Judging Vita before its first Christmas is "preposterous" - Sony

Sony admits that it would "love to be further along" with sales of PlayStation Vita, but believes that "judging [the] console before it has had its first Christmas is preposterous".

[GribbleGrunger]

This is absolutely true, but don't make the mistake of thinking success means 'beating' the 3DS this Christmas. It won't happen for a long time (if ever). Success will just mean a better average and sell through targets met. 3rd party devs will be watching the Vita very closely this Christmas. If it doesn't reach 6 million by March 2013, you can expect low support from 3rd parties for another year. I'm going to be interested in seeing how PS+, PSMobile and Gaikai effect sales in the coming months. It's not beyond comprehension that HOME could be streamed to the Vita via Gaikai too.

There is no doom and gloom here, I'm just being realistic.

[jujubee88]

Eh, I guess the VITA is still suppose to beat the 3DS?...

~_~ It makes me feel creepy when people say the 3DS should be beating the VITA or visa-versa, because I live in the real world. So, if I see a kid with a 3DS, and I am playing on my VITA I get anxious and want to scream "FANBOY!" as a first shot fired tactic. All because I read what the internet has to say and the way they paint stories.

One thing is for sure, 3DS and VITA are the last of a dying breed. Even though they have a heck of a lot more years in front of them, it is safe to say the era of a device doing just one thing well is over. That's why smartphones and tablets are things people want to carry in their pockets.

[GribbleGrunger]

What are you talking about? Take that flea out of your bottom, tis making you cranky. And is your comprehension that bad that you can't understand that I'm addressing the very people you condemn me of being with that rather flimsy 'Eh, I guess the VITA is still suppose(d) to beat the 3DS?.' Lick your fetlocks flat and relax, that keyboard can be a gracious device.

[chrisarsenalsavart]

Can you play properly on a tablet?
No

[SilentNegotiator]

"That's why smartphones and tablets are things people want to carry in their pockets"
"tablets are things people want to carry in their pockets"
"TABLETS...carry in their POCKETS"

Are you a kangaroo?

[jujubee88]

@GribbleGrunger:

Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I c. :)

@silentnegotiator:

:3

[GribbleGrunger]

Posted in the wrong place! Darn it!

@SilentNegotiator, below:

Yes, of course Sony was talking about improved sales, but as I pointed out, they're not talking in terms of 'beating' the 3DS. The problem here is largely semantic and you'd have to be particularly pedantic to twist it into some sort of fanboy face-off.

The Vita WILL NOT beat the 3DS this Christmas but that doesn't matter. What matters is for the Vita to sell 'well'. That's all that Sony are asking the media to report on. 6 million is always the first milestone for garnering further 3rd party support (10 million being the next), so Sony will be keen on meeting their targets for this Christmas. They're not interested in meeting Nintendos targets, just their own.

[SilentNegotiator]

Fair enough....but I want to know if Sony really has the plan to make the holiday turn things around.

They had better market, market, market Vita. They have the first twin-stick portable COD game...and they had better milk that for alllllll it's worth.

[guitarded77]

They have AC bundle, CoD bundle and Madden bundles.

I'll pull out my Vita in between classes at university, and I'll get so many people interested in it. I know the interest is there, but there is little knowledge. So I agree, marketing would help a bit.

I've had people tell me they haven't bought yet because memory is expensive. If they buy a $250 Vita, and a 16gb memory card they are already up to $300. I think the bundles will get more buying with a game and 4gb memory card all for $250. The device is worth far more than $250 for all it does, but some are still affraid to make the investment... but when they see my Vita, and play it, they really want one afterward.

[360ICE]

You sir, should get a Nobel's peace prize. Thanks for writing well reasoned and interesting posts.
Your posts remind me of my own posts, except that your posts are reasonable and interesting posts.

@jujubee88
And you sir, are worse than Hitler.

[Danbruno1310]

Does it pay to troll? Do you have to pay a toll?

[mafiahajeri]

But the vita was released in ASIA last December so technically it has had its first christmas or maybe santa clause couldnt get them to the west? xD

[mossman]

GribbleGrunger - I'm curious about your comments regarding the 6m and 10m milestones. Can you share where that information comes from? I'm always fascinated by the video game marketplace, so my question comes from that curiosity.

[Lvl_up_gamer]

"To start judging a console before it has had its first Christmas is preposterous, really

So...does that mean there should be no more criticizing of the WiiU?

http://www.digitalspy.ca/ga...

According to Sony, Sales are an indication of product quality. Stating not to judge the Vita until it's Holiday sales.....

So what? What if the Vita sells 10 million units on Christmas? Does it mean that it's suddenly a worth while handheld to own? Does it mean it's better in the eyes of those who first decided NOT to buy one due to the amount of sales the Vita had?

I thought Sales don't matter?

Could it be because sales drives the industry forward? Could it be that sales delivers more support?
Could it be that sales increases the size of the community?

Could it also mean that sales IS indeed a sign of peoples perception as to what quality is worth in terms of spending their hard earned money on a product at a certain listed price?

Sony, I don't care HOW many units you sell, I know it's an awesome handheld. I just want you to lower the price so that I can buy a VITA as well.

[givemeshelter]

What you just posted is factually correct and the reason why you got so many disagrees.
People cannot handle the truth on N4G.COM when it comes to this issue.
The hard truth is SALES DO MATTER to the industry for game support.
If the device is stellar and lacks the sales, game developers will not create games for it as a system selling more units overall. That's just business.
It's the way the console industry has been since 1979.
Sales drives support. This will never change because this is a BUSINESS first and foremost

I am a troll for actually stating the truth? Oh sorry i apologize...I keep forgetting that's this is N4G.COM for 12 year olds with absolutely no business concepts whatsoever.
And anywhere in my post did I mention the Vita's hardware? Passing judgement on hardware?
I mentioned how SALES drive support. If you don't believe that then ask yourself why consoles and handhelds that sold less then the leading systems ALWAYS had less 3rd party support going all the way back to the early 1980's...
If telling the truth about sales and support is classified as TROLLING then so be it. Enjoy your ignorance with not reading my ENTIRE POST.

[SilentNegotiator]

Sony is talking about not judging Vita's ability to SELL, not judging hardware.

He's not getting disagrees for talking the "truth"...he's getting them for being an angry fanboy with a lack of logic. But don't worry, I marked you both for trolling (as you both are) so that you can both be the martyrs that you so desire to be.

[SilentNegotiator]

LOL, oh please. You added 98% of that text AFTER I commented, in a poor attempt to make it look like you had a perfectly logical connection from the start.

The fact remains; Sony was talking about sales, Lvl_Up tried desperately to make out a "hypocrite" moment that wasn't there, and you ranted about how people disagreeing with his comment were not accepting the "truth" of his poor connection skills.

[zebramocha]

Your comments makes little sense as the link doesn't talk about sales but how the wiiu tablet gimps the system and the article is talking about unnecessary criticism of the vita because it is some what new.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Let's use a bit of common sense here...

When Sony says "judging before Christmas" they don't mean the hardware itself... They mean by determining whether or not the Vita is in fact a failure/flop... which is totally different than criticizing something for lack of a processor...

[ApolloAdams]

Does that mean we should be void of opinion and not express disinterest in the system because it hasn't reached a holiday season? The general consensus on people who don't own the system is the price is too high, now that means that we should be able to say that.

Also ironically the Wii-U isn't even out and it is being shunned and not given a chance even though it will undoubtedly sell millions yet people will claim sales are irrelevant and it's under powered and casual so how are we judging the Vita?

Why does it matter about the holiday season for the Vita? Even if they sell millions it isn't void of judging.

I'm just confused.

[MasterCornholio]

Its a bit too early to say that about the Wii U because in the past people said the same thing about the N64, GameCube and the Virtua Boy and they were all commercial failures in comparison to the competition at the time.

The Wii U does deserve some criticism but its a bit too early to decide if it will be a success or a complete failure.

I will wait a year or 2 before coming up with an opinion on this matter.

[matgrowcott]

In all fairness here, Sony need to decide if the people saying "it's too expensive" are saying it's too expensive because they would genuinely buy it at a slightly lower price point or just because they can't afford one and the current price point is like a months wage for them.

Looking on the internet and seeing a bunch of people saying "it's too expensive" isn't necessarily an indication that it's too expensive and Sony will have better, more reliable data than we do. If they're not dropping that price point, it's either because they'd end up losing money at a lower price point, no matter how well it sells, or because they don't think reducing the price would help enough to offset the reduction.

[nugnugs]

I can't see that Sony would shoot themselves in teh foot by offering the services they provide on Vita to mobiles as well, doesn't make sense? Anyway Dont see mobiles getting 2 analogue sticks anytime soon either.

[joeorc]

"I can't see that Sony would shoot themselves in teh foot by offering the services they provide on Vita to mobiles as well, doesn't make sense? Anyway Dont see mobiles getting 2 analogue sticks anytime soon either."

Than i would say many here are not paying attention, to what changes Sir. Howard and Kaz were making over @ Sony.

What many are still missing is the underlining fact that Sony has moved to expand their playstation Biz, and moved it toward the movement in Gaming Trends, which is Mobile. The fact that just because Sony is putting the playstation content to other devices does not make the Playstation less viable as a choice in Hardware.

"Anyway Dont see mobiles getting 2 analogue sticks anytime soon either."

you said it your self, if the fact that the playstation Vita has just as much capability as the iPad 3 in SOC chipset. but has a lower entry point, and if your main point of having such a device is Gaming having Some games on the iPad that are on the PSVita also does not negate the PSVita's Viability as a choice to choose over the iPAD 3 for Gaming on the Go when the PSVita has built in 2 analog sticks.

Sony has the Xperia line of SmartPhones they currently sell over 7.4 million xperia smartphones a sales Quarter! the Xperia-Play did not shift as many units do you think Sony is going to concentrate making a Xperia-Play 2, when the first one did not shift as many units...but many say the chipset was lacking, the chipset was fine it was a single core 1.4 GHz with an Adreno 205 GPU which was very good for gaming, still more robust hardware than what was in the orig, PSP and people still have the PSP.

Sony is taking a more pragmatic view, where having the PSVita in the mobile space is having an option for Gamers that want such a platform for gaming, they do not expect to be the leader, not that it would not be nice, offering Gaikai on the PSVita along with smartphones and tablets is just smart in the fact you want to sell software that's the goal.

think about this Sony once again has sale through of over 7.4 million xperia smartphones a sales Quarter! Apple has over 28 million a sales Quarter, samsung over 38 million smartphones a sales Quarter!

it takes Nintendo and Sony both a full year to Reach THAT NUMBER OF SALES OF DEDICATED Hand Held GAME CONSOLES. That is something to really sink in. Sony knows the market, the Market is no longer just about what Nintendo and Sony and Microsoft offer in the Games market now. its about everyone and what they also offer in the market. And how they are competeing just as much with your offerings , just as much as the other two.

when your SmartTV has the offering of Games, and your Smart TV can get applications such as Pandora, Hulu, Youtube, Skype, iO radio etc. all these thing's add up to making one less reason to have a dedicated box under the TV. you don't think Sony , Nintendo or Microsoft do not see this?

they are not ignoring this change, as a matter of fact Sony is making sure if your going to choose a topset box under your TV, they want it to be a Sony branded box, they cannot force you to buy all they can do is offer what they have over other choices, same with their handhelds, right now only the PSVita , the 3DS and the WikiPad and some 3rd party systems from China has 2 analog sticks set for the market for mobile gaming on the go. That does not mean other companies are not going to be doing the same, that also does not mean Sony would not ignore that and not want to get those Platform Holders to sell their software also.

Meanwhile Sony can still offer exclusive content to only playstation Hardware.

[jokia005]

And they gonna say 'judging Vita before price cut is~~~''
arent they?

[Cam977]

Agreed. Luckily, I nabbed a second-hand (like new) vita and a 16gb stick for £150. Best handheld I've owned by far!

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

That is a great price!

[Cam977]

Indeed, £8 of that was 'special delivery' postage cost too!

[Knight_Crawler]

Luck bastario...thats the problem with the VITA and why its not selling, the price is worth every penny but people do not really care about tech and focus on the cheaper price instaed of the tech that you are getting.

I went into a Sony store the other day and saw a referbished VITA but the price was like $20 from the original price and I was like whats the point.

Hopefully next year the price drops and I can buy one.

[Cam977]

You're right, it is worth every penny. Check out WRC3, AC3L and NFS:MW - all are console-like experiences!

[stragomccloud]

Agreed!

[Yodagamer]

I'm kinda waiting to see what effect the 2 big games assassins creed and call of duty has on the sales, if two big games like that can't push alot of units there is a)something wrong with marketing or b) the vita needs a price cut fast.

[GraveLord]

That's what happens when you decided to release the Vita at the worth time possible. After the holidays once everyone already spend all their extra money. Once everyone already got a 3DS for Christmas.

[givemeshelter]

We have to wait until the Christmas season starts before judgments are passed...however this time around Sony has a lot more competition for its handheld as well as Nintendo with the 3DS with the onslaught of Smartphones and Tablets coming out at the same time to complete for consumer dollars.
Times have changed as well as consumer demographic spending.

[Crillvirus81]

Good luck Sony trying to sell your vita I think it will do worst in the holidays lets be real you got halo 4 call of duty, Mario,a new wii plus I know Nintendo will be doing bundles for the 3ds I find it hard to believe they will sell a lot of vitas but let's see if sonys right lol

[Captain Tuttle]

Sony's publically stated fiscal year sales targets mean more than Christmas sales and there's no way they'll hit those.

[ElementX]

Well I never see people with a Vita anywhere or a DS for that matter. All I see are mobile phones, tablets, and laptops.

[profgerbik]

Can people shut up about 3DS sales in every Vita article. I mean seriously..

Just because Justin Bieber sells millions of albums doesn't make him a good musician, just makes the world a moronic place.

Sales don't mean much in this age of stupidity.

I mean 2 Chainz w/e the hell his name is.. He is successful for christ sakes, you cannot sit there and seriously say just because he is selling albums right now he is good...

I am not trying to say the 3DS is a piece of shit. I am just saying stop throwing 3DS sales around like it means anything.

Nearly 50% of 3DS owners are literally children. I would know simply because my entire household is filled with them and they all own 3DS's or Wii's... Also anytime I go out and see a kid, they have a 3DS or DS.

Nintendo has made it pretty obvious they have aimed at selling to kids and they did just that very well. To constantly brag about the sales when the majority of it came from children who don't know their ass from their elbow isn't saying much.

[one2thr]

Respect.
I gotten a bubble deducted for speaking my mind, and what you said so much very true.
It's like comparing Dennys burgers to mcdonalds burgers and judging quality by sales numbers... Which is extremely stupid...

[tiffac008]

Well the ball is in your court Sony, its time to step up and impress the masses and doubters alike. Fail to do so and you'll just give more ammo to your detractors and haters for life.