90°

No Vita Price Cut Coming, What’s Sony Thinking?

Following months of disastrous sales and a virtual no show at their E3 conference, Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida told Eurogamer that they have no plans to cut the price of the Playstation Vita. Jordan Lund is confused by Sony's behavior.

Excerpt: "You have 25 Vita games on the show floor, would it have killed you to have told us the names of a few of them before plugging the PS3 games we already know about? It’s almost like Sony intends the Vita to fail in the same way they made the PSP Go! a failure."

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gamestooge.com
GribbleGrunger4339d ago (Edited 4339d ago )

they're thinking: 'there's no point. with the PS2/PSP/PS3/PSN/HOME/GAMES making us money, we can wait until the Vita naturally gathers momentum when more games get released'

Abash4339d ago

Sony is thinking "We have Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified and Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation as exclusives this holiday so we're good"

WeskerChildReborned4339d ago

Hey COD alone would be interesting that is if it still has that smooth FPS experience on Vita but also AC3: Liberation look's good. Just wish their were more to announce.

MasterCornholio4339d ago (Edited 4339d ago )

Yep thats what Nintendo thought last Christmas with the two Mario games so i really dont see why it wouldnt work with Sony. But the thing is they have even more games than that coming out this holiday season such as Sly Cooper 4, Soul Sacrifice (Japan), Monster Hunter (its coming) and a bunch of indie games.

EDIT: Sony did create a AC3 bundle with a 4GB card for the Vita if they price it at 250€ that could be considered a price drop.

NYC_Gamer4339d ago

Sony can't afford to drop the price right now

Tired4339d ago

Whinge, whinge...dribble, sh!t and moan.

Could somebody wake me when someone has something new or relevant to say please?

It doesn't need a price drop. Er...get a second job hehe.

matgrowcott4339d ago (Edited 4339d ago )

Because it's not doing as badly as people think it is? Because as much as Sony keeps repeating that 2,000,000 sales is by no means a bad start, people keep ignoring that and believe forum dwellers instead?

The well-educated boffins at Sony have every piece of information pertaining to the financial state of the Vita - how much it costs to make, how much each console shipped/sold brings in and every other little piece of statistical information that we couldn't guess if we tried - and they seem content not to give the Vita a price cut.

I'm not saying Sony as a business can't make a mistake and I'm not saying their "the Vita is doing fine" spiel definitely isn't just PR spin, but the proof that the Vita doesn't need a price cut is that it isn't getting one. If Sony felt their price point was off they would adjust it and they're not doing so.

EDIT: And just to continue the rant, comparing the Vita to the PSP Go is ridiculous. The Vita is a brand new handheld, capable of some things home consoles are yet to do. The PSP Go was an experiment, a mutation of a system already available, but more expensive and with less features than its older counterpart.

CommonSenseGamer4339d ago

2 million in sales in 6 months? Sorry but only Sony can spin that as being positive. That would be at the very bottom end of their expectations.

Sony's year 1 target for the Vita I believe was 11 milliin units. Unless something changes this simply is unrealistic.

In comparisson, yes I know its a smart phone but it shows what mainstream sales means, the Galaxy SIII had 9 million preorders.

matgrowcott4339d ago (Edited 4339d ago )

At the price the Vita is, with a great launch line-up of software but limited view of anything fantastic on the horizon (if you don't count Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed) I think 2 million is a brilliant start to a new console.

Again, it's difficult for us to discuss the specifics because we don't know them. You're guessing that 2 million isn't great, personally I don't see how it isn't.

EDIT: As for the 9 million preorders for the Galaxy, if the Vita was a smart phone it would have sold a lot more but it wouldn't be what's on the market today and it wouldn't have interested the core gamer.

It fascinates me how many people are constantly asking for innovation within this industry but completely ignore it (or actively try to run it down) when it arrives. It needs better software support, yes, but should Sony have pushed the PlayStation brand in a different direction in an attempt to compete with the Galaxy or the iPhone just because it would have netted them more sales?

INehalemEXI4339d ago (Edited 4339d ago )

Vita is hot. PSP go was half stepping.

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110°

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.

jznrpg8h 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.

Profchaos7h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola3h 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
ChasterMies20d 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_looken20d ago

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

Cacabunga20d ago

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

just_looken20d 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-6420d 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_Long20d 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.

Einhander197220d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic20d 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 20d ago
DivineHand12520d 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.

Joe91320d 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_Observer20d 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.

S2Killinit20d ago (Edited 20d 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.

Joe91319d 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.

S2Killinit19d 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 19d ago
Christopher20d 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.

CrimsonWing6919d ago (Edited 19d 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.

S2Killinit19d 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_Mal20d ago (Edited 20d 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.

Christopher20d 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_looken20d 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

Einhander197220d ago (Edited 20d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic20d 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.

romulus2320d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218320d 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.

S2Killinit19d ago (Edited 19d 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.

mastershredder20d 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.

crazyCoconuts20d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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80°

Sony May Soon Let You Decide How Much NPCs Talk In Games

Sony has patented to add multiple dialogue modes to let players switch between how many conversations with NPCs they want in the game.

blackblades26d ago

Sony is like the only ones outta the 3 that has atuff like like this pop up changing thing in ways.

just_looken26d ago

Sony in the past has always been first at bat with new ideas/tech but in the end never fully use it or just toss it away.

blackblades26d ago

I think they did use some but yeah most usually never happened but at least they thought about it. Sony seeks things like this and other, Nintendo seek different ways of playing going by there different controler designs and console designs.

just_looken26d ago (Edited 26d ago )

some of the other stuff sony want's/owns never used
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://www.eurogamer.net/s...
https://metro.co.uk/2023/03...
https://decrypt.co/114754/s...

monitor/adjust game difficultly as you play
https://www.techradar.com/g...

Sony nfts
https://www.theblock.co/pos...

Pay ai to play the game for you
https://thebusinessofesport...

Oh all the above last 12 months

I just imagine a evil scientist with test subjects when it comes down to sony recent patent reports.

Kaii26d ago

Will we get dialogue options that won't spoil puzzles in a matter of seconds? :p