PS Vita: Sony confirmed 2.2 million units sold worldwide

During the gamescom this week Sony has confirmed that 2.2 million PS Vita was sold worldwide.

[wane]

Vita still has long way to go

[Tony-A]

Which means that - between March 31st and mid-August - they've sold about 400,000 units. It sounds pretty weak, but I don't know how summer sales for new hardware typically is.

[Blacksand1]

The Vita just came out 6mos ago to the world so 2.2mill is good and they don't need a price cut, people won't a price cut and the Vita haven't been out a year.

[Brosy]

They need to make a PS3 and Vita bundle and sell it for $350.

[PoSTedUP]

2.2 million with not one holiday appearance, at a 250-300 price range in a bad economy and little marketing, with not that many games and it's biggest games yet to come... this is pretty good. sony is not lying when they say they are happy with vita sales, im sure this is how they look at it as well...

[ARBitrator]

@PoSTedup, I know you mean well but, you just spun the hell out of that. To be honest with you. PS Vita released in Japan and parts of Asia on December 17, 2011, in Europe, North America, South America and Singapore on February 22, 2012,and in Australia on February 23, 2012.

To only have 2.2mil sold WW by now is really not that good in any gaming market. Let's keep it real. The 3DS sold over 4.5 million in its first year in the US alone.
http://www.engadget.com/201...

Just saying.

[Dee_91]

I wonder what do people consider to be a good number at this point ?
Do you think this is suppose to sell like an necessity instead of an accessory?
Im just baffled how people think short term sales are all that matters and im confused as to what would be an acceptable number to consumer and so called journalist.

[PoSTedUP]

lol spun it how? everything i said was accurate, its all facts, and you have to take it all into account.

and the 3DS is on another level, nintendo always does well with their handhelds, its hard to compete with them, But the 3DS also got a steep price cut remember, and the vita is still at launch price. if it hits close or 4.5 world wide in its first year W/O a price cut, it is doing well. that's just how it is in the world of sony, you cant compare it to something different in a different situation and call the lesser one a failure, it just doesn't work like that. different circumstances, different hardware, different audience... the vita is doing well for what it is, who it is for, the price it is at, the time of launch, how much marketing it had, how well its predecessor did etc. evaluation of this thing takes thinking, not just comparing it to the 3DS and calling it a day, i wish life was that simple...

[NeoBasch]

I believe their goal was 10 million for the fiscal year. lol Only 8 more million to go! XD

[victorGma21]

I am one of those 2.2 million guys. And I am happy so far.

[ddurand1]

well, yeah. it came out six months ago.

[Mustang300C2012]

Yes and Sony projections when it launched in Japan which is almost a year now were drastically different and expectations were that it would have sold more than it has now so what is your point about about 6 months? Why do people keep talking about 6 months because as of last month in the US alone it sold only 48k which is equivalent to what it sales Ina month in Japan with an average of 8k a week

[Tony-A]

The PS3 sold over 600,000 units in the first two days following the worldwide launch.

The PSP sold 200,000 on it's first day.

The Vita does 400,000 units in four months.

I love my Vita. It's not going anywhere - and it is most certainly not dead by any means, no matter how thirsty the bloodsucking pits of gaming journalism seem to be. But whether it came out six months or not, it's not a fast seller by any means. I don't see how that's much of a problem, though.

Personally, I think the Vita is very healthy. It's got plenty of time and being a child of Sony, it's got genetically long legs. The games aren't the problem. Hell, there isn't even a problem, but what's stopping it from selling like the PS3 or the PSP following their launches seem to be two things: price and market.

The market is simply much more crowded than it was in 2005 so, naturally, it'll take longer to get the numbers this industry is so selfishly expecting. We have to accommodate for all the other handheld products out there.

[feeter]

I hate the its only six months arguments... six months of bad sales make developers shy away from the Vita as they want big sales... remember big companies are closing many good studios for poor slaes and how can you sell well on a system with only 2 million users

[HarvesterOSarow]

@ feeter- You just answered your own question. "How can you sell well on a system with only 2 million users?". It's called make a game that most people that own the system would enjoy.

You have 2 million people that own hardware with probably no more than 10 physical games for it. Hell, I bought the Vita day one and I only have 5 cartridges and 3 downloads for it. When a game that looks interesting to me is announced, and eventually released, I'll pick it up without hesitation.

[CommonSenseGamer]

@harvester
Will never happen. Look at the best selling games on PS3 and they don't even come close to 10% of the total PS3 owners out there.

2.2 million since December last year is terrible sales. By comparisson the Samsung Galaxy SIII did over 3million in one day and its twice the price of a Vita. Ok, even if 2.2 million is ok by Sony's standards how much money have developers poured into making games for it and what has been their ROI? I dare say very few developers are making money from the Vita at present. This is what needs to change and fast. Why would any third party developer commit to a game that costs $10-20 million to make if its going to take years to make a profit for them if at all. The risk will be is that you'll get nothing but low budget PSN games being released for the Vita. You know, the sort of thing that's available on other devices for less anyway.

I don't know why we're debating whether or not to drop the price of the Vita as Sony has so much more at stake than just losing a bit more money on each Vita sold. They have to convince developers to soon start supporting the PS4 now why would they do that if Sony is not going to address concerns with Vita sales numbers?

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

People don't be myopic chicken littles. What makes the people who run this companies more qualified than you is they think long term, have information on the market and pricing, and execute plans based on such to avert some of the risks every one whines about like it was some imminent reality. You can't be a skittish as N4G punks are and expect to make money.

[Knight_Crawler]

I think the problem here is that Sony is selling the PS Vita at loss and they dont expect to see profits until 3 years but at the rate the Vita is selling it night be longer than 3 years.

Sony had a projected amount of Vita that they need to sell but its been way off but they can not afford to drop the price right now and if they do they will not break even but stay in the red.
http://www.examiner.com/art...

Sony is in a mess right now becuase of the 3DS and how it can not cut into Nintendos hand held market share but they have to think of something quick before the next year end financial are or Kaz will have to start looking for a new job.

[MrBeatdown]

"Will never happen. Look at the best selling games on PS3 and they don't even come close to 10% of the total PS3 owners out there."

You can't look at it like that. PS3 has had time to sell to everyone from hardcore to casual. Obviously hardcore gamers are much more likely to buy big titles. Your average to casual gamer likely isn't going to be buying a Vita right now. It's serious gamers buying it, as it is with all system launches. And when your install base is made up primarily of serious gamers, you have a higher likelihood of selling to them than you do on a system that's install base has evened out in terms of gaming habits.

For example, Uncharted sold 530,000 copies as of June to those 2.2 million Vita owners. That's roughly 25% of all Vita owners, and that may or may not include digital copies.

But look at the most popular game out there, Modern Warfare 3. Even with a few extra months on the shelf, it hasn't even reached 25% of all 360 owners, and that's the platform where the game does best.

You can't just look at percentages and assume a game can't sell any more than x amount. You have to take into account who's buying the system, and the competition out there. When you have hardcore gamers looking for quality games on a system that still doesn't have a big selection, good titles have a much better chance of standing out.

Hell, look at MotorStorm on PS3. It sold 4 million and was one of the PS3's highest profile games. It's sequels are big improvements, but they actually sold less because they faced much stiffer competition.

[Dasteru]

@Tony-A The PSP was $250 in the US and $299 in Canada when it launched so price isn't really a valid argument for the Vita's low sales.

http://psp.ign.com/articles...

[MrBeatdown]

Gotta love the disagrees but the total lack of responses. I guess I'm on to something.

It's a fact that Uncharted sold over half a million on Vita despite the install base only being at 2.2 million.

http://thesilentchief.com/2...

And it's common sense that a large portion of early adopters are serious gamers, just like it's common sense that fewer games on the market give other titles a chance to stand out more.

It happened with Uncharted on Vita. It happened with MotorStorm. It happened with Resistance: Fall of Man.

Only on N4G would it be impossible for a Vita game to sell well when you have one in every four Vita owners buying Uncharted.

[Tony-A]

@dasteru -

That's why I mentioned both price and market together. It's never just one, standalone issue. There are always many different factors that play into the failure, success or struggle of a product. In the PSP's case, the only other competition in the market was the DS.

Today, the Vita faces the 3DS, smartphones, tablets and - in some areas - it's own predecessor. So, while $250 for a PSP was pricey when looking back, it was one of the most technologically packed products out there fighting against one other main competitor.

[josephps3]

How to Save Vita.

CrossBuy is the key!

Right now if I want to play AAA console titles away from home I have to play it on my laptop. At minimum a gaming laptop is going to cost $500-$600. So spending $250-$300 for something that is compact, convenient with better controls and excellent screen is worth it IF IF IF they can bring the games over.

I'm a student and I would love to play Xcom, Dishonored, Farcry, Hitman, Assassin, Borderlands etc on the Vita when I'm away and want to take an hour or two break. My Vita would go with me everywhere and I would learn to cherish and love it but right now there are not enough titles to make it worth the purchase.

Don't tell me the current library of games is enough. You Vita fanboy muppets keep telling yourself that while the rest of gaming consumers in the entire world is making their voice heard loud and clear by voting to not buy the Vita.

[CommonSenseGamer]

Its not the key. I don't want the same games I have on my ps3 on my Vita. I want exclusives that can only be experienced by getting a Vita. If I want the best Uncharted experience I play it on my PS3.

And how are developers going to profit from this if the Vita version is basically being given away for free? Or are we saying that PS3 versions of the games are going to be gimped so that they easily work or can be easily made to work on the Vita?

Cross Buy is a perc but not a reason for buying a Vita.

[josephps3]

@ CommonSenseGamer

You'd be right but I am thinking of this CrossBuy being implemented in a different way.

I also would not want to just play the same game, same mission twice. That's not how I imagine Sony would implement Crossbuy. Its more about being able to take your game with you anywhere.

eg) I'm playing Xcom and then link it to my Vita. Take it with me to school and play for another 1-2 hours away from home. Come home and link it to my PS3 and be able to continue right where I left off on my PS3 and large tv.

And I've stated on many occasion that I'd be willing to pay for this service. If they give a discount to people who buy a PS3 copy and then $20 for a Vita copy, man I'd go out and buy a Vita right now and wouldn't care about memory card prices.

[mcstorm]

Psv is not finished yet but it being out for close to 12 months in japan where sony are strong and it only getting to 2.2 million is not a good start at all.

I love my psv and cant get enough of resistance but sony now need to step up there game with the device as soon enough developers will drop the console for the 3ds. For me i dont want to see cod bf ect on the psv as i have a ps3 and 360 for that i want to have some pickup and play games like we have on the 3ds as well as some deep games like ucga resistance ect.

I think we still need to wait until after this Christmas to know what state the psv is in but i do think sony really need to look at them selfs as a company and imo they are one of the best in all there departments they have but they dont tell people about there products and ide rather them drop a few ips to put money into pushing there products than not having them selling well and dropping the product.

[Blankman85]

I'd like to hear GribbleGrunger's spin on this.

[xtremeimport]

I enjoy mine. cant wait for the LBP integration.
i have no issue with the current price point, as i think you get a lot for that price, however a lot of people who love handhelds (ie kids) cant afford or their parents don't want to spend that when they could get them a 3DS.
a price drop would obviously increase sales.

[SilentNegotiator]

Price cut. It's that simple. Now get to it, Sony.

[units]

Sony bleeding money and price cutting the Vita would be suicide

[Cocozero]

Damn I didn't think it was doing that bad, no wonder they kept hiding the figures.

I got a feeling it won't pick up during the holidays either even with games like COD and AC. People would rather buy a 360/PS3 which are cheaper and have the better versions of those games.

[HammadTheBeast]

How is this bad? It's 6 months into it's life, remember the 3DS, all they had was Pilotwings and effing Nintendogs for a year.

[feeter]

And in six months you will say its only one year... 400000 unit worldwide a month isnt great to sell to developers... AC and COD will sell units but not enough they need more game... and everyone said wait til Gamescom and we will get alot more games and what did we get... holiday season is around the corner and not alot of new titles to sell units and 3ds has some good games coming.... I have both systrms so I want Sony to do more so I can have more games for my Vita

[Freakazoid2012]

What does this have to do with the 3DS? Nothing.

[CommonSenseGamer]

The Vita was released last year not 6 months ago.

[Neo Nugget]

Feb 22nd 2012. ^

O_o

[BitbyDeath]

@Neo Nugget,

According to wiki - ' It was released in Japan and parts of Asia on December 17, 2011'

[dc7070]

Yeah I agree I really thought it would do much better 2.2 is pretty bad for it being worldwide if it was just US only then sure okay because it's only been 6 months since it's release but it's been 8 months in japan.

I agree as well that I really don't think COD and AC will do much for it why would people buy it for the vita when they can just buy it for the PS3.

Sony needs to make unique games for the Vita that new Media Molecule game is a step in the right direction people want unique games not console ports or spin offs.

[Bimkoblerutso]

Yeah, I agree. I've been saying the same thing. Once the novelty of "console games on a handheld" wears off, people are just going to want some unique games they can't get anywhere else.

And I promise the novelty will wear off quick, if it hasn't already.

[trickman888]

Simply terrible.

[HammadTheBeast]

So where's your 2 million dollar selling console?

[feeter]

I bet if he did have one he could sell 2 million unit too haha

[linkratos]

Haha wow this is the argument people use when they literally can't come up with anything relevant to say.

[hennessey86]

But why are handheld gamers not buying this thing, its quite clearly better than any of its competitors

[ddurand1]

because their past consumers are now rocking smartphones and dont think they need 250$ gamign dedicated devices.

[TBM]

i have one because my phone is just that a phone. the vita takes care of my gaming needs on the go.

[live2play]

yea
thats why the 3ds is not selling well either!

...oh wait

[ddurand1]

my phone is my phone too. but most tweenagers and young adults do alot of gaming on a their phones.

[Omeganex9999]

Yep, 3DS is seling well now that you can buy one for... 150$? The problem is that 3DS has a lot of shitty games and just a few must buy games... and the awesome "BUY THE CIRCLE PAD PRO IF YOU WANT TO GAME IN A DECENT WAY". And everyone forgot about the months of NOTHING thate came with the conosole. But Sony sucks, right?

[iamnsuperman]

I guess it is games. Up till the gamescom press conference game releases have been a bit lackluster and limited in number.

I am like you and not really into handhelds. This thing is handheld market is being taken up by a younger and generally more female orientated audience. The problem is Sony is trying to sell this to the older crowd. They should swallow their pride and release a Nintendogs type of games. That series has sold around 23 million copies.

[aviator189]

I think we'll see a faster adoption rate once the library of games increases.
I'm not saying the current library is lackluster or anything, it's just that some people may be waiting on particular games before picking up a vita.

[Tru_Ray]

That pretty much sums it up. I think that there isn't a lot of awareness out there about the vita. I know a lot of girls that play games incessantly on their cell phones. When I suggest that they pick up a vita they give me a blank expression like, "that is a device for real gamers...".

This is kind of tricky market. I think it just needs a killer application and sales should pick up some.

BTW, I just picked up Sound Shapes on the PS3/Vita. Great deal and great game for anyone that liked Everyday Shooter.

Tru_

[MadMax]

Well, i bought it and have been kinda bummed so far. All this power and were not getting any games it seems. Just a few launch titles. I do think its funny how all the fanboys were quick to attack Nintendo because of the same reason.

May not have the horsepower to back it up, but has a much bigger library of games and its backwards compatible. I dont know, comon Sony where are all the exclusives!!!

[Omeganex9999]

The PSV is backward compatible too. Ok, I know that many PSP owners just don't have digital copies of their game, but go looking in the PS Store and see how many PSP games you can buy for 10-15 $/€. And you can make those games better by using the second analog. And PSX games are coming too, with the second analog support (and the retro-touch screen used for R2/L2, I guess).

Seriously, I own a 3DS too, but I just can't understand how a player (not a Sony fanboy) could just prefer that to the Vita. Gravity Rush was amazing, and there are many other games worth having (Uncharted, Wipeout, Escape Plan, Resistance and so on).

[CaptCalvin]

Because Nintendo pulled a fast one and dropped the 3DS price down to $170 right when Sony announced the Vita was going to sell for the same price as the 3DS.

[TheDivine]

I bought one but its not better than the 3ds imo because of one reason, GAMES. 3ds has RE, Kingdom Hearts, MH, Mario, Kid Icarus, Tales, MGS, and a whole lot more and more on the way. It also has full BC. I cant even get my most wanted psp games on vita because theyre not on the store. 3ds has better games which is the poit to a console.

The thing that makes the most difference is Nintendo puts their A teams on the 3ds like NSMB 2, Mari 3d Land, MK7, Kid Icarus and worked out deals to get big IP's from 3rd parties which is why we got a RE and Kindgom Hearts with MH4, Castlevania, and Shin Megami Tensie 4 on the way. Vita has D team dev's like Nillistic making crap games like Resistance and COD, 2 games that couldve been AAA system sellers. Sony just wants the name with no care to quality. Uncharted was AAA and so was Gravity Rush but most others were shit rush jobs to get quick cash. Thats the difference. Vita does have AC Liberation which looks good but COD was supposed to be the savior and look at that.

[Mustang300C2012]

But it is N4G and the consolidated articles fault if you listen to the fanboys. This website and people who comment are somehow at fault with why the numbers are what they are if again you listen to the ones denial.

It is a niche product that doesn't appeal to the mass. People who do know about agrees the tech is great but the problem is that it can't compete especially at the price it is at. The games do not sell well on it. uncharted is the only game on the system that has sold only 200k in such a small pool in almost a year. The beginning investment becomes more than what it would buying a 3DS or buying a game console around the same price.

[Hicken]

What is it competing against?

Since before it launched, we've all known the market the Vita is aimed at: the same market as the PS3. That's considerably smaller than the market the 3DS is aimed at, or the market smartphones and tablets are aimed at.

It's a niche device directed at a small market during a poor economy. Of course, it'll sell better at a lower price, but that's not what Sony wants to do.

Is that such a hard thing to deal with? Sony's projections for the device were wrong; I guess that means the device is doomed, because NOTHING has ever failed to sell at a projected rate and yet gone on to be successful.

People aren't delusional when they say "The Vita will be fine." Most of them are looking at ALL the factors going into the Vita's current condition, and figuring that many of them will change: the library will get bigger, the price of the system and the memory cards will eventually come down, the economy will improve.

Some of these things have already changed or are beginning to- the library, for example, is getting a huge boost- but there's a contingent of observers out there- because they have no intention of doing more than watching and commentating on happenings- who are intent on overlooking any such positive news. Indeed, they're taking every bit of positive news for the Vita and pulling ANY conceivable negative from it.

At E3, Sony didn't show a lot of games, so they complained about that. "Sony fails to support Vita at E3; system has no library."

Gamescom rolls around, and all the games are shown, but it doesn't matter. "Game lineup brilliant, but not enough."

You, for example: what is your interest in the Vita? Do you plan on buying one? Looking at your comment history, you have no hopes for the device. Let's not mince words: you expect it to fail. And that seems to be all the interest you have in it.

Not a word on the device being good, or actually being worth its current price- even if it's not selling. No comments about how games like Tearaway are awesome additions not just to the Vita library, but to gaming in general.

EVERY comment of yours within the last 9 days is negative in reference to the Vita, or to Sony.

Why? You claim to be the owner of two PS3s, but it's as if you WANT them to have no use. The Vita, which you don't own, is in an even worse state in your eyes, or so I can easily imagine.

Did Sony touch you inappropriately when you were little or something?

[Mustang300C2012]

What is it competing against?

This is a pretty idiotic question to ask. It is a dedicated handheld that is competing to get consumer money against another dedicated handheld that IS getting consumer money.

"Since before it launched, we've all known the market the Vita is aimed at: the same market as the PS3. That's considerably smaller than the market the 3DS is aimed at, or the market smartphones and tablets are aimed at."

Yet this was their initial mistake. They made the mistake advertising when they did advertise as a hardcore device. This device wasn't aimed towards kids but for people who do nothing but game. Problem is that is a niche group. It is called a hardcore gamer. They already bought the device. Yet you keep making my point and many analyst point. If you are aiming at a small group of consumers in an already small market dominated by your direct competition than what is the point. Not only do u make the mistake of telling the world who this device is only aimed towards but you introduce it with all the extra cost JUST to play it.

"It's a niche device directed at a small market during a poor economy. Of course, it'll sell better at a lower price, but that's not what Sony wants to do."

It isn't that Sony doesn't want to it is because Sony CAN'T and you know why they can't because they are already bleeding money. The plan with the Vita was to sale a product at profit and help offset the projection with the possibility of both the PS3 and PSP sales dropping. As we all know that is the case that sales have dropped but the projections were that the Vita would be selling more hardware, software and accessories than it has and that as we also know is not the case. This is why I laugh about anyone talking about 6 months and slow burner crap. If Sony really was satisfied about the product currently they wouldn't hide the numbers and mash up PSP and Vita in their report to shareholders. Six months later what is the excuse going to be for a year if situations don't change? The line gets moved again and now the whining from you fanboys is a year instead of 6 months the best is still to come blah blah blah?
Sony is bleeding money so they can't cut the price and they already stated no price cut is coming this year anyway. This is why we see the bundles.

http://www.gamespot.com/fea...

"If you're hoping for a price drop any time soon, forget it. At least according to Sony's Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida in a Eurogamer interview this week. The executive explained that Sony engineers are currently working on methods to reduce the cost of manufacturing so a price cut can be possible, but that will not happen before the year is out. "It's too early," Yoshida said, emphatically. Instead, he said he hopes PS Vita software bundles--like the Little Big Planet and Call of Duty offerings announced this week--will be a significant enough value to steer prospective buyers toward a purchase. "Of course, cost reduction is one area our engineering team is working on. But we just launched the platform earlier this year. It takes time to do so," he said. "At a certain point in the future we would like to address the pricing issue for some of the people who are waiting. But this year we are trying to add value by creating different types of bundles. We announced we will provide Little Big Planet PS Vita bundle pack. That's affordable for people who are looking for a good deal."

[remanutd55]

well its clearly that the system is not doing good, i dont really care about sales i care about games and we are getting them but i think sony after the bundles these holidays they will need to drop that price, i think they should do it at the beginning of next year so the install base grows faster.

oh and sony really needs to advertise the system if they want more people attention.

[dkgshiz]

Eh...no other sites are reporting this. Very shady website to begin with. Most likely its not real. This is gen shall be the last time you ever see handhelds ever again. Sadly the kiddy phone game market is taking over.

[showtimefolks]

people always considered psp a failure but when you loook at sales over 60 million systems sold. I would love to have a 60 million seller considered a failure.

alsp vita hasn't been out for years so stop with all this talk of doom this and that. Sony showed a lot of great stuff at gamescom and may i remind everyone they own 15 developers. And that's not even considering the 2nd party studios they have contracts with

they just need to get monster hunter on it in japan and this thing will start selling greatly. get monster hunter

[Aclay]

Yeah, selling 60 million units is great and all...but how well did the software sell? There were several stand out titles that sold pretty decently, but for a system with that many units sold, a lot of the software on PSP should've sold MUCH more than it did.

Even though it sold a lot, piracy really killed off a lot of it's potential and out of that 60+ million, I wonder what percentage of that were 'legitmate users' and didn't illegally download their PSP games. Japan was like the only main region where the PSP was a pretty consistent hardware and software seller for most of it's lifecycle.

[Siren30]

Ouch. Not numbers I would be proud of

[Xperia_ion]

During the holiday it will be double that easily, cant wait for ACIII Liberation.

[clrlite]

Yes, especially if they market it properly.

"Sony" has to understand that their competitors marketing sways a lot of attention in other directions.

[Karum]

Not very good numbers, but I love my Vita and am seriously excited about the Cross-Buy stuff announced at Gamescom. I remember talking with my buddy before the system launched that it'd be awesome if there were bundle deals for the PS3 and Vita versions where you get both at a discount compared to buying each separate. Cross-Buy is just so much better.

Oh and looks like there's some awesome games on the way too.

Sony's failings have been marketing this thing though, they really need to get aggressive with it come the holidays.

[Soldierone]

I think the next generation will also boost Vita sales. Not only will it be better implemented with PS4, but next generation consoles will cost more. By then a lot of features will work with Vita and the price will decrease a bit, which in return makes it look like a bargain next to the 300-400 dollar consoles.

[Aclay]

I've actually had similar thoughts myself. Both the cheapest PS3 and Vita are virtually the same price, and the Vita may look a little expensive to consumers when someone could get a full current gen. console experience for around the same price.

But when Next-Gen consoles are out, the Vita may appear to be more of a deal to consumers because it's not costing them as much as a PS4/Next Xbox, so I could see the Vita possibly benefiting from new consoles.

[Soldierone]

Exactly what I'm thinking. The Vita is already a steal, but its not sitting next to the devices people compare it to. "oh its better than 600 dollar smartphones yatta yatta" well when you are in the store, its sitting next to a console of the same price with another gaming handheld cheaper than it across the way.

Its also marketed to gamers, not casual angry birds wannabe gamers. So I think when its 199 sitting next to a 299 console and touted as "the full experience", people will be like "wow i want one"

[EliteDave93]

Its not THAT bad.

[AdrianJNYC]

Although, the Vita has a long way to go - it will be a very successful handheld over the long haul.

[Buff1044]

This holiday season will make or break this machine. It didn't really benefit from any holiday rush in Japan last year bc it debuted a bit late. Now comes the real test. If it doesn't sell with Assassin's Creed, COD, and All Stars....done.

[Digitech]

I must admit, I plan to be in that holiday crowd of buyers. 2 of them for my sons. (Fingers crossed that they will have bundles with a game and memory card included.)

[auen1]

yeah, i'm going to get one for myself, then i'll probably have to get one for my family so they don't nag me about playing mine.

[kasasensei]

7M to go until march 2k13? doable with a price drop :)

[HarvesterOSarow]

Sony only needs one announcement to achieve that goal. It's called Monster Hunter Vita.

[crawling182]

At least in Japan...

[crawling182]

Double posted.

[Straightupbeastly]

My friend says he's trading his vita in for a tablet

[HarvesterOSarow]

Your friend is an idiot.

[majiebeast]

He is a moron just like those people making pictures with their Ipad at the Olympics.

[demetreHG]

Your friend pathetic and tablets s.ck a......

[taquito]

the problem with vita isnt really that its overpriced, though it is, its that i dont know a sinlge person besides me that even wants one, i have about 20 close gamer friends and about 180 people who work in my office,

i know this is not a complete scientific survey, but, nearly every single person i have asked has no idea the vita even exists or thinks the vita is a cheap wanna be phone with no calling ability, i'm serious, they literally think its a smartphone for poor people who cannot get a contract and do not want a bill, when i tell them its a dedicated handheld gaming device with a touchscreen and $40 games they look at me like im insane, a $40 handheld game, they think you would have to be on crack to pay that

and in some ways, they are right, the uncharted game, is a crappy knockoff, may as well have been made by chillingo,lol, , lets be honest, it pales in comparison to the first uncharted, let alone uncharted 2 (by far the best one)

and most of the games are crappy mini games that should be $1-$5

thats what has happened since the ds, ask anyone 20 and up who doesnt come to game forums or spend hours on the internet reading about games (like myself and all you other crazy "real" gamers) what they think of;

the ds "for kids" they will say

ask them about the vita "what the hell is that?" they will ask, when you tell them they will laugh at you

ask them what they play games on, "my phone dude, they are free or like a buck"

[R_aVe_N]

I am not even how to take that uneducated response. Wait aren't you the same guy that said Diablo 3 was the best game out this year? That tells me all I need to know XD.

[taquito]

tell me a game better crafted than diablo 3 this year so i can laugh at you

[ddurand1]

say what you will, but he is right.

similar experience here.

[swansong]

Tell me of a better looking and playing game than Uncharted GA and Gravity Rush on a handheld device,not sure you know what you are talking about.

[taquito]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

that game smokes everything on psvita and most ps3/360 games as well

ohhh....it costs .99

[IQUITN4G]

You wont get any respect saying that here but yes people generally outside of places like this just don't know what the device is about

The Vita is a brilliant piece of kit though but I'm not sure how Sony can improve the situation much

[TheTwelve]

Decent numbers: Vita has not yet begun to fight. ---12

[DivineAssault]

The rest of this yr & forward is vitas time.. After all the games like LBP, AC, Ragnorok, street fighter x tekken, etc get released it should start moving.. Nx year as well with soul sacrifice & more.. Then manufacturing costs will be lower & it can get a price drop.. That little machine is effin awesome

[auen1]

i'm not the type of person to base my purchasing decisions on how popular an item is. i'd really like to get a vita right now, but the truth is there aren't any games i HAVE to have, and i'm content to wait until the holiday season when there may be a temporary price cut or a great deal on a bundle.

[StreetsofRage]

2.2 million SHIPPED.

DUN DUN DUUUUUUN!!!

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

well, it's technically SOLD since the retailers have to actually BUY the items that they sell. DUN DUN DUUUUUN!!! :D

[StreetsofRage]

Yeah maybe, who really knows. I'm just having a lil fun. ;)

[Subzero200]

lol this is it very poor for the best system in the world....just give up on handheld sony.

[Xperia_ion]

You have hit my trap card ignore, it protects my braincells from reading your short incoherent comments, Subzero: "NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

[2pacalypsenow]

You think the vita is the best system in the world? huh...

[Dms2012]

I think Sony truly needs a phone with full gaming functionality, do it Sony, your a hardware company.

[Drainage]

The thing is dead, give it up fanboys. In 2-5 years, more powerful alternatives are gonna pop up for tablets or phones, as well as Ps4,Xbox720,and the earliest being WiiU. This thing is gonna get lost in the bunch and no one will spend money on it. DEAD. Will I buy one? Of course! When it price drops....but im a hardcore.

[slutface]

lol i sense deja vu again. i remember when ps3 came out and all of the doom articles crucifying it because it wasnt selling. now look at where the ps3 is. it has the most diverse triple A game portfolio in the market. vita will be the same.

[simonrope]

2.2 million disappointed people.

[tubers]

Hmm.. Weren't they aiming for 10m unit sales before the year ends?

Sounds quite impossible without MSRP price drop.. but quite possible if the retailers go nuts with gift cards and bundles..

Psst! Bring on the +50 dollar gift card and +1 game promo by the holidays!!

[Silly gameAr]

Marathon not a sprint.

[Smokingunz]

The vita is wack and is a flop! The sales alone proves it. What are you Sony fans excuse is going to be this time? The 3ds xl is a better system with better games and majority of the public prefers the ds as do myself.

Where's the cross play for all Ps3 games on the vita that u were shouting Sony? Why can't I play my ps1 games as well as all my psp games Sony? It's as if Sony wanted the vita to fail and so it did. I think the vita will go down in history as one of the first system to flop in its first year that it been out. I only see three games on the vita worth playing for the whole year! So sad. What a flop. Even the regular psp is selling more than the vita. The original psp is better than the vita and that's a shame.

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

You should buy a Vita and play some of the games.

Seriously. Try it out. It's the most fun you'll ever have, handheld gaming.

Try it out and post a video of yourself on YouTube. Then, send it to me in a PM, saying that you either liked or disliked the Vita.

I expect this.

[DNAbro]

Damn the Sony fanboys are out in full force. There is no way to spin this in to good numbers. Sony has to do something drastic in order to increase sales.

[neoMAXMLC]

Funny. Looking at the comments, it seems to be the exact opposite.

[Brettman2008]

One thing is pretty certain, if sales don't improve, and the install base doesn't become substantive, then third party game developers will stay away. It is a vicious cycle, less console sales = less third party games developed = less console sales.

I think they need to cut prices, and especially, pack in a memory card (at least 8GB) with every console (worldwide). Here in Australia, the Vita and 8GB memory card is almost $400, about $100 more than a PS3.

[kornbeaner]

BLAH, BLAH TERRIBLE SALES BLAH! I have owned one since launch and its the most played system in my house. At this point I don't care if only Sony Makes games for it. They have a stock of great developers and have been able to make a portable system for which they can make ports of their PS3 titles with very little loss in Graphical fidelity. Add this with their, right now small but growing library of titles that use a cloud save function so that you can continue your current game on either a Vita or PS3 and what is there not to like? I use this more than my PS3, 3DS and PC for gaming in general basically because its much more convenient for those late night sessions where I just lay on my bed at 4A.M. and want to play something with some substance.

This is a great little system with the potential to become a must have addition for PS3 owners. The same type of stuff was said about the PSP, which never really took off but still had legs. The Vita is great and I think once it finds that sweet spot of having a great library of titles with an overall lower investment of purchase it will have greater legs then those seen on the PSP.

[PhillipSantanaMusic]

The PlayStation Vita will be fine, 6 months vs years to come, its still stitting down laughing its a$$ off at this nonsense.

PS3 still doing damage to xbox360 7 years later so Vita too will pick up its pace no to mention PSM.

[ChronoJoe]

I don't know how people can pretend these are good figures (first 5 comments or so).

These figures are bad relative to the Vitas competition / other devices on the market, and bad relative to other devices within the same market, in the past.

At this rate the vita won't even meet 50m LTD which is of course terrible. However I expect Vita sales to suddenly take off at some point, perhaps at the first price drop or when a certain games launch.

I don't expect it to be a failure long term but these sales are poor relative to every standard for comparison we have. Not sure why people pretend otherwise.

[Gamerita]

its a brilliant console,come on RockStar shows us what you can do on Vita,spill the magic ;)

[urwifeminder]

Thats worldwide for new tech WOW.

[kingofe3]

I can't tell what's going on here. Pretty much every comment is half and half with agrees and disagrees no matter what they say.

[turgore]

For a system with no good exclusives this is not that bad.

[Subzero200]

"You have hit my trap card ignore, it protects my braincells from reading your short incoherent comments, Subzero: "NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

umm it's still poor lolz

[extermin8or]

I love how people are comparing this to the ps3's sales, a full console with a larger market appeal launched in a much better economy; as apposed to the vita launched in an awful economy; with hate from the games journalists since bwfore it's launch more competition than ever before, and a small initial target market; also people talking about predicted sales by sony: those sales were for both vita and psp; and there have been alot of economic developments since they made those predictions; and then they moved them down I think it's more than likely they expect about 6million vit'as moved and up to 6 million psp's- especially considering the psp is selling extremely well in japapn still-considering it's age. Sony wouldn't have released these figures if they eweren't happy; usually they hide the figures with obscure bundling the numbers in with other hardware; it really isn't selling that badly for the summer typically a slow period anyway-if that's all it sells over xmas period then we'll talk again.

[TheLastGuardian]

I'm happy to be one of those 2.2 million. Thanks for the greatest handheld of all time, Sony. Pleasure doing business with you.

[nerdkiller]

damn what a sheep know wonder you only have one bubble i like sony stuff to but damn......

[Mkai28]

I wonder why the most advance hardware Sony makes has a hard time selling. Here could be the reasons.
1. Consumers could see the price point to be too expensive for handhelds.
2. The 3DS costing less.
3. Lack of innovating games to take advantage of its features.
4. Today's economy.
5. Having to compete with POKEMON.
6. Gamers may think its like having another PS3.
7. Sony's questionable advertising.

[takohma]

Your reason number 7 is how I got a pretty much brand new Vita. The guy had it for a month and said it felt like having another PS3. sold it to me for $150. I couldnt pas that up. The 3g/wifi verion with a 4Gig memory card. I did feel a little bad because I didnt support Sony but all the games I have for it are brand new. once that Vita game price drop comes that Sony stated I'll buy more. I'm really waiting for Soul Sacrifice ans SFxT.

[stoepkrijt]

Wasn't Rockstar working on a GTA exclusive for the Vita hardware..
You'll see numbers skyrocket when it's released.

[Dark360]

Wait it's seriously about to cross streams with the Dreamcast?

Poor Vita

[takohma]

People are comparing it to the 3DS which is understandable. But I wonder how Nintendo was able to price drop the 3DS as soon as the Vita was announced. Makes me wonder about how over-priced it was to begin with. Correct me if I'm wrong but didnt they drop the price to half of what it used to cost? Well the least everyone can be thankful is that if the Vita didnt come out the 3DS would be almost twice as what it is now lol.

[nerdkiller]

i know vita and a ipad are kinda two different items but its hard to convince adults to chose a vita over a ipad ppl think [like well for only a hundred bucks more or not i can get somthing that does more] parents will most likely buy 3ds for there kids because its cheaper and kids want cuz nintendo does have the exclusives they want.

[GamerzElite]

I sold my Vita after using 1 month. No doubt Vita is great device but due to lack of game and long wait for new games I sold it. Another factor is price is very high....

[listenkids]

TGS price cut, CoD, Christmas - Sales.

We'll see.

[Raoh]

Very low sales.

I bought one and love it. My only regret was buying the 3G model, should have bought the wifi model.

Not that it matters, I traded in my 360 4G w/kinect toward it and a few games, only paid $8 for my VITA.

A smart priced bundle would do wonders, but price alone isn't it, it needs better marketing and internal support.

THey should work on a simple export tool that allows ever psn game in the future to port to the vita.

Apps, apps, apps, apps.. my iPad is out for repair. Since then I've been using my vita to watch netflix, remote play to connect to my ps3 to watch dlna apps (where my vita dlna support sony?)

It's a good media device that needs to be able to do more, I know it can.

[feraldrgn]

I think the (supposedly) "low sales" comes from hesitant buyers.

The cause is quite simple: All of the bad press the Vita has gotten since launch.

That effects developers also, so less 3rd parties taking a "leap of faith" & less games being developed for it.

Although to be honest, I haven't seen a single Vita advert on television.
(ok, maybe I remember those awful ads that were trying to be too "smart")
Show a fun game being played, advertise the remote play.

Hopefully they'll start doing this once Sly 4 releases (since it's on the PS3 & PSV).

[Gr81]

Some of these comments are mental. Vitas market performance is awful. I know you are fans of Sony but be honest about things. This has nothing to do with 3ds or smartphones. But rather sony's handling of this product.

You fans should be more honest about their actions and allow them to take responsibility in righting a wronged ship. But to be oblivious or rather remain ignorant to facts makes you guys look like clowns. Call a spade a damn spade.

[Game3s]

Well said.

[Xperia_ion]

Anything positive said = being "Dellisional" ? Whatever you say.

[Gr81]

Exactly is positive about selling 2m units in that time frame? That's positive? Whatever you say.