Could Cross-Buy Save the PS Vita?

"For the first time in months, I finally turned on my sexy piece of plastic the other day and played a game after the expected painstakingly long update. Playing the game felt good, very good. The game was Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. It’s a great game, but I didn’t buy it on the PS Vita. See, I bought it for the PS3 and received a copy for the PS Vita for free via a Cross-Buy promotion. Seeing that I was able to get the same game twice for the price of one (technically less, but you get the idea) was what ultimately drove my purchasing decision. This got me thinking: Could Cross-Buy be the savior the PS Vita is in dire need of?"

[PopRocks359]

Cross-Buy is certainly a nice feature. Hell, I plan on getting that deal with Sly 4. But it shouldn't be the point of the system. Before you throw perks like that onto your platform, it should be able to stand strongly on its own legs with some exclusive software.

I can't stress this enough, more games like Gravity Rush and Tearaway, perhaps a quality Ratchet/Jak game and other such ideas.

The reason I say this is because of the 3DS. It wasn't enough to just have two N64 remakes. It needed newer content; Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, Resident Evil and Kid Icarus were big ones around that time.

Couple those games with a price drop and now the 3DS is consistently beating out all other platforms. The Vita can do exactly the same thing in performance with the right push. The hardware is damn good enough and deserving of that.

[jujubee88]

The lowering of price barrier is extremely crucial for any product with a long lifespan.

Pricing schemes are SO important that we see high priced Android tablets price themselves out of market if they are just $50-100 more than the competitors (and the competitors is something like an officially backed Google, Amazon, etc product).

There IS an existing middle ground that SCEWW must (and probably already does) acknowledge where their products need to be marketed and they need to be marketed to fit the pocket book prices of the masses. VITA at it's current product and accessory pricing schemes are not working for a reason; again, I get the feeling SCEWW knows this (and is currently doing something to fix this).

Also, you just gave me an epiphany (when you talked about the N64 ports on 3DS). I think the reason cross-buy might be different for VITA as a hh is just bc the nature of VITA seeming so much like PS3 control wise, power wise, but also infastructure wise...not even the PS3 has cross-game chat. (The VITA is a beast of a machine!) But back to the point at hand, I would agree that having only console minded games on VITA (and vice versa) is not good for the VITA's stand alone ecosystem. And (at the end of the day), there are consumers who will not all have the time/money/resources to buy a VITA with the PS3 in mind.

[NYC_Gamer]

No,people want exclusive quality PSV software.

[Myst]

I would be quite content with both which is what is happening ( but rather sluggish from my perspective ).

[fluffydelusions]

Pretty much this. Cross buy is nice but exclusive titles are better

[TheGrimOfDeath]

Cross-buy would be nice for most games that are selling on the Vita and PS3.

[Veneno]

Wrong, wrong, and wrong. Cross buy is what sold the PS Vita for me. Allstars Battle Royale. It was not because of ANY exclusive software, although I am enjoying it now.

Of course exclusive software is needed , but cross buy and play are equally, if not more important as it adds functionality and value. You just bought a nrw game for your PS3, and now you got a free game for your PS Vita. Whats not to love?

Sony are trying to make PS3 owners into Vita owners and this is an excellent way of doing it.

[Starfox17]

Sony u can't half ass something,like Gearbox's Randy Pitchford said Nintendo went all in with dual screen technology and got lag down to almost zero ? cross play will make it worse because it will seem like an after thought,if they did cross play with ps4 then were talking.

[jp_footy2]

When I can play my PS3 games anywhere in my house on my Vita I will buy it straight away. But who knows, maybe this will be a feature exclusive to the PS4?...

[Starfox17]

Who wants to play lastgen games around the house ? 3ds links up with WiiU that's more like it,so when ps4 comes out the vita will be linked to ps3 ? doesnt make sense if Sony want to sell ps4's then concentrate on ps4 to Vita connectivity.

Plus you can already play around the house with the WiiU without a secondary console,only it's limited but i'm sure an extender will be out soon from 3rd partys.

[edwineverready]

Playstation plus is saving the vita for me. Did not use it that much. now i have plenty of "free games"to play on it.

[CalvinKlein]

COD crossbuy made by the real developers where you get the COD multiplayer on the go and can earn XP for your ID on ps3 in the vita game would save it. It woudnt need the single player but just the multiplayer with all the maps and weapons and alot of modes. I think the vita could do 6vs6 or even 5vs5 would be good for most modes.

I already have a vita but I would buy cod on ps3 for sure if it came with the multiplayer on the vita with cross-play multiplayer ID.