Were those ports free? That is the problem with cross buy. It's one thing for Sony to do cross buy and not charge for the Vita version of the game. Their interest is in both the sale of hardware and software and they have been bundling games since the PS3 launched in order to help sell hardware.
Where is the incentive for 3rd party publishers to do cross buy? Especially with the low install base of the Vita...
Another problem is see is that if sony keeps giving away its vita ports for free it would set the standard and in a way and make games feel entitled to the vita version free from 3rd parties. They would end up refusing to buy the vita version causing poor 3rd party sales. Ive already seen people on forums claiming they would do that if NFS: Most wanted did not have cross buy.
While this could encourage 3rd parties to develop more original titles instead of ports (which would be great), it can also make them abandon the platform altogether.
Im still happy about cross buy tho. Hope sony cant make it work for everyone.
The incentive is more players will spend $60 instead of $40. The developers know that very few are likely to buy both versions of a game. Instead, they can convince the consumer to spend $60 on the PS3+Vita version rather than $40 on just the Vita version, increasing their net profit.
There's even a good chance that someone who wasn't going to buy the game at all will now shell out $60 to get both versions. There's quite a bit of upside, especially considering the Vita version didn't cost them much to make.
Of course, Sony benefits the most. Cross buy means more sales of their proprietary memory cards. It's a win-win for them.
@shadow2797 or the developer could just make a PS3 version and not support the Vita version at all. Costs are lower than making both versions, price point is higher and the install base is huge in comparison. This is the big dilema Sony is facing with the Vita.
Those devs lie. Look back at before the launch of the PS2, PSP or PS3. They all say that it is easy to program/port games onto it, only takes x amount of hours. Actually when the PS3 came out with all those CG tech demos, I remember alot of devs speaking about how powerful and easy it is to develop on the PS3. They were blatantly lying.
FWIW, a free (or voucher for a significantly discounted, say 50% or something) Vita version of a console title would likely sway me to buy the $60 console version of a particular game if I were on the fence. $60 > $0. It's strategic type thinking... which admittedly does not appeal to many American companies who are measured on direct quarter to quarter revenues and profits.
But really, the bottom line is, if I spend $60 on a console version, I much less likely to spend another $40 in a Vita Version (and Vice Versa) of the exact same game unless I'm a HUGE fanboy of that particular IP or the portable version adds significant value. I don't see many consumers in this economy busting out $100 per game.
I'm convinced the the high cost of PSP titles contributed heavily to its piracy problem. There was only a limited selection of games that were worth the the original $30+ asking prices on PSP titles.
I'm not spending $100 on Madden per year, for example.
I'd rather Sony spent money subsidizing this than on advertising, for example. I think it'd do the Vita more good in the long run.
For me it would have been great if crossplay and crossbuy was widely adopted by both 1st and 3rd party. I don't know why people have a hard time understanding why this would add value to the Vita and PS3. I play starcraft2 and civilization on my desktop at home and when I'm away on my laptop on a regular basis. Did the same with Rage.
PC crossbuy is different. That's just like saying all my PS3 games are crossbuy because I can share my PSN games to any PS3 with my account.
Problem is with getting 3rd party devs on board, maybe they need to charge a little extra like £/$5 and both has to be purchased on digital format. I am guessing devs/publishers get more money from digital downloads since no retailers are involved, if they don't get make more money from digital sales then Sony could possibly give devs a little more money from digital sales.
Exactly what I was thinking. The Vita has a limited user base right now so of course cross buy is gonna be limited right now. BUT as the amount of Vita owners increase (which will definitely happen after this holiday) then so will the amount of publishers willing to do cross buy.
Good for Sony to stand up and say this the new CEO's of Sony are more than willing to talk about the challenges they are facing right now, vs' the old way of doing it. At least Jim is being Open and upfront about the challenges that Sony is facing on the PSVita instead of glossing it over!!
@GribbleGrunger "Clearly negotiations with 3rd parties isn't going that well. It's a shame, but not the worse thing that could have happened"
100% agreement, But remember Yoshida had talked about this very problem before Games comm
Yoshida: Sony Having Trouble Recruiting Third Party Support for PS Vita
"Were having a more difficult time than we had anticipated in terms of getting support from third-party publishers, but thats our job,Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studio President Shuhei Yoshida told PlayStation: The Official Magazine in a recent interview."
and Yosshida went on to say
"We will continue to talk to development communities and publishing partners and tell them why Vita can provide a great experience for the IPs they have and I hope the Assassins Creed game will prove that."
With Playstation Mobile being also moved to the forefront for Sony as a Prime Platform with added Trophy support on the Way, the PSVita will benefit by such software also even though the PSVita is not the main target for the Playstation Mobile, but can run the software for it. So it's another way for developer's small and large to leverage their development ideas to make some income, for them and provide entertainment to the consumer's.
Devs this gen have become a greedy pile of crap. All this DLC nonsense and releasing games in beta like state to "fix" them later, if at all (COD) makes me want to quit gaming all together. I understand they're in it for the money but you have to give your costumer some respect and in some cases appreciation even.
Why not look at it as an added reason to buy their games instead? I know that if i'm on the fence about buying a game and they announce that by doing so i get the vita version free or at say 50% price i would buy it right away.
Yeah, I remember reading what Shuhei Yoshida had to say a while back, but I'm assuming this interview is more recent? Didn't check the date. It's also not clear what aspect of the Vita/PS3 cross buy policy he's referring to. Clearly, because he suggests that porting isn't that easy, he is probably only talking about the 'full' game... but what of PS3/Vita integration? Perhaps turning the Vita into a virtual menu screen for a PS3 game would be easier. We have to wait and see on that one.
You are right of course. There ARE lots of incentives for a future Vita market. But even with these incentives (which are plentiful) I don't see the Vita flying off the shelves. I definitely see spikes, especially with games like LBPVita and Assassins Creed, but I'm not convinced that the averages will increase significantly after those spikes, and it's the averages that matter.
To give an example: Currently the Vita is around 11,000 average in Japan (although it looks like it could fall below that). I would say that after the spike that average could rise to 14,000 and hopefully stay there for the foreseeable future. It's a difficult one to call so late in the year though because Christmas is upon us soon and numbers inflate naturally. I know that Japanese people don't celebrate Christmas in the same way that we do, but they get their bonuses around the Christmas period, which amounts to the same thing really.
I think that services that will help sustain that average will be PSMobile and PS1 games, but without marketing, they will have little impact. This is the area Sony really need to improve. A price cut would be the biggest factor in sustaining that average but it's not going to happen this year. Sony will depend entirely on their software line up, bundles and PS+... I think that's a reasonable strategy myself.
I think the Vita is going to be outsold this Christmas by at least 3/1 by the 3DS but come April/May next year that gap will have been reduced. I doubt we'll see a week of the Vita outselling the 3DS until 2014 if I'm being completely honest, and even then it will be sporadic.
I say that purely from a support perspective and not because I want the Vita to beat the 3DS; it doesn't have to. But for it to get the support it deserves, it has to at least mirror sales of the 3Ds occasionally. It's not doom and gloom though. The Vita will continue to sell and the support WILL come.
Yeah I just thought of a few things, it will be limited at first, but when I start buying games day one with the mindset im getting 2 ps3 copies and a vita copy they will soon see it's more profitable, even more so when third part parties start making the extra cash. This might single handedly get Sony onto a bigger market. It could even mix into the android and apple pie.
I think this is mainly "limited" due to the fact that I am pretty sure no 3rd party publisher wants anything to do with it unless Sony is going to supplement the lost revenue off the 2nd game.
True. I think Sony can easily afford to supplement the lost revenue if they offer crossbuy as a digital download only. However, it needs to be available day one on PSN for it to work. More of a short term idea, but could get more people interested in digital purchases as well as buying Vita with an extra memory card. People also developing PSN only games have more incentive to port a version to Vita aswell, and instead of charging £/$20 they could charge £/$30/40 for both. Probably piss off PS3 gamers, but if no one knows the original price of the game then it doesn't really matter.
I for one have now decided I will be buying ps allstars and littlebigplanet karting, before this announcement they were maybe games..
People seem keen to be saying how 3rd party developers won't go with this idea because they will lose money, but totally neglect the fact they may lose sales if they don't have some cross buy titles..
I am sure I am not alone in thinking I will choose to purchase the new game that allows me to game on both my ps3 and vita ahead of the game that allows only 1 console..
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Where is the incentive for 3rd party publishers to do cross buy? Especially with the low install base of the Vita...
Ive already seen people on forums claiming they would do that if NFS: Most wanted did not have cross buy.
While this could encourage 3rd parties to develop more original titles instead of ports (which would be great), it can also make them abandon the platform altogether.
Im still happy about cross buy tho. Hope sony cant make it work for everyone.
There's even a good chance that someone who wasn't going to buy the game at all will now shell out $60 to get both versions. There's quite a bit of upside, especially considering the Vita version didn't cost them much to make.
Of course, Sony benefits the most. Cross buy means more sales of their proprietary memory cards. It's a win-win for them.
/rant
But really, the bottom line is, if I spend $60 on a console version, I much less likely to spend another $40 in a Vita Version (and Vice Versa) of the exact same game unless I'm a HUGE fanboy of that particular IP or the portable version adds significant value. I don't see many consumers in this economy busting out $100 per game.
I'm convinced the the high cost of PSP titles contributed heavily to its piracy problem. There was only a limited selection of games that were worth the the original $30+ asking prices on PSP titles.
I'm not spending $100 on Madden per year, for example.
I'd rather Sony spent money subsidizing this than on advertising, for example. I think it'd do the Vita more good in the long run.
I personally prefer more intriguing experiences with gameplay that make sense for the Vita, not the same console experience.
For me it would have been great if crossplay and crossbuy was widely adopted by both 1st and 3rd party. I don't know why people have a hard time understanding why this would add value to the Vita and PS3. I play starcraft2 and civilization on my desktop at home and when I'm away on my laptop on a regular basis. Did the same with Rage.
Problem is with getting 3rd party devs on board, maybe they need to charge a little extra like £/$5 and both has to be purchased on digital format. I am guessing devs/publishers get more money from digital downloads since no retailers are involved, if they don't get make more money from digital sales then Sony could possibly give devs a little more money from digital sales.
Just look at my Avatar, that's my expression for your response. No further words needed.
the new CEO's of Sony are more than willing to talk about the challenges they are facing right now, vs' the old way of doing it. At least Jim is being Open and upfront about the challenges that Sony is facing on the PSVita instead of glossing it over!!
"Clearly negotiations with 3rd parties isn't going that well. It's a shame, but not the worse thing that could have happened"
100% agreement, But remember Yoshida had talked about this very problem before Games comm
Yoshida: Sony Having Trouble Recruiting Third Party Support for PS Vita
"Were having a more difficult time than we had anticipated in terms of getting support from third-party publishers, but thats our job,Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studio President Shuhei Yoshida told PlayStation: The Official Magazine in a recent interview."
and Yosshida went on to say
"We will continue to talk to development communities and publishing partners and tell them why Vita can provide a great experience for the IPs they have and I hope the Assassins Creed game will prove that."
With Playstation Mobile being also moved to the forefront for Sony as a Prime Platform with added Trophy support on the Way, the PSVita will benefit by such software also even though the PSVita is not the main target for the Playstation Mobile, but can run the software for it. So it's another way for developer's small and large to leverage their development ideas to make some income, for them and provide entertainment to the consumer's.
Why not look at it as an added reason to buy their games instead? I know that if i'm on the fence about buying a game and they announce that by doing so i get the vita version free or at say 50% price i would buy it right away.
Yeah, I remember reading what Shuhei Yoshida had to say a while back, but I'm assuming this interview is more recent? Didn't check the date. It's also not clear what aspect of the Vita/PS3 cross buy policy he's referring to. Clearly, because he suggests that porting isn't that easy, he is probably only talking about the 'full' game... but what of PS3/Vita integration? Perhaps turning the Vita into a virtual menu screen for a PS3 game would be easier. We have to wait and see on that one.
You are right of course. There ARE lots of incentives for a future Vita market. But even with these incentives (which are plentiful) I don't see the Vita flying off the shelves. I definitely see spikes, especially with games like LBPVita and Assassins Creed, but I'm not convinced that the averages will increase significantly after those spikes, and it's the averages that matter.
To give an example: Currently the Vita is around 11,000 average in Japan (although it looks like it could fall below that). I would say that after the spike that average could rise to 14,000 and hopefully stay there for the foreseeable future. It's a difficult one to call so late in the year though because Christmas is upon us soon and numbers inflate naturally. I know that Japanese people don't celebrate Christmas in the same way that we do, but they get their bonuses around the Christmas period, which amounts to the same thing really.
I think that services that will help sustain that average will be PSMobile and PS1 games, but without marketing, they will have little impact. This is the area Sony really need to improve. A price cut would be the biggest factor in sustaining that average but it's not going to happen this year. Sony will depend entirely on their software line up, bundles and PS+... I think that's a reasonable strategy myself.
I think the Vita is going to be outsold this Christmas by at least 3/1 by the 3DS but come April/May next year that gap will have been reduced. I doubt we'll see a week of the Vita outselling the 3DS until 2014 if I'm being completely honest, and even then it will be sporadic.
I say that purely from a support perspective and not because I want the Vita to beat the 3DS; it doesn't have to. But for it to get the support it deserves, it has to at least mirror sales of the 3Ds occasionally. It's not doom and gloom though. The Vita will continue to sell and the support WILL come.
More of a short term idea, but could get more people interested in digital purchases as well as buying Vita with an extra memory card.
People also developing PSN only games have more incentive to port a version to Vita aswell, and instead of charging £/$20 they could charge £/$30/40 for both. Probably piss off PS3 gamers, but if no one knows the original price of the game then it doesn't really matter.
People seem keen to be saying how 3rd party developers won't go with this idea because they will lose money, but totally neglect the fact they may lose sales if they don't have some cross buy titles..
I am sure I am not alone in thinking I will choose to purchase the new game that allows me to game on both my ps3 and vita ahead of the game that allows only 1 console..