Will the PlayStation Vita stay strong in 2013?

There has been a lot of controversy about the PlayStation Vita lately. Some complain about the lack of big titles, while others are quite happy with all of the indie games the Vita has been getting. So what should we expect this year from the PlayStation Vita?…

[LOGICWINS]

I would argue that it will get strong-ER. But those memory card prices need to drop. That or a Vita redesign with with AT LEAST 8gb of internal memory.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Agreed. I wouldn't call the Vita's current status "strong", simply due to first-year jitters and the overall lack of compelling games (NOT saying "no good games" and I'm NOT saying it's a bad system). I think if Sony really wants to push the system, 2013 is the year to do it. PSP started off strong and slowly crawled to a halt. PSVita started off slow, so let's hope it will build momentum.

[MikeMyers]

Sony can't really have the thing be a slow cooker. Some people bash the PS3 during its first few years but it still outsold the Xbox 360. The PS3 also grew stronger as time went on. I don't think Vita will have that same luxury. It's a different market and one that they need to build momentum on rather quickly. I expect a big push this year but with the PS4 looming that could make things rather difficult.

Nintendo has done a great job at separating the Wii and now the Wii U from the 3DS. Sony has aligned the Vita with the PS3 which is a good idea but may fail to capitalize in the long run.

[Rush]

@MikeMyers

While I agree with most of your speculation just one thing, the PS3 hasn't outsold the 360 all the evidence and figures reported suggest otherwise. But hey I guess some people still believe the world is flat so this is hardly surprising that people believe the PS3 has outsold the 360.

Although if I want to try and be objective I would say due to the early 360 failure rate the PS3 has more unique owners. But again this it just speculation from a purely factual bases the PS3 hasn't outsold the 360.

One could argue as well that the PS3 has sold more pre year, but again changing the bar doesn't change the fact the PS3 simply hasn't outsold the 360 well according to the data anyway.

[MikeMyers]

What I meant was during the first few years the PS3 still outsold the Xbox 360 during the same span of time. Not overall for the entire generation. The system got a lot of flack but still sold better year over year and has slowly closed the gap of total sales. All while being released one year later.

[Veneno]

@ Rush

Lol, nervous much?

[remanutd55]

i think the system had a decent/good holiday season and pretty good one year overall when it comes to software released i do think sony will need to make an official price drop on the system itself and its memory cards that would certainly help to get a bigger install base and games like Tearaway, Soul Sacrifice, Killzone Mercenary, Sly Cooper, Warrior's Lair will most likely play a part to get a bigger install base on the system as well, im not saying they are system sellers im saying that all together could appeal to a wide range of non vita owners.

people say Destination Playstation is not about showing new games but i think PSvita needs more time to shine before the ps4 gets unveiled at E3 2014 so i think that could be a good place to show one or two new unannounced vita games.

anyways i think the best is yet to come.

[XTGamers]

I'm not sure if the official "PS4" announcement will be of any help to the Vita. People might get distracted and obviously Sony's focus will change towards the newest console.

A price drop in the near future might do some good, though.

[profgerbik]

Sony never just drops something, PSP still doing great in Japan and developers still pushing out some pretty good games for it even in NA.

Chances are the PS4 just like the PS3 will work with the PS Vita considering how long it's lifespan is set for it's obvious already on their mind.

Maybe that is exactly why there isn't much PS3 and PS Vita support now, maybe they are holding out. I mean if they wanted to compete with the Wii U it would be a smart move to invest more with the PS Vita and PS4 than the PS3 right now.

Just speculating though but I know Sony will for sure have support across both the PS Vita and PS4 there is no doubt about that, especially when Gaikai gets up and running.

Really excited to see what they do with Gaiaki altogether.

[Veneno]

It will be interesting to see what Sony has lined up for Vita and PS4 compatability. Very interesting.

[XXXL]

Just support the damn thing and it'll take off. Sony needs to set an example for 3rd party game companies. If they don't support their own product why would anybody else?

[AznGaara]

But they have. Little big planet, sound shapes, uncharted, escape plan and gravity rush were all first party tittles sprinkled throughout the year. Plus all the cross buy games and now psn+ they have been and are supporting it. It's the third party developers who are staying back. To say that Sony isnt supporting the Vita at all is just ludicrous. They just need that one game that sells bucketloads and gets the third party to go "okay now people have this device now we can stop being afraid our games won't sell."

[Genuine-User]

Hit the disagree by accident. Damn phone!

[supremacy]

I agreed with you to a certain extent. And i say this because if Sony were to look and see what made the psp sell well in certain regions they would quickly address this with the vita.

Sony has its own games, but Sony isnt Nintendo in that they of the 3 are the most versitale. They could easily pay key third party for key selling ips to appear on their platform. For example, if were them i would have gone to Capcom and make a deal that would see the vita launching with a monster hunter. This move alone, could have change the perception of the device and many other publishers would likely react and follow.

Its how this industry works.

Now as for fillers, you only need to look at your rival and see what strategies work. Nintendo is noctorious for reusing older ips, and that for the most part works.

So instead of making multiplats out of ps3 exclusives, simply take a dive to the past and assemble a small studio dedicated to bringing ps2 classics in HD with trophies exclusively to the vita. Personally i would target the top 20 rpgs to ever grace that platform; the proof is there. Just look at persona4 golden, now imagine what those other games would do for this platform.

But again, Sony seems to spread itself thin with too many platforms. I mean kill the psp already, so the support shifts. There is no need for a psp, vita is psp and much more.

Vita needs a solid stream of exclusives, good and decent exclusives. No cheap attempts like declassified or resistance.

More gravity rush, more filler ups like persona4 golden and yes good third party exclusives. Man, i would love to see resident evil or Dragonquest or even a FF remake of their own like the DS had.

And i get it, 1st party stuff is good and costly. But sometimes is worth looking outside and see what could potentially help you move units to help you gain traction in a very rough market.

And while the indie stuff is appreciated and helps the industry grow. I think if Sony really wants Playstation mobile to be a success they need to make it more part of what makes psn grow than go with the idea of making mini games that can be played elsewhere. And what i mean by this is simple; leaderboards, trophies and those fundamentals that make Playstation games stand out. You address this and ps mobile wont be just another tab on the ps store thats for sure.

Now firmware updates is another issue for another topic but...

its all i am saying.

[god_mode]

They need to integrate it more for the PS4 for it to be attractive to masses or anyone on the fence about getting one. Hopefully upcoming announcements from Sony will do this along with of course an announced PS4.

A lot of people here said to give it a year but even that didn't help.

[GribbleGrunger]

I personally think that the Vita will just carry on chugging along merrily for most of the year. It's going to take a 6 million install base to give Sony some persuasive power with third party devs, and then it's going to take devs quite some time to make games for the Vita. I don't think we'll see any huge movement until 2014 ... although perhaps next Christmas (post price drop) we could see much bigger sales figures.

[rainslacker]

I'd like to agree with you, however if a developer is going to be looking at the handheld market, then they would likely prefer to support Nintendo's offerings. They cost less to make and the install base is already big. I'm sure there are some developers and publishers though that have plans that just wouldn't fit on the 3DS.

Then of course there's Vita's biggest advantage, in that it can get a real console quality port, thus meaning for relatively little money publishers can produce another game for release, and serve another part of the market, hopefully making them money.

In addition, the Vita is a way to produce a console quality title without the console price-tag. This can be a big plus to smaller studios, who may not have the ability to license for console, but want to ship a high-quality product.

6 million isn't a small number though, and some developers see that many of those people are looking for a game to buy on the system. I still kind of feel the Vita's software is in that launch window phase, where good (or even bad) titles will sell because people are hungry for it. There have been quite a few great games released on the system to date, much more than the PSP had in it's first year. I believe 2013 will be much the same though, with great titles being released, and people will keep denying that it has games worth playing.

[izumo_lee]

Just like with the PSP the Vita will continue to have decent sales if it stays at the current price point. It was hinted by Sony that a price drop may occur at some point this year so it will interesting to see by how much & if it will have any effect on future sales.

One thing for sure Sony is supporting the system a lot more than they did with the PSP. The 1st party titles on the way look promising & there are probably more in the works that we do not know of.

Something Sony needs to look at is trying to lure developers mainly in Japan away from the PSP & focus their development on the Vita. Although with every PSP sold Sony is making a profit, it is hampering the growth of the Vita in Japan.

There is untapped potential in the Vita that a lot of people are unaware of cause of their infatuation with iOS games. Once people realize that the Vita has the making to be everything a person wants in a gaming device due to its ability to evolve (firmwares etc.) they will see the value of the system.

[KrisButtar]

"Something Sony needs to look at is trying to lure developers mainly in Japan away from the PSP & focus their development on the Vita. Although with every PSP sold Sony is making a profit, it is hampering the growth of the Vita in Japan."

this is so true, let the psp die, also for someone like me who owns a vita, i keep seeing games i want being released in japan for the psp, then NA gets them through the PSN, sorry but i dont want a digital verison of the game

[IIZANGETSUII]

Stay strong? How people define "strong" this days? lol

[GameBlinx]

I would consider 50 physical games and a big handful of digital games a "strong" start. Like it or not, there were good titles throughout the year. Whether they were small titles or big titles. The Vita is nowhere near it's potential, but I still would consider it strong at the moment.

[LOOK_AT_THIS_I]

I'm trying to figure out why game loft hasn't littered the store with the clones yet or if Sony is not letting them. I know this wont make them tons of money but it is successful on phones and tablets. Give people more variety and not try to rape them with an angry birds style ripoff that costs more than several of the app stores versions.
Ive bought several games for the vita but they really need to push the app style to get a little more buzz.

[Veneno]

I agree with that. Cheap games get people to at least start buying something. It could lead to bigger ticket items.

[totallysane]

make memory cards more affordable, more "good games" and we need cross play dammit. use 2 screens to play one game. THAT is one of the things that will keep me playing a game. utilize that hardware sony!!!!

[DJ]

PS Vita is one of those handheld consoles that you need to try out just once to fall in love with it. It's clearly a platform that puts the user experience first and the games so far have been really good. Hopefully more people start buying it. But the price is a bit high.

[J86blum]

I hope so, im enjoying it more then my PS3 mainly the PSN and quick swapping from games to music to netflix. Its way faster in that sense.

[Veneno]

Well the Vita will get more of my moneyif they would just already release Dragons Crown and Disgaea 4. And more Zen Pinball 2 tables :)

[Ult iMate]

Just for comparsion's sake
This is the list of games, that 3DS had to offer by the end of it's first year
http://www.metacritic.com/b...
and this is the list for PSV
http://www.metacritic.com/b...

Gamewise PSV doing really great. And also has one of the best 1st party support. I'm playing mine practically every day since the purchise in early spring.

[boybato]

nice.. great list of games from both platforms btw, though you could easily see the disparity between the target market from each consoles.

[Ult iMate]

Exactly. As long as I love games that PSV has to offer, I can see only two or three games on 3DS that appeal to me. That's work the opposite way, I suppose.

[Brad13186]

No.

[strigoi814]

Yes