I actually blame Sony in putting less faith in it than it should

Prince_TFK2417d ago

I love my Vita. Fantastic system. The screen totally destroy the 3DS. Too bad that Sony drop the support as soon as the sale slow down.

I wonder what would had happened if they had used SD card instead of that expensive card.

PhoenixUp2417d ago

I'll always find it hilarious how even when Sony seemingly abandoned their second handheld, Vita still outsold Wii U which was heavily supported by Nintendo.

Never underestimate the power that third party support can do for a platform.

freshslicepizza2417d ago

Which cleary shows why it's good to have a nice balance between the two. Sony knows this but some of their fans seem to only want to talk about exclusives.

Prince_TFK2417d ago

I thought it is all about exclusive here on n4g? So third party is only important as long as we don't talk about Xbox? Oh the amount of spin.

rainslacker2416d ago

Sony had 3rd party support, and still has it to this day on the Vita. IN fact, it's about all they have. They even had some pretty good 1st party support in the first few years.

But no one would give them credit for that support, and "vita has no games" was the constant mantra being spewed on every vita article until Sony finally dropped all its meaningful support for the system.

Games are what sells a system. Doesn't matter if they're multi-plat or exclusive. Sony had a lot of both, they just failed to get more of the really big exclusives like they got with the PSP. PSP didn't really take off until they started getting things like Metal Gear or GT. When they looked like they were finally going that path, they pretty much gave up on it, and it's kind of sad, because it's a great system.

chris2352417d ago

got the vita although it was dead on arrival. mobile gaming on dedicated machines is deadder than dead. oh wait, the switch is doing stellar, even rivaling the ps4, the xbox and the new xoxbox. ok, let's forget for one second about the absolute market dominator: when was the last time you saw someone playing his or her dedicated machine outside? I can't really remember. what I'm seeing everyday though is that everybody and their little daughter got smartphones when they are on their way to go somewhere.

2417d ago
thatguyhayat2417d ago

Vita was and still amazing. Playing uncharted and gravity rush on it was simply epic. Such a shame Sony gave up on it

InTheLab2417d ago

Was...perhaps. still? Those games came out years ago. The vita is a terrible handheld that Sony pushed out with Insanely overpriced memory cards and a handful of games. It was amazing for maybe a year then reality set in.

Sony only cares about the home console. Vita, PSP, Move, and now the PSVR all rely on 3rd party support after Sony pushes them out the door.

2416d ago
Show all comments (15)
40°

Top 5 Best Cancelled PS Vita Games of All Time

Are you a huge PS Vita fan? If the answer is yes, and you absolutely adore your Playstation Vita then this video is going to be tough for you. The VitaBoys count down the top 5 best PS Vita games that got cancelled.

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vitaboys.net
390°

PS Vita 2 Will Be Better Than Switch

The PlayStation Vita is such an underrated handheld device that it's almost sickening on how it just disappeared in the hands of gamers. And even though the Vita vanished off the face of the earth, this does not mean that a next gen Vita isn't welcomed. If another iteration of the PS Vita does come to be, than this could spell disaster for the Nintendo Switch.

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goodnewsgaming.com
naruga2584d ago (Edited 2584d ago )

i m calling it now...No Monster Hunter 5 No portable console for me .....if Vita 2 is to be released with games like 'portable"Uncharted&a mp;a mp;q uot; , portable "Horizon", portable Assasin Creed , is Hell NO ...portable consoles need proprietary games (ex Splatoon Monster Hunter, Gravity Rush ..games that can be played portbale) and not degraded versions of home console games (huge mistake from Sony to support Vita with Uncharted and Killzone (two mediocre appeal IPs that could only be enjoyed on pS3 because their graphical superiority) and most importantly Vita died because its main life source MHou series was stolen/went Nintendo exclusive ...

Kaneki-Ken2583d ago

Ignorance at it finest. Vita died because no one bought it and the games. The reason that no one bought it and it was because the pricey Memory Card.

2583d ago
princejb1342582d ago

One of the many reasons. My reason was because I just don't game while traveling

fiveby92582d ago

I agree the pricey memory cards really diminished the sales of the Vita. I recently read that one of teh reasons Sony stuck with their pricey card rather than standard SD cards had something to do with concerns over piracy of games. One would have thought cheap standard cards would open up software sales on the PS Store. But oddly piracy was some major concern. Regardless, I'd like to see a new handheld from Sony.

The 10th Rider2582d ago (Edited 2582d ago )

But the 3DS floundered at first and had comparable sales, however it's now a success. I think the Vita was less salvageable due to the memory card costs. On top of that, Nintendo moved development to the 3DS, resulting in great 3DS support but poor Wii U support, and Sony moved development away from the Vita, resulting in poor Vita support but great PS4 support. On top of that, Vita was clearly the more powerful device, which is great, but games with a higher visual fidelity take more time and money to develop, making it far easier for Nintendo to turn around and get games out than it would be for Sony.

The big reason I think we won't see another Vita is because Sony would have to split their development teams between PS4 and their handheld, and it would be even more powerful leading to increased dev times and cost. It may be possible to make a handheld that plays the same games as a console (in 720p) if consoles go native 4K next gen, especially if it released a few years after the home console. Other than that I don't see Sony making another handheld that pushes power. (Maybe something different that's affordable, portable, versatile, and doesn't push power though.)

freshslicepizza2582d ago

sony is about tradition, they will come out with another handheld. they invest quite a bit into in-house studios and want more than just the ps4 to sell their ip's on.

nveenio2582d ago

I don't think Sony wants a new Vita. I think they want to get Playstation Now ready on all mobile devices. Then people can play whatever whenever and Sony doesn't have to worry about the hardware headaches or being first to market or anything like that.

Erik73572582d ago (Edited 2582d ago )

Nintendo had better games on the 3DS , hence why third party sucks. Who wanted the shitty assassin game on vita?

zb1ftw7772582d ago

By saying no one bought the vita and it's games, you essentially agreed with everything naruga wrote.

He literally listed the best games on the vita and then explained why no one bought them.

Funny how two people say the same thing, but word them differently and obtain different levels of likes.

toyzombie2582d ago

I kinda disagree.... They had to release the Vita at the correct price. We've already seen what happens when something is priced to high. Lets say they would have released the PS Vita at $350 with an internal 64GB of storage. People would have lost their minds because its $350. People just arent willing to spend a high dollar amount for a high quality portable device due to cell phones.

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 2582d ago
conanlifts2582d ago (Edited 2582d ago )

Uncharted is a mediocre ip? Have you even played the game?

xMANB3ARP1G2582d ago (Edited 2582d ago )

the memory prices would have been forgotten and went down if monster hunter and some other games came to it the PSP memory card prices were way worse than the vitas at release. I never understand when people want the newest and greatest up till it comes time to pay. Sometimes new things cost money sucks but it is a fact of life. uncharted wasn't bad and resistance was sick but overall they misfired on this one would of loved one now built with ps4 in mind and a real mobile connection that can be used with your current plan and plan data limits for like a 10 buck a month fee better quality stick and hopefully sd card support but it would still need stuff like monster hunter Patapon LocoRoco wipeout and final fantasy games. unfortunately mobile games ruined handhelds to many ppl are ok with the garbage mobile games anymore and its a tough sale for a handheld and a handheld game now there will always be ppl like me who love portables but now with everyone owning a cell phone and every dev having at least 1 cell phone game of all various quality its hard to sell a buck cell phone game much less a full priced handheld game.

2584d ago Replies(4)
EddieNX 2584d ago

There is no PS Vita 2 lol so good luck with that. PS Vita had way worse games than the WiiU and was a disaster outside of Japan.

Kaneki-Ken2583d ago

Good Luck with the Switch having no 3rd party support from Big Publishers after Skyrim releases. After Zelda hype dies off, no a lot of people going to buy a Switch for a port Mario Kart games and Indie, a sequel that doesn't feel like a sequel *cough* Splatoon 2*cough*. And the puchies game that doesn't seem nothing new and The only good exclusive is coming out in the fall, Mario.

EddieNX 2583d ago

I was just playing Splatoon 2 before on the global test fire and I can confirm now that its fantastic, an iteration sequel like COD but its gunna be worth owning a Switch for the amount of hours you can sink into its sensationaly addictive multiplayer. Mario kart is a perfect game 10/10 the only thing wrong was balloon battle and they've fixed it made it 1080p and portable you can play multiplayer anywhere, fantastic, can't wait.

Mario Odyssey is gunna be epic, so is Xenoblade chronicles 2 and Fire emblem. Fire emblem warriors and Arms will both be great, there's a TON of amazing indie games and other games already announced, god knows what they're going to show us at e3.

Honestly, Switch is turning into my favorite ever console. The portable nature of it is amazing. Im so excited about the future of Switch and I really feel sorry for people who are going to miss out on the games I've listed above. I have an XB1S and will be getting a Scorpio as well, so I won't be missing out on any third party games. But I'll also have the ultimate portable/ hybrid console with Nintendos truly amazing games

conanlifts2582d ago (Edited 2582d ago )

"The only good exclusive is coming out in the fall, Mario"

So you think xenoblade 2 is not a good exclusive?

Prince_TFK2582d ago (Edited 2582d ago )

Kaneki-Ken

You seem to forget that Nintendo has many unannounced games that is coming such as Pokemon star, monster hunter, fire emblems...on top of that E3 is coming and who know what Nintendo has up their sleeves.

But yeah...keep putting your fanboy google on and keep on hating Nintendo, while i keep on enjoying their games.

V0LT2582d ago

I think your crystal ball has been hacked. You couldn't be any more wrong.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2582d ago
2581d ago
PhoenixUp2583d ago

Switch has Dragon Quest XI

The next potential PlayStation handheld will not.

That alone spells which will be more successful

Platformgamer2582d ago

Ps4 also has DQ XI and sony could do a cross-platform thing with a potential psvita2 so...

_-EDMIX-_2582d ago

I don't know how you came to such a strange conclusion.

The likeliness is statistically if Sony does release another PlayStation Portable it's going to be what the PlayStation 4 is in regards to strength or near it.

PhoenixUp2582d ago

If Sony couldn't get DQIX for PSP, I doubt they could get DQXI for a future handheld

Miguelitons2583d ago

There will be no PS Vita 2, that's just it!

InahimeHondaSengoku2582d ago

I love how you are always right. :-)

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