Kojima, Cage, Levine and Mikami Talk PS Vita

The PlayStation Vita is struggling. There’s simply no way for anyone to spin it otherwise. Hardware sales are severely lagging and early-adopters and would-be purchasers alike are waiting for announcements and reveals of some must-have games.

But do some of the industry’s most prolific developers agree? What is their assessment of the PlayStation Vita, where it is right now and where it’s going in the future? The June 2012 issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine answers this question for us in a short article aptly called Developers on Vita.

[Nostalgia]

Now just add Jaffe to that list haha jk

[Akuma-]

The vita is an amazing system and I think its doing fine. Because of Sony I know the vita will get mass software support and because of that it will do well. The vita has been on the market for a few months and with the imminent release of some big name games like resistance, cod, lbp, and a lot of core games, its destined to do well. E3 will entice a lot of people when they see all the new announced games for vita

[Abash]

Let's see if it's struggling with Resistance Burning Skies and Gravity Rush releasing this month and next and all the Vita announcements at E3

[kingdavid]

Are resistance and gravity rush system sellers?

Would they make people actively go out and buy a vita?

Probably not.

[pandaboy]

resistance will probably make people avoid the vita...

[andibandit]

dosn't matter if it has 2000 games, it must have the game that makes me want to buy it.

[sinncross]

Well I hope Mikami's new game is coming to PSV then. I mean, if he believes that it needs more good games then he may as well roll with it because Zwei could be really good.

[Nostalgia]

No way!
Zwei is the best news I've heard this gen.
I've been waiting for him to announce his next survival horror title for 5 years.
It better be for home consoles or I will be a very sad panda!

[DarkSniper]

“It’s the pinnacle of current gaming technology,” - Hideo Kojima

Dark Sniper couldn't have said it any better himself. For those who are new to the gaming industry, Hideo Kojima is one of the forefathers of our genre. Hideo Kojima is responsible for revolutionizing the art and science of video games itself. Blending Hollywood motion picture cinematography and meshing with the Dual Shock controller provided the organic combination of something we have never seen before. These reasons above are why Dark Sniper always takes Hideo Kojima's words as gospel.

Hideo Kojima has always had a vision for the future. It's no surprise that Sony Computer Entertainment has once again crafted the finest piece of machinery known to humankind, PlayStation®Vita. What this means is that Kojima will be able to complete his grand vision of interactive gaming beyond the fourth dimension, not thinking about 10 year old remakes with cheap 3D attachments.

PlayStation®Vita is the nexus that provides the gateway between reality and virtual reality. Sony Computer Entertainment has always been the forefront of modern technology, going against the grain to only be proven right in the long run.

Dark Sniper carries his PlayStation®Vita more than his own cell phone. Giving him the ultimate satisfaction of staying connected to the PlayStation ecosystem at all times.

Once again, Dark Sniper is glad to have Hideo Kojima back on board. He is one of, if not THE primary reason of why PlayStation is the consumer leader in interactive electronics.

$niper
youtube.com/therealdarksniper
Twitter: @therealdsniper

[TheFirstClassic]

Lol gotta love dark sniper's comments.

[Solid_Snake37]

Im laughing my ass off lol

[LeBronista]

this post deserves a +bubble for being funny

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

I was on the floor dying of laughter when I saw it was you that was commenting and then saw the perfectly hand picked quote you chose to include in your comment.

[badz149]

seriously, you sounds a bit like GeneralChaos or whatever his name is but he's all Nintendo!

[Shikoro]

Yeah, they are contrasting each other...

[sonic989]

:truestory: bro

[Ascalon94]

I'm sorry, but is this guy referring to himself in the third person?

[JoySticksFTW]

Yes, indeed!

That's just his style...

Man, I miss the old schoolers from the blu-ray vs hd dvd and the 360 vs PS3 wars.

And Open zone was crazy fun too. Newer cats don't know what they are missing.

Arguments and drama 24-7. Now most people are respectable and civil. Ah, well... :)

[CaptCalvin]

There are at least 40 registered PS Vita's in a 1km radius from me where I live. It looks like a pretty popular device to me considering it's only been 3 months since it launched here.

[SandwichHammock]

I get an average of 30-40 users in my vicinity. The very peculiar thing though, is the fact that when I got it on launch, within 4 days it was picking up to 117 users/vitas, and then the number flatlined and started to decrease to where it is right now.

[r21]

i was surprised when i used my near, there was at least 10 other vita owners living nearby me, i seriously thought i was the only vita owner in my area :D good to know its slowly becoming popular in my country.

[Solid_Snake37]

How do you guys know that? Is there a feature that lets you see all nearby vitas??

[CaptCalvin]

Yes there is one.

[Hicken]

I wanna hear that the ZoE HD collection is coming to Vita, Kojima! AND ZoE3!!!

[Redcrimson101]

Dont tell the Sony fans that the vita is failing, they'll refuse to believe u and say it's a lie and that it is selling and has better games than the 3ds lol

[kreate]

Which sony fan said that? I read all the comments above urs and nobody talked about lies or any mention of the 3ds.

[kikizoo]

1/vita is not failing, only dumb sony's haters are saying that ridiculous thing (like the "bluray, ps3 is failing" from dumb people)
2/best hardware (nintendo 2017 approximatly)
3/ best games ? soon or later, like every sony's console.

and like kreate says, nobody is talking about 3DS, vita's owners don't care, only distiurbed fanboyz are always talking about sales, and competition.

[Solid_Snake37]

Yeah looks like they are pretty insecure about their purchased hardware

[irishyort]

Sony doesn't seem to want to support it for some reason!

Why release Twisted Metal on the PS3 but not the Vita? They did it with Wipeout and that was great, soooo what happend to their other releases afterwards? PS3 exclusives....

The announcement of Battle Royale for PS3 and not Vita was very very disturbing!!!

A great COD effort cannot come fast enough! This if nothing else will sell systems by the truckload if it is a good game an cross platform to boot for multiplayer..

[SandWitch]

Doesn't seem to want to support?

Sorry sir, but I have to disagree. They provided about 10 first party games in 2 months. Not to mention Resistance and Gravity Rush are coming soon with Soul Sacrifice and Killzone later this year.

How many first-party titles do you expect?

[irishyort]

10 ... from Sony? What ones? Wipeout and Uncharted?

Anyway if you read what it wrote, Twisted Metal should have been dual realesed. There is no reason for this than they just didnt want to do it. Battle Royale should never need to be an exclusive with the Vitas power however there is no mention of it.

Every PSN game should be capable of playing on it by now, but alas again... Where is Journey, Skull Girls and Trine 2 etc. Oh yeah thats right, not being supported!

[SandWitch]

1. Uncharted GA
2. Wipeout 2048
3. Unit 13
4. Escape Plan
5. MotorStorm RC
6. Hustle Kings
7. Hot Shots Golf WI
8. MLB 12 TS
9. ModNation Racers RT
10. Little Deviants

"Every PSN game should be capable of playing on it by now, but alas again..."

It's not possible buddy. I agree that PS Vita must support all PSP, PS Minis and PS1 titles as long as it has PSP emulator and soon will get PS1 emulator. But it can't run PS3 games like Journey.

[StanSmith]

I don't get why people want to buy the same game twice. I personally don't want Vita to have the same games as what are on PS3. I want it to have it's own games and experiences.

I don't care about them using the existing franchises, but i don't want to play the exact same game on Vita and on PS3. The PS3 version will always top the Vita experience, so it makes no sense to buy it for Vita too.

By copying the games from PS3 to Vita, it devalues the Vita as a Product. It would cause the system to fail as it would become direct competition with the PS3, which makes no sense business wise for Sony.

[Instigator]

My thoughts exactly. The Vita needs defining games and not the compromised PS3 knockoffs it's currently getting. I do want one, but Gravity Rush isn't enough for me to run out and buy it.

[SonicRush15]

I had about over 100 people near my place =)

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

I love my Vita.

I love my 3DS.

I'd be lying if I said I played my 3DS that much though. Gravity Rush comes out soon, too! :D

[joeorc]

what's funny is these very same analyst's Like to go on and on about how the PSVita is doing so poorly. And How the 3DS was doing so poor. Now that the 3DS is doing very good. Some how some way it's not really about the PSVita vs the 3DS anymore it's about the PSVita against smartphones and unlike the Nintendo 3DS they seem to only ask what the PSVita is going to do about the smartphones, but somehow someway the Nintendo 3DS seems to get a free pass. Many of these same worded same Necro Questions keep getting asked. When the same answer has been stated over and over again but it's keep getting asked. the FUD keep's getting spread about how will the PSVita survive?

want to know a real truth is Sony's not just relying on the [email protected] PSVita as their only game handheld.

The answer is staring these analyst's in the face now ever since the [email protected] PSVita has been released.

want to know what Sony's answer is..here is Sony's answer to sell more [email protected] Playstation Game software.

example:

http://playstation.com/pss/...

sofar Sony has 9 playstation suite certified devices in the market.

Recent shipment number's for Xperia-Line of SmartPhones

Sony Ericsson Q3 2011 Results – 22m Xperia phones shipped to date; smartphones now 80% of sales

Sony Ericsson has just reported its third quarter results for 2011. Sales of €1.586bn was up 33% from the prior quarter but down 1% compared to the same period last year. These numbers mask the mix change taking place within the company as it moves away from feature phones to smartphones. CEO Bert Nordberg confirmed that smartphones contributed 80% to total sales during Q3

The company shipped 9.5 million units altogether in Q3 2011

Sony Ericsson has shipped 22 million Android Xperia phones to date. The company once again confirmed that Android is its main focus as it moves into 2012.

http://www.xperiablog.net/2...

in one Sales Quarter Sony shipped

9.5 million units altogether in Q3 2011

So what's Nintendo's answer to Smartphone's?

Huh?

we know what Sony's is, SONY CREATED A UNIFIED GAME SOFTWARE SALES AND DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM. for not only smartphones and Tablets but also the PSVita also.

why do you think kaz hirai talked about mobile being a main piller along with playstation!

I mean Sony shipped

9.5 million units altogether in Q3 2011

and people are worried about how well the freaking PSVita will do in the market?

if they have not slipped their mind Playstation Suite also runs on the PSVita. which means more games and Applications.

the same sold for the Android Playstation suite certified smartphone's and Tablets. will also be on the PSVita also.

wondering if the PSVita is going to get more content is really funny. The Price of the PSVita can always be lowered later rather than sooner. This is not just the PSVita being by itself as the only [email protected] hand held for Gaming that Sony is relying on to sell software on!

with shipment number of 9.5 million / Quarter I think the PSVita is not the only main driver to sell Playstation Software on! Its just another part of their playstation systems to sell software on.

[irishyort]

A plausible flaw in your argument here is that the PS Suite is not necessarily fully cross platform. And we are talkig about the Vita here as the main article has dictated.

Take for example Xperia, it can play Pocket Minecraft.... PS3 & Vita not even though it would work fine even if it ran in a VM inside either system as they are both far more powerful. Especially considering the smallish size of the Minecraft program.

This also may find flaw in the fact that if you look at the PSN games that i mentioned earlier, (Journey, Skull Girls & Trine 2), plus a lot more that I didnt mention,they all work on the PS3 but not on the Vita. So just because things run on the PS Suite on some platforms, doesnt mean it will run on others. Especially if Sony dont attempt to get it to work on a particular device, which is my annoyance with Vita not being able to run all PSN stuff right now.

Some old Android OS stuff just wont work on latest Android OS software, and some new stuff wont work on old Android OS. iOS is the same, and these OS's are far more polished than the new Sony one. And if the devices arent capable or devices arent backed by support or a bit of go forward, they just get forgotten about.

Thing is i bought my Vita and to this day think it is the best purchase ive made in gaming as far as portability possibilities. I know it can run COD slightly limited, I know it can probably also run slightly limited versions of Fallout 3, Skyrim, L4D 2, Bioshock Vita or Portal 2, but unless the system is supported heavily by Sony itself, and unless people buy it like a DS or better, these other developers that make these great games will not produce anything for it.

What message does it send out to 3rd party developers when Sony doesnt even release a major franchise game like Twisted Metal on the Vita, or announce Battle Royale Vita version and release it for their old workhorse PS3
instead? If Im a developer or publisher, I would be a little confused as to why Sony chose to do this!

[StanSmith]

@joeorc

Sony are not looking at their Smartphones as gaming handhelds. Smartphones are Phones that happen to let you surf the web and play games. It's primary function is still a phone. Vita is a gaming handheld, pure and simple.

The only thing happening here is the "oh look new console" effect. It happens with every new console release. Last year it was the 3DS, this year the Vita and it's even starting to happen to WiiU (which nobody knows anything about). Doom and Gloom makes the news over success stories.

@irishyort
Twisted Metal is not as big as Uncharted, Killzone and Littlebigplanet. It's sales show this. Sony are currently relying on well sold, established franchises to sell the system, just as Nintendo do with Mario. Twisted Metal currently stands at around 480,000 units sold worldwide on a system that has 60 + million users. It would have generated a loss for Sony on Vita.

As for Playstation Battle Royale, again it has not proven itself to be a great selling game yet. If it does well, Sony will release it for Vita. They aren't not releasing games on Vita to be difficult, they're obviously judging them on how successful they can be on the systems.

Until they sell more Playstation Vitas, the established Franchises work best.

[Jdoki]

I'm pretty sure that the PSV + PS4 interaction / compatibility will be a key pillar in Sony's strategy next gen.

Nothing to worry about with the PSV - it's here to stay, and will only get better.

The bottom line is.. is the PSV profitable for Sony? If it is then there's nothing to be concerned about.

[joeorc]

@irishyort

"A plausible flaw in your argument here is that the PS Suite is not necessarily fully cross platform. And we are talkig about the Vita here as the main article has dictated."

that's not exactly how that works, that's the thing about the Playstation Suite. if it runs on one it will run on all of the certified devices. That's why Sony made it for instance PSN's ps3 game Flow is playstation suite certified and will be released soon.

watch Andrew House's interview about the Playstation suite.

http://blog.us.playstation....

for example:

What Goes Into a Sony Phone?
That means Playstation games on the Ion, for starters.

Peter Farmer, Sony Ericsson's director of marketing for North America.

"Over time you're going to have increasing access to PS1 and PS2 games," Farmer said.

http://www.pcmag.com/articl...

@MARIOFTW

"Sony are not looking at their Smartphones as gaming handhelds. Smartphones are Phones that happen to let you surf the web and play games. It's primary function is still a phone. Vita is a gaming handheld, pure and simple. "

I would agree with that if it was not for what Sony has stated with the direction they are taking with the playstation suite.

that's the thing Kaz has along with the other CEO's have stated for a while now. that this is not about the PSVita being alone in it's form as the only game handheld they are using to put out playstation game's for for the portable market.

Sony is taking an agnostic approach to how they are moving the playstation software distribution into the mobile market, that the PSVita is not alone. if you listen to Andrew House and other CEO's about this Sony is not just looking at smartphones and Tablets as just communication devices when it comes to games.

Apple and Google even Microsoft are also not looking at it that smartphone's and Tablets are not viable game platforms also, There is too many end user's casual and core that own Smartphones and Tablets today, just look at Microsoft's windows phone and xboxLive and Arcade functionality being infused into the mobile smartphone's they are releasing.

Before smartphones were not able to handle this type of advanced gaming functionality 7 years ago, now that smartphones and Tablets advancement in chipset evolution has caught up have today made the smartphone and Tablet a very viable option as a game handheld just as much as a dedicated one.

what many people seem to gloss over is the very fact that even the xperia-play is more powerful than the orig. PSP and even the slim and even the PSPGo, now it's not as powerful as the PSVita but the GPU inside the xperia-play is an ADRENO 205

here is a core 3d mark test of the SGX Gpu vs the Adreno 205 GPU which the Adreno 205 GPU is what's in the xperia-play.

Shader Architecture on Adreno 205 is unified

* Adreno 205 also has unified memory architecture

http://androidandme.com/201...

many gamer's it seems are discounting the mobile smartphone as a game handheld simply because of non control's or perceived weak hardware for game development which is further from the truth.

[jjb1981]

The vita needs a killzone game and an updated remote play...

[Kratoscar2008]

If Kojima aproves it, is because the handheld is great.