In Japan the portable is more important gaming device than the home console.
The 3DS over Vita is clearly a decision that gamers in Japan are making so why are they choosing the 3DS over the Vita?
Is it the size? That was a theory for a little bit but isn't the 3DS XL also selling well in Japan?
Is it the flip screen? I know I feel more comfortable sticking the 3DS in my pocket to take on the go over the PS-Vita because of this simple fact. The thumbsticks of PS-Vita also get stuck on my clothing sometimes.
Is it the appeal of StreetPass? I both like and dislike StreetPass but it is always fun to get more random connections with strangers. The Mii's have always been more appealing than spotting someone's picture based avatar and username.
Is Near using Wifi and 3G network to "connect" with other gamers missing the point of why StreetPass is so successful? The most recent update seems to have taken out the unified friend activity list while making some other things better. The PS-Vita almost had MiiVerse but I don't see anybody really participating on it within the "game" specific communities.
Is it the proprietary expensive memory card and people sick of Sony jamming such things down their through when perfectly suitable alternatives exist in the form of cheaper SDHC or SDXC cards?
Is it just too expensive? Aside from added cost of the memory card, I just don't buy this one myself because with some of the promotions/deals Sony is running at least more recently, they basically charging $200 or less for it. Do they not have similar deals in Japan?
Is it poorly marketted? I think this is one of the key problems. Games that would/should move PS-Vita units just aren't given attention by Sony marketing while they spend all their efforts advertizing games with better versions available on the home console.
Is it really just lack of appealing software? I don't buy this one... sure it doesn't have Mario and other Nintendo franchises, but otherwise it seems to have a pretty decent library. The problem seems to be Sony is spending the marketing/promotion dollars on the worst games on the system like CoD Black Ops Declassified instead of something like Persona 4 Golden.
Something else?
