PSVita (Successor to PSP, was PSP2 then NGP)

[MoFo2]

Latest sales figures from Japan (via Loading.se):

1. Nintendo 3DS - 482 200
2. PSP - 101 121
3. Wii - 91 176
4. PS3 - 75 943
5. PS Vita - 72 479
6. DSi LL - 8 470
7. DSi - 5 894
8. Xbox 360 4 245
9. PS2 - 1 582

[Neon Ignition]

If you add in the 2 launch days figures it's a lot more positive though either way it does pretty much confirm a repeat of the NDS-PSP tussle. Rushed though the Vita's launch has been to meet Christmas they were too late to market. If they had launched in the summer when the 3DS had blood in the water they could have capatalised on the negative attention but now that Nintendo's found its footing and sorted out its house they are miles and away. Looking ahead there's still the international releases to go though I fully expected the Vita to struggle for the most of 2012. There simply isn't enough mass appeal to the system yet.

[parkinho]

Wow, pretty horrible numbers for the Vita. Any system sellers on the horizon? Without Monster Hunter the Vita could well sink in 2012 which would be a great shame as it looks like a lovely piece of kit.

[teddymeow]

Getting mine tomorrow (finally). Practically drooling with anticipation!

[saturn-gamer]

Not surprised. Also the PSP is much cheaper and has the likes of MH and other decent games.

Sony was simply too late. There was a moment where the PSP was the biggest device in Japan and Nintendo was struggling with both its handheld and Wii. That was the moment to enter. Now they had to combat a price dropped 3DS that managed to come up with Mario Kart, 3D Land and an exclusive Monster Hunter 4 annoucement.

The situation is worse than with the PSP; they lost MH and the likes of GT aren't as popular as they once were. Nintendo will fire potshots with both DQ and MH.

Wow, pretty horrible numbers for the Vita. Any system sellers on the horizon? Without Monster Hunter the Vita could well sink in 2012 which would be a great shame as it looks like a lovely piece of kit.

Gundam perhaps.

[ETC]

Looking forward to getting a vita am I the only person that couldn't give a toss about monster hunter since when was it a system seller (I know in Japan right) I don't see the fuss I thought it was **** on wii (please don't kill me, I just don't get it)

[Colin]

I don't even know what monster hunter is, is it like pokemon or something? I only know Misterbubbles was excited for it's PS3 arrival when we were playing EDF one night........

I still want a Vita.

[Synthesthesia]

I had a go of the demo for MH3 and I didn't get it either. Controls etc felt really poor and I had no idea what I was really meant to be doing.

[Neon Ignition]

The thing with Monster Hunter is that it's arguably been the key aspect that's kept the PSP alive for a few years now as without such series fueling the Japanese PSP popularity the format would have likely been dropped by now. Instead it kept hardware figures healthy which kept Japanese devs making titles for it. Now that the series has moved successfully to 3DS it raises a big question mark over how much long term appeal there will be in making Vita games unless a new surprise hit comes along. These firt 12 months will be critical in deciding whether Vita can challenge 3DS and first signs are it can't.

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah it may well not challenge the 3DS. But it may not have to. Firstly, it's worth remembering that at this point in the life of the 3DS, it was so hilariously doomed, with poor sales figures and poorer games. But, more than that, when any product can shift 72,000 units in one territory in one week, it's doing pretty okay. There is room for two handhelds, just as there has been room for three big consoles with no real problem. This isn't Highlander.

Oh and Evilthecat, no you're not the only one who doesn't care about Monster Hunter. It's one of only two games I ever returned on the grounds that I thought it was just rubbish (the other being GBA Attack Of The Clones). Part of that was PSP single nub control though. I thought it was just a really awkward and dull version of Phantasy Star Online. Actually, can't blame the PSP as PSO worked fine on it.

[JU!]

I don't even know what monster hunter is, is it like pokemon or something? I only know Misterbubbles was excited for it's PS3 arrival when we were playing EDF one night........

I still want a Vita.

It does have Pokemon elements example getting something valuable in the game and swapping it or using it to help in group quests. It`s an action RPG. I also had it for a bit on PSP. It takes hours to do anything but then again. You can trade and swap everything in it and go on team quests etc so that`s why Japanese people love it. It also gives you the ability to customise each character. After some collect missions you fight a big Monster basically that requires some deep tactics, certain armour etc.. Hope that helps. Again I`m not a fan but many people I know are, and some kids are sat in groups of 6 playing it in Mcdonalds. It really is huge in Japan to levels maybe you cannot believe.

[saturn-gamer]

MH is about grinding items so that you can create special armor and weapons. The power of MH is its ad-hoc gameplay where you could play with a group of others close to eachother. This is the reason why most Japanese ended up getting a PSP and its ad-hoc multiplayer is the reason why MH fails on the more isolated home consoles.

MH has become bigger than Dragon Quest as far as I know, and spawned wannabes such as Lord of Arcana. The MH series was utter **** imho, but Portable 3 looked like something actually decent.

[fuse]

The size of Monster Hunter was something I underestimated for ages, but listening to the 8-4 podcast and hearing their anecdotes about it (and it's popularity) in Japan have made me very aware of how important it is. Ignoring the quality of the games, it seems the most popular titles have all been portable ones with local co-op, and whilst there have been some attempts to get it online, I think there's an element of that which makes it instantly less relevant in the west.

To get back on subject, I'm not sure what the Vita's killer app is going to be, but it certainly seems to need something. There's plenty to interest me lined up, but nothing that you can say for certain is going to sell system by the bucketloads. The 3DS sure picked the right moment to hit its stride!

[phillai]

Am I the only one that isn't 100% convinced by PSP Vita?
I've had my pre-order with Amazon from the beginning and I'm thinking of cancelling it!

The launch titles aren't that exciting and Ridge Racer was the title I really was looking forward to but hearing that it will only 2 tracks and the rest by DLC is a piss take even though it will be allegedly be a budget priced PSP Vita game.

And we all know Sony likes to rip us off with their own proprietary memory cards but for Sony UK to not even give us the 32GB one where as others have it in this world pisses me (off as a brit!)

I guess it's just me being an older gamer... New games just don't seem to excite me anymore even though it's the same old rehash.

[Shozuki]

nah im sure your not the only one. Though when a machine launches with Wipeout, Uncharted, Little Deviants, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, everybodys golf and the list goes on... versus erm, Ridge 3D and Street Fighter IV. I can't see how you can complain about its launch games...