250°

PS Vita Is 'Niche', Has Little Future Despite Price-Cut - Pachter

NowGamer: PS Vita doesn’t have ‘much of a future’ according to analyst Michael Pachter, who has dismissed the importance of the handheld’s sales quadrupling in Japan.

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nowgamer.com
MultiConsoleGamer4068d ago

Pacther says the Vita is doomed? I guess this means its destined to be the best selling portable of all time.

TimmyShire4068d ago

It's becoming more and more apparent that Pachter has no idea what he's talking about. What an idiot.

NewMonday4068d ago

handhelds are not "Niche" in Japan.

andibandit4067d ago (Edited 4067d ago )

Pachter is wrong
in saying the Vita is niche. It should be applied to handhelds in general. The main reason the 3DS is holding up is because parents buy them for their kids so they can keep themselves entertained.

Im afraid theres no denying that the handheld market has been in a steady decline for several years now.

falcon794067d ago

To be fair Patcher did say Vita wont catch on and he also said,do people want a very powerful handheld when we have home consoles ? he was right.

dedicatedtogamers4067d ago

@ adnibandit

I don't know how you - or anyone - can think that the handheld market has been in steady decline. It simply is not true. The DS/PSP generation were by far the largest handheld generations of all time. DS is the best-selling handheld of all time, and PSP sold nearly as much as the GameBoy Advance. You want to talk about "handheld market in decline"? Go back to the 90s when SEGA, Atari, SNK, and a ton of others all tried to enter the handheld market and they failed.

The dedicated gaming handheld market has never been stronger. Numbers don't lie.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4067d ago
ritsuka6664067d ago (Edited 4067d ago )

I guess this means its destined to be the best selling portable of all time. "

At this rate i doubt Vita will surpasses the 3DS in japan .. Anyway,Make fun of the analysis of PActher all you want Ps fanboys, but Sony needs to do something fast about people's perception and word of mouth.

AsimLeonheart4067d ago

Pachter also says the Wii U is doomed and XBOX 720 will be more expensive than PS4 and it will focus on media functionality more than games. It means those must be true as well if you believe Pachter so much, right?

DarkHeroZX4067d ago

how can ritsuka still comment? And the Vita doesn't need to outsell the 3ds to be a success. If the 3ds and PSV repeat the success of the PSP and DS that'd be more then enough to see some amazing games and for both companies to make good money. Sales really don't mean a thing. PS3 has outsold the 360 worldwide now but it took years to become profitable and even then it's still in the red overall. 360 and the wii where very affordable and made wayy more money.

Apex134067d ago

I Normally disagree with pacman but the numbers don't lie. Also, why wou you want an expensive handheld that cost te same or more than your home console? This was te issue with 3ds but its doing awesome now.

tubers4067d ago

A price drop is imminent. Don't trust Sony saying "there's no plan for that".

FriedGoat4067d ago

There will be no price drop. Japan are paying what we pay now with their price drop.

It's worth every penny, the Vita is brilliant.

kopicha4067d ago

@falcon79

yea, which is why people dont need smartphones when they have much more powerful computers at home. /sarcasm

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4067d ago
Dailynch4068d ago

Pachter is never wrong. EVER.

TheGrimOfDeath4067d ago

I don't know if you are just kidding or are saying what you think is true.

Y_51504067d ago

That better have been sarcasm.

bicfitness4068d ago

It will make a nice companion device to the PS4 if remote play delivers. They do need a new model that has built in memory though. Paying extra and considering various storage prices and options only confuses and annoys the consumer (I like that type of personalized ownership, but many people don't).

Sony need to pay to have MH put on the device too, or Soul Sacrifice needs to become a mega, smash hit. Either scenario will keep the Vita going strong overseas.

tubers4067d ago

I disagree with the built in memory.

IMO, it's more costly for them to make a new model that also somewhat shafts the early adopters this early. Sony isn't Nintendo (with their 3DS/LL/XL).

At least bundle in the lowest unit with a 4 GB card and have a major price cut on all MMC capacities.

Cocozero4068d ago

Japan is the only place where it has a chance of being releveant, the rest of the world are happy with their smartphones/tablets and 3DSs.

Dedecatied gaming hardware for more than £150 won't succeed this gen, Sony would be smart to drop it now at cut their losses because no 3rd party dev will touch it.

bicfitness4068d ago (Edited 4068d ago )

"Japan is the only place where it has a chance of being relevant, the rest of the world are happy with their smartphones/tablets and 3DSs."

EU and NA are the 3DS' worst performing markets, according to Nintendo's own expectations and results, so the last part of your statement is incorrect. I'll agree with you on price though, Vita needs to be $200 or under WITH storage bundled or built in to really stand any chance at being competitive on a world-wide basis.

Who knows though, its limping along to about 5 million now and Sony won't be pulling the plug any time soon, so it could have legs yet. Speculating that far out into the future exponentially increases the chance that you will be wrong. So I tend not to make personal predictions beyond 6-9 months. Markets, technology in particular, evolve too fast.

tubers4067d ago

"Technology in particular, evolves too fast."

That's both a problem and a boon for the VITA.

Mobile industry evolves so fast that not even the VITA graphics (w/c is touted a major feature against competition) will be irrelevant.

It's a boon since mobile components (w/c the VITA has) will become cheaper a lot quicker so a VITA should be priced lower every now and then if Sony doesn't beef up the hardware.

Nintendo is SAFE w/ its ancient hardware because they have the LEGACY (name brand and the crack/cocaine lineup).

IMO, GTA and GT are the two likely IPs that can make the VITA TRULY competitive internationally. Both of w/c sold extremely well on the PSP.

Rainstorm814068d ago

I agree a $149 vita with no memory no games....then a 199$ vita with game and memory included.

This is the impulse buy price for the Vita, and i think its possible we will get this price point near the release of the PS4. Especially if they want the Vita to truly be the companion device to the PS4.

$150 is cheap enough for people to want it as a remote play device.....if every PS4 games indeed supports the feature DAY 1

NicSage4067d ago

199.00 for a 4gb card, and game. Than you have to buy PS+ & a 32gb card. you end up paying more.

150.00 + 32gb card + ps+, you will save money.

falcon794067d ago (Edited 4067d ago )

Wow so many dissagree's for stating how it is i agree with you kid.

Platstation gamers need to admit defeat,3ds was struggling not as bad like but Nintendo turned it around,Sony are incapable of turning there fortunes around they will fail big with ps4 coupling it with Vita ??? stupid move that,hey our new Console links up with out Vita that no one has bought,plus the combo will be about £600,for an inferior dual screen experience ??? It will bomb,720 and WiiU seem to know what gamers want.

Ace_Pheonix4067d ago

Oh yeah, totally man. The XBOX that we know absolutely nothing about has everything that everyone wants, obviously. It's totally amazing. The other day I imagined it was a Transformer and it ripped apart my toaster, and I thought to myself "Wow, Microsoft is so good at making my imagination awesome when it comes to the new XBOX. I can't wait till it comes out!".

DarkHeroZX4067d ago

WiiU is failing, and XBOX will be a casual console you can use for tivo. Yeah gamers are real pumped for those two consoles...... And the PS4 doesn't just connect with the vita but smartphones and tablets. It is also noted that those features are all optional lol.

Trolls gonna troll i guess.

kenshiro1004067d ago

You don't know what you're talking about so stop while you're ahead.

stuna14067d ago

falcon79 is Pachter in disguise.

HiddenMission4067d ago

I have both a my Samsung Note and Note 10.1 and guess what I still have my Vita. No smart phone or tablet can replace a dedicated gaming console...and only a anti gamer would believe that.

Truth is only 2 things have been hold Vita back from moving numbers 1st is price...it's still too expensive in most regions and the second is titles which is just now coming into maturity PSO2 says high.

Once the above come forward and PS4 game streaming comes to Vita it will fly off shelves...and guess what every gaming related prediction I have made has come true so I would know much better than Mr. Pachter and yourself...

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4067d ago
falcon794067d ago (Edited 4067d ago )

I'm falcon and i'm not patcher u idiot,Sony need to learn balance with power,oh sorry that takes real skill,all sony do is use everyone elses tech and throw it all together,Nintendo tweak technology to perform better so it's affordable ???? FACTS HURT.

Sony fans are blind i used to be one until i came on the internet and found out most Sony fans are blind immature kids that just think higher spec numbers means better performence ?? then why an earth did the 360 with a less powerful hardware but more balanced make for better graphics and gameplay explain.

G20WLY4067d ago

Oh calm yourself down! lmao

"I'm Falcon" - no, you're some angry child with a limited grip on reality and this is clear from your 3 posts in this thread alone.

You praise Pachter's opinion, only when he bashes Sony. You want to talk about balance, yet your hate for Sony blinds your ability to make a balanced judgement. Do you seriously fail to see the irony there?

Oops, sorry, "Irony"... Not what your mother does to your school uniform, but rather "a pretense of ignorance and..", actually, no - Google is your friend. Sadly, it's quite possible it's your only friend with the attitude you appear to have.

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140°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos1d ago (Edited 23h ago)

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers20h ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos5h ago(Edited 5h ago)

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken6h ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g16h ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing15h ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H916h ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola12h ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn66915h ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle14h ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg1d 8h ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos1d 7h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion1d 6h ago (Edited 1d 6h ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola1d 3h ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

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techraptor.net
ChasterMies21d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken21d ago

The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.

Cacabunga21d ago

PlayStation officially losing it.. fans will never support gaas games

just_looken21d ago

@car

The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

Redemption-6421d ago

@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.

Huey_My_D_Long21d ago

@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.

Einhander197221d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.

So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.

FinalFantasyFanatic21d ago

@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.

@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 21d ago
DivineHand12521d ago

True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.

Joe91321d ago

I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.

Obscure_Observer21d ago

Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.

Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.

S2Killinit21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91320d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit20d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 20d ago
Christopher21d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6920d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit20d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.

Christopher21d ago

They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.

just_looken21d ago

Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.

You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.

700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out

Einhander197221d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Christopher

I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.

I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.

Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.

FinalFantasyFanatic21d ago

I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.

romulus2321d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218321d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit20d ago (Edited 20d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder21d ago

How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.

crazyCoconuts21d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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