Sony slashes PS Vita forecast, sales of PS3 fall

Sony has once again slashed their outlook for the PlayStation Vita and other handhelds in their PlayStation Portable lineup. Announced in the quarterly report, Sony cuts the projected sales total from 12 million in fiscal year 12, to 10 million sold bythe year’s close (March 31, 2013)

[Blankman85]

Maybe this second sales forecast slash will educate many on this site who keep saying that the VITA is selling fine or as expected. Clearly it is not.

[LX-General-Kaos]

The Vita unfortunately seems to be struggling drastically. Hopefully its luck turns around...

I personally believe a price slash will give the platform a much needed boost, and put the vita in a competitive state. Also game releases dedicated to the Japanese, who are in fact the most supportive of the on the go gaming lifestyle.

As much as some wouldn't want to hear this. More user friendly casual experiences are long over due. Games that will appeal to the masses, not just the core gamer.

[gaffyh]

Sony knows that the Vita isn't selling as well as they wanted it to, which is why the have forecast down. However, they need games before they need a price cut for the device, because without games, a price cut would be completely pointless. It's also worth mentioning that Sony can't afford to cut price until they reduce manufacturing costs. It would be stupid for them from a business and investor standpoint to cut the price to get an additional 2 million sales, and lose a lot more money than when selling 10 million, when they cannot make up the lost revenue.

Vita's a bit of a slow burner, but Sony has proven that they can make a device with great games time and time again, so nothing to worry about imo.

[darthv72]

vita needs games...here's a thought. Sony could open the flood gates that are the digital psp library and price the games half off.

That would add a crap load of playable titles to the vita real quick. Granted they would be psp titles but the idea that you have doubled or tripled the amount of playable games to your platform can be a huge selling point.

I know it was when PS2 came out. The whole BC idea was a big selling point for many because they already had a library of PS1 games that now they could play on the PS2 along with the PS2 games at the time.

Another idea would be for them to adopt the low blow tactic of cheap and disposable games on the vita marketplace. Essentially taking on the likes of tablet/phone users with the words with friends and other popular social games.

Consumers will generally buy into a product if they feel they are getting a great deal for their $$. Like i said, it would be a low blow tactic but it certainly could spark some interest.

the real downside is the portability of the unit itself. I mean lets face it. It is sexy tech but really isnt something that everyday people would tote around like a tablet.

If sony could take the best of the vita and pair it with the best of the xperia play then they would really have something to take on both the portable and mobile markets in one.

[awesomeperson]

Is it not Rated E for Everyone? :o

I'm personally thinking of picking up a Vita soon, although I am hoping a price cut is in the works - would not hurt its chances at all.

[nveenio]

Ummm. Ten million units a year in today's portable market isn't bad at all. Think about developers: They know that if they make a really great game and price it sensibly, they could easily sell 4-5 million copies. Ten million is pretty good. Plus, we haven't even seen the Vita sell through a holiday season, yet.

[NewMonday]

10m is still to optimistic IMOO

200$ tablets like kindle and the nexus 7 are making 250$ hard to swallow

[BitbyDeath]

Q2 results - (stolen from GAF)

PS3+PS2 - 8.8 million
360 - 4.2 million
Wii - 2.2 million

3DS+NDS - 8.6 million
PSP+Vita - 3.9 million

http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

[Dante112]

@ BitbyDeath

Sweet post. According to neogaf...

"PS3 has been reliably selling 75+% of combined ps2/ps3 sales over the past year (over 85% during the holidays last year), and obviously going forward the ps3 will only increase that share as the ps2 slowly dies off. So using 75% as a minimum baseline, we get the following picture:

63.9 + .75*2.8 +.75*3.5 = ~68.6 million units sold globally after this quarter at a minimum.

Compare that to 360's 70 million and ps3 is now only trailing by 1.4 million units max.

It's pretty safe to say at this point that by the end of Sony's fiscal year the PS3 will be in second place globally, certainly before the next consoles come out."

Wow, if true.

[LackTrue4K]

The 3DS unfortunately seems to be struggling drastically. Hopefully its luck turns around...

I personally believe a price slash will give the platform a much needed boost, and put the vita in a competitive state. Also game releases dedicated to the Japanese, who are in fact the most supportive of the on the go gaming lifestyle.

As much as some wouldn't want to hear this. More user friendly casual experiences are long over due. Games that will appeal to the masses, not just the core gamer.

(i forgot to add)
"rated E for everyone"

[Ult iMate]

@newmonday
>>200$ tablets like kindle and the nexus 7
And what should I play on those? Uncharted? Unit? Gravity Rush? Ragnarok? Assassin's Creed? MGS?
Why should I pay $200 for a device that doesn't have any sterling big game? I have my tablet for completly different purposes. Playing games on it, turned to be a pain because of lack of buttons or analog sticks and a waste of time because of overall quality of games.

[nukeitall]

@Dante112:

There is only snag though in your argument. MS typically sells lots more Xbox 360s ever holiday than Sony does PS3.

Last holiday Xbox 360 sold almost twice the number PS3. From the top of my head, I think MS sold 7+ million consoles.

This year, MS got a price cut going into the holidays, while Sony essentially raised the price. You do the math!

[Dante112]

@ nuke

And even then....

Straight mathematics for you

PS3 best selling console 2011 (despite MS claims even after the fact of knowing that Sony didn't release it numbers yet lol).

Source (Ps3, Xbox360, Wii official full numbers for 2011): http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

[raWfodog]

As much as I would like to disagree, it seems that the Vita could be doing much better. As Kaos stated, it seems a price cut would seem like the most likely way to increase sales. It is currently almost $100 more than the standard 3DS, not counting the required memory cards needed for game saves.

As a gamer myself, I love the Vita and all it has to offer but as a parent in these tough economic times, I'm hard-pressed to buy a Vita for my kids to go along with the 3DS's that they already have. A significant price cut would definitely help to make the decision easier.

Edit: But as Gaffy has also pointed out, I believe it's still too early to count the device out. To date, the PSP sold only about half of the DS worldwide but 75 Million is still nothing to sneeze at.

[ritsuka666]

What ever happened to vita heaven 2?

Anyway,,Sony definitely brought this on themselves with really poor decisions with the obscene price points for the machine and the no games from japan.

[violents]

how is it at an obsene pricepoint, its only 50 dollars more than a 3ds and a much better gaming platform, I would say its worth the extra fifty bucks for everything you get.

[a_bro]

how about the memory cards violents, did you forget the memory cards?

i had a vita for a while, awesome system, but the price point as it stands is too steep. you need a memory card for most games(which makes no freaking sense what so ever since the games are on flash cards like the 3DS), and no one is going to opt in for a 4gb or an 8gb...

what it most importantly needs is games. and not trashy games like that crap COD game. that wont help the system sell. it needs games that shows the power and the versatility of the system.

[murkster-dubez]

Lol obscene price point? when they first announced the price everyone was praising sony saying they would get one day one. Then Nintendo dropped there overpriced tat down to a acceptable price give early adopters rubbish nes and gba games as some kind of rebate.

[FunAndGun]

yeah, the price of the memory cards killed my excitement for owning a Vita. I don't care if its a new device, memory should NOT cost that much.

No HD in the Vita was a mistake.

edit: I think the device itself is priced just fine for what the system offers however.

[Ult iMate]

>>no games from japan
Are you kidding?
MGS, Gravity Rush, Ragnarok, Project Diva, Blaz Blue, Persona to name a few.

[GraveLord]

Who said Vita was selling fine? It's selling horribly.

@below
Price cut is the last thing Vita needs. What it need most is GAMES. A price cut will only provide a temporary boost.

@ritsuka666
Obscene price points? LMFAO! You do know that the PSP launched at $250 back then right? If you adjust for inflation, PS Vita is actually super cheap for the tech it has in there. Did you forget that the 3DS also launched at $250? That thing is nowhere near as powerful as the Vita.

Did you know the Vita is more powerful than an iPhone 5? In fact it may even be more powerful than the iPhone 6. Vita is years ahead of mobile phones in terms of tech. It is not over-priced.

[raWfodog]

I don't believe too many people are arguing over whether the Vita's tech is worth the price. I believe most people (even haters) would agree that you do get a lot for the price. I belive most would even agree that it is on-par/above-par with most smartphones also.

But the fact is that the Vita is not selling through as expected and the current price is a big part of it. Yes, the 3DS launched at $250 but its sales didn't take off until they slashed the price dramatically. PSP sales also didn't see a dramatic rise until the prices came down. It may be too early for a price cut for the Vita from Sony's view but it will be necessary to see the sales pick up. Remember, the average and casual gamer may not be enticed by the machine's capabilities. Most only see the price tag.

Yes, availabilty of games is a factor and the Vita has a lot of games currently available, not counting ports. It may not have the killer titles that many 'hardcore' gamers are looking for but I'm sure there's something that anyone would enjoy playing.

[Ben_Grimm]

Why do people on here make up every excuse as to why the Vita isn't selling?

"What it need most is GAMES."

You cannot be serious? The one thing the Vita doesn't lack in is GAMES! I really don't know what kind of games you are wanting to come come out on Vita that already hasn't been released but that is a lame reason.

Again, the Vita may be "years" ahead of the competition but that doesn't make it desireable to the average consumer which is way too obvious now.

[tubers]

I don't think it's better than an Iphone 5 specially software-wise.. but a damn Iphone is what? $ 750 plus?

But there's a lot of factors to consider as well..
The Iphone 5 can provide enough entertainment for the masses w/o extra unnecessary cost (of having to buy another device).. the phone plan is to be considered as well..
Most importantly, it has way more "practical" software (non gaming).

A vita is pretty much redundant for the average person (sales already back this up).

[Ult iMate]

I agree with you about the price been priced right.
But as for games, I disagree with you. There are more than enough games on Vita, but most of you just turn a blind eye for this.
I've just finished MGS Collection and there will be LBP, Project Diva, NFS, Assassin's Creed, Ragnarok, Zero Escape, Retro City Rampage. And then ZoE Collection, Ratchet & Clank, Persona, Sly 4. And I still didn't play WipEout.
What lack of games are talking about? I don't even have enough time and money to buy and play all games that I want for Vita. The only game I finished on PS3 since spring was Batman AC - all other time I play on Vita.

[kopicha]

@raWfodog

Actually it is more on branding hating than anything else. When 3DS is out with a 250 price tag, what most people are complaining is lack of Mario games and games rather than the price tag itself. But with Sony's case, despite fact that when comparing hardware to hardware, it is very clear who is more superior. Yet people are complaining over the price tag. If we are to talk about no games on Vita. 3DS face the same shit at launch too. From an owner of both 3DS and Vita, people can disagree but from my perspective as well as my friends surrounding me who actually own both, we all felt that if comparing the first 6 mths of release between the 2 platforms. Vita actually did better in terms of games that they push out. It is quite unfair to compare today's state on both in terms of games. Since 3DS launch way ahead of Vita. It is just like in the past when people are complaining that PS3 has not games and 360 has more games when the fact is 360 release 1 year earlier. It is an obvious "DUH" thing to talk about. If 360 1 year head start still end up having less game, it should be thrown out of market by time PS3 is out. It is just like as of today, iTune Store still have more apps than Google Play Store. But Android is still conquering almost 20% more market share than iOS market as of today.

Some things are just hard that you wont know what people are thinking these days. Some things people say I might agree, but a lot of things are just unfair statement and comparison. Yet people are putting it as fact. Just like iPad, it does sell very well. But the fact is from tech standpoint, iPad may be pretty revolution when it first came out. But as of today, it is very clear that other makers are making better tablets than iPad (from tech standpoint). Yet iPad is still selling. Simply because why? It is Apple. Is this even logical? To me it is not. Especially for it's price tag. Always way higher than other tablets. Yet no one is complaining the price tag and went ahead and buy them. From technical standpoint, Vita is still more powerful than the 3rd iPad. Yet iPAd is way more expensive. When iPad is not being complain over price but Vita is. Is this logical? Maybe haters and apple lovers will find it logical. But not me. How about Apple to release a new iPad replacement within the same life cycle? Yet people will run out and buy for sure. And people can complain anything but never it's price tag, yet it is pretty confirm that it will cost more than most existing products. Again because it is Apple.

A lot of things really does not make sense today. But this is how people want to be. Also humans have the tendency of like being a sheep. If many say this is good, the rest will tend to follow blindly. Simply because people will think if I do not follow suit means I am lagging behind the society. So ti say, at least 1/3 of the community dont even know what they are talking when they comment something. They just follow the crowd. Unfortunately this is how the society is these days.

Whatever it is. I only can say from an own's perspective. I have nothing against the device. I personally find it priced ok. Not saying it is cheap. But not unreasonable as far as the launch price is. And it does return me the value that I have pay for. I enjoy owning the device. I think people really need more peace, learn to be more appreciative in life than to be so bashful.

[PinkFunk]

@kopicha

Solid post, man. I can tell English isn't your first language, but you wrote eloquently and very clearly! And it was much more insightful than the majority of comments on here. Bubs+ for you my friend.

[SilentNegotiator]

Right. Because 10 million wouldn't be "fine" for it's first year. Just another playstation-hater with a 360 avatar.

[ronin4life]

10Million psp and PSv. The psp is outselling the vita by more than 2-1 in most regions, so the VAST majority of that 10mil are psps NOT vitas.

[MetalProxy]

@ronin umm isnt the psp half the price? not sure how millions of sold psps is a bad thing. Oops nvm Iam lost, Iam in a sales article.

[GribbleGrunger]

ronin4life, where the hell are you getting that idea from? The Vita outsells the PSP in America by 10/1 and in Europe by over 3/1. It only gets outsold by the PSP in Japan.

That's not to say that it couldn't do with better sales, because it could. It just amazes me how people pull numbers from thin air like that.

I personal think that 10 million combined sales is a little optimistic from Sony, UNLESS they know something we don't. I'd say this isn't the last revision. 8 million my March.

[Jazz4108]

What happened to all the people who purchssed psp go? Did sony screw them as bad as its looking? The game portion barley turned a prroft and as a comapny they are still in the red another quarter on a whole they took more losses in the billions.

[Knushwood Butt]

I have a Go.

Was using it last night.

Still love it.

Why would I feel screwed? I bought it ages ago, and have used it extensively.

[Anon1974]

Nice report all around. Sony seems to be the only one largely unaffected by the slowing markets with PS3 sales hardly down at all this year and software sales unbelievably up. Both the 360 and Wii have witnessed their sales drop by almost half compared to last year and the PS3 is still selling strong.

With PS3 sales only down 14% this quarter according to Sony, that puts the PS3 at about 68.8 million versus the 360’s 70 million. If this trend continues through the holidays, it looks like the PS3 will overtake 360’s all time sales by the end of Christmas, or the end of March at the latest.

And even with slowing PS3, PSP and slow Vita sales, the division turned a profit and is expecting to maintain their income levels with decreases in production costs washing out the impact of the slight sales decline. I’m sure the stabilizing FX markets helped.

It’s too bad we’ve seen PSP/Vita sales forecasts cut again but without a price cut and competing with half a billion smartphones/tablets out there it’s a wonder anyone is buying these. It’s a good thing they’re such a small part of the overall picture. Handheld gaming could disappear overnight and its impact to division would be negligible. The games division was never as reliant on the handheld market compared to the way it was Nintendo bread and butter for so long before DS sales disappeared and the Wii took over as the breadwinner. The 3DS has some pretty big shoes to fill from a revenue standpoint with Wii sales now pretty much non-existent and the Wii-U starting from square one.

Still, it’s funny to me to see the Vita/PSP story making the headlines again considering how small a part of the big picture it is. Investors couldn’t care less if the Vita disappeared off the face of the earth any more than they cared the PSP Go didn’t catch on. It’s a tick on the rhino’s back. When you look at business sites, the Vita isn’t even mentioned in looking at this report. At best it’s a footnote, yet look at all these games sites getting whipped up into a frothing `Sony Doom` frenzy when the real story should be how well the PS3 is doing going into the final lap of this gen. I guess they’re just getting warmed up for the onslaught of `PS4 Doom` articles we’re already seeing cropping up.

[Silly gameAr]

It's pretty convenient right? Articles like this are almost expected at this time of year.

[GribbleGrunger]

Well said. Have a bubble.

[Ben_Grimm]

Excellent spin Darkride, if I do remember correctly it was you who was defending the Vita and saying it wasn't in trouble and how it was on pace with the PSP when it first launched. And then you again said the Vita was doing well and partly because of Sony's first forcast slash. Then if I am not mistaken you blamed Japan's economy and the yen on why the Vita wasn't selling as well as it should.

Now all of a sudden the Vita is a flea on a dog's tip and we should all ignore the sales and focus more on the great selling PS3. You sir get a +bubble from just because I love the delusion you are under.

And I do remember you were in a few other articles in a frenzy letting posters know about a certain 40% drop.

[givemeshelter]

Darkride....master of spin....exactly what i said about you.
Thanks for confirming this...ONCE AGAIN :-D

[showtimefolks]

So let me get this right people want a price cut from Sony when they have lost billions of dollars? It's better for them to keep the price here and maybe sell less but in a year or 2 when company is doing better and manufacture cat goes down thats when hey will dro the price

Sony VP has said it many times a pre drop doesn't happen over night it's a long process to plan ahead. Also this talk of vita has no games well vita launched with so many games but people don't remember that and at gamescom Sony announced more stuff and actually I have seen a lot of advertisement for vita lately.

Right now let it sell slowly because I much rather Sony make 5-19 bucks on it than loose 100, Sony is in no position to loose more money so stop asking for a price drip it's not happening anytime soon. So instead of selling 16 million units in a year to 8-10 million if the 8-10 are profitable than its better than selling 16 million at $100 loss

[chaos-lockheart]

System is a system, they play games or media.Sony's products will sell sooner or later as long as they support it, what's not to like? Unless your a little fan-boy. It's built to do its job, for games, movies, music, and whatever they wanted to be, just like the PSOne, PS2, and PS3, PSP, and now the PSVITA.

[Consoldtobots]

I'll be the first one to say it, Sony is STUCK in the past still releasing handheld gaming devices. THOSE DAYS ARE OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

I find it unbelievably moronic to still release a dedicated handheld gaming device in the age of the smartphone and tablet. If you are not the DS selling like hotcakes TO CHILDREN then what exactly are you doing in that market?

[chaos-lockheart]

We as consumers buy these systems to play games, I'm guessing some people don't play games they play with how much somethings selling and playing the hate or fanboy games

[Scissorman82]

this makes me sad, i really like my vita. i take it everywhere i go. hopefully battle royale, call of duty and persona 4 golden can turns things around...

[r21]

Same man, i take mine everyday with me :) Ass Creeds Liberation, Smart As and Ragnarok Odyssey releases this week and maybe sales will pick up!

[Spenok]

Assassins Creed Liberation is damn impressive. Will be picking up Ragnarok and Battle Royal soon myself. CoD maybe (but it should definitely help).

The whole games argument is becoming a little null at this point. There are plenty of games to keep you busy (not going to make a list, just look for yourself.)

Also, for the price, this is an amazing machine. And it sucks that Nintendo dropping the price of the 3DS to combat the Vita hurt it so much. Especially since people were praising the price of the Vita when it was announced. However I have to agree that a price cut would certainly help them in the sales department. I mean just look at that temporary Target sale that just happened. It sold out in only a couple of hours. Crazy stuff. Its obvious the demand is there. The price just needs to come down.

[GribbleGrunger]

By Christ it's heartening to see so many sensible people in this thread. By the way, it HAS just had a price drop in Europe and we are yet to see the effect on sales from this weeks releases.

[andibandit]

It needs gaims and im not talking about chewed up existing franchises

[Neonridr]

10 million sold by the year's close which is March 31, 2013?? Has the Vita even sold 3 million units yet? And we are rapidly approaching the end of the calendar year 2012. I guess since the PSP still sells better than the Vita in Japan, maybe they are including those numbers to help bolster the sales.

[moegooner88]

10 million for both Vita, and PSP, both sold around 6 million so far this year.

[Neonridr]

well the Vita is at approx. 3.1 million in WW sales (taking vgchartz to be the most accurate at this point). You're telling me that the PSP sold 3 million units as well? Outside of Japan, where does the PSP still sell?

[moegooner88]

Platform Yearly (change) Total
3DS 8,097,551 (-39%) 21,347,6 13
PS3 6,936,811 (-51%) 67,444,5 46
X360 5,323,834 (-61%) 69,093, 278
Wii 3,131,817 (-73%) 96,795,3 40
PSV 2,596,775 (+439%) 3,078,3 48
PSP 2,334,693 (-68%) 75,194,1 73
DS 1,915,952 (-78%) 152,225,1 75

This is the 2012 yearly sales from VGchartz, I think PSP still sells around 35k worldwide each week, same as PS Vita :/

[Cam977]

I love my Vita, I'm looking forward to Christmas releases too. Oh, I would buy some PSP games from the store but so many of them are expensive because most of the ones I want are old ones that I've had. For example, MOH:Heroes 1/2, Driver 76, MH:FU and AC:Bloodlines.

[josephayal]

they can stop vita manufacturing next year

[mossman]

It's interesting to see how the Vita compares to the 3DS, in terms of strategy, which is telling about the differences between Sony and Nintendo. There's been a lot of discussion around price, so I won't retread that argument. But I think it's interesting to point out how each company supports their hardware products.

Nintendo has a vast infrastructure of popular licensed characters and games which they leverage through their own programming houses and deals with third parties. By doing this, every hardware launch they have comes with the guarantee to the consumer of what they can expect -- at a minimum -- for the type of games that will be available on that system. This in turn drives sales, which then creates an install base large enough to attract 3rd party vendors to provide additional games (however it is worth noting that the best sellers on Nintendo's systems are dominated by their own licences).

Now, compare this to Sony. Sony doesn't have the same strength in IPs, although they do have their own programming houses and have been able to differentiate the PS3 though high quality first party games. This, coupled, with the brand strength garnered through the first two playstations, have made the PS3 a general success (even if they are 3rd in the market and lost North America, they are still producing a viable competitor in the gaming industry.) But the level of support given to the Vita is not quite the same, and there's no guarantee to the consumer that a set of high quality games will ever be available for the system like the case with Nintendo. The result, poor sales and a dark future.

Through this lens, its easy to see why the 3DS does well, when the Vita struggles. Having said all that, I own a Vita and I really like it. Believe it or not, I've been playing Madden and FIFA 13 and having a blast. I'm on Zero Escape now, and this game has completely sucked me in. I've got NFS and AC:Liberation in the queue, and based on my limited time playing each, I think I will enjoy both. So there's a lot of great games out there for the system. I just think, for most people, the value proposition isn't there, and barring stronger gaming support for Sony, who hasn't quite matched the effort they have put into the PS3, the Vita may just have a short life cycle after all.

I hope that is not the case, but with the games I got, I have no regrets of buying the system. I guess time will tell.

[jmac53]

Sony are stubborn fools. They need to admit they priced the Vita too high and cut the price. Seeing as how they supported the PSP, fool me once. They are now up against the Nexus 7 and other cheaper tablets, which while not dedicated gaming systems, come close and are much more versatile.

[Series_IIa]

The price isn't too bad for the console itself, it's the inflated price for the memory cards which is a problem for most people.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

The Vita is at a very reasonable price I'm not sure why people say it costs too much when the technology and specs are the highest a handheld has ever had.
We are talking about near PS3 graphics here.
The only thing that costs too much are the memory cards, I see no reason as to why they are so expensive.

[deletingthis34675334]

Near PS3 graphics? Show me a game on it that have graphics half as good as Uncharted 3. Oh wait nvm there isn't nor there never will be. The technology doesn't even have a fraction of the specs on a PS3. The only thing the Vita does better than the PS3 is the RAM. The Vita is good for a handheld but call a spade a spade, it is not PS3 quality and the more visually intensive games on the Vita reveal limitations of the hardware like pixellated fire, etc.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

Jeez Take a chill pill you sound really annoyed.
I never said it was as good as the best looking games on the PS3 did I?
Obviously I didn't mean that but if you look at games such as Gravity rush, Uncharted Golden Abyss, Playstation All Stars and Sly:thieves in time they are very close to console quality.

[tubers]

PS3 graphics.. No.

But it certainly is ahead the 3DS.

Apple games can at least produce illusions that are much better.. and that matters to a lot of people:

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

Sure it's not that complex or open world BUT:

-Clean geometry
-Clean lines (VITA's jaggy galore IMO)
-Sharp reflections
-High Textures

Hope VITA can up that even with a game with shallow gameplay.

[Ult iMate]

@SegaKnuckles86
>>Near PS3 graphics? Show me a game on it that have graphics half as good as Uncharted 3.

Vita is on the first year of it's life. Uncharted 3 came out on - what? - fifth year of PS3's life.
He also said _NEAR_ PS3, not equals PS3, because it's clearly impossible to put all the power of stationary device to a handheld. But Uncharted GA in many places looks more detailed than Uncharted 1 (and also GA has ambient occlusion, that appeared only in Uncharted 2).
And also the new NFS ofcourse:
http://n4g.com/news/1111874...

[Ron_Danger]

Yeah... The price was too high... That's why everyone at E3 cheered when they announced its price...

[LOGICWINS]

YUP. The nerds/fanboys/press are a valid indicator of the likes/dislikes of gamers across the globe. No wonder Vitas are flying off shelves.

/s

It's like me saying Mitt Romney is a horrible candidate, and you try to prove me wrong by saying,

"Bu bu but everyone cheered for him at the Republican National Convention!"

You can't use a bubble like E3 to determine the opinions of ALL gamers, just like you can't use a bubble like the RNC to determine the opinions ALL voters.

[PimpDaddy]

Everyone being the journalists right? Apparently their opinion doesn't hold much weight because PS Vita sales are nothing to cheer about.

Anyways the price isn't the problem. It's the lack of demand. Not very many people want to play PS3 quality titles outside of their home.

This may not make sense to the majority of N4G. But the current videogame marketplace shows this to be true.

[ShaunCameron]

@ PimpDaddy

I been thinking the same thing. A lot of Vita's titles would be much better served on home console.

<Anyways the price isn't the problem. It's the lack of demand. Not very many people want to play PS3 quality titles outside of their home.>

[stragomccloud]

It's not the system that's overpriced. It's the required proprietary memory cards that are.

[delicia]

Bit off topic, but the PS Store in Brazil just updated, so the american store should update soon. (Latin america has the same content and is also Region 1).

[OC_MurphysLaw]

It saddens me to see the Vita struggle. I honestly think of the two hand helds it is the better of the two. I am not sure what Sony needs to do at this point.

[newn4gguy]

Reasons the Vita isn't selling.

- People don't know it exists.
- Expensive.
- People don't know it exists.
- People don't know that it has games.
- People think it's another PSP (Seriously. People ask me if the Vita or the PSP Go is newer. EVERY DAY.)
- People don't know it exists...

[MetalProxy]

another reason is the fools at gamestop tend to talk people out of buying the vita. As a matter of fact when I bought my white vita on tues he ask me why I was spending money on the pos...I was super pissed.

[CommonSenseGamer]

@new:
The masses don't care about the Vita and never will. Its a niche product and if Sony can't forge a big enough consumer base for it then it will get nowhere.

[newn4gguy]

Kid: Mommy... I want an iPad!
Mom: How much is it?
Kid: $500
Mom: Alright. I'll get you an iPad.

Kid: Mommy... I want a PS Vita!
Mom: How much is it?
Kid: $250
Mom: That's too expensive, honey. We can't afford that.

[Pillville]

I know a lot of people with iPads, but I've never heard of a parent buying one for their kids.

Plus iPads don't require additional, expensive, proprietary memory cards. Plus apple has a store with THOUSANDS of apps/games (many free or $1-$2).

I have both and in the long run, I really think I've spent less on my iPad.

[DA_SHREDDER]

we dont need to buy them, they get them free at school now. and my oldest got a mac book so ya.

[ALLWRONG]

Bad comparison

[Tales RPG addict]

Wow that kids mom is dumb.
$500 for an ipad is Expensive.
250 for a PS VITA is cheap as Fuck.

[LAZL0-Panaflex]

True. Plus iPad and android do a lot of things. Vita is whack. That's one good thing about Xbox never jumping into handheld market. I prefer ps3 but Sony could be making more cool games for ps3 instead of a lot of half asses for vita PSP pspgo and so on. What a waste. I know I just ruined some of these kids day....but how about kz3 map packs or a 3rd person kill zone or infamous 3, this is a bad year for ps3 gamewize Xbox has halo 4 and we got PS all stars gimme a break.

[tiffac008]

Sony should really consider making (at the very least) the 4GB memory card free with every Vita purchased.

At least that would give consumers an incentive to buy in rather than be put off by paying extra on something very important to the functionality of the device.

[Kingthrash360]

Imma say this. Too many people are making articles like this, making gamers think there is no hope. So imma make one point...... If the Xbox can survive the red rings of death saga, Sony will out live this. I don't care about numbers and what ever. Side note: 3ds was having worse articles rip it but the second Nintendo dropped the price it was all good. Sony will drop the vitas price after the holidays as it always does and when it does, it will be wiiU's time to shine in the hate articles. Smh

[Kennytaur]

No surprise, the original estimate was unrealistic a long time ago. I have hope Sony will turn it around next year.

[poet215]

I do not own a vita, may get one in the future...I bought a psp back in 2005 & what killed the thrill for me was when I bought Madden 06 for my ps2 @ $50 + tax and also purchased Madden 06 for my psp @ about $35....I felt like I had to buy games two times to enjoy the handheld market. I'm old now, I was 12 years old when I had an original game boy back in 1989. The times & the handheld market has grown & evolved in a huge way since then. I feel like if they could devise a way for me to purchase the game one time & be able to play fluently on both my ps3 & a vita....I would have one immediately. It's simple for me, if these devices could share the same games, I'd be all in to buy one just for free time at work. From what I heard, the ps3 & vita can speak to each other on the same gaming platform.....I just don't think it's on the level that I would need it to be.....could be just wishful thinking on my part too lol

[ziggurcat]

golly jeepers... another sony/vita doom article. *shocking*

/sarcasm

[DarkBlood]

personally the games are fine and id like to play some of them but im holding out till they release a red vita

ps. anyone know whats up with the 28 mb download app for the psn store?

[MasterD919]

That price tag isn't helping honestly.

I'm going to buy a regular PSP and mod the hell out of it instead (for all the holiday traveling I'll be doing), but I would have preferred to buy a vita if it wasn't sitting at the price of a new PS3.

[jd666]

I hope Sony get out of the handheld market after this and focus all their time and money on 1 console!

[SAE]

talking about sales is like politics >.< , even politics give me some good feelings , this is just annoying >.<

lol

[megamanX2]

aww booo

[sak500]

I'd say flop. Not in this economy people will buy their kids 250$ toys.

[belac09]

it is an amazing piece of hardware, it just needs better games, like Final Fantasy, or and i hate to say this, but GTA. stuff that people have been buying year after year, and developed right.

[stragomccloud]

Everyone is cutting projections. I wouldn't think about it too much.

[tubers]

I think Asus and Sammy are on profit with their mobile/tablet sections..

[lfclee]

I think it is a great handheld but i have never been an handheld fan though i don't dis anyone else it's up to the individual, i'm looking forward to the wii u.

[TheKayle]

great hardware...with a failure price.....iti should cost 100/150$ dollars...but they cant coz theres too much hardware that no one asked for...in that machine..so sorry for sony..but theres no life for the ps vita

[DarKnightDave]

When 3ds came out, everyone was saying it will fail. Today, I see kids with them everywhere. It took about a year for all the good games to start coming out. I think we'll start seeing some better stuff coming next year, especially in the fall. Just give it some time. But a price cut wouldn't hurt and more advertising.