Sony needs to learn that hiding all the bad news until a month before launch isn't going to do them any favours. If they were upfront about the 3G capabilities and pricing from the get-go, then it would've blown over by now. And if they actually tried to do any sort of marketing, they would've realized that expensive required accessories will guarantee lower sales.
Alas, despite facts pointing to the contrary, now when the Vita comes out, the only thing on everyone's minds will be that it has ridiculously overpriced proprietary memory cards and badly priced AT&T 3G service...
@slapshot, aha okay that makes more sense then. But I'm still fine with games having scores because they're more short-term compared to a console. Games are more of a snapshot of that developer's mindset and direction whereas consoles are much, much more evolutionary and thusly cannot be scored as easily, if at all.
While personally I would never assign a numerical score to a game, I do see the appeal and necessity in the industry to do so. I tend to ignore the numbers because I'm horrendously picky with my games. So, I drink up as much text about the games I'm interested in and don't put huge amounts of weight into the numbers.
What I liked best about the review is that there wasn't a score arbitrarily attached to the text. I wish all reviews were text only, just so that people understand the level of subjectivity in a review.
Great review that hits all the major points and most of the minor ones. This is a great example of a review that's meant to inform and not persuade, like all reviews should be.
@Tate24, I think we're all getting sick of people slapping zombies on something for a quick cash in. Just like any other piece of game design, the addition of zombies is a tool and can be used very well (like the cancelled WipEout mode or TLAU) or in a cliche and boring way (Dead Island or CoD Zombie modes).
At first I was like "damn it, ANOTHER zombie mode in a game?". But after reading it, it seems rather original and sounds quite fun, in a thriller-esque sort of way.
Even though I probably wouldn't get WipEout (never was a big fan), I enjoy playing occasionally and do see the appeal. Great franchise that never really gets noticed by anyone but its fans, sadly.
Yep, PSN means download only. Plus, I heard that the prices will have a range, with some as low as $10, which sounds like a great step for games in general.
About the lineup, objectively this is the kind of launch EVERY company releasing a new console should model. Putting out this many games is exactly what they should all aim for. The quality and genre range in this list is maddening, in the best way possible
@stromboli, it's pretty unfair to compare a 5 day old console to one that's had 11 months to hit its stride. You say you wouldn't write it off...but then you spend the rest of your comment explaining why you write it off...
In addition, we still haven't hit that point where a person can compare a smartphone/tablet to a 3DS or Vita. The overlap between consumers of both isn't too heavy, and it's not enough to really warrant saying that Sony's situation is bleak. They just launched a new console and it had a mediocre launch. Let's not read into things too much now, it hasn't even been a week.
Also, if you want to bring up the iteration argument, then the 3DS itself shows that people don't think about that. Case in point, the 3DS sells like hot cakes at the moment, but just about everyone knows that the next iteration will come sooner rather than later and will be a fundamental redesign to include a 2nd stick. So even when an upcoming reiteration is effectively guaranteed, the 3DS still sells. So to say that the marginally different iterations of the Vita in the future is staving off consumers now makes no sense.
Finally, Sony doesn't attack Nintendo. SCEA's arrogant president Jack Tretton does. Besides, you act like Sony is the only company that "copies" ideas from the competition. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have all been copied and have all copied (the latter one hasn't been copied much as its rather new though). Sony did copy motion controls, but Nintendo is copying dual analog sticks for the Wii U and MS copied that for their Xbox and 360, something Sony pioneered over a decade ago. Also, when Sony jumped to optical discs, who scoffed at them? Nintendo, stating it's an impractical media to use. And what's Nintendo using for the Wii and Wii U. Optical discs. Not saying anyone in this is right or wrong, just saying that is doesn't just go one way, like you insinuate.
The Vita will be successful simply because it has much more going for it than against it, and that effectively determines how successful it will be in the long run. So its had an average launch, so what? The 3DS had horrid launch, and look where it is now. In time, the sales and support for the Vita will grow and show your points to be invalid.
Oh, and the 3DS does not have comparable graphics to the Vita. At all. Not with 3D or without. Not even close. Don't kid yourself.
To be fair, Sony did release a statement saying that while the Vita basically met their expectations at launch, the downloaded games from PSN exceeded their expectations. So this could actually indicate an attach rate of greater than 1:1 if you include DD in that measurement.
@stomboli, I really, really, want to see that data you're looking at that says "since the sales weren't impressive, they must be a downright failure." I mean, you must have access to some sort of super-secretive data that no one else has, or else you wouldn't be making such an illogical, irrational, and frankly pure fanboy-ish comment.
Honestly, if you thought the Vita was dead on arrival, I shudder to wonder what you thought the 3DS was at its launch (with no games and its devious price).
Just in case your Nintendo-fanboyism prevents you from understanding sarcasm, I will make things plain for you. The Vita's launch was extremely mediocre. Not good, not bad. Definitely not "dead on arrival". 325,000 sold with 20+ launch titles is not DOA. An average tie ratio of 1:1 is not DOA. 100+ games coming in the first two quarters of 2012 is not DOA. Either make cogent, coherent arguments that people can actually comment about, or just keep your raving comments to yourself.
I don't want the be all pessimistic and all, but these sales are far from impressive. If I were to rate Vita's launch (based purely on sales, not system or game quality), I'd give it a 6.5-7.
In it's favor, I did have a healthy amount of competition. Consumers only have a fixed amount of yen, so they had to decide between a newly-launched Vita, or the already established 3DS, PS3, or Wii. Even getting some games for the other systems could rule out a Vita for a consumer. So that obviously contributed to lower than expected sales. Also, there were some reports of malfunctioning Vitas (they would freeze or the touch screen would stop working). Although I'm 100% this will be fixed very, very soon, the (very) vocal minority of people were there to talk about it. Those who had issues were (surprise, surprise) vocal about it online, which could've scared some interest away.
Now the bad side; the Vita launched with a great library, in the middle of the holiday season, up against 2 five year old consoles and a handheld that's just now hitting its stride. Considering the home field advantage Sony holds and the amount of hype in Japan leading up to its launch (the 700k in shipments shows that hype), the fact that it didn't sell more than it did is slightly troubling. Also, not noted in the article here, the PSP sold more than half of that in half the time, which also doesn't bode well for the Vita, sales-wise.
Sorry about being the party-pooper, but I just wanted to bring some more context to the issue. I've checked out a plethora of unboxing and tests of Vitas online and I'm very, very stoked to get one. I absolutely cannot wait. Sales mean nothing to me outside of garnering 3rd party support, so I really don't care about it too much. I just want me my Vita
This is actually a very smart way to prevent game sharing, which limits the money devs get for their hard work. By having this monetary barrier between you and your friends' purchased games, it decreases the odds of someone passing his/her account to 5 people to share games. To get access to one friend's games, you would have to buy a whole new memory card, and with the prices they're at now, I don't see many people getting extra cards for extra accounts.
But if you really, really need to have more than one account (one JPN, one EU, and one US account, for example) it's all still possible, albeit more expensive than usual. Considering the tools, it's a rather elegant solution. But then, I don't use more than one PSN account so I don't really subjectively see the disadvantages.
I thought the whole idea of shifting to flash-based cartridges instead of discs was to reduce loading times (among other reasons)? But even with bad load times, it can still be a great game. Case in point, Mass Effect 2 (good lord, the load times are brutal).
The game isn't due for another 8-10 weeks, so I hope the load times and frame rate issues are things UFG left to the end to remedy. Once those are gone, MNR:RT moves from a solid addition to the Vita library to being a near-guaranteed first game purchase for Vita owner come late February.
I am paying attention. They never said it would come. They just said the obvious, that the situation now is the situation now.
Now, if you read between the lines, Sony is saying, "We couldn't be bothered to include this now. And since it won't be a huge issue later on, it won't come for a long time." So yes, this is bad news. And yes, all we see is bad news recently.
Wait, wait, wait, wait. How the hell did this horrid idea even leave the brainstorming room?
Wow Namco Bandai. I thought choosing Tales of Innocence (of all the Tales games, Innocence?!) to remake on Vita was the worst decision you could've made. Clearly, you've set out to prove me wrong.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is an exact representation of all things evil about DLC. Don't get me wrong, DLC a neutral tool, and when done properly can be amazing. It can bring you back to the game in ways nothing else can. However — and this is a big however — tools are soooooo easy to abuse. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that NB wants (and expects) us to pay for content that should already be in the game.
Between this debacle and NB's apparent inability to localize the best of the amazing Tales series, I sometimes seriously wonder if NB is really thinking things through when they make ANY decision.
...or NB could just be trolling the world on an internationally corporate scale. Either or could make sense.
I think it's the same logic they had with removing backwards compatibility from the PS3. They want you playing Vita games, not PS1 games.
Now, of course, this can be easily remedied with a software update, and likely will in time. Just for now, Sony wants us buying up those Vita games. And with the ones up for grabs, I'm not really complaining.
P.S. Yes, I'm aware the biggest reason Sony cut off backwards compatibility on the PS3 was the cost associated with including it, but another main influence was the weak software sales at the time. People were buying the PS3 and playing PS2 games on it. They just want to avoid that situation with the Vita.
Although, I'm gonna wait to see actual gameplay before I set my opinion on the graphics in stone. However, this is a great step in the right direction.
Glad to see such graphical fidelity coming right out of the box (or soon after launch, at least)
@james, yeah the comparison isn't too fair, but then I was just illustrating a concept or analogy, not saying that it's the same degree of disappointment. But the fact that they aren't talking about it has me on edge. Not because I think it's gonna be disastrous, but the lack of details has me on edge, for sure.
They definitely won't wait until the exact launch day, but it could be detailed very close to launch. Looking at how they're shaping up their news releases, it seems like they want to focus on the Vita itself and it's games. And then, towards the lead up to release, a small side-note detailing the 3G plan details would be released. Makes sense, because the reason the PSP didn't do as well as it could have is because of a lack of wide-ranging, quality games (relative to the DS), so obviously Sony will want to hammer out the point that the Vita's games are of AAA calibre.
The fact that Sony isn't being very forthcoming with how AT&T will price the 3G service has me worried. It's kinda like how some developers know that their game is crap and force review sites/mags to withhold the review until on or after the release date. Of course, I'm sure the Vita won't be crap, but this is a classic marketing technique to garner sales before any bad news sinks in.
The 3G is a sort of weird combination in a dedicated game handheld, and instead of showing us the amazing ways it can be integrated, and giving full disclosure on how they will price it, Sony is immensely hush-hush about it. It probably won't be as bad as I expect, but it does worry me. I'd rather hear about all the 3G details than the apps that it comes with.
Although knowing what's there out of the box is good to know. And the box looks pretty nice. But what's with Sony's new infatuation with blue?
@neetyneety, I doubt Sony is so stupid as to make us pay $60 for the PS3 version and then $40 for the Vita. I think their PSN Pass system was actually their way of testing the concept of one-time use codes in a game. And it seems to work perfectly fine for them. So I think they'll include a Vita code in the PS3 copy, and vice-versa, that allows you to get the game from PSN.
As for the Wii U being a "revolutionary" experience, it's really not. It's just taking remote play and applying it in a universal sense, to all its games. surprisingly, after seeing what complacency did to the 3DS, Nintendo is shockingly still insanely complacent. I mean, they made this thing look JUST like a Wii, and it's called a Wii U. How will they convince their target audience, those not in the know of games, that it's not just a new version of the Wii? Sony knows how to differentiate a product, even if the name is similar. Look at the designs for the PS1, PS2, and PS3. They're radically different. It's easy to see that these are different consoles. The Wii U looks like someone took sandpaper to a Wii, rounded its edges, and laid it on its side. And, all your Wii stuff works on it. No way any random parent who knows nothing about games will be able to say "Oh, that's clearly a whole new console and not just a remodeling". It also suffers from getting games about a year after the PS3 and 360 do (i.e. Arkham City), and not having much exclusive 3rd party content, if any, lined up.
The 3DS and Wii U are double trip-ups for a company that is not used to making mistakes. Case in point, it's having a hard time fixing its 3DS problem (one of which is also convincing consumers that it's not just a newer model of the something old). Like the article says, the Vita-PS3 combo does everything the Wii does, plus a few extras, like the Vita having its own games, having transfarring capabilities for non-streaming gameplay, and the Vita being a social network hub on the go (provided you have a 3G Vita).
Personally, I feel that if Sony can aggressively market the Vita-PS3 combo before Nintendo starts its Wii U marketing campaign, it could take away the Wii U's one crowning achievement and make the Wii U dead on arrival.
I loved Afternoon of Darkness on the PSP, so I can't wait for this one. Plus, with all the DLC on the card (valued at over $50.00 on the PS Store) this looks like it could be in the top 3 games I pick up first
@PatrickElliot, for me, the only flaws I had with FF: CC was the jaggies on all the models and the lack of decent camera control. Other than that, I LOVED Crisis Core. So seeing a sequel on the Vita would be very, very nice. In fact, seeing a new FF on Vita would be absolutely fantastic.
Now, is it likely? Knowing SE, hell no As anyone who's played Final Fantasy, pre-XII, would know that SE never follows logic and never gives the fans what they want. Fans want VI and VII more than X, yet we got X and XIII-2. So we won't see a new FF on Vita for a good long while, IMO.
In my heart of hearts, I want SE to come out and say, "Surprise! We've been trolling you all! Final Fantasy Type-0 is actually a Vita launch title! Enjoy!" But it'll never happen, due to the aforementioned reasons.
I dunno about this one. On one hand, I'm excited about a Vita Resistance. However, the developer and some gameplay has me worried.
For one, Nihilistic isn't the most accomplished of developers. In fact, they haven't made a single game that scored higher than 75 on MetaCritic. That worries me. Plus, like @hamispink said, the animations and the graphics look a bit underwhelming for my tastes.
However, Insomiac is working pretty closely with Nihilistic (that's a really annoying word to type!), even giving them access to the entire Resistance mythology so they can craft a good canon story.
However, I must say I would feel a hell of a lot more comfortable if Sony Bend was doing this one again. But then, they're doing Uncharted: GA and (rumored) a Syphon Filter game for the Vita, so I can't complain
I never understood why Europe gets shafted with release dates all the time. I mean, Playstation does better in Europe than in the US, so shouldn't their release dates show that they acknowledge that more PS supporters are in Europe?
The games this developer makes are really laughable. Scooby-Doo, Spongebob, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles. I think they're just upset that Sony doesn't want that garbage at launch for the Vita
If any launch was a car wreck, it was the 3DS's. They shipped buttloads of units and a fraction of them sold. Now, with the price drop, they're moving more, but it required a 32% drop in price to do that. So personally, I feel the 3DS was more like a car wreck than the Vita's future launch will be. Now, it definitely wasn't a car wreck. The 3DS is moderately successful. But it was closer to that stupid term than the Vita will ever be.
And yes, @gamrgod5, we shouldn't compare the Vita and 3DS. They're on different levels. One is comparable to PS3 and Xbox 360 in terms of capabilities, and the other struggles to best the PSP. In terms of games, one have a slew of amazing launch titles and remakes ready to clean out our wallets, while the other was launched so early that the only games worth playing (both of which are over a decade old) weren't out for a couple more months. So yeah, incomparable indeed.
Now, to further show how small-minded and biased this developer is, we need to see what exactly would cause a "car wreck" of a launch. In order for the Vita to have a horrid launch like this (unaccomplished) developer hints at, it needs to have: a) little to no 3rd party support, b) limited capabilities, thus making games more limited, c) an expensive and hard to use dev kit that puts developers off greatly, thus cutting down on quality games, d) almost no 1st party backing at the time of system launch, and e) a mindset that one can live on brand alone and not fix the flaws of the past.
Oh wait, those are all things Nintendo did with the 3DS. It has no 3rd party support. It's the bottleneck for it's games. Developers continuously bemoan the expensive and obtuse dev kit for the 3DS. It had no 1st party support at launch. And finally, the idea that adding 3D is fine, but to only add 3D? That's not innovation, Nintendo just got complacent. And yet, the 3DS launch wasn't a car wreck. So how can the Vita, which looks to improve in every single one of those categories, be a car wreck of a launch?
Like I said, just because your development teams literally can't do anything but garbage licensed movie games, doesn't mean that the system you fail at developing for will have a bad launch. I'm pretty sure they do this crap all the time, seeing how nonchalantly they insult the Vita. If they spent that time improving their development processes and making actually decent games, then maybe everyone and their mother wouldn't disregard what Heavy Iron Studios says and does.
Yes, the 3DS is very likely to outsell the Vita due to name and price alone. However, I do feel that this is a completely different ball game, very unlike the DS vs. PSP battle of old.
I also agree that it is all about game quality and not quantity. The DS showed us that quite handily. However, the 3DS isn't doing that so much. Almost nonexistent 3rd party support means that the only good games you'll find on it are Mario, Zelda, Metroid (once they get around to it), and maaaybe Kirby (it's been pretty lately though). Four quality games is okay, but it's four quality games that are just rehashes or remakes. Nothing reaaaally new. So in terms of game quality, the 3DS dropped the ball. And is picking it up real slow, unfortunately for 3DS owners. I mean, the only games really worth critical acclaim on a 3DS are over a decade old, have been redone before, and bring nothing new.
The Vita has taken what the 3DS did at launch and flipped it, becoming almost obsessive with providing a kick launch in 2011/2012. Yes, there are a great deal of quality remakes on the Vita, but the reason it differs is because it offers a good mix of rehashes and new titles. Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, Ruin, and Escape Plan all look amazing and are all new games. Final Fantasy X, Zone of the Enders, and MGS Collection also look great.
So Vita has struck a good match and will definitely change the game for the better. So should Nintendo be worried? That's the wrong question. We know they're worried. Their "revolutionary" new system kinda sorta flopped on launch and their only competitor in the market is pulling out all the stops to capitalize on Nintendo's failures. The real question is, what can Nintendo do in light of the Vita hitting all the right notes? The answer, unfortunately for Nintendo, is little to nothing .They've played their hand. Now all they can do is sit and hope.
I feel that Sony knows what they're doing with this delay. By making the release in 2012 instead of in 2 months, they give themselves time to polish and market the Vita. Also, it builds a bigger and better set of launch titles for the Vita, which is always good.
I think Sony just looked at Nintendo, saw that they clearly rushed their launch (for no good reason, but rushed nonetheless), and just decided that they could do better, in terms of introducing a new product to the market.
Also, I don't think that not launching in the holiday season is as devastating as it sounds. The Vita's target audience is people with disposable income of their own who want a console-like experience on the go and are usually (to some degree) in the know of what they want. Nintendo is the opposite; they thrive on the 7-year-old who convinces their dad to buy them Galaxy 2 (an amazing game, I might add), or on the mom who doesn't know what to pick up and just grabs the cheapest/most colorful item in GameStop (chances are, it's a Nintendo game/console). So if this was reversed, Nintendo would be in deeeeep trouble not launching in time for Christmas. But Sony's demographic isn't so seasonal, and as such I think the net benefits outweigh the net losses.
Right now, I'm in a place where I'm not really hyped for this game, but I'm aware that it can be quite good and inventive. Though it won't be a launch purchase for me (that's reserved for Uncharted, LBP, ModNation, or Ruin), it could definitely become the game I get a few months after, depending on the feedback it gets from users and review sites.
Yeah, just like the PSP, you can set the language to whatever you want it to be. The only difference is that on Japanese hardware (PSP, PS3, and most likely Vita), O is confirm and X is cancel. Everyone else flips that.
@rh0gii, I know that the Vita won't support the Duo, you'll need to buy the new, specially made Vita memory sticks. The 4GB stick will run you about $30-ish while the 32 GB will be about $120-ish, I think (from converting the Japanese pricing to US dollars, so they could change).
But once you get the cards, you shouldn't have an issue with your games and movies. I'm sure that the Vita can connect to a computer, and you can just copy your movies there. Plus, the games should still be on your PSN account, so no worries.
I don't like the blue, but then again, when the PS3 brought out their (slight) redesign for their cases, I didn't like those. Now I love the PS3 cases, so I'll give these time.
As for physical vs digital, normally I would get digital because I've had instances where the physical game got damaged or lost (I lost like 3 PSP games when I moved to the states). However, the (stupidly) high cost of Sony's new proprietary memory sticks and the lack of decent internal memory (if there is any at all, I can't remember) has me leaning more towards physical copies for my games, to save that expensive memory space for my videos, music, pics, and demos.
@turtlelink, I'm guessing you plug it in via a mini-USB cable to charge it. Kinda sticks out and ruins the sleek-ness of it all, but (IMO) it's worth it for 15 hours of Vita goodness
That is perfect. Well perfect so far as we don't know how much it is. But 9-15 hours? That is far more than I expected from a battery peripheral and I am satisfied with that.
What I won't be satisfied with, however, is the massive price that will (be almost guaranteed to) come with it
Honestly, I would've had a new mothership Tales games exclusive to Vita. Something with a battle system resembling Graces and an art style/presentation of Vesperia or Xillia would be JRPG heaven for me
Now, not to detract from this at all. This looks fabulous as well, I missed out on Innocence earlier and the R at the end seems to take after Graces F with additional content. If this comes to the US, it'll only reaffirm my decision to get a Vita on day one
Honestly, @kdognumba1, I think that the PS4 will be announced at the earliest in a year or two. Sony has a ten-year plan for its consoles and PS3 is in its 5th or 6th year now. They'll probably overlap the last 2 years of the PS3 with the first 2 years of the PS4, so that's about another two or three years at least.
Not to mention that the best games on PS3, hardware/software potential-wise, will come out in the coming two years as well. I just got a PS3 for those reasons, and I'll be getting a Vita on day one. The remote play is just amazing, IMO
Comments 46
Re: Welcome to the New Push Square!
loving the new redesign, especially how everything is consolidated into one place. and the name "Push Square" is quite awesome too
can't wait to see how everything works out once the renovations are complete!
Re: AT&T Changes 3G Data Plan Prices
Sony needs to learn that hiding all the bad news until a month before launch isn't going to do them any favours. If they were upfront about the 3G capabilities and pricing from the get-go, then it would've blown over by now. And if they actually tried to do any sort of marketing, they would've realized that expensive required accessories will guarantee lower sales.
Alas, despite facts pointing to the contrary, now when the Vita comes out, the only thing on everyone's minds will be that it has ridiculously overpriced proprietary memory cards and badly priced AT&T 3G service...
Re: Review: PlayStation Vita Hardware
@slapshot, aha okay that makes more sense then. But I'm still fine with games having scores because they're more short-term compared to a console. Games are more of a snapshot of that developer's mindset and direction whereas consoles are much, much more evolutionary and thusly cannot be scored as easily, if at all.
While personally I would never assign a numerical score to a game, I do see the appeal and necessity in the industry to do so. I tend to ignore the numbers because I'm horrendously picky with my games. So, I drink up as much text about the games I'm interested in and don't put huge amounts of weight into the numbers.
Re: Review: PlayStation Vita Hardware
What I liked best about the review is that there wasn't a score arbitrarily attached to the text. I wish all reviews were text only, just so that people understand the level of subjectivity in a review.
Great review that hits all the major points and most of the minor ones. This is a great example of a review that's meant to inform and not persuade, like all reviews should be.
Re: WipEout 2048 Almost Had a Zombie Mode, Demo Drops This Month
@Tate24, I think we're all getting sick of people slapping zombies on something for a quick cash in. Just like any other piece of game design, the addition of zombies is a tool and can be used very well (like the cancelled WipEout mode or TLAU) or in a cliche and boring way (Dead Island or CoD Zombie modes).
Re: WipEout 2048 Almost Had a Zombie Mode, Demo Drops This Month
At first I was like "damn it, ANOTHER zombie mode in a game?". But after reading it, it seems rather original and sounds quite fun, in a thriller-esque sort of way.
Even though I probably wouldn't get WipEout (never was a big fan), I enjoy playing occasionally and do see the appeal. Great franchise that never really gets noticed by anyone but its fans, sadly.
Re: Happy New Year from VitaGamr!
Woot! Happy New Year all!
One step closer to a Vita. Excellent
Re: Merry Christmas from VitaGamr!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good (gaming) night
Re: Sony Reveals American Prices For Memory Cards and More
I knew it, GameStop calling things before they know anything (as per usual, unfortunately).
But really, these are still too damn high for memory cards. But at least it's cheaper than we initially expected, so that's a plus.
Re: PlayStation Vita Launch Details for North America
Yep, PSN means download only. Plus, I heard that the prices will have a range, with some as low as $10, which sounds like a great step for games in general.
About the lineup, objectively this is the kind of launch EVERY company releasing a new console should model. Putting out this many games is exactly what they should all aim for. The quality and genre range in this list is maddening, in the best way possible
Re: PlayStation Vita's First Japanese Sales Figures Are Good
@stromboli, it's pretty unfair to compare a 5 day old console to one that's had 11 months to hit its stride. You say you wouldn't write it off...but then you spend the rest of your comment explaining why you write it off...
In addition, we still haven't hit that point where a person can compare a smartphone/tablet to a 3DS or Vita. The overlap between consumers of both isn't too heavy, and it's not enough to really warrant saying that Sony's situation is bleak. They just launched a new console and it had a mediocre launch. Let's not read into things too much now, it hasn't even been a week.
Also, if you want to bring up the iteration argument, then the 3DS itself shows that people don't think about that. Case in point, the 3DS sells like hot cakes at the moment, but just about everyone knows that the next iteration will come sooner rather than later and will be a fundamental redesign to include a 2nd stick. So even when an upcoming reiteration is effectively guaranteed, the 3DS still sells. So to say that the marginally different iterations of the Vita in the future is staving off consumers now makes no sense.
Finally, Sony doesn't attack Nintendo. SCEA's arrogant president Jack Tretton does. Besides, you act like Sony is the only company that "copies" ideas from the competition. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have all been copied and have all copied (the latter one hasn't been copied much as its rather new though). Sony did copy motion controls, but Nintendo is copying dual analog sticks for the Wii U and MS copied that for their Xbox and 360, something Sony pioneered over a decade ago. Also, when Sony jumped to optical discs, who scoffed at them? Nintendo, stating it's an impractical media to use. And what's Nintendo using for the Wii and Wii U. Optical discs. Not saying anyone in this is right or wrong, just saying that is doesn't just go one way, like you insinuate.
The Vita will be successful simply because it has much more going for it than against it, and that effectively determines how successful it will be in the long run. So its had an average launch, so what? The 3DS had horrid launch, and look where it is now. In time, the sales and support for the Vita will grow and show your points to be invalid.
Oh, and the 3DS does not have comparable graphics to the Vita. At all. Not with 3D or without. Not even close. Don't kid yourself.
Re: Vita Software Attach Rate Below 1:1 at Japanese Launch
To be fair, Sony did release a statement saying that while the Vita basically met their expectations at launch, the downloaded games from PSN exceeded their expectations. So this could actually indicate an attach rate of greater than 1:1 if you include DD in that measurement.
Re: PlayStation Vita's First Japanese Sales Figures Are Good
@stomboli, I really, really, want to see that data you're looking at that says "since the sales weren't impressive, they must be a downright failure." I mean, you must have access to some sort of super-secretive data that no one else has, or else you wouldn't be making such an illogical, irrational, and frankly pure fanboy-ish comment.
Honestly, if you thought the Vita was dead on arrival, I shudder to wonder what you thought the 3DS was at its launch (with no games and its devious price).
Just in case your Nintendo-fanboyism prevents you from understanding sarcasm, I will make things plain for you. The Vita's launch was extremely mediocre. Not good, not bad. Definitely not "dead on arrival". 325,000 sold with 20+ launch titles is not DOA. An average tie ratio of 1:1 is not DOA. 100+ games coming in the first two quarters of 2012 is not DOA. Either make cogent, coherent arguments that people can actually comment about, or just keep your raving comments to yourself.
Re: PlayStation Vita's First Japanese Sales Figures Are Good
I don't want the be all pessimistic and all, but these sales are far from impressive. If I were to rate Vita's launch (based purely on sales, not system or game quality), I'd give it a 6.5-7.
In it's favor, I did have a healthy amount of competition. Consumers only have a fixed amount of yen, so they had to decide between a newly-launched Vita, or the already established 3DS, PS3, or Wii. Even getting some games for the other systems could rule out a Vita for a consumer. So that obviously contributed to lower than expected sales. Also, there were some reports of malfunctioning Vitas (they would freeze or the touch screen would stop working). Although I'm 100% this will be fixed very, very soon, the (very) vocal minority of people were there to talk about it. Those who had issues were (surprise, surprise) vocal about it online, which could've scared some interest away.
Now the bad side; the Vita launched with a great library, in the middle of the holiday season, up against 2 five year old consoles and a handheld that's just now hitting its stride. Considering the home field advantage Sony holds and the amount of hype in Japan leading up to its launch (the 700k in shipments shows that hype), the fact that it didn't sell more than it did is slightly troubling. Also, not noted in the article here, the PSP sold more than half of that in half the time, which also doesn't bode well for the Vita, sales-wise.
Sorry about being the party-pooper, but I just wanted to bring some more context to the issue. I've checked out a plethora of unboxing and tests of Vitas online and I'm very, very stoked to get one. I absolutely cannot wait. Sales mean nothing to me outside of garnering 3rd party support, so I really don't care about it too much. I just want me my Vita
Re: Multiple PSN Accounts Means Multiple Vita Memory Cards
This is actually a very smart way to prevent game sharing, which limits the money devs get for their hard work. By having this monetary barrier between you and your friends' purchased games, it decreases the odds of someone passing his/her account to 5 people to share games. To get access to one friend's games, you would have to buy a whole new memory card, and with the prices they're at now, I don't see many people getting extra cards for extra accounts.
But if you really, really need to have more than one account (one JPN, one EU, and one US account, for example) it's all still possible, albeit more expensive than usual. Considering the tools, it's a rather elegant solution. But then, I don't use more than one PSN account so I don't really subjectively see the disadvantages.
Re: First Impressions: ModNation Racers: Road Trip
I thought the whole idea of shifting to flash-based cartridges instead of discs was to reduce loading times (among other reasons)? But even with bad load times, it can still be a great game. Case in point, Mass Effect 2 (good lord, the load times are brutal).
The game isn't due for another 8-10 weeks, so I hope the load times and frame rate issues are things UFG left to the end to remedy. Once those are gone, MNR:RT moves from a solid addition to the Vita library to being a near-guaranteed first game purchase for Vita owner come late February.
Re: You Can't Game and Browse At the Same Time on Vita
I am paying attention. They never said it would come. They just said the obvious, that the situation now is the situation now.
Now, if you read between the lines, Sony is saying, "We couldn't be bothered to include this now. And since it won't be a huge issue later on, it won't come for a long time." So yes, this is bad news. And yes, all we see is bad news recently.
Re: You Can't Game and Browse At the Same Time on Vita
Why is it that Sony saved all the bad news till now? Not cool. All I keep seeing are headlines like "Vita can't do this" or "Vita doesn't allow that".
Re: Wow, Ridge Racer Will Get A Lot of DLC
Wait, wait, wait, wait. How the hell did this horrid idea even leave the brainstorming room?
Wow Namco Bandai. I thought choosing Tales of Innocence (of all the Tales games, Innocence?!) to remake on Vita was the worst decision you could've made. Clearly, you've set out to prove me wrong.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is an exact representation of all things evil about DLC. Don't get me wrong, DLC a neutral tool, and when done properly can be amazing. It can bring you back to the game in ways nothing else can. However — and this is a big however — tools are soooooo easy to abuse. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that NB wants (and expects) us to pay for content that should already be in the game.
Between this debacle and NB's apparent inability to localize the best of the amazing Tales series, I sometimes seriously wonder if NB is really thinking things through when they make ANY decision.
...or NB could just be trolling the world on an internationally corporate scale. Either or could make sense.
Re: Vita Won't Play PSOne Games Right Away
I think it's the same logic they had with removing backwards compatibility from the PS3. They want you playing Vita games, not PS1 games.
Now, of course, this can be easily remedied with a software update, and likely will in time. Just for now, Sony wants us buying up those Vita games. And with the ones up for grabs, I'm not really complaining.
P.S. Yes, I'm aware the biggest reason Sony cut off backwards compatibility on the PS3 was the cost associated with including it, but another main influence was the weak software sales at the time. People were buying the PS3 and playing PS2 games on it. They just want to avoid that situation with the Vita.
Re: Take a Closer Look at Ubisoft's PlayStation Vita Line-Up
Rayman and Assassin's Creed. That's all I want from Ubisoft.
Re: Sony Teams with Vodafone for Europe's Vita 3G
@paranoimia, does this mean that in the US, we won't need to use an AT&T sim card as well? Or is this freedom reserved for European buyers only?
The last thing I wanna do is get stuck in AT&T's network >.<
Re: Fact Sheet Confirms Online and More for FIFA 12
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes YES
I'm going to have to get this on launch day, along with Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Oh happy day, this FIFA is gonna be awesome
Now, if I can take my FIFA 12 profile from my PS3 and put it on the Vita (and vice-versa), then I will be the happiest of campers
Re: FIFA Scores a Stunner with First Vita Shots
That looks absolutely beautiful
Although, I'm gonna wait to see actual gameplay before I set my opinion on the graphics in stone. However, this is a great step in the right direction.
Glad to see such graphical fidelity coming right out of the box (or soon after launch, at least)
Re: Europe's Vita Box and Launch Apps Look Like This
@james, yeah the comparison isn't too fair, but then I was just illustrating a concept or analogy, not saying that it's the same degree of disappointment. But the fact that they aren't talking about it has me on edge. Not because I think it's gonna be disastrous, but the lack of details has me on edge, for sure.
They definitely won't wait until the exact launch day, but it could be detailed very close to launch. Looking at how they're shaping up their news releases, it seems like they want to focus on the Vita itself and it's games. And then, towards the lead up to release, a small side-note detailing the 3G plan details would be released. Makes sense, because the reason the PSP didn't do as well as it could have is because of a lack of wide-ranging, quality games (relative to the DS), so obviously Sony will want to hammer out the point that the Vita's games are of AAA calibre.
Re: Europe's Vita Box and Launch Apps Look Like This
The fact that Sony isn't being very forthcoming with how AT&T will price the 3G service has me worried. It's kinda like how some developers know that their game is crap and force review sites/mags to withhold the review until on or after the release date. Of course, I'm sure the Vita won't be crap, but this is a classic marketing technique to garner sales before any bad news sinks in.
The 3G is a sort of weird combination in a dedicated game handheld, and instead of showing us the amazing ways it can be integrated, and giving full disclosure on how they will price it, Sony is immensely hush-hush about it. It probably won't be as bad as I expect, but it does worry me. I'd rather hear about all the 3G details than the apps that it comes with.
Although knowing what's there out of the box is good to know. And the box looks pretty nice. But what's with Sony's new infatuation with blue?
Re: Talking Point: Why Push PlayStation Vita to 2012?
@neetyneety, I doubt Sony is so stupid as to make us pay $60 for the PS3 version and then $40 for the Vita. I think their PSN Pass system was actually their way of testing the concept of one-time use codes in a game. And it seems to work perfectly fine for them. So I think they'll include a Vita code in the PS3 copy, and vice-versa, that allows you to get the game from PSN.
As for the Wii U being a "revolutionary" experience, it's really not. It's just taking remote play and applying it in a universal sense, to all its games. surprisingly, after seeing what complacency did to the 3DS, Nintendo is shockingly still insanely complacent. I mean, they made this thing look JUST like a Wii, and it's called a Wii U. How will they convince their target audience, those not in the know of games, that it's not just a new version of the Wii? Sony knows how to differentiate a product, even if the name is similar. Look at the designs for the PS1, PS2, and PS3. They're radically different. It's easy to see that these are different consoles. The Wii U looks like someone took sandpaper to a Wii, rounded its edges, and laid it on its side. And, all your Wii stuff works on it. No way any random parent who knows nothing about games will be able to say "Oh, that's clearly a whole new console and not just a remodeling". It also suffers from getting games about a year after the PS3 and 360 do (i.e. Arkham City), and not having much exclusive 3rd party content, if any, lined up.
The 3DS and Wii U are double trip-ups for a company that is not used to making mistakes. Case in point, it's having a hard time fixing its 3DS problem (one of which is also convincing consumers that it's not just a newer model of the something old). Like the article says, the Vita-PS3 combo does everything the Wii does, plus a few extras, like the Vita having its own games, having transfarring capabilities for non-streaming gameplay, and the Vita being a social network hub on the go (provided you have a 3G Vita).
Personally, I feel that if Sony can aggressively market the Vita-PS3 combo before Nintendo starts its Wii U marketing campaign, it could take away the Wii U's one crowning achievement and make the Wii U dead on arrival.
Re: Disgaea 3 Returns to PlayStation Vita
I loved Afternoon of Darkness on the PSP, so I can't wait for this one. Plus, with all the DLC on the card (valued at over $50.00 on the PS Store) this looks like it could be in the top 3 games I pick up first
Re: Final Fantasy X HD, FFXIII-2 Confirmed for PS Vita
@PatrickElliot, for me, the only flaws I had with FF: CC was the jaggies on all the models and the lack of decent camera control. Other than that, I LOVED Crisis Core. So seeing a sequel on the Vita would be very, very nice. In fact, seeing a new FF on Vita would be absolutely fantastic.
Now, is it likely? Knowing SE, hell no As anyone who's played Final Fantasy, pre-XII, would know that SE never follows logic and never gives the fans what they want. Fans want VI and VII more than X, yet we got X and XIII-2. So we won't see a new FF on Vita for a good long while, IMO.
In my heart of hearts, I want SE to come out and say, "Surprise! We've been trolling you all! Final Fantasy Type-0 is actually a Vita launch title! Enjoy!" But it'll never happen, due to the aforementioned reasons.
SE and logic don't play well together
Re: Resistance: Burning Skies Confirmed for Vita
I dunno about this one. On one hand, I'm excited about a Vita Resistance. However, the developer and some gameplay has me worried.
For one, Nihilistic isn't the most accomplished of developers. In fact, they haven't made a single game that scored higher than 75 on MetaCritic. That worries me. Plus, like @hamispink said, the animations and the graphics look a bit underwhelming for my tastes.
However, Insomiac is working pretty closely with Nihilistic (that's a really annoying word to type!), even giving them access to the entire Resistance mythology so they can craft a good canon story.
However, I must say I would feel a hell of a lot more comfortable if Sony Bend was doing this one again. But then, they're doing Uncharted: GA and (rumored) a Syphon Filter game for the Vita, so I can't complain
Re: Vita to Reach Europe in February or March
I never understood why Europe gets shafted with release dates all the time. I mean, Playstation does better in Europe than in the US, so shouldn't their release dates show that they acknowledge that more PS supporters are in Europe?
Re: Vita Launch Will Be "A Car Wreck" says UFC Trainer Dev
The games this developer makes are really laughable. Scooby-Doo, Spongebob, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles. I think they're just upset that Sony doesn't want that garbage at launch for the Vita
If any launch was a car wreck, it was the 3DS's. They shipped buttloads of units and a fraction of them sold. Now, with the price drop, they're moving more, but it required a 32% drop in price to do that. So personally, I feel the 3DS was more like a car wreck than the Vita's future launch will be. Now, it definitely wasn't a car wreck. The 3DS is moderately successful. But it was closer to that stupid term than the Vita will ever be.
And yes, @gamrgod5, we shouldn't compare the Vita and 3DS. They're on different levels. One is comparable to PS3 and Xbox 360 in terms of capabilities, and the other struggles to best the PSP. In terms of games, one have a slew of amazing launch titles and remakes ready to clean out our wallets, while the other was launched so early that the only games worth playing (both of which are over a decade old) weren't out for a couple more months. So yeah, incomparable indeed.
Now, to further show how small-minded and biased this developer is, we need to see what exactly would cause a "car wreck" of a launch. In order for the Vita to have a horrid launch like this (unaccomplished) developer hints at, it needs to have: a) little to no 3rd party support, b) limited capabilities, thus making games more limited, c) an expensive and hard to use dev kit that puts developers off greatly, thus cutting down on quality games, d) almost no 1st party backing at the time of system launch, and e) a mindset that one can live on brand alone and not fix the flaws of the past.
Oh wait, those are all things Nintendo did with the 3DS. It has no 3rd party support. It's the bottleneck for it's games. Developers continuously bemoan the expensive and obtuse dev kit for the 3DS. It had no 1st party support at launch. And finally, the idea that adding 3D is fine, but to only add 3D? That's not innovation, Nintendo just got complacent. And yet, the 3DS launch wasn't a car wreck. So how can the Vita, which looks to improve in every single one of those categories, be a car wreck of a launch?
Like I said, just because your development teams literally can't do anything but garbage licensed movie games, doesn't mean that the system you fail at developing for will have a bad launch. I'm pretty sure they do this crap all the time, seeing how nonchalantly they insult the Vita. If they spent that time improving their development processes and making actually decent games, then maybe everyone and their mother wouldn't disregard what Heavy Iron Studios says and does.
Re: Talking Point: Does PlayStation Vita Have Nintendo Worried?
@gamrgod5, okay I half agree with you
Yes, the 3DS is very likely to outsell the Vita due to name and price alone. However, I do feel that this is a completely different ball game, very unlike the DS vs. PSP battle of old.
I also agree that it is all about game quality and not quantity. The DS showed us that quite handily. However, the 3DS isn't doing that so much. Almost nonexistent 3rd party support means that the only good games you'll find on it are Mario, Zelda, Metroid (once they get around to it), and maaaybe Kirby (it's been pretty lately though). Four quality games is okay, but it's four quality games that are just rehashes or remakes. Nothing reaaaally new. So in terms of game quality, the 3DS dropped the ball. And is picking it up real slow, unfortunately for 3DS owners. I mean, the only games really worth critical acclaim on a 3DS are over a decade old, have been redone before, and bring nothing new.
The Vita has taken what the 3DS did at launch and flipped it, becoming almost obsessive with providing a kick launch in 2011/2012. Yes, there are a great deal of quality remakes on the Vita, but the reason it differs is because it offers a good mix of rehashes and new titles. Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, Ruin, and Escape Plan all look amazing and are all new games. Final Fantasy X, Zone of the Enders, and MGS Collection also look great.
So Vita has struck a good match and will definitely change the game for the better. So should Nintendo be worried? That's the wrong question. We know they're worried. Their "revolutionary" new system kinda sorta flopped on launch and their only competitor in the market is pulling out all the stops to capitalize on Nintendo's failures. The real question is, what can Nintendo do in light of the Vita hitting all the right notes? The answer, unfortunately for Nintendo, is little to nothing .They've played their hand. Now all they can do is sit and hope.
Re: Talking Point: Could Vita's Delay Have Beneficial Results?
I feel that Sony knows what they're doing with this delay. By making the release in 2012 instead of in 2 months, they give themselves time to polish and market the Vita. Also, it builds a bigger and better set of launch titles for the Vita, which is always good.
I think Sony just looked at Nintendo, saw that they clearly rushed their launch (for no good reason, but rushed nonetheless), and just decided that they could do better, in terms of introducing a new product to the market.
Also, I don't think that not launching in the holiday season is as devastating as it sounds. The Vita's target audience is people with disposable income of their own who want a console-like experience on the go and are usually (to some degree) in the know of what they want. Nintendo is the opposite; they thrive on the 7-year-old who convinces their dad to buy them Galaxy 2 (an amazing game, I might add), or on the mom who doesn't know what to pick up and just grabs the cheapest/most colorful item in GameStop (chances are, it's a Nintendo game/console). So if this was reversed, Nintendo would be in deeeeep trouble not launching in time for Christmas. But Sony's demographic isn't so seasonal, and as such I think the net benefits outweigh the net losses.
Re: First Impressions: Sound Shapes
Right now, I'm in a place where I'm not really hyped for this game, but I'm aware that it can be quite good and inventive. Though it won't be a launch purchase for me (that's reserved for Uncharted, LBP, ModNation, or Ruin), it could definitely become the game I get a few months after, depending on the feedback it gets from users and review sites.
Re: PlayStation Vita Hardware is Region-Free
Yeah, just like the PSP, you can set the language to whatever you want it to be. The only difference is that on Japanese hardware (PSP, PS3, and most likely Vita), O is confirm and X is cancel. Everyone else flips that.
Re: Sony Exhibits PS Vita Game Cartridge and Case
@rh0gii, I know that the Vita won't support the Duo, you'll need to buy the new, specially made Vita memory sticks. The 4GB stick will run you about $30-ish while the 32 GB will be about $120-ish, I think (from converting the Japanese pricing to US dollars, so they could change).
But once you get the cards, you shouldn't have an issue with your games and movies. I'm sure that the Vita can connect to a computer, and you can just copy your movies there. Plus, the games should still be on your PSN account, so no worries.
Re: Sony Exhibits PS Vita Game Cartridge and Case
I don't like the blue, but then again, when the PS3 brought out their (slight) redesign for their cases, I didn't like those. Now I love the PS3 cases, so I'll give these time.
As for physical vs digital, normally I would get digital because I've had instances where the physical game got damaged or lost (I lost like 3 PSP games when I moved to the states). However, the (stupidly) high cost of Sony's new proprietary memory sticks and the lack of decent internal memory (if there is any at all, I can't remember) has me leaning more towards physical copies for my games, to save that expensive memory space for my videos, music, pics, and demos.
Re: External Battery Extends Vita's 3-5 Hour Life
I'm just glad they made this. Now all I can do is pray, pray, and pray some more that Sony doesn't decide to price it stupidly at $60 or something.
Unfortunately, I see that as likely
Re: External Battery Extends Vita's 3-5 Hour Life
@turtlelink, I'm guessing you plug it in via a mini-USB cable to charge it. Kinda sticks out and ruins the sleek-ness of it all, but (IMO) it's worth it for 15 hours of Vita goodness
Re: External Battery Extends Vita's 3-5 Hour Life
That is perfect. Well perfect so far as we don't know how much it is. But 9-15 hours? That is far more than I expected from a battery peripheral and I am satisfied with that.
What I won't be satisfied with, however, is the massive price that will (be almost guaranteed to) come with it
Re: Super Monkey Ball Rolls On To PS Vita
@michiganurse, the Reality Fighters game is easily the most underwhelming game announced.
The breadth and depth of this potential library is just stunning, IMO. Hopefully it comes stateside in like January or something
Re: PS Vita Gets Tales of Innocence R
Honestly, I would've had a new mothership Tales games exclusive to Vita. Something with a battle system resembling Graces and an art style/presentation of Vesperia or Xillia would be JRPG heaven for me
Now, not to detract from this at all. This looks fabulous as well, I missed out on Innocence earlier and the R at the end seems to take after Graces F with additional content. If this comes to the US, it'll only reaffirm my decision to get a Vita on day one
Re: Final Fantasy X HD, FFXIII-2 Confirmed for PS Vita
Honestly, @kdognumba1, I think that the PS4 will be announced at the earliest in a year or two. Sony has a ten-year plan for its consoles and PS3 is in its 5th or 6th year now. They'll probably overlap the last 2 years of the PS3 with the first 2 years of the PS4, so that's about another two or three years at least.
Not to mention that the best games on PS3, hardware/software potential-wise, will come out in the coming two years as well. I just got a PS3 for those reasons, and I'll be getting a Vita on day one. The remote play is just amazing, IMO
Re: New Screenshots of Ragnarok Odyssey for PS Vita
I just hope it has a good and (very) long story. Nothing I hate more than an RPG with great controls and visuals and a crap, quick-and-dirty story
Re: Super Monkey Ball Rolls On To PS Vita
This wouldn't be an immediate buy for me, but I enjoy SMB on a pick-up-and-play basis and would get it when the price (substantially) drops