Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

Well, its not so much there are not enough games yet, its more that for me right now "not enough games" is a good thing. Having a console that doesn't paygate Netflix would also be a nice thing to have and Nintendo TVii looks pretty slick.

Plus I really like the idea of Miiverse and I know when that comes to 3DS soon I'm just going to want more of it. It seems Nintendo was using Soul Hackers as part of its internal alpha and beta tests for the 3DS version of it. There's also this:

[Armando]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

It's especially true with Nintendo given how many different versions are out and they may well announce some kind of "Wii U Lite XXL Eaglehammerthrust i" or something in 12 months time. Sony and Microsoft do it too but Nintendo is the only one that brings out 3-4 different versions of the same console during the lifetime.

I've lost track of the PS3/PSP/360 revisions. Wii has one, and that was last year. I don't even think GameCube and N64 had stripped down versions. I wouldn't expect revisions out of Nintendo consoles until the system is almost on the way out. What is almost a surefire thing is a handheld revision a year and half in, but the 3DS XL already came out so I wouldn't hold out for another revision in the near future.

[Icemage]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

I've lost track of the PS3/PSP/360 revisions. Wii has one, and that was last year. I don't even think GameCube and N64 had stripped down versions. I wouldn't expect revisions out of Nintendo consoles until the system is almost on the way out. What is almost a surefire thing is a handheld revision a year and half in, but the 3DS XL already came out so I wouldn't hold out for another revision in the near future.

Didn't the Wii get this horrid monstrosity late last year as well?



And yes, plenty of 360 and PS3 revisions.

It wouldn't shock me if Sony ended up releasing a revision of the Vita to reduce production cost (and price), though.


Icemage

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

Yes, that was the one Armando was referring to.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

Didn't the Wii get this horrid monstrosity late last year as well?



And yes, plenty of 360 and PS3 revisions.

It wouldn't shock me if Sony ended up releasing a revision of the Vita to reduce production cost (and price), though.


Icemage

Hey, that would have looked really cool in the 80s

But yeah, there were two Wii revisions in the last couple of years. The first revision just took out BC but the Wii otherwise looked the same. This retro-lookin' one also removed WiiWare and SD card capability, so its literally just for Wii games and that's it. That's removal of BC five years in, as opposed to PS3 abandoning it year two because there were "enough" (read: not many) PS3 games out.

The lead guy for Vita's design said when the time comes for a revision he wants to make it even more slim... which probably isn't a great idea. The current model's lack of girth already makes effective use of those dual analog sticks difficult. Its like he never understood what made the Dual Shock great.

[Malacite]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

The Wii-mini?

Yes, and it's all ours... lol.

No really, it was in Canada only for who the hell knows why.

[Fliegar]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

I remember someone asking me if I would recommend those when I was working at Futureshop over the holidays. All I could do was shake my head.

[Aeni]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

They must be desperate. Even with my Sony Points, I still wouldn't redeem it for a Vita.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

Sony: We have to do better at promoting PS Vita - Destructoid

Acceptance is the first step toward recovery.

[Icemage]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

Sony's got a problem, because if they promote the Vita, they aren't promoting PS4.

One thing they "might" do is push using the Vita as an alternate controller for PS4 and/or global Remote Play via PS4 (which would quite honestly be really cool if they can keep the latency down). The Vita doesn't have a ton more resolution than the Wii U GamePad, and frankly the screen is much nicer.

Another is, above and beyond just cross-platform saves, they need something like Four Swords Adventures for the Vita, where you have complementary gameplay on both machines, either simultaneous or asynchronous (i.e. maybe progress in one game on the Vita gives you perks on the PS3/PS4 iteration, and vice versa).

It also needs more games, and a price cut wouldn't hurt. $250 is a pretty good price for what you get in terms of hardware, but there's just not that critical mass of unique gameplay so it ends up being a somewhat overpriced paperweight unless you really like specific games (Persona 4 Golden, Uncharted: Please Swipe My Screen, and/or Gravity Rush). Sony certainly has the studios to push the tech if they want to, but it seems like they've allocated most of their energy on PS4.

Certainly it needs to be sub-$200 by this holiday or they might as well just give up.


Icemage

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

You're essentially suggesting they need a bit more Nintendo in them. I think its more of a matter of focusing on strengths than weaknesses. Remote play, cross-play and cross-buy are all gimmicks that need less attention because that's the Vita latching into PS3 and PS4 for support and that si a weakness 3DS does not share. 3DS is now standing on its own. Part of that, however, its because Nintendo remembers where it comes from.h. It used some classics as a starting point, added virtual console games and had BC there from the start and built up from that.

Sony has developed a habit of ignoring their own legacy. People who grew up with Playstation are now starting or exiting college and Sony has done little else but show them those old IPs don't matter to them There was a HUGE opportunity to have Ico/SotC on this thing near launch and they blew it on Remote Play. There's been a couple bursts of support for PSOne games and now were back to a drip-feed and there's several PSP and PSOne games that remain unsupported - not even eShop is this slow now.

Vita's downloadable market isn't the wasteland people imagine it is, but Sony does nothing to combat that image.

The Vita software takes time. I can see it already beginning to turn around after April and May - but the price has to be right for the system and memory cards. If Sony doesn't do something about this before E3.

What's mind boggling is Nintendo's blueprint for turning around the 3DS is public record now. Slash the price, offer up some free software to early adopters and offer a steady stream of video presentations on what's coming up to keep your customers engaged and excited. The second year or 3DS was a touch sluggish, but Iwata was always out there communicating with the consumer, promising it would get better and it has. Consumers, the press and third parties were responsive to all of this.

Time will tell if that approach works out for the Wii U, but it certainly did work for 3DS and the Wii U presentation a couple weeks back certainly turned some heads.

[Icemage]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

The 3DS took a huge price cut and a bunch of software before it righted itself, and even now I'd call its situation no better than "decent". Animal Crossing is giving it some amazing lift in Japan right now, and I'm sure Pokemon X/Y will move a lot of hardware too, but aside from those bright spots the 3DS is merely doing so-so for everyone outside of Nintendo.

At any rate, it'll be interesting to see where Sony goes with the Vita. They can't really do what Nintendo did with the 3DS (too expensive and not guaranteed to work even if they try). Focusing too much on it means they'd lose focus on the PS4, which is a much more important battle for Sony than the handheld space.

Not going to belabor the obvious about the Wii U, but I think both the Vita and the Wii U are in similar positions right now. Lacking software - especially killer apps, lacking perceived value, but without any viable pathways to a price cut or an immediate fix to their software woes.


Icemage

[Etra]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

Not going to belabor the obvious about the Wii U, but I think both the Vita and the Wii U are in similar positions right now.

I'd agree, but only if the two were released at the same time. Consoles have always had a dry run for a year after launch. The vita has been out for awhile now, so they're at two different places in their timelines. With that in mind, I think the vita is a bit worse off.

[Icemage]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

I'd agree, but only if the two were released at the same time. Consoles have always had a dry run for a year after launch. The vita has been out for awhile now, so they're at two different places in their timelines. With that in mind, I think the vita is a bit worse off.

Not sure I agree. Vita's in poor shape at the moment, but while Nintendo obviously does have 1st party studios that could be releasing Wii U content, they also have the extra complication of Sony and Microsoft getting ready to unveil their new hardware to suck up all the oxygen in the room away from the Wii U.

Also worth noting that at Ubisoft's financial meeting yesterday they said they were able to sell around 600K units of Assassin's Creed III: Liberation on Vita (note: "sell" in this context is physical shipped, including bundles + digital delivery via PSN) and seemed pretty happy about it. This is the same Ubisoft that is playing shenanigans with the Wii U vis-a-vis Rayman Legends. So make of that what you will.


Icemage

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Are you a Vita Gamechanger?

Wii U has been out a few months. Vita has been out just shy of a year. Big difference. The only thing they'd ever have in common at this point is that they were released in a market that's contracting. Expect this trend to continue with the next Playstation and Xbox. The market has changed.

This knee jerk reaction from the large third parties has been common to 3DS, Vita and Wii U. Big third parties are giant cowards that hate taking risks.

When 3DS didn't do well initially, Capcom dropped Megaman Legends 3 like a hot rock, yet they came running back when Nintendo price-dropped 3DS and Resident Evil did well. Then Nintendo doled out a money hat for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and 4's exclusivity. Sony released a handheld and expected people to just show up and make games because they're Sony.

Sony has an Apple complex - the problem is they're not Apple to anyone. They don't have that kind of brand loyalty going for them.

Assassin's Creed III; Liberation probably did well in Europe and was helped by the $200 Black Friday bundle in the US. This does not signal a turnaround for Vita and its third party situation so much as reinforce the fact that Vita is being sold at the wrong price. Even with the $200 price tag, it was a difficult sell on Black Friday because of the memory cards. Famitsu even reported that Vita was hotly desired by consumers in Japan but the asking price and price of memory was too high for their liking when polled for reasons.

So the message from consumers world wide seems to he rather clear.