NPD May 2012 (lol)

[Shifty Geezer]

Or as well as mobile games are selling?

A lot of people who used to buy handheld games are realizing that they can get enough entertainment from cheap or 99 cent games.

I really doubt that. A 99c mobile game is extremely cheap and shallow. They're no comparison to proper 'console' games. Mobile companies also have trouble making decent profts often enough. Anyone wanting a core game experience will know and expect to pay a premium for it. The question is not whether Joe Gamer will refuse to pay more the $5 for Uncharted or LBP on Vita, but whether they care enough to carry around a Vita to play games on.

 

[Nesh]

I don't know, are they selling as well as DS games used to?

Or as well as mobile games are selling?

A lot of people who used to buy handheld games are realizing that they can get enough entertainment from cheap or 99 cent games.

Well if they are similarly expensive as PS Vita games and they sell as good or similarly as good as DS games then its not mobile/tablet games the problem

 

[wco81]

I really doubt that. A 99c mobile game is extremely cheap and shallow. They're no comparison to proper 'console' games. Mobile companies also have trouble making decent profts often enough. Anyone wanting a core game experience will know and expect to pay a premium for it. The question is not whether Joe Gamer will refuse to pay more the $5 for Uncharted or LBP on Vita, but whether they care enough to carry around a Vita to play games on.

You don't think there are a number of people who used to game on DS or PSP have skipped on new systems because in part, they can get enough diversion out of smart phone games (or even other forms of entertainment available on mobile devices)?

Supposedly there are "deep" smart phone games but even the simple games can engage a lot of people.

Or are you saying most people who play smart phone games are casual game players, who were probably not ever handheld gamers?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

You don't think there are a number of people who used to game on DS or PSP have skipped on new systems because in part, they can get enough diversion out of smart phone games (or even other forms of entertainment available on mobile devices)?

I'm saying the deciding factor isn't game cost. Whatever PSP/DS gamers have migrated to phone didn't do so because the games were $1 a pop, but because they always had their phone with them and those $1 games, despite not being a patch on the experience of PSP/DS games, was enough to pass the time when they wanted mobile gaming.

Hence:

Nobody is ever paying $40 or $50 for mobile games again, period. In fact, there may not be too many people willing to pay $60 for console games either

If ex-PSP gamers could get PSP depth games on their phone for $40, they might well do it. Likewise if all Vita games were $1 max, I still doubt it'd shift any more units.

 

[wco81]

Game prices has to be one of the factors, among others like convenience of having phone always with you.

You don't think sales of Vita would be stronger if games were $1? Assuming the hardware was still the same price, I think there would be a lot of purchases on a whim. People wouldn't have to worry about buying into an ecosystem of $50 games to make the $200-250 outlay worthwhile.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Have to agree with wco81 on this one. There are plenty of good mobile games that cost far less than $40. There are lots of people gaming on iOS and Android. There has to be some affect on the mobile gaming market.

 

[ERP]

I've yet to see a report that shows strong evidence that phone/tablet games reduce core game sales on other platforms.

I'm sure there is some impact, but it's unclear what it is. The same is true of Freemium in the PC Space FWIW.

I'm sure phone gaming disuades some people from having an additional portable device purely for gaming, but I have no idea how you would quantify it. There are plenty of core reasons Vita is selling poorly ATM, a lack of compelling content being one, price another.

Uncharted or LBP or Gravity Rush on Vita have no equivalents in the phone or tablet world, I don't know that people compare prices between the formats. It'll be interesting to see if Vita picks up in sales towards Xmas when there is more content available. It's not like PSP flew off the shelves early on either.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Game prices has to be one of the factors, among others like convenience of having phone always with you.

You don't think sales of Vita would be stronger if games were $1?

Not to any significant degree, no. I've never heard price of games (or extras) used as part of a purchasing decision; that's a mainstay of business, offering a low entry price and then taking as much as you can in the after-sales extras where people are less price conscious. Some of these same people buying $1 games go on to spend $20 on in-game extras for really cheap, tacky software, where experienced gamers would never accept such poor value for money. People aren't averse to shelling out on entertainment, and I doubt sales of hardware is massively affected. I believe people would buy Vita based on price and functionality, and the cost of games will only affect how much software they buy.

Putting that the other way, I don't believe anyone wanting to play games on the go decided to buy an iPod or smart phone instead of a DS or PSP because the games are $1.

 

[wco81]

No but many of those people have already bought smart phones and tablets and then something like the Vita comes along and they no longer see the point of buying a dedicated gaming device with pricey games.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

No but many of those people have already bought smart phones and tablets and then something like the Vita comes along and they no longer see the point of buying a dedicated gaming device with pricey games.

If the games were the same price on both devices, why buy a Vita when the smartphone serves your gaming needs?