Sony: Press Conference & Tokyo Game Show

[RenegadeRocks]

I don't think anybody who has a vita hates it. The device is too good for that. its people who never bought it for some reason keep bashing it for nothing. I really can't see why any gamer would not like Vita ! Its a gamer's device, totally and completely for gaming and also one which makes no compromises on ur gaming experience ! Even the rear touch pad was a great idea as th ehands are already placed there and one doesn't have to obstruct his view to 'touch' in -game stuff.

Just saying, if you haven't got it, just get it if you like to game. If you want something else , get something else, but Vita completely serves the purpose it was made for: gaming.

 

[tuna]

People hated the PSPGo as well. Idiots gonna hate...

BTW, I think the rear touchpad is really difficult to use.

 

[liolio]

Hum I think that if there are "haters" it is mostly irrelevant to the PSV fate.
It is all a bout price (system, games SD cards), it is too expansive, like 100$ too expansive.
The market the psv can address at its current price is simply too tiny, it will remain tiny even if they were to get the price 200$.
The market changed that are other mobile devices now, you might still be able to reach a healthy user base with a handheld but you have to be cheap. Looking at Nintendo I would say far well below 200$ for the entry model.

 

[temesgen]

Hum I think that if there are "haters" it is mostly irrelevant to the PSV fate.
It is all a bout price (system, games SD cards), it is too expansive, like 100$ too expansive.
The market the psv can address at its current price is simply too tiny, it will remain tiny even if they were to get the price 200$.
The market changed that are other mobile devices now, you might still be able to reach a healthy user base with a handheld but you have to be cheap. Looking at Nintendo I would say well below 200$ far the entry model.

I agree with much of this, the price needs to come down both for the system and memory cards. It could use more software too but with the huge library of PSP and PS1 games there is plenty to choose from. The price is the number one issue IMO.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

People hated the PSPGo as well. Idiots gonna hate...

I own a PSPGo and I think it was an incredible device for its time. Actually, it still is and before its release, I hoped until the last minute that the Vita's design would be based on the Go and not the original PSP.

However, there's a whole lot more to it than just "Idiots gonna hate".
Retailers hated it because it was a device that, if successful, would directly eat away at their profits.
Consumers didn't hate it.. but neglected it because they couldn't use their previous UMD games in it, digital games bought through PSN by then were more expensive than retail (wtf?!), many great games never came out for the PSN and the console was absurdly expensive.

If Sony had implemented an UMD-to-PSN transfer service, better pricing for the PSN games and a more realistic price for the console the PSPGo would have been spectacular.

BTW, I think the rear touchpad is really difficult to use.

Agreed. The simplicity and convenience of the touchscreens come from the constant visual confirmation of where our finger stands before the screen. That's why touchscreens are really popular with small children and even elders.

The Vita's rear touchpad is, IMO a liability. Whenever I have to use it because some game mandates the gimmick, the console turns uncomfortable because I tend to use the rear to rest my fingers.
Furthermore, the rear touchpad makes playing Vita games on other forms of input (dual shock 4, for example) really hard to adapt.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

I agree about the price issue completely. Too high for a handheld. In my country its more than the price of a new PS3 slim, not talking about the super slim 12gb model. Which makes kids wonder whther they should just buy a ps3 instead.

 

[KongRudi]

PS VITA TV can technically support PS3 games thru the cloud:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/12/ps-vita-tv-can-technically-support-ps3-games/

PSVita TV seems like a really interesting idea.
When GaiKai is launched properly, I don't see why it can't support all platforms, i.e. this could be a system that allow you to play all Playstation-games (PS1/PS2/PS3/PS4/PSP/Vita/Mobile) for entry price 100$.

It supports Bluetooth, so it could mimick PSVita front-touch/and back-touch with PS4-controller - instead of PS3-controller, i.e. hold in R2 in order to simulate back-touch, on touch-panel, instead of touch-screen.

The only thing I can't see simulated is the camera, so you can't play Uncharted: Golden Abyss due to one of the puzzles there, requiring you to hold the vita up to the light to reveal the writing. :-/

Most of the money the console-manufacturers earn is due to software-sales, so this could be potentially amazing.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I own a PSPGo and I think it was an incredible device for its time. Actually, it still is and before its release, I hoped until the last minute that the Vita's design would be based on the Go and not the original PSP.

Yup, the PSPGO was an amazing handheld. Only to be torpedo'd by Sony's inability to offer day and date digital downloads of all titles to coincide with UMD releases of titles. I was planning on buying one until I saw how they absolutely F'd up on that.

If they had managed to do that one simple thing, the PSPGo would have been far more successful than how it ended up performing in the marketplace.

Regards,
SB

 

[Arwin]

PSP Go also failed on my account because cables (I had two PSPs) were different and the controls were too cramped for my tastes. You also couldn't upgrade internal memory, but that wasn't a disaster. I did actually buy most games digitally in the last few years for PSP as I had two, and that is something that I now benefit from on Vita.

Vita is just about perfect for me though. I love that thing, what a brilliant device. Now where's the Netflix App?

 

[liolio]

PSP Go also failed on my account because cables (I had two PSPs) were different and the controls were too cramped for my tastes. You also couldn't upgrade internal memory, but that wasn't a disaster. I did actually buy most games digitally in the last few years for PSP as I had two, and that is something that I now benefit from on Vita.

Vita is just about perfect for me though. I love that thing, what a brilliant device. Now where's the Netflix App?

It's been 2 years mostly now that the system launched, since launch 28nm has become widely available, Sony just unveiled the first redesign and it seems that the price of the system may not go down, at least significantly, bad news no new silicon.

It is a big issue as it is clear that the price is way too high. They have a issue here. My belief is that the issue here is the way the system has been designed, slightly custom CPU, slightly custom GPU, 2 memory pools (all iirc), etc. which in the gran scheme of thing doesn't do that much for the system aka the competition is way underpowered (I speak of the 3DS).
Now to have new silicon, they can't use either off the shelves IP implementation on 28nm process be it ARM Cortex A9 or PowerVR SGX 543mp4.
Went it is all said and done, at launch lots of phones were way ahead of the 3DS capabilities, Sony wanted to be really high end (above Apple phones which invested lots of silicon on GPU performances but asked 500$ and more...), in the end 2 years later and mostly just ahead of 20nm launch, lots of phones have catched up with the PSV, I would think that lots passed it.
On the technical side the PSV is no longer something special, 2 years have passed.
Shortly put the PSV was overdesigned, it doesn't need all that "custom jazz" to significantly outdo its competition which is the 3DS not high end phones, that exist on a separated plane, wit extremely aggressive competition, huge R&D budget, huge volume, etc. and with hardware that is refreshed more often than not.

 

[Arwin]

I couldn't disagree more with you if I tried, to be honest. I'm not even going to go into discussion with you on this right now though - the price of the device was just lowered, and the redesign currently only announced for Japan. We have no idea if the redesign allows them to lower the price further at this point. We do know that a VitaTV device is possible at $99, probably, so that does give an indication of where things could go, but that's just about all. And I woud be pretty sure that Sony knew in advance that phones would 'pass' it two or so years out. They went with comparatively off-the-shelves part this time, and I'm amused to think that you feel the parts weren't 'off-the-shelves' enough.

How many people do you know that are not buying a Vita now, that would have bought it at $50 less? I mean, there are always people who will at some point see their price-want threshold crossed, but not many people have a Vita even on their radar. Those that do, would need certain games more than anything else.

 

[wco81]

Well they removed the OLED screen and it's still a $200, dedicated gaming device.

You can get nice tablets for $200 now.

 

[BRiT]

the price of the device was just lowered, and the redesign currently only announced for Japan. We have no idea if the redesign allows them to lower the price further at this point. We do know that a VitaTV device is possible at $99, probably, so that does give an indication of where things could go, but that's just about all.

The last I saw was Sony saying they currently have no plans for VitaTV in Europe or US. Has there been any updates to that?

 

[Arwin]

There's an update to Eurogamer's article with some info that suggests we'll hear more in the future. I'd expect some Sony TVs to include it in the near future perhaps.

 

[BRiT]

There's an update to Eurogamer's article with some info that suggests we'll hear more in the future. I'd expect some Sony TVs to include it in the near future perhaps.

Yeah, I wouldn't believe that they wouldn't release it else where. It sounded more like a miscommunication of "we'll announce that later" with larger fanfare and direct media reporters of those regions.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Sony have kept some products Japan only in the past, though. PSVita in a TV would require a Vita card-slot, which is pretty niche. Oh, I suppose it could do download only. It could drive the display UI and provide the added option of downloadable PSV games. That'll be a more compelling solution than various diverse SmartTV solutions without proper game development ecosystems.

 

[DieH@rd]

Well they removed the OLED screen and it's still a $200, dedicated gaming device.

You can get nice tablets for $200 now.

Relax.

Vita Slim is only announced for Japan, and with the arrival of Slim, Japanese buyers will get their long awaited pricedrop [we got one at gamescom].

Western release Vita Slim and its pricing is not announced.

 

[tuna]

Sony have kept some products Japan only in the past, though. PSVita in a TV would require a Vita card-slot, which is pretty niche.

For the integrated future TV Vita TV ( ) they do not need the external memory and Vita cartridge. Just add 64 GB flash to the TV.

 

[upnorthsox]

For the integrated future TV Vita TV ( ) they do not need the external memory and Vita cartridge. Just add 64 GB flash to the TV.

Or an ssd slot.

 

[DieH@rd]

Or an ssd slot.

Chances that SoC inside Vita has a integrated memory controller with a full SATA compatibility is ZERO. Ordinary slow flash memory is all that we will ever get with this system.