IGN: Is A Perfect Storm Sinking the PlayStation Vita?

It's clear now, a few weeks removed from PlayStation Vita's Japanese launch, that all is not well with Sony's new handheld. After pushing a somewhat respectable 325,000 units in its first 48 hours, Vita has nosedived. In the week leading into Christmas, Vita sold only 72,479 additional units. And while we're still waiting for new sales figures from the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012, something tells me those results aren't going to be good, either.

[ssb3173]

If you think about it, the PS Vita hasn't been released in the rest of the world yet, so it's too soon to make any assumptions. The Vita will most likely do better outside of Japan but considering that the holiday season has gone, it can be argured if people are willing to pay that much money for one. The fact is that with the 3G model, paying around £15 a month for it seems very expensive, considering that youtube doesn't even work properly on it. Software sales wise, digital downloads are not counted for in charts and so nothing can be based on that. There might be more digital downloads as prices are lower for them, but considering that no one has any info on them, it shouldn't be judged so early into its life. Not only that, but it has only been two weeks since release, and that isn't nearly enough time to judge if it will fail or not.

Having imported one myself, I can say that it is really amazing, and something worth buying. Also having its main competitior, the 3DS, I can say that both consoles will do well because that are different to eachother. They also said that the 3DS was dead, and yet look at it now. If Sony can do what Nintendo did and get even more better software, then the Via should sell well.

[Abash]

I can't wait to see IGN's "Why the PlayStation Vita was always bound to succeed" article a few months after it launches in the US and EU

[yesmynameissumo]

I'm still amazed at the doom & gloom people who "love gaming" throw at devices like the 3DS and Vita. Hell, PS3 and Wii have seen their fair share too.

[ABizzel1]

A bit of my Vita excitement has died down just a tad bit, due to some inner confusion going on with Sony and what the features Vita is lacking as of it's Japanese launch.

But it's still the best looking handheld ever as far as gaming goes, and I'm going to get one, but I hate when something that has so much potential misses greatness due to minor negligence. Hopefully Sony will get everything worked out before the US launch.

1. A 4GB card should be included in all Vita bundles as well as Little Deviants for free.

2. PS Vita games shouldn't cost over $40.

3. All PS1, PS2 (add more games on PSN), PSP, PS HD Collections, and PSN games should be playable on PS Vita.

4. They need to drop the 3G version, and focus on the Wi-fi model only.

5. They need to market the Vita everywhere.

[badz149]

the only thing that I see sinking is your integrity in gaming journalism, which is down to the new low!

[ChrisW]

Abash,

The author said that he wrote an article about how it was set to succeed a couple months back.

[lumley666]

it makes me laugh at how many people people moan about the price of vita, just look at smart phones, for the latest one your looking at £600, i know vita is no phone but for the tech your getting the price is fine

[darthv72]

I agree with what you said about waiting to see how it reflects on the rest of the world. However, your last comment about the 3ds lacks a specific point. The 3ds was all doom and gloom until the price came down but not only that, it is backward compatible with existing ds carts in physical form.

Something the vita lacks completely. So in essence people buying the 3ds can continue to play their existing library of games but vita owners will need to rebuy their psp titles in digital form.

The digital idea is what hurt the GO (a great little system) when you look at the vast selection of UMD titles. I know those who have UMD's will likely have a PSP to play them but this day and age its about convenience. It is more convenient to have a single unit that plays old and new. This was a big selling point when the DS first came out and had BC with gb/gba games.

I believe the vita will be a success in its own right. I am not on the fence on this one. Its going to be in my hands when it launches and I will enjoy every minute of it.

edit: i should point out that generally, nobody buys a new unit to play older games but that is a selling point with people looking to upgrade. That way they arent out anything when it comes to the games they already own.

[irepbtown]

'No one looked at Vita twice, whether in the airport terminal or on the airplane'

I dont know about you, but if you was to see the PS Vita from several metres away, one would think it might be a PSP, ESPECIALLY non gamers. Apart from the extra analogue compared to the PSP, what major difference is there (not hardware, just the look). So he kind of lost me there.

'Here I was, holding an electronic device that virtually no one in the United States has yet, and folks around me were more interested in their iPads'

Precisely the reason why no-one would look twice. They'd either think it's fake, or a PSP (like I said before). So twice he lost me.

And you are talking about an AIRPORT here. People are more excited about going away for the Holiday.
Walk into a gaming store with the PS Vita then lets see what the reaction will be. Because that's where the sales will come from, not the bloody airport.

[snipes101]

Uhh guys, if you read the article, the author notes that he already WROTE an article awhile back talking about how the Vita WOULD succeed. This is a response to that. So he waited until he saw some numbers before he said anything about "doom and gloom."

Number two, he also admits in the article that, no, it hasn't launched in other territories and that, admittedly, one of the Vita's largest launch titles (Golden Abyss) is a wholly Western game, something that won't catch Japanese consumer's eyes like a Monster Hunter title would.

I won't summarize the whole thing here for the arrogant jerks that see "IGN," "Vita" and "failure" and write the whole thing off, but I will tell you he makes some valid points.

Cheers to reading the article before posting!

[dedicatedtogamers]

Wow, IGN. Wow.

Hey, lemme use your logic.

*ahem*

Xbox 360 has sold horribly in Japan since launch. Therefore, it will be a flop around the world.

I'll be happy to accept any editor positions you might be offering, IGN, since I have now proven that my logic is on par with your writers'.

[Snookies12]

Haha, good stuff sir! That made me laugh, IGN is getting worse by the day... I've just about stopped going there, just like I did with Gamespot long ago.

Thankfully N4G is here, with all its gaming news goodness.

[TheFirstClassic]

Uh, actually in the article he says look at the xbox 360, even though it sells poorly in japan it thrives elsewhere. Really, this isn't exactly a doom and gloom article. He's just pointing out what problems the Vita might have.

This is the same guy who wrote why the Vita was set to succeed a while back. Not saying I agree with everything he says, but let's not get out of hand here.

[Rush]

Actually it's not that simple, The DS brand is a lot stronger around the world then the PSP brand which is most likely why Sony dropped it.

The PSP though always did really well in Japan, hence the tons of awesome J-RPG's on the system.

So it's a little worrying that a system who's predecessor sold so brilliantly in Japan is now selling poorly there.

The PSP was never a hit in the UK or the USA why the DS most certainly was.

So if the Vita is selling so poorly in it's home land when it's older brother did so well there, what makes you think the rest of the world will be willing to accept it when they didn't the first time?

[kaveti6616]

The PS VITA is a portable console. When it was shown that PS3 wasn't selling as well as PS2 did in Japan, the reason was: the Japanese love portable consoles now, so it makes sense.

The PS VITA is a Japanese portable console. It should have launched with better sells than it did. What was the reason why?

You're trying to assume that you can talk about Xbox 360 in the same vain as a Japanese portable console. The original Xbox fared poorly in Japan. It wasn't expected for Xbox 360 to do very well, either. IGN is making a decent point.

[dedicatedtogamers]

@ Rush

You do realize that right now the Vita has sold roughly twice as much as the PSP did at launch, right?

What about Windows 7 Phone? Remember how that was shown off not long ago? How's that doing? Where are the doom 'n gloom articles for Windows 7 Phone?

[DivineHand125]

Did u read the article. The author already established that they are in no way jumping to conclusions because the vita didn't fly off the shelves in japan and he used the 360 as an example where it sold very poorly in japan compared to the rest of the world.

The author's argument is based off the reality of the situation where the vita might have many hardships in the future because if things continue they way there are now with all the limitations sony has set in place for the vita such as no memory card included with the system, 1 psn account to a memory card and the price of the memory card it self.

Another point the author sourced was his own personal experience with the device where on his way back to California from Japan, no one payed him any attention while he was playing it in public and he was really surprised by this because he was probably the only person in the US that had the device using and no one cared.

Don't write this off as just a FUD article because nothing in it sounded biased and it even concluded with recommendations for what he thinks could improve the situation which in my opinion are good ideas.

[YodaCracker]

Except Japan was a very strong sales region for the PSP. It was often the best-selling platform every week in Japan (ahead of handhelds and home consoles alike) in its day.

On the other hand, Japan has always been the 360's worst region. Take away every 360 that has ever sold in Japan and it would still be ahead of the PS3 in total worldwide numbers.

[snipes101]

Uhh guys, you DIDNT READ THE ARTICLE.

He says right in the article that Xbox 360's success everywhere but Japan ran counter to his point and that, upon Western release, it could sell well. Here's the direct quote for those that will probably be too busy spouting their too-eager-to-jump-to-conclusio ns opinions to click the damn link:

"Let's not forget that it's only been released in one territory that represents well under 20 percent of the worldwide gaming market. This is the same market that couldn't possibly care less about Xbox 360, and yet Xbox 360 still thrives. So let's not get too ahead of ourselves."

As you can see, the author covered his bases with this article. Something many of the posters here clearly are not doing.

The N4G troglodytes that write off everything and anything that is IGN make me sick.

[DeeZee]

I agree, I think people need to see these out in the wild. I took mine to my local game place, and people that had no intrest in the Vita at first were gushing over it after playing with it for 10 minutes.

[Veneno]

You're right. back when psp launched I really didn't have much interest in it until a college friend brought it to class with Darkstalkers on it. Everyone was impressed with how cool it looked.

Vita will rock even better than PSP.

[mcstorm]

There are two problems with the psv in japan. One is the size. (for me it is good as i have big hands but Japanese and Chinese people tend to be smaller and have smaller hands) the other problem is price. If the price included a memory card then ok mybe the price is ok but not spending around £300 for a device with one game.

I can see sony dropping the price before it is out in the uk amd usa or bundle a game and memory stick for the same price as the devce on its own. I dont think the psv will be a flop and never did but i stil think the 3ds will sell more but the psv will out sell the psp total sales in the end.

People say something is doa alot of the timw like they said about android the ps3 even he 3ds but they have all turned it around. It will be the sae for some of the new devices like he psv and windows phone 7 they are in it for he long hall and sales will pickup.

[GribbleGrunger]

ssb, although you are clearly a Vita/Sony supporter you are getting drawn in by the media. you say it will probably do better outside of Japan thus confirming that you believe it has done badly. as i said below and has been confirmed in a breakdown of ALL PS branded consoles, it is perfectly normal sales behaviour for a Sony console. don't try to think around the so called problem, there isn't one. when it's been released for six months or so then come back and discuss. until then just keep reminding people of the truth.

it's also telling that the 72,000 number is being used when they would normally go with the VGChartz numbers which are 103,000 units sold. i'm not saying they are reliable but why change their source now?

[ChrisW]

The PSP Vita looks awesome, it even has my attention.

But here's my theory:
Many people have PSPs in Japan. I see MORE people playing PSP (of any version) on the trains here than I see playing DSs or other GameBoy devices. My belief is that the Japanese (outside of diehard fans) have been given little incentive to upgrade. Their PSP works perfectly fine and they enjoy playing the games they already have for it.

Here's one other thing... There have been 5 PSP versions released since 2004. The only thing that's worse in the portable market is iPhone, which has 5 versions since 2007! However a major difference is, the iPhone isn't primarily portable game console. Annnnnd, I see more people playing smartphone on the trains than PSPs. So really, it's just an over-saturation of the market for portable gaming devices.

[andibandit]

To the casual gamer the vita looks like another version of the PSP.

[vickers500]

Jesus f*cking christ, do we really need ANOTHER Vita is in trouble article?

Regardless of whether or not they are true, we've had enough of them. If my fellow n4g members hate these articles as much as I do and are tired of constantly seeing these, then join me in reporting this piece of crap article and any others that may pop up and annoy you.

[fei-hung]

The article is A_R_S_E all around.

If only 500,000 units were shipped to Japan for xmas from which a percentage was 3G models and over 400,000 units being sold, that is pretty good. Especially considering the thing is more expensive to purchase, it is only being sold in Japan and the remaining Vita's may only be the 3G models.

Oddly enough, VGCHARTZ, although not the most reliable of sources shows it has sold over 100,000 units leading upto the 24th December making it 425,000 units sold out of 500,000.

It would be good to see some figures from Sony on how many units they shipped and how many titles were purchased online.

However, if things are not going as smoothly, I would suspect a starter Bundle to be sold for Europe and USA - Vita, memory card and game. This wouldn't be the smae as a price drop, but it would knock of some money on the overall purchase.

[TBM]

Im still purchasing the wifi model because the system gives me what i want while im on the go, true core gaming experience period. i won't let the naysaying gaming media, or the db hating gamers out change my mind about the vita.

[geddesmond]

Lol just remember the PS3 was doomed for 2 years from its launch as well. These gaming websites think if something doesn't sell millions in its first few weeks then the product is doomed.

But they keep forgetting that Sony make these products to last 5-10 years and if the launch line up or launch price doesn't suit people then the handheld will get a sales bump when new software gets released or the handheld gets a price drop.

[THC CELL]

Oh ign stfu

[jujubee88]

Is Moriarty acting insecure. Do you like the device? Than go into it and write you thoughts about it! Don't worry about 3DS supporters being jerks or iPad owners being the trendy upper class.

This article just looked like he was begging for the mercy from a couple of anonymous scumbags on the internet (for a previous article he made).

BEYOND!

[TheGamingArt]

I can't believe IGN just sunk this low. Pathetic article.

[WooHooAlex]

The small detail that these articles conveniently leave out, is that the PlayStation Vita had the second strongest launch in Japan of any PS device, the only console that had a stronger launch was that the PS2. All of them saw a large drop off in their second week of sales too.

Vita will be just fine...

[ronin4life]

The market has grown much bigger since these previous launches, so it should be expected to do better regardless.

[BiggsnWedge]

in Japan? I don't think so. They have a very aging population and are very work intensive over there(which is part of the reason why their suicide rates are so high) and they, believe it or not, put their work before their hobbies. Crazy I know.

[cooperdnizzle]

Yea the market has grown across the globe, but the market has shrunk in Japan. So learn your stuff buddy. Everybody knows that japen is in the worst economic state right now, and they haven't been buying games like they used to for years

[Megaton]

Mostly just IGN and CNET, no perfect storm.

[Matrix2k]

Youd think ign wouldnt learn to be stupid after the 3ds

[GribbleGrunger]

it's certain now that the press are after Sony and have been for years now. the launch in Japan went exactly the same as every other PS branded product: high sales for the first week followed by low sales in the second week. this is business as usual for Sony but the press just want to destroy its chances before it even releases in America and Europe.

IGN, stop taking the money and try true journalism

[kaveti6616]

Stop selectively choosing articles that confirm your worldview.

[TurretKiller]

Why don't you stop telling people what to do

It's a comment site...let him post his comment

[kaveti6616]

"Why don't you stop telling people what to do"

Stop telling me what to do. It's a comment site. Let me post my comment.

[Hicken]

How many articles go the "doom and gloom" route for Sony products, as opposed to articles that do the same for the products of Microsoft or Nintendo?

I can't say I've seen and/or read every single article on the subject, but I do know it's rare to see this sort of thing written about the other companies. Therefore, it's a rather simple educated guess to say that the gaming media, in general, DOES have something against Sony.

[ronin4life]

@hicken
Ever since the game cube, Nintendo has always had the most doom and gloom receptions from the gaming media. And if you were paying attention to last march untill August, the majority of Nintendo stories on n4g were about "3ds is doomed and so is Nintendo".

[maniacmayhem]

@hicken

You only see the doom articles for Sony because that is what you stick to, Sony related articles. but if you were to open your eyes you would see that every company gets their fare share of doom articles.

There's no biased or great conspiracy against Sony. Reporting bad news is more interesting than reporting good news. CNN, Fox, and your local stations can vouch for that.

And I would like to know, what is the goal of this conspiracy "media" and Sony? What's the end game and what would they accomplish by always reporting bad news about Sony only?

[YodaCracker]

Whose money should IGN stop taking? Are you implying that they are paid to make the Vita and all other Sony products look bad?

[clrlite]

Once again, you people should not be surprised to see vita doom articles.

Lets see though if IGN can outlast the Vita.

Perhaps they should consider their own future as well.

Taking bets...

....anyone?

[Machioto]

Yes,I wager one-mililion dollars!

[clrlite]

did you say "million" ?

http://www.solarnavigator.n...

...dollars

http://www.iwatchstuff.com/...

hmm....

http://www.confluencefamily...

[metsgaming]

Ok thats it im not clicking on these kind of IGN articles ever again and the other sites too. I may click on ones that seem legit maybe if everyone else does that then they will make real articles. So im thinking dont boycott the entire site but only click on articles that look legit.

The numbers proved the "media" wrong time and time again and they completely ignore it. Its one thing to call doom but to keep doing it when the numbers say nothing is out of the ordinary is over the top disgusting.

[WooHooAlex]

Yep, unfortunately that's what most of these gaming media outlets do. They throw together flamebait articles to attract hits and encourage trolling, as opposed to writing well thought out articles that they put time and research into.

[danielle007]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I thought the article was balanced and made sense. If they aren't going to bundle a memory card, but force you to buy an expensive proprietary one on the side, it will make me wait, since there will undoubtedly be good deals in the future. The cheapest card is $20 for 4gb, and the 8gb is $30, according to a Kotaku article. That would drive the price up by at least $20, so it would be $270. That's $100 more than the 3DS currently, and it's definitely a potential issue for people.

Everything people have brought up calling this article flamebait, isn't even there, though. It's not a doom and gloom article, he says straight out that Japan is less than 20% of the total market. They say straight out that the 360 failing hard in Japan obviously didn't make it a flop. They're just saying that it's not living up to their super high expectations, and these are SOME of the reasons it could be, but who knows what will happen when it comes to the rest of the world -- and they aren't even sure if it will come bundled with a memory card or not.

[WooHooAlex]

Last week IGN wrote an article that rated their top ten favorite menu screens.

That is all.

[Ethereal]

LMAO! This is why I stopped reading IGN years ago.

[Neko_Mega]

More trash from UK.IGN.

[DonaldBeck]

lol

as a proud owner of the most hated console (on the internetz)
and it looks like the new most hated handheld (on the internetz)

i say keep up the best work sony, you are doing us true gamers proud!

[Ethereal]

I agree.

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

Im really wanting to check a Vita out... mainly for Uncharted.

But personally my jeans only have room for 4 things. Gum,keys, cellphone, and wallet. So most likely my Vita if I were to get one... would remain at home, and if Im at home... I'd rather just play my PS3 or 360!

I also have a buddy at work who is totally stoked he got a 3DS and a Kinect for christmas... wonder how soon the novelty will wear off for him! I told him all this time not to get one. But he justifys turning on his system by talking and moving the menu by hand swipes as his reason for having one. If you ask me, thats wayyyyy too expensive of a device to be "lazy" when in all actuality you're doing more for the same thing... so lame if you ask me. Also he's big into shooters. When I asked him what games are coming out for the Kinect that look amazing, he said the new Ghost Recon. I told him it don't count cause I wanted to know what Kinect ONLY games it had. I said for him to look at Rise of Nightmares reviews... the look of shock in his face was hillarious!

[Zynga]

Oh god shut the hell up. Who are you to judge your friend on what he loves and enjoys. Its his opinion and just bc you think its lame what he enjoys, doesn't give you the right to judge him. Sheez what a fanboy and if you were my friend, I would told you to go f$%@ yourself and be a gamer.

[Why o why]

Zynga

leave him alone hes a....

real human being and a real hero

[JellyJelly]

I got that :)

[GraveLord]

Did we not learn anything with the 3DS?
Started out as the worst launch in history and in less than a year it already sold more than the Wii in its first year!

These flame bait articles are annoying. I'm not giving any of these troll sites any of my time.

[Optical_Matrix]

The memory cards aren't even expensive. £16 for a 4GB Memory card on Shopto.net . £39 for a 16GB Memory Card. Think back to 2004 when the PSP came out, a 256MB Memory Card cost about £40.

[danielle007]

If you think about it, though, (Sorry, USD here) with the system being $250, if they require you to buy a separate memory card without it being bundled, the minimum price will be $270, $100 more than the 3DS.

That won't help the system sell, especially since the 3DS is finally shipping out the good games.

[Ingram]

There IS a storm of shit against the Vita since its inception, that I know.
90% of it comes from western press right out bought by Apple, Nintendo and MS.

Developers are the only one not badmouthing it.Good developers that is.Developers of 2 dollar phone apps and shovelware, we all know who they're serving.

[Burning_Finger]

Dang, IGN must be sinking if they are desperate for hits.

[Majin-vegeta]

What baffles my mind is why is it cool to hate on Sony this gen is it cuz it offers an experience unlike the other 2 consoles??Some answers would be great??.

[Death]

Here's the thing, it offers the same experience. People who claim it does more are just setting others up for the grim reality which is it isn't better than a 360 or worse. The only difference is the exclusives and personal preference. The PS2 easily had the most robust library last gen which made it the gaming standard. This gen there really isn't much that gives it the same advantage. Third party software which makes up the majority of releases looks nearly identical on both platforms.

-Death

[andron]

Lol they never tire of making these PS is dooomed articles do they.

Sales go up and down, Vita isn't even released outside of Japan yet...

[MadMax]

Ive been saying this for awhile and seems like all the game reviewers are as well. Its not going to sell well. Sales dont lie people. You can get a PS3 for less!!! In this economy right now its doomed im afraid. 3DS is a much better choice! Broke 4 million in the U.S alone. Vita doesnt stand a chance!

[Death]

How is 3DS a better choice? Software will be the driving force behind the Vita. Uncharted and GT will not play on a 3DS. Judging the Vitas sales based on the limited data that is out is about as short sighted as you can get. It has released in a single region and the bulk of the inventory sold the first week. Sales may be limited due to availability. Not to mention launch software is typically weak and prices high. 3DS sales took off after the price dropped and decent games started hitting the shelves.

You might be able to get a PS3 for less, buy it isn't exactly portable is it? The vita and 3DS are in different gaming segments and don't directly compete with home consoles.

-Death

[TBM]

Hey Max i think that excuse is getting old and tired. it hasn't stopped that many people from spending imo. i sure as sh*t ain't letting that stop me from living my life and getting the things i want in that i can afford.

i have a decent paying job, pay my mortgage, bills, and still have enough to hang out purchase things that im interested in. so come February I'll be purchasing a vita which is cheaper than $300 droid charge that im typing this on.

also im not some little kid who needs babysitting lol, so the 3ds is not the better choice for me with games that im not interested in.

[MadMax]

Excuse, haha? Its the truth im afraid. I spend quite alot of money on games. Mainly PS3 and 3DS games. For me, the Vita seems like yet another upgraded PSP. Not really any games that look worth a purchase to me.

I can play Uncharted on my PS3 with better graphics. The 3DS just has much better titles for a handheld, thats why it always seems to be the leader. Dead or Alive, Nano Assault, Williams Pinball, Shinobi, Mario Kart, Ace Combat, Star Fox, Zelda, Mario Land, etc. Awesome titles!!!

Wait till RE Revelations comes out! Not to mention the nice collection of 80s arcade compilation DS games. I am more than satisfied with the 3DS. I had a PSP for a few years, i rarely used it so i sold it on Ebay.

If you think the 3DS is for kids, you really are pretty oblivious and will be missing out on some really good games! It is a BIG improvement over the DS. The games will speak for itself.

Check out Resident Evil Revelations and Uncharted comparison video. As far as graphics go, they both look the same. To each his own i guess, but dont try to brag man. Comon!

[Half-Mafia]

The 360 thrives in Japan with 3k sold a week while the Vita sold 72k in its 2nd week but is in trouble?

really, REALLY! IGN

[danielle007]

Did you not read the article? Or are you just intentionally misquoting?

The 360 doesn't thrive in Japan, the article says that even though the 360 fails hard in Japan, it succeeds everywhere else. He's saying that 72k is a huuge drop off - which it is from the 300k+ the week before, but the the PlayStation Vita could succeed everywhere else like the 360 does.

This isn't a doom & gloom article. This is a common sense article. He wrote the article about how it's going to succeed previously.

[ilovemyps3]

Once again,big websites like ign,gamespot,etc,pro Xbox,come with their hate towards anything different than the US Xbox.

Ps3 story just repeats,once again.

Why don't they just say "people,support america by only buying US stuff,please don't buy anything from Sony"

It's better,easier to understand and perfecty clear.no more need to publish shit.

[Death]

I'm pretty sure both consoles are made in China.

Has it occurred to you that maybe some of the shit you read about the PS3 is actually true? Sony has lost money company wide for 4 years straight. They didn't accomplish this by selling too much product.

There are two sides to Sony. The view from the gamers and the view from the investors. Marginally selling better than one of their competitors annually sounds like a win to some, but realistically its far from where Sony wants or even needs to be. The Playstation brand for well over a decade performed extremely well. PS1 and PS2 owners had bragging rights and the company had a very nice stream of revenue. The PS3 does ok, but not enough to make Sony profitable. As long as Sony still produces great exclusives and has adequate third party support, gamers don't care. Unfortunately we are only part of the equation. Investors demand a return on their investments. Third parties no longer develop exclusively for the Playstation as the once did. With titles being available on multiple consoles, Sony sales go down since customers have more viable choices.

It's not all roses for Sony. They are struggling to establish an identity in a very competitive market. The Vita is a technical masterpiece as far as handhelds go. The issues they face are portability and ease of use. It's much larger and less portable than a smart phone and games on the PSP and Vita are more complex. Nintendo is the king of game filler. You can pick up their games and play for 5 minutes and not think about what level you are on or where in the story you are. Uncharted will be great, but not as easy to play on a 5-10 minutes bus or train ride.

It's not as simple as you think.

-Death

[ilovemyps3]

I had posted this in another post,I just copy it here.
Thanks to Microsoft and pro Xbox websites,huge websites that can make a guy buy one game/console, from one brand or the other,websites like ign,gamespot,and thousands more,most located in US
It's called hate,delivered by Microsoft and US media.
Here it is :

I'm happy Sony exists. Like many here,I have a lot of products from Sony. They are the kind of people that will lose one billion in r&d ,so the consumer can have great products. They were promoting 3d like no other.they invested in blu ray,and I'm happy they won the hd battle.can't imagine reading hddvd s on a noisy player as the one for Xbox.

They invest in OLED stuff,and many other technologies.with Sony,we can make sure hardware will evolve over the years, and we will have better technologies in the future.yes,they do care about the customers.

Take microsoft,they released a flawed x360 knowing the hardware would fail,one day or another.and NO shame about it.they sold a faulty console,that would always end up by a rrod.NO shame about it. Seeing people were so devoted and loyal,and really ' put whatever word starting win a "S"',by buying 3 and 4 consoles as they kept dying,they kept selling all those "rrod ready",until slim came out.once again,NO shame at all. ZERO respect towards the customer.ZERO

If Sony was selling a console this faulty,with more than 30,40,maybe50% of failure,there would be 100 class actions against Sony. Look at what removing other os did... But Microsoft selling ready to rrod consoles to millions of customers,its "normal"

They even supported hddvd,not because they believed the format was good for the customers,but only because they wanted to see the blu-ray format fail.

Microsoft don't do nothing to customers,absolutely nothing.apart buying time exclusivedlc or paying studios so they screw the ps3 version of the game,its all they do.and only kids happy with the only game they play, (halo gears cod) will disagree. Even online,they milk,with gold subscriptions.and don't say live is 10 times better because you pay for it.better or not,buying a game with multiplayer content should give you the right to play online, for free.if Sony can do it,microsoft,with all the billions they have,they could make online play FREE.but no,once again,they rip you off,with gold shit. Please people,don't tell me its normal to pay to join a game and play 10 minutes online,if you don't care about all the features in live.

So people,before saying Sony does nothing to customers,think about how many x360 you already had,in 5 years: 2,3,4, maybe 5.

This is not fanboyism,its just the truth,facts.

I hope Sony will exist until2099 orlater,so we can be sure we will have great consoles,media players,video projectors,amplifiers,TVs and so on. I know they will always invent something new, to make our lives better,in some way.

Thank you Sony,really.

And shame on you,Microsoft,for buying exclusives and people/studios , for making "rrod ready" consoles,and for fooling people by making them think its necessaryand normal to pay, to be able to play online with friends,with a game that was bought full price,with multiplayer content on it.

[ilovemyps3]

And here you have another post I did.if people were older than 10 yo,I would have got bubles,instead of disagrees. But since its daddy who buys another Xbox everytime ones does rrod,they don't like to hear bad things about their cod toy.
Here is the truth about what happens in USA, seen from europe.
I will get 10 disagrees,but I don't care:

" The same happened with ps3. When it was released, us media had a boner while announcing the ps3 was going t fail. For them,everything was wrong with that damn console.blu ray,price,everything. Even the smallest thing looked like the end of the planet earth.

Since 2006, thousands of reviews came out,excellent games kept getting bad scores,2 games released on both consoles, 100% similar,the ps3 version would always get a lower score.don't tell me about conspiracy,this still happens today,specially with exclusiveps3 games, sometimes I feel likelaughing,because the reviewer is embarrassed,everything is so good in the game,he doesn't know what to invent,to lower the overall score,so you see him picking micro faults in the game,and tries to transform them into an horrible flaw/bug,that ruined his life. Since media couldn't make people stop buying the ps3,they had to get something else,to destroy the brand. By making shitty reviews.and it became the main battle.

For example,a resistance 3 released exclusively for Xbox,would get scores like gears,halo,etc: 9 and 10's. The same game released on the ps3,will get many 7's and 8's. A killzone 3 on Xbox would get 10's, like gears.because its on the ps3,reviewers don't look,analize and judge the 1000 incredible things that the game does,they only care about the 5 or 10 minor things,so they can justify the 7/10.

The us media do whatever they can,so the ps3 and Sony doesn't triumph in usa,by - criticizing Sony brand,ps3,psp,and now vita. - always making the ps3 games look bad,with negative reviews and low scores - always making the xbox games look phenomenal,even if the game deserves a 7 - giving excelent reviews and telling people the xbox is perfect and everybody should pick one,when the console was flawed,and would always stop working ,with a rrod. In 6 years,I almost never read a US website criticizing the console or saying "dont buy this shit,its flawed,Microsoft knows it,just wait until they release a working version,but don't buy the console right now,because it will rrod in a moment,instead,buy a ps3,they're solid and reliable". By doing this,and by not telling people to not buy the xbox,all these websites lied to gamers,only to make the "national brand" succeed.

Hate hate and more hate. It's all US media can spit,about Sony.

Xbox gamers are so "educated" now,they will blindly buy the next xbox,even if its flawed again.I don't hope so,because I want to pickone,too.

I love the Sony brand, but they do the same in Japan,they only buy Asian stuff,and don't care if it comes from america.after the nuclear bomb,they still hate america,deep inside...

Europe is lucky,afterall.they don't have to buy a national brand,they can pick all the consoles and games they want.

I hope next xbox will be great,so it sells great worldwide,even in Japan. and I hope usa people will stop the hate, and will buy theps4.the more they sell consoles and games,the more studios will bring us excellent games to play.afterall,all we want is good games.and a lot of them.

So people,in 2012,let's stop a bit all this hate and fanboism shit, and let's prepare ourselves to welcome the ps4 and x720,in not that long. and let's not forget Wii u too. "

[Death]

Hypocrite much?

Microsoft had a vested interest in both Blu-ray and HD-DVD since both formats used Microsofts VC-9/VC1 codecs. This meant Microsoft received royalties from sales of both formats. The biggest reason Microsoft backed HD-DVD was due to their mandatory use of Managed Copy which meant users had the option to make 1 copy of their movie for free. Blu-ray on the other hand wanted more DRM. It wasn't Microsoft hating Sony, they simply wanted users to have fair use of the next gen format, most likely to support media streaming from Windows.

The rest of your post should be filed under your tinfoil hat.

-Death

[B1663r]

TLDR

[Ethereal]

Journalism fail. Man I need to stop reading gaming news, all it has become is complete shit. Vita FTW! Oh an the hate for Sony continues to baffle me.

[Lyle91]

It looks like you stopped reading gaming news awhile ago. This is not a doom and gloom article and you'd know that if you actually read the article instead of just the headline.

[smashcrashbash]

Yawn. I will once again point out that ALL of Sony's systems saw a decrease in sales in their second week and went on to sell tens and hundreds of millions of units. It bores me to listen to these people, especially the people on this site, prattle on about how the investors are unhappy, about Sony's not reaching their goal and how sales if the VITA are horrible and trying to compare it to the 3DS and I realize something. Most of you have no idea what you are talking about. This is the same BS that every system Sony has made has gone through and we listen to it every time and come to the same conclusions.

I swear these articles and comments are almost identical to the ones about Bluray, the PSP, Move about how no one would buy it because of this reason and that reason and it is based on what the person saying it believes, not fact. Many people had reasons why Move would not succeed with so called facts, figures and analysis and saying it would sell only 500K because it was too complicated and expensive. But 9 million people didn't seem to think so despite all the so called 'facts' everyone insisted they had.

So in short you guys really don't know what the f**k you are talking about. You are just taking shots in the dark at praying that you are right ready to backpedal and make excuses if you are wrong. So if the VITA sells more units in the coming weeks because Sony shipped more of them, I will brace for the excuses and explanations and the pretense that no one ever said it would fail, just like with GT5.

@ Death. If you even bothered to look at the VITA line up, there are several games just like that. Sound Shapes,Lumines, Reality Fighters, Smart AS, Lil Deviants Spyder, Katamari Damacy. Super Monkey Ball etc.Not every game is as 'complex' as UC. Also people walk around with tablets with absolutely no problem and they are even less portable them the VITA. If you have no problem taking your IPAD everywhere why should the VITA be a problem? You are talking BS.

@ TABSF. People are buying 3DS games as we speak and not every VITA game is the same price. Don't assume that because some people can stand the tedium of simple games because they are cheap doesn't mean everyone is like that. that is the first mistake most people make.Many people still want deeper more fulfilling games.

[Tito08]

Those people simply wants to justify why Vita will be doomed, it's because Sony destroyed Nintendo twice in the console market that they don't want that to be repeated on the handhelds.... They will always say a Nintendo this & that will be better because it has Mario, Zelda & now Monster Hunter.... They seem to forget Nintendo did an exclusive contract wit Capcom in regards of the Resident Evil series but the fact is that it didn't stop the PS2 from destroying the Gamecube, & Resident Evil 4 released on the PS2 a lot later & outsold the Gamecube version!!!!!

I think Vita doesn't need a Monster Hunter game when there are new Ips that will make the system become a hit, don't worry about what those ignorant & selfish fanboys are saying, time will tell!!!!

[TABSF]

Going to be tough for Sony and Nintendo

Gamers don't want to pay £30/$40 for a portable games any more.
I done want to pay £40/$60 for games any more.

I get all my games of Steam preferably in the sales.

I wasted my money on the PSP, never found the time to play it on the go. When I did play it I was always at home. why would a play a portable at home when I got my PC plus consoles.

Finally, since I got my smartphone I seem to play those games on the go simply because I can load then in seconds and resume them in seconds. Plus its easy to stop unlike a story driven game, Cut the Rope is a personal favourite only costing 0.69p

[EFFIN_Adduce-psn]

To be honest, the Vita has had the second best launch of any playstation product. Only the ps2 beat it and look at how good the rest have done. I'm sure it will successful too . Lots of great comments by the way!

[Ninjamonkey82]

IGN seem to forget japan is only just past a massive disaster in that Earthquake, Tsunami is know it wan'st yesterday but countrys dont just recover in a year you know.

What happened in the stock exchange after 9/11 are recently, yeah thats right you went threw a hefty recession like most the rest of us around the world.

people do tend to tighten there wallets around events such as these. Ill be personally buying Vita come release in Irland ive been looking forward to it. Ive got myself the 3Ds its class aswell. mario in 3d is something else tbh.

These websites are just trying to grab hits thats all. the trolls are happy to feed them.

[D3mons0ul]

Why do they want Sony to fail so hard? Do they really think a MS only console gaming world would be a pleasant one? Is microsoft secretely pushing this kind of crap along? It would make sense if Microsoft was somehow pulling the strings. It doesn't make much sense for a mainstream site for reviews to actively want everything Sony to fail. What would IGN have to gain from that?

There's something bigger going on here.

[NnT3291]

lol you take gaming way too seriously dude. MS and Sony are not like the US and Soviet in the Cold War.

[SuperStrokey1123]

He needs to take off the tinfoil hat i think...

[danielle007]

OHEMGEE CAN WE PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE START READING THE ARTICLES.

THIS IS THE GUY THAT WROTE THE FUCKING ARTICLE ABOUT HOW THE PS VITA IS GOING TO SUCCEED, BUT WITH THE MEMORY CARD NONSENSE, AND THE HUGE SALES DROP OFF AFTER THE FIRST WEEK MADE HIM RE-THINK, especially if there is no bundled memory card. But he even says it could succeed regardless of Japan sales outside of the country. He's valid in saying that the price of the system and the memory card together could turn off consumers, because it'll be $100 more minimum than the 3DS, and even more expensive if you get a larger memory card.

-____________________- I'm done.

[memots]

i think this could be the wait and see effect that 3ds did to the rest of the world.

I am getting a Vita but i will wait and see , waiting for some update on the device and maybe a lower prices.

[Akiba96]

I garuntee you that half the people who are bashing ign once again dint read the article.

[Razongunz]

i like the picture..

[archemides518]

man all these people need to CALM THE F DOWN. i'm getting it, and everyone i know is getting it...jeez

[Bundi]

Everyone you know?? Lol come on.

[VideoGameJimmy]

Hey can someone tell me what "true journalism" is?

I assume since you all are commenting on the validity of IGN's writing staff, you all know what it's like to write articles for a news publication. See I am an aspiring journalist, so I have to know the ways of a "true journalist". Divulge this information to me random guy on the internet!

[MasterCornholio]

Oh lookie another doom artical on the Vita. How drool i thought they would do something unique but instead they are doing the same as many other media sources. And that is predict the Vitas failure in the West.

I looked into my crystal ball given to me by my master and the wisps of time state that the Vita will be just fine.

The good part is towards the end of the artical they claim that if Sony gave away the memory cards for free along with a free game the Vita wont fail.

"Perhaps Sony could even go further than that. The Vita's launch lineup in North America is outrageously impressive, so why not offer up a freebie to anyone that buys the handheld? Say, pack in Little Deviants for free with that free memory card and really give players some bang for their buck. Or better yet, give new Vita consumers some free cash in their PlayStation Store wallets to get the online economy going on the PSN. "

[TheLastGuardian]

I expect PS Vita to reach at least 80 Million units sold by the end of it's lifetime.

[Bundi]

Lol, lots of fanbabies crying here. Did you people even read the article? This is the same guy that wrote the article on how the Vita is destined to succeed.
He even goes on to use the 360 as an example of how a console can fail in Japan but still be a worldwide success. Most of you just read the title and assumed it was another doom article. It isn't.
That said, ha ha ha ha ha ha!!

[Adolph Fitler]

I love my new Xperia play phone...& personally I think it kicks the sh@t outta the I-phone technically.....but what in gods name were Sony thinking when they decided to release both a playstation based phone & then not long after a dedicated handheld game, movie & music device...(all things that Xperia play does). They also don't seem to be giving much follow through support to Xperia Play, as Crash Bandicoot & a few others are all that are available out of a catalogue of literally 1000's upon 1000's of PS1 games. And although I have read articles that point the finger at the true blame in that particular situation, being service providers that are limiting & over pricing Xperia Play out of the market, surely Sony can do something more for it's customers, or have more to say on why & who is duping there products customers.

I'd be worried going in to buy a PSvita that Sony's support may drop as quickly as Xperia's seems to have, & that Sony's initial lineup of promising 1st party titles are all we may see from them if sales flounder badly enough....I mean, if there are no returns on the games, then it is only logical for 3rd parties to go bye bye 1st (or not even arrive) then lastly Sony's inhouse developers will be moved onto PS4 launch projects.

I really hope the machine gets the respect & sales it deserves, as Sony has at least gone to great effort to release a ground breaking little handheld (1st time round too, unlike 3DS with it's cheesy, gimmicky 3D, then it's re-release with twin analogue sticks & add on peripheral for previous owners). The machine looks awesome, just like a streamlined, improved PSP, & the power of the thing is pretty awesome.......The only major gripe I have with the machine is the fact Sony have said up your to there existing PSP, Camera, etc, customers that have forked out high ass prices (in early days mainly) for MSProDuo & SD cards, to sell us another doomed, storage format...I mean, I can't use these cards with a Sony video camera or digital cam. or any other Sony device, so to me it seems very un-Sony to have a card that only works with Vita.

[LNDCalling]

More to the point.. "Is negative press 'Trying' to sink the PlayStation Vita?"

...they seem to be having a ruddy good go at it from what I have read of late!

[PixL]

I'm going to call IGN journalists idiots, imbeciles and morons. With the full implication of what it means. Why?

If Vita fails, it will be the last handheld core device ever created. Nobody will take the risk anymore. It means casual games for buttonless devices will be the only alternative for mobile gaming. It also means sites like IGN will have to reshape and strongly reduce their staff, financing and so on. Simply because casuals are not so much interested in reading about games they download, buy and play.

Therefore IGN staff are idiots, because they're working hard to get fired in foreseeable future.

[tarbis]

Hey IGN, if you're looking for the bundle. It's here. And yes, that's my PSV. mwahahahaha!

[AgentWD40]

and I think this is awsome, it deserves to succeed

[bozebo]

I know loads of people who are excited about Vita, more than any previous handheld launch I can remember. So give it time.

The price of the games though... could end up too much.

[death2smoochie]

Remember the doom and gloom stories about the 3DS?
Here we go again folks...Round 2

[GroundsKeeperJimbo]

Remember when Nintendo lowered the 3DS's price?

[tiffac008]

I know Sony is currently looking at the PS Vita as a core device and has plans to slowly bring it into the casual market around 2013 as said by SCEE CEO Jim Ryan but if Sony does not catch the imagination of the casual consumers, then they will just be wasting the potential of the PS Vita.

Sony really needs to advertise and emphasize what the PS Vita can do, aside from the core games that will come out.

-Show the social features that the Vita has. Facebook, Twitter or whatever they have in there.
-Show the Remote Play capabilities.
-Show the Transfaring capabilities. (leave it to Kojima to come up with such a name. lol!)

Aside from that I think Sony will not go wrong by doing the following:

-Coordinate with indie developers to make more cheap or free games and apps for the PS Vita, that may help in justifying the price of the memory stick.
-Have the PS Suite games/store available at US & EU launch. I'm not sure if any PS Suite games where available in the Japanese launch.
-Like what the IGN article said bundle the PS Vita with a memory stick (I think gamers won't care even if its 1GB for the starters kit)
-Give some free PS Wallet credits for bundled packages. (Maybe this is a stretch but its better than giving away free $40 games on bundles)

Just food for thought.

[Gr81]

Should read the whole article. It was not a bad read, just because the reality of Vita's current and possible future position is different from certain fans' ideal scenario for the new handheld doesn't mean it is not a valid perspective.

This writer actually points out a lot of what is wrong with Vita right now, and possible solutions Sony can take to improve the situation. The thing is, If Vita is struggling in Japan, the area where Vita's predecessor was most successful, that doesn't bode well for the other regions' adoption of the handheld.

People can argue Vita has a better lineup than Vita all they want, but only the Sony fan is really interested in the software offered by the system right now. With the current pricing and software offerings it is not justified to get this system in its current state.

And I am not so sure the software upcoming will change that. As powerful as Vita is and it is certainly amazing, this also means dev costs are comparable to the HD consoles! And I don't know too many companies that are able (if not willing) to invest many multimillions of dollars to make software for Vita.

In the early stages of a new console release everything has to work like a bicycle. Software is most important and as more consumers buy the software companies have more confidence to invest in it. This is a precarious position for Sony to be in right now.

[SuperStrokey1123]

I have not read the article but i was wondering if teh 72k was perhaps because the unit was sold out. Im not saying it is true, im asking if it is though.

[aaronobst]

I've juuuuuuust about had it with these fucking articles

[JoeSchmoh]

Me too..If you read the article. This person is writing about how no one acknowledged him when he was playing his PSvita. So therefore no one will buy it when it comes out here in the U.S. what a load of disillusion/Self Loathing B.S.

[Demarco156]

is doing better then the 3ds stupid IGN!!!!!!!!!!

[Gr81]

no it's not...

[JoeSchmoh]

This is just a stupid ass article...i'm sorry. If you actually read what this person wrote, it's totally just self loathing (No one looked at me while I was playing my PSvita, therefore it won't sell when it comes out here in the U.S.)

[fokker]

Well,.. I am buying it day 1. -and I haven'r owned a handheld since original gameboy 21 years ago,.. Vita makes me that horny

[axisofweevils]

It's going to get worse on the gaming sites before it gets better...

For months, we had to endure articles like "Why history proves the 3DS is destined to fail", "Why Nintendo should make games for the iphone." ...

Even now the 3DS is selling, the negative 3DS articles still vastly outweigh the positive. I guess it's the Vita's turn now.

[DOOMZ]

Three words Sony, LOWER THE PRICE!!!!

[Soldierone]

IGN is a major publication with paid journalists, yet they still think Christmas in Japan means anything?

Also this whole first part of the article is about how no one looked at him when he played his Vita. I don't see how that's possible unless you were around a bunch of older people not paying attention. Everywhere I pull out my Xperia Play, yes an Xperia Play, people are looking at it. People that know me want to take it from me to play it or saying they wished they had it. Even people that are like "thats gay, its not even a PSP" still stare at it. How is a Vita not going to turn heads with the same crowd?

I will agree though, Sony needs to learn how to advertise properly. They advertise to the gaming crowd and take care of journalists at e3, but beyond that they need mass marketing. People need to know what Vita is and to this day I've yet to see a single Vita ad ANYWHERE, it comes out friggin next month! They did a "tour" with it but only hit very few major cities....These things should be in Bestbuys, on TV, and on billboards. People should be getting exciting.

Nintendo's Mario antics won't work here, so I'm not worries about it.

[smeg0rz]

I work in sales, how is jumping from 300,000 odd units in peak holiday season, which includes all the previous weeks pre orders a bad thing? Wtf. The figures look about right for me, 80,000 after is good from 300,000.

[kewlkat007]

Those are some legitimate concerns...

-It is after the holidays season, so the PSVita missed the biggest shopping season of all. The economy is not exactly good, I just don't see parents rushing out to snatch one in droves right now. Who cares what's inside..and how powerful it is, the Original PSP was above the DS in the Hardware specs as well.

-When you already have a SOLID userbase(PSP/Go..etc you expect much better numbers. It is not the first time release.

-Sony and their expensive SD Cards. The Vita should come bundled with at least a cheap card.(4GB is fine). The Vita should be able to play psONE/TWO games right out the box. While waiting for certain types of games, you should have all the other catalog of games available.

-Plenty used to only game on a Nintendo Handhelds/Sony Handhelds but with the emergence of Smartphones Iphones/Android...etc , I could see plenty not wanting another device for just gaming on the go.

While I'm still getting one...I don't mind the criticism.

[gcolley]

software will come

[rexbolt]

well it seems ppl jump to defend sony on this site so fast bit when its nintendo ya guys are fast to critisize and say ooooooh nintendo failed again

[rexbolt]

wares the reaon of disagre i think ppl who disagre without statemne should be banned from the site