GXC: "The PlayStation Vita is approaching its one year anniversary here in the West and the system has received its fair share of praise and criticism all throughout. Most people who own, or have used a Vita are more than happy with the system itself. Still, the handheld has struggled to sell itself within that time period – selling just over 4 million. In comparison to the sales of its predecessor (PSP) and current competitor (3DS) within the same period of time, the Vita looks as if it could be facing quite a bit of trouble. Some attribute these failings to a number of things including the memory cards and games. One of the most common criticism the system receives is that the price is just too high. This following post will just go through some fleeting thoughts of mine, the reasons why I believe that price is not the reason the Vita is not selling well."
The artist behind Fallout 4’s Deathclaw reveals just how bad things got back when Bethesda took over the series
"Digital Extremes are today very happy and proud to announce that Warframe’s next highlightly anticipated Prime form launches soon with Protea Prime Access arriving on all platforms on May 1st, 2024." - Digital Extremes.
"SEGA are today very happy and excited to announce that they have just released the second of three content updates for "Sonic Dream Team" – the latest 3D Sonic the Hedgehog action-platformer, playable exclusively on Apple Arcade. The hefty second update brings an all-new Zone, ranked badges, and more." - SEGA.
Making this iOS exclusive (and subscription only!) was so freaking stupid. Perfectly encapsulates SEGA's decision making process.
Great I'll just wait for a port someday, what a damn shame with their decision making.
It's not like they needed Apple money to make smaller Sonic title too.
Eh. If you really look at the price for what you get, it's fine. But considering the economy, competition, and all that other stuff, it still would be nice for a price cut sooner rather than later.
Sony is mostly likely going to announce a price drop and Vita redesign on the 20th anyway, but I agree that the price isn't the problem.
advertise
The problem isn't pricing. Nor is it advertising.
The problem is a lack of a steady stream of games. Sony should have at least 4 retail releases per month; they should not be going consecutive months without retail releases.
Sure, better advertising would help. Sure, a better price point would help. But even so simple a thing as Sony encouraging localization of Japanese Vita games, or encouraging third parties to put up their digital PSP and PS1 games would do a lot more.
Right now in North America, for example, the Vita has only 6 games set to release before May. That's total games--only 4 qualify as significant; only 1 is not a port. The 3DS, conversely, has 12 total releases before may. Again, total games. The 3DS isn't perfect, either: of those releases, only 6 qualify as significant; but only 1 is a port).
That's not cutting it.
Yes, I know the Vita has great games for it already. I'm not talking about quality here, I'm talking about quantity and constancy. The latter is, perhaps, more important.
Think about the casual gamer. The gamer who goes into Walmart or Gamestop every week or so. What's he gonna buy? The console that he always sees new games for... or the console he always sees the same games for?
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And what's really sad is that this is really only a problem in North America and Europe. In Japan, the Vita has a much larger library, with many more titles, and a much more constant release rate.
To go back to the facts... Right now in Japan, the Vita has 25 games set to release before May.
Twenty-Five.
Another fact: In Japan, the Vita has never gone more than 2 weeks without a retail release. In North America, the Vita has never gone more than five months without a retail release.
The price is one of many problems.