PSVita megathread

DarkDusk

Just a few links worth visiting:
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/12/28/a-bunch-of-facts-you-may-not-know-about-the-vita.aspx

http://pspslimhacks.com/ps-vita-forced-firmware-updates-and-spying/

http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/12/29/ps-vita-reviews-cite-battery-life-as-problem/

cloud493

God damn. The vita is out the 23rd, which is two days before my birthday, so it'd be a perfect birthday present. Now with all these reports saying its flawed, and with a price drop maybe imminent, two minds or what

RangeR

cloud493 wrote: »

God damn. The vita is out the 23rd, which is two days before my birthday, so it'd be a perfect birthday present. Now with all these reports saying its flawed, and with a price drop maybe imminent, two minds or what

Just buy it. You could be waiting forever for that "just around the corner" price drop.

cloud493

Does anyone know of anything?anywhere cheaper than the amazon £297 sterling for Vita wifi only + uncharted + 8gb stick?

LauraW7746

My vita is en route from hong kong as we speak can't wait to get it!!

padair

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I have read since that the 320.000 is the figure for the first 2 days.
Some confusion.
The 72k is a bit dodgy though.

They seem to be pulling a certain stunt, the same one I got caught with on the PSP where the mem card was separate, if memory serves.
Except here, it's not only a proprietary mem card, it's a very expensive mem card at that, €20 for the 4gb, €35 for the 8gb and €50 for the 16gb cards.
And that before you buy any software.

Anyone else think that the device should have come with a built-in flash drive?

The old PSP sold 100k vs PSV 72K . Not looking good. Still gonna be a day 1 buyer. If the price is dropped, the perope who bough early are normally better off when they get their free games.

DarkDusk

padair wrote: »

The old PSP sold 100k vs PSV 72K . Not looking good. Still gonna be a day 1 buyer. If the price is dropped, the perope who bough early are normally better off when they get their free games.

What free games?

pdbhp

padair wrote: »

The old PSP sold 100k vs PSV 72K . Not looking good. Still gonna be a day 1 buyer. If the price is dropped, the perope who bough early are normally better off when they get their free games.

DarkDusk wrote: »

What free games?

Exactly what I was thinking, the only time I've ever seen that happening in 30 years was with the 3DS and that was an anomaly.
We all know Sony are much meaner than most companies aswell.
that said they usually don't drop their prices either and at €250 for a piece of flash tech like the Vita I personally don't see it dropping in price for a good while.

SantryRed

3 hours battery life? That's shocking for a prodect that's suppose to be portable.

pdbhp

Here's a scathing report on the Vita from Forbes supposedly.

Source

It's old news now that PlayStation Vita isn't selling very well in its native Japan. As we already reported, Vita is off to a rocky start, only selling 72,479 in its first full week on the market (from December 19th through December 25th) after pushing about 325,000 in its first 48 hours (on December 17th and 18th).

This precipitous decline hasn't gone unnoticed in circles outside of the gaming realm. In fact, Forbes tech contributor Tero Kuittinen has written a scathing article titled "Sony in Big Trouble with PS Vita," outlining the problems the company is currently facing with Vita.

Kuittinen notes that Vita's "second week brought devastation," especially when compared to Nintendo 3DS' second week on the market. Nintendo 3DS was widely believed to have had a terrible start, only more recently pushing bigger numbers now that games players want have finally starting arriving. Yet, 3DS sold 370,000 units in Japan in its first week, and 210,000 units in its second. In other words, it beat PlayStation Vita by 45,000 units in its first week, and a massive 137,500 units in its second week.

"That drop off led to steep further sales erosion," the Forbes article notes, "which forced Nintendo to implement an unusually early and steep price cut." This, of course, begs the question if Sony will do the same. Tero Kuittinen thinks that it will. "Sony will likely be forced to cut the price of the PS Vita from 24,000 Yen (~$311) to well below 20,000 Yen (~$259) very soon."

But the problems don't stop there. Kuittinen continues, "The upcoming US launch could be a true debacle for several reasons. Sony has decided to price Vita at $250, higher than the Amazon Kindle Fire. The hottest games like the latest Uncharted are priced at $50, while many other major titles are $40. The pricing seems delusional in light of the Japanese response to the PS Vita."

However, Kuittinen saves perhaps his harshest words for later in his article. "The 3DS should have been a surefire blockbuster in its domestic market -- the summer softness in Japan may have been an early warning sign of the coming global portable market malaise. The disastrous second week of the PS Vita is the second sign." The reason? The Forbes author argues that the rise of the smart phone and tablet markets are much to blame.

But he also argues that Sony should be concerned, as it seems to be on recent word that Sony had no comment when asked about Vita's sluggish sales. "…the portable console market may now have entered an age of permanent, slowly accelerating decline," Kuittinen concludes. "The true test of the industry is the United States, where consumers are embracing games designed for smartphones and tablets. The possible shrinking of the portable game consumer base would hit the runner-up Sony before Nintendo really gets mauled. The rot sets in first at the periphery."

WolfForager

pdbhp wrote: »

Here's a scathing report on the Vita from Forbes supposedly.

Source

It's written by one of their mobile phone analysts, of course he's going to go to town on it. Angry birds foreva yo.

JBnaglfar

SantryRed wrote: »

3 hours battery life? That's shocking for a prodect that's suppose to be portable.

While I completely agree that it is too low, apparently the 3DS is even worse. In a test the vita had about an hour more battery life than its nintendo counterpart. Despite the vita looking great, this is just one of the reasons why I'm on the fence about buying one.

GTR63

Losing Monster Hunter to the 3DS was a big blow that game is a system seller in Japan.

Taltos

Am also on the fence.
3 hour battery life - way too low for me, tend towards sleepless nights so having to get an extension cable so I can play in bed is just not on.

In terms of the pricing as above viz the US market - have to agree it is a little high. 250 maybe if 32Gig memory was included, but portable games for 50USD is just too high. We have all seen over the last while - if you price a item appropriately it will fly off the shelves - look as the rush on the HP Touchpads... But after being a day 1 adopter for the PSP and the PS3 - I think after my experience with the PSP I am going to sit this out for quite a while - at least until gen 2 or until pricing reduces or better yet until we see a lot more games..

Edit: However if I could stream gameplay to it then I might reconsider - I know I know - the Wii-U - but sharing my gaming TV with my OH watching TV makes for short frustrating excursions into Skyrim

Varik

Taltos wrote: »

Edit: However if I could stream gameplay to it then I might reconsider - I know I know - the Wii-U - but sharing my gaming TV with my OH watching TV makes for short frustrating excursions into Skyrim

You can.

Nerdkiller1991

Taltos wrote: »

Am also on the fence.
3 hour battery life - way too low for me, tend towards sleepless nights so having to get an extension cable so I can play in bed is just not on.

In terms of the pricing as above viz the US market - have to agree it is a little high. 250 maybe if 32Gig memory was included, but portable games for 50USD is just too high. We have all seen over the last while - if you price a item appropriately it will fly off the shelves - look as the rush on the HP Touchpads... But after being a day 1 adopter for the PSP and the PS3 - I think after my experience with the PSP I am going to sit this out for quite a while - at least until gen 2 or until pricing reduces or better yet until we see a lot more games..

Edit: However if I could stream gameplay to it then I might reconsider - I know I know - the Wii-U - but sharing my gaming TV with my OH watching TV makes for short frustrating excursions into Skyrim

JBnaglfar wrote: »

While I completely agree that it is too low, apparently the 3DS is even worse. In a test the vita had about an hour more battery life than its nintendo counterpart. Despite the vita looking great, this is just one of the reasons why I'm on the fence about buying one.

To my knowledge, the battery in the Vita is rather easy to replace. Plus, the battery is merely a smartphone battery, so you should have no problem in finding one that can hold its charge better.

Taltos

Ah guys - you are making the hating all that much harder.

In terms of using it to view games you are playing on the PS3 - definitely need to look into that a bit more - as that would definitely make it well worth getting. - Providing you can use the PS3 controller....

padair

DarkDusk wrote: »

What free games?

Just assuming there will be free games if there is a pricedrop in the first month

namloc1980

Taltos wrote: »

Ah guys - you are making the hating all that much harder.

In terms of using it to view games you are playing on the PS3 - definitely need to look into that a bit more - as that would definitely make it well worth getting. - Providing you can use the PS3 controller....

The lag in remote play will make playing PS3 games via the Vita frustrating.

Was a definite to buy day 1 but now am reconsidering. The price of the memory cards alone is a joke. Until this drops, or perhaps cheap 3rd party memory cards become available, then I'll be skipping I think. €300+ to get the system, memory and a game is madness for a portable console. I could get a load of new PS3 games for that price.

F1ngers

Taltos wrote: »

Ah guys - you are making the hating all that much harder.

In terms of using it to view games you are playing on the PS3 - definitely need to look into that a bit more - as that would definitely make it well worth getting. - Providing you can use the PS3 controller....

Only view?
The MGS HD collection will allow you to take your save file from the PS3, continue your playthrough on the way to work/school on the Vita, you can then put your save back onto the PS3 and continue on from where you last saved on the Vita.

Varik

F1ngers wrote: »

Only view?
The MGS HD collection will allow you to take your save file from the PS3, continue your playthrough on the way to work/school on the Vita, you can then put your save back onto the PS3 and continue on from where you last saved on the Vita.

Having the option to buy a game twice (Ps3 and Vita) is hardly a great thing.
There's some hope with buying PSN releases but any physical games will not be handled as easily.

DarkDusk

pdbhp wrote: »

that said they usually don't drop their prices either and at €250 for a piece of flash tech like the Vita I personally don't see it dropping in price for a good while.

I wouldn't say Sony don't have a history of dropping prices. The PS3 dropped by $100 and the original PSP also dropped by $50 within the first 6 months and they were both selling pretty good. If it doesn't sell well for the first 1-2 months I'd say a €50 price drop to €200 is certain.

Myrddin

Also, just because Nintendo saw the light & dropped the price, it doesn't mean Sony will. Sony are big & bold enough to explore other avenues and incentives to get people to buy the Vita.

Plus lowering a price so soon would be admitting there's a problem, holding hands up has never been a Sony trait. I'd expect them to battle it out a bit more before conceding a price drop

JBnaglfar

Vita sales have fallen again. In the week ending Jan 1st, just over 42,000 units were sold. linky That seems shockingly low to me, would love to be a fly on the wall in Sony offices as this must be worrying.

Nerdkiller1991

And there's people around the internet saying that the Vita is dead and buried, because of the sales...but don't all systems drop off a few weeks after release? All it needs are some good post release games and it'll be back on top.

JBnaglfar

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

And there's people around the internet saying that the Vita is dead and buried, because of the sales...but don't all systems drop off a few weeks after release? All it needs are some good post release games and it'll be back on top.

Of course it's not dead, it has just been released. I don't think anyone would doubt that sales will drop after the first week, most early adopters would likely want to get their hands on it as soon as possible. However, the current numbers seem incredibly low to me, albeit I have nothing to really compare it against. I'm trying to find numbers for other consoles/handhelds to compare it to other sales figures after launch. Anyone know of such a source?

Varik

The 3DS was

1st week, 374K
2nd week, 209K
3rd week, 96K
4th week, 66K

It was release in Europe and US after that.

All from the weekly vgchartz numbers.

Nothing changes much after launch, there's no new reason to buy a vita/3DS and most of the sales afterwards are from people who were on the fence or could not due to finds/supply.

cloud493

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

And there's people around the internet saying that the Vita is dead and buried, because of the sales...but don't all systems drop off a few weeks after release? All it needs are some good post release games and it'll be back on top.

They said about the 3DS, and the PS3, and everything. Its been about for what, six weeks? If that. Once it gets the quality games rolling, the sales will rocket up.

namloc1980

cloud493 wrote: »

They said about the 3DS, and the PS3, and everything. Its been about for what, six weeks? If that. Once it gets the quality games rolling, the sales will rocket up.

I think the market has moved away from hardcore handheld gaming devices like the Vita. Many casual gamers are happy with the games available on their smartphones and are not likely to want to fork out €300+ for a Vita. In addition even top end smartphones can be bought today for next to nothing on a contract. The Vita is a cool piece of kit but I don't think it will have broad appeal outside the core gamers. Now this is not to say it won't be a success because it could well be, but it will definitely need a price cut and some decent games to take off. The Japanese launch had no decent games that appeal to the Japanese market. Losing Monster Hunter to the 3DS was a killer for Sony, that game is system seller in Japan.

cloud493

But uncharted will be a system seller in the west So I don't think people should be saying Sony's out yet.