250°

PS Vita Has 'Limited Appeal' Thinks Pachter - Analyst Round-Up

NowGamer canvasses the opinion of industry analysts to assess the PS Vita's chances of post-launch success in a competitive handheld market.

Read Full Story >>
nowgamer.com
Dante1124447d ago (Edited 4447d ago )

Article in a nut shell.

"I think it has limited appeal. It is clearly best in class for handhelds, but the handheld market is shrinking due to cannibalization from iOS and smartphones," explained Pachter."

Smartphones vs handhelds with price comparisons (lol).

Colwyn4447d ago (Edited 4447d ago )

I bought two ps vitas. Anyway, this Matey should fix deflated tyres

LX-General-Kaos4447d ago

From now on on N4G we should all work together as a force and ignore/report these types of articles. Turn N4G into a real news site like it was years and years ago.

yabhero4447d ago

This is a serious question. Is there a reason why you need two? you can't play 2 can you.

cervantes994447d ago

I also bought two Vitas. One for me and one for my wife :)

darthv724447d ago (Edited 4447d ago )

meaning that while the rest of the world goes gaga over tablets/phones there is a core segment that will embrace the vita and what it offers.

If that means that i am a minority in the grand scheme of things....then i am happy to be a member.

Viva la vita!

edit: @yabhero yeah it may seem strange having more than one. but it makes gaming that much more fun if you have someone to play with. I have multiple psp's and of course the kids each have a ds.

It keeps them from fighting over who gets to play if they each have their own. we have one ps3 though and that is mine...all mine.

aceitman4446d ago

i bought 2 ,1 for me and one for my son he doesnt want the 3ds he has a dsi , so he was waiting for this, as i am .

MasterCornholio4446d ago

Don't you dare mention his name. Because I'm sure that in any moment he will return from his vacation and will resume bashing the Vita.

XperiaRay

Godchild10204446d ago

I bought a first edition and I'm buying 2 more tomorrow. 2 are for boosting online trophies and the other one is for a friend who has limited funds.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4446d ago
tehpees34447d ago (Edited 4447d ago )

Why does this guy still have his job? All he does is change his mind as and when stuff happens or states the blindingly obvious. If I was paid what Pachter gets for every time this guy either contradicted himself or predicted wrong I would be living in a mansion.

Statix4447d ago (Edited 4447d ago )

It really is amazing how some corporate executives or financial analysts can become so filthy rich, even when it's glaringly obvious they suck at their job.

America - Where dreams really can come true.

SilentNegotiator4446d ago

"but the handheld market is shrinking"

I'm sorry, didn't 3ds sell like 15 million in less than a year?

Pachter never uses facts or history in his predictions. He's a quack.

moparful994446d ago

He keeps comparing it to the astronomical numbers of smart phones which has boggled me for some time now.. ITS a dedicated gaming handheld not a phone quit comparing them... The games on smart phones are atrocious anyway that why I bought a vita.. I have a smart phone but it hasnt stopped me from buying a vita in the least...

GribbleGrunger4446d ago

exactly. phones are now universal in the same way TVs are. people want to communicate. yes, they also like playing games but they didn't buy the damned phone for games! games are just fillers for them while they wait for the taxi or wait for their partner to get back from gamestation with their Vita.

BitbyDeath4446d ago

@LX-General-Kaos,
If i had my way anything from Patcher would be banned.
The guy makes weather predictors look incredibly accurate.

TheTwelve4446d ago

Hey guys don't you know that Pachter is wrong 95% of the time? This is a GREAT article!

12

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4446d ago
LX-General-Kaos4447d ago

The man has no idea what he is talking about once again.

JoGam4447d ago

Seriously, please stop interview Pachter. No one really cares about his opinions anymore.

sikbeta4447d ago

@LX-General-Kaos

You serious? he always claim obvious things as his predictions, in this one, his doing exactly the same :/

Ares84HU4447d ago

Isn't this always the case with him?!?!?

I keep on marveling on the fact that he still holds onto his job yet he is wrong about EVERYTHING.

skyward4447d ago

Think he might have a point about non-gamers - great device yes, but too expensive.

Ares84HU4447d ago

The "device" is made for gamers. Gamers are the target audience.

It's like complaining that this bike has limited appeal because the non-bikers won't be interested......well what can be said about such logic?

4447d ago Replies(2)
disturbing_flame4447d ago

Pachter as a gamer knows exactly what gamers want.
Everybody knows that.
i mean obviously.

Show all comments (50)
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.

jznrpg13h 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.

Profchaos13h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion12h ago(Edited 12h ago)

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola8h 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

Show all comments (7)
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.

Read Full Story >>
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.

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.

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"

Show all comments (43)
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