Why is the Vita tanking so badly?

[Brad]

Black Ops should see a spike in sales non?

Good question. I've got no idea. Do COD players want so much COD that they'll buy a handheld system to play another version on? I have friends with teenage sons who will play COD, FIFA and Grand Theft Auto games and they'll buy them religiously, without even reading a review but none of them would buy a handheld as well. They just get them on xbox or ps3 and that's it. Admittedly I'm looking at a tiny slice of the market though.

Regarding sales figures, it's going to have sold over 6 million by the end of the year by the look of it. Does that mean it's tanked? I dunno.

[nakamura]

I disagree. People will relish the idea of being able to play CoD on their travels. They then might buy NFS and FIFA too.

Not a chance. Fifa is just Fifa 11 but reskinned. Nobody will buy it.

[arcnas]

Call of Duty had better be good thats for sure, im not convinced it will be mind you.

[saturn-gamer]

Vita had a few things of potential, and those haven't been utilized at all.

-FPS to compliment dual sticks. Where are they? Resistance and upcoming ****ty CoD port? lol.
-Cross play. Ruin/Warriors Lair. Where is it? also, Judging by its usual player limits, framerate etc.. Vita isn't even remotely close to the Ps3. I'd say its sadly not a possibility for the majority of retail software. When I saw MGS4 running on Vita I thought it would be something Son? was aiming for.
-Remote play like the Killzone 3 video. MIA.

In the end it released as a souped up PSP with less features. And the PSP support on itself, although I understand that they dropped UMD I think that was a fatal flaw as well. The Vita didn't stick its hand out to PSP owners at all. It was always going to be a hard sell for anyone outside of the hardcore Sony fans (something that decreased over the years).

PSP sells about the same, better in Japan even. Is easier/cheaper to produce and developer for... they were better off with the PSP.

[nakamura]

I was thinking they could have just pushed the PSP even further. It is a well established machine and would be relatively cheap to put good quality games out on it.

[J0e Musashi]

Vita has a whole bunch of features that are somewhat overlooked. Watching PlayTV at work via Remote Play is awesome for instance. I Skype'd my Mom whilst she was in Las Vegas to ensure I got the correct pair of Levi's that I wanted too. It has facebook, and Twitter if you are that way inclined, as well a number of free-to-play games depending on which region you tie yourself to.

Admittedly actual Vita game support is somewhat thin on the ground, but I've got mine loaded with a selection of Vita, PSP, PS1, PC Engine, and Neo-Geo games. It suits me perfectly. It should be the best thing ever for everyone else too, but sadly it isn't.

I do wish you could turn the rear touch panel off though. That is probably my only gripe.

[nakamura]

Admittedly actual Vita game support is somewhat thin on the ground,

Which, let's face it, is kinda the point.

[Neon Ignition]

The format was always unlikely to perform stellar thanks to Sonys lqzy approach to the PSP in later years in the US and Ej meaning the userbase had eroded. I fully believe the system could have been a reasonable hit and that tablets/smartphones aren't as big a factor as some would like to believe they are. The Vitas issues are many, its not securely portable with its screen exposed, its too expensive, memory cards shouldnt be expensive required extras, the post release support is poor and it lacks format specific reasons to own it. Cross play was always a nice box ticked but never a system selling function. Ports of console games is always a critical failure also. AC 3 isnt too bad as its a seperate game but NFS is impressive but mostly pointless. Sonh has been incredibly slow to react to the point they still haven't and the release schedule is still barren in western territories. It's failing is entirely down tk Sony misreading the market for the system and being stubborn

[nakamura]

Where is God of War, Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo etc. It is also ripe for PS2 style J-RPGs and Monster Hunter games.

[saturn-gamer]

Thats also weird, Sony never said GT and God of War would be on it. While those are relatively big IP. Its like Nintendo not confirming Mario and Zelda for 3DS.

[Neon Ignition]

They'll probably announce a GOW when they announce Vita Slim as part of attempting to relaunch the brand... probably at next years E3
After the debacle that was the PSP GT they probably won't bother witha Vita entry

[fuse]

In Japan the lack of Monster Hunter has hurt it very, very hard. There's some games available for the system that appeal to the market and that are causing some minor lifts in hardware numbers, but compare those to the spikes when Nintendo dropped the bombshell of a price drop, MH exclusivity, and new Mario / Mario Kart games, and it's all drop in the ocean.

Over here I think it's a combination of the price, competition with mobile phones & tablets, and the general lack of decent exclusive titles. Personally I think the device itself is great, and there's enough games that I enjoy to keep me happy, but I recognise that there is very little to make your average PS3/360 customer jump on it.

[sj33]

In terms of the broader market, the penetration of game-capable smartphones will be having an impact, simply because such devices are good enough for people who only require a handheld to kill 15 minutes on the train. On the other hand, this doesn't explain why the device is struggling to entice the gaming crowd for whom a smartphone isn't enough, people who continue to buy the 3DS.

In terms of software, the Vita is in a rather awkward position. I suspect that people do want games that are of the same quality and scale as their console counterparts (especially given the difference in price point is now non-existent), but ironically also need a reason to purchase the handheld version instead of (or in addition to) the console game. You'd think the answer to this would be found in handheld games that complement their console counterparts rather than try to directly compete with them. However, the result has been sub-par iterations of games produced by second tier development teams.

Above all, Sony have done a very poor job of communicating to people exactly why they should be interested in the Vita. People who maybe don't look at the hardware specifications and want tangible reasons to part with their cash. I struggle to think of many reasons when people ask me.

I have to say, I have increasingly used my Vita to play PS1 games... but find myself reverting to my PSP due to the amount of PS1 games not available on PSN. Hmm.

[speedlolita]

Too expensive.

Offers not much more than a PSP can provide.

No games.

[Decider-VT]

No games.

Guess I didn't order those copies of Virtue's Last Reward, Ragnarok Odyssey and Everybody's Golf then.