Sony's Next Generation Portable unveiling - PSP2 in disguise

[wco81]

If they can't do it then there is no business to be had.

They can rejigger some of the minor specs and make the peripherals more attractive but they'll continue to limp along at their current sales rate and go downwards from there.

The lesson from this is there is no longer a substantial market for playing "console-quallity" games on portable devices, at these prices, in the face of the widespread availability of mobile devices with cheap or free content.

 

[anexanhume]

If they can't do it then there is no business to be had.

They can rejigger some of the minor specs and make the peripherals more attractive but they'll continue to limp along at their current sales rate and go downwards from there.

The lesson from this is there is no longer a substantial market for playing "console-quallity" games on portable devices, at these prices, in the face of the widespread availability of mobile devices with cheap or free content.

Agree completely. But I still love my Vita and hope the platform does well.

 

[Arwin]

I think they just need to hang in there, and not make losses on the hardware unnecessarily like I think they've been doing. R&D didn't cost too much with these parts I'd hope and the device is certainly not lost to the gaming populace just yet - it's getting far more positive press these days, and we may also be at a point where people actually won't get new phones every two years.

Sony got caught out unawares by the disinterest from particularly Japanese developers to make games for the platform though - they expected them to come automatically, and now that they have to actually work to convince them to release something for their platform, it will take some time for them to catch up.

And yes, a huge competitive market in the form of smartphones has arrived, and definitely Nintendo remains as big a competitor as ever, so it is not an easy market. But the Vita is actually really good, and what some consider its weakness is actually its strength - it is a fixed hardware platform for which every released game reaches its entire installbase for the entirety of its lifecycle. After just one year it has a pretty impressive lineup of games that have no real equals on the mobile platforms in scope or playability.

 

[Brad Grenz]

In one of the killzone mercanaries gameplay trailer, one can see a bunch of people playing multiplayer, with all their vitas connected to a TV?? I thought that hdmi is already included?

They're dev kits. The patent above is just describing a dev kit. The picture above shows the words "Development Kit" literally printed on the system.

 

[wco81]

If it hasn't happened by now, it won't ever happen.

They needed a big launch to ride the momentum for a year or two while games were developed.

They didn't get that and sales have been poor throughout.

There is no catalyst to change this around. They'd have to release it as a new product, at a much more attractive price point, to even have a chance.

I can't imagine 3rd-party support is doing anything but waning.

 

[terraincognita]

I think they just need to hang in there, and not make losses on the hardware unnecessarily like I think they've been doing. R&D didn't cost too much with these parts I'd hope and the device is certainly not lost to the gaming populace just yet - it's getting far more positive press these days, and we may also be at a point where people actually won't get new phones every two years.

Sony got caught out unawares by the disinterest from particularly Japanese developers to make games for the platform though - they expected them to come automatically, and now that they have to actually work to convince them to release something for their platform, it will take some time for them to catch up.

And yes, a huge competitive market in the form of smartphones has arrived, and definitely Nintendo remains as big a competitor as ever, so it is not an easy market. But the Vita is actually really good, and what some consider its weakness is actually its strength - it is a fixed hardware platform for which every released game reaches its entire installbase for the entirety of its lifecycle. After just one year it has a pretty impressive lineup of games that have no real equals on the mobile platforms in scope or playability.

Unfortunately very few see it that way. For the past couple years we've heard about - and seen - smartphones and tablets take over that market and even have an influence on other areas pertaining to gaming. There is good stuff on phones/tablets too, don't get me wrong. Even among said good stuff, a lot of people unfortunately are unable to see it. There are experiences which these phones/tablets are incapable of replicating due to not only a lack of buttons in most cases but also a different business model. There is indeed an impressive lineup of games on Vita with no real equal on the mobile platforms in terms of scope and playability. The problem is this market has drastically shifted. Games are only a part of it. An important part obviously, but there are several other contributing variables. I don't think it has much to do with Sony's marketing or phones surpassing it at a hardware level. Children, for example, are a demographic which Vita does not really reach out to. Yet that's an extremely important demographic contributing to the success of the 3DS. If it weren't for their hardcore fanbase, first party titles, and kids, 3DS would be in trouble IMO.

Related but unrelated, since Vita uses off-the-shelf smarthphone hardware, it shouldn't be difficult to port exclusive Vita games. That's always an option for Sony in case it utterly flatlines

 

[tuna]

Related but unrelated, since Vita uses off-the-shelf smarthphone hardware, it shouldn't be difficult to port exclusive Vita games. That's always an option for Sony in case it utterly flatlines

Port the Vita games to what?

 

[wco81]

They wouldn't be big sellers anyways.

 

[Xenus]

It's times like thisthat make me sad as a gamer. A great little device possibly never becoming relevant cause of the power Nintendo holds on handhelds. i was hoping with the success of the PSP their might finally be a true competition brewing in the handheld space. but so far that seems not to be the case.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

During the weekend, Sony announced a Vita price drop by 1/5th its original price in Japan, and it now costs just a bit over the 3DS XL.
Strangely, the WiFi and 3G versions now cost the same.
Some people think this will happen because the updated Vita 4G will play PS3 games through Gaikai (like the PS4?) enabled over the 4G, putting the WiFi and 3G version in the same ballpark of functionality. Sort of.


They also released some 5 seconds of footage from the Final Fantasy X HD port/remake, in a Vita.
The game looks just like.. the original Final Fantasy X that I played in the PS2 some 10 years ago.
Honestly, it looks like they just increased the rendering resolution, enabled MSAA and called it a day.


Yet another poor port of a 10 year-old game is not what the Vita needs, Sony.

 

[Xenus]

Actually they updated the models a bit pretty noticably too. but yeah for the amount of time since they announced it not a whole lot of work seems done

 

[Simon F]

Children, for example, are a demographic which Vita does not really reach out to.

That statement seems ironic as I have immense difficulty stopping my children reaching out for my Vita.

 

[Arwin]

My guess would be that SquareEnix floated the idea of FFX HD on Vita but shelved it in favor of other projects, and that Sony has given them an 'incentive' to pick up the project again (among which the price-cut).

Price-cut I think is very important for Japan, but of course we also need a lot of games. It's not like FFX HD is the only game that's coming though - it gets a lot of attention, because it is probably the most popular title over here, in the West.

EDIT: Heh. I hand my son the Vita voluntarily on regular occasion. But there's no denying that most kids over here these days use a tablet, and some even have their own (usually a relatively cheap Android tablet). These things are definitely a big competition.

But gaming in many cases feels so much better on Vita, that I am keeping hope alive that there will be a large enough audience. It won't be nearly as large as the tablet audience, but I feel that is to a large extent comparing PC sales with console sales.

And say about the 3DS what you will, but it's still selling pretty close to DS numbers, despite up and coming smartphones and tablets.

 

[anexanhume]

My understanding is that FFX HD is for PSN as a whole. A lot of people have been clamoring for that outside of the vita.

 

[wco81]

Price cut of the 3G SKU by $100. May be a clearance before discontinuing.

I guess poor overall sales isn't helping to sell a more expensive SKU, especially when gaming options over 3G is limited?

Not likely to get a LTE SKU.

Is there anything coming that could accelerate sales, like some blockbuster game and/or price cut?

Or really is it only for Remote Play with the PS4, in which case it's a pretty expensive console controller.

 

[anexanhume]

Price cut of the 3G SKU by $100. May be a clearance before discontinuing.

I guess poor overall sales isn't helping to sell a more expensive SKU, especially when gaming options over 3G is limited?

Not likely to get a LTE SKU.

Is there anything coming that could accelerate sales, like some blockbuster game and/or price cut?

Or really is it only for Remote Play with the PS4, in which case it's a pretty expensive console controller.

Price cut helped in Japan. Soul Sacrifice is selling out there. It has the potential to do well here, and Killzone Mercenary is coming in September. They need a few AAA titles announced at E3 to really give it a bright future though.

If they would formally announce the Bioshock game (if it still exists), Ubisoft confirms Rising Phoenix as a new AC game, and some other first party title (God of War, infamous, new uncharted etc), that may get people's hopes up.

 

[Tabris]

developers are able to control Vita's GPU frequency

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-assassins-creed-vs-playstation-vita

We also lowered the GPU frequency to extend the battery life and enable long play time for players on the move.

 

[dagamer]

Price cut helped in Japan. Soul Sacrifice is selling out there. It has the potential to do well here, and Killzone Mercenary is coming in September. They need a few AAA titles announced at E3 to really give it a bright future though.

If they would formally announce the Bioshock game (if it still exists), Ubisoft confirms Rising Phoenix as a new AC game, and some other first party title (God of War, infamous, new uncharted etc), that may get people's hopes up.

I'm wondering if the lack of games is much like the 3DS which had a poor launch but eventually recovered or like a Dreamcast which just puttered out? I am really hoping for some good news at E3, and Sony needs to drop the €^|!,\ing price of memory cards and quit the price gouging (32GB for $99 MSRP is ridiculous). I think it would be pretty obvious that the more space you have, the more games you can install and the more games you want to buy. I am quite surprised with digital distribution the sheer number of games I've purchased, many of which on a whim.

*hopes for the best*

 

[Mobius1aic]

Anyone managed to get some confirmed max CPU and GPU speeds?

 

[tangey]

Sony announces PS Vita TV, a tiny console to take on Apple TV

$99

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/9/4710080/sony-ps-vita-tv

Can play PS1,PSP and PSvita games (except the ones that require the touch sensitive inputs).

Article says its based on PSvita hardware.

Not knowing anything about PS1 or PSP, how easy would it be for PSvita hardware to run these titles. ?