Joelcool7 said:
Yes what you describe is a gamers dream but it is a publisher/manufacturer's nightmare. If publishers and manufacturers turn a smaller profit they could only make cuts. This means fewer games, lower quality games, higher retail prices among many other things. Fact is a lot of developers who make handheld software wouldn't be able to survive either they would be forced to make cheaper independent games. Big budget software would be cut by at least 25% within the first generation for such a console existing. Also say Sony did do this, they would be sacrificing profits in other products. They would have to be dang sure that those consumers would pick this up rather then a tablet or laptop or competitors game console. Say they did find huge success and totally devoured market share the best case scenario they would drive Microsoft and Nintendo to 6th generation profit margins. But rest assured by the next generation Nintendo and Microsoft would come out fighting and they would come at Sony harder then ever before. Fact is inevitably a console will exist that is both handheld and home based. No I'm not talking a handheld that can be played on a TV I am talking a console actually built for the purpose of being a home and handheld console at its core. Apple will likely produce such a console in the next 10 years. Judging by all the analysts and industry insiders who predict Apple will own the industry in the next ten years I am guessing this is likely the route they will go. After Apple enters , Microsoft and Sony will likely follow immediately afterwards if Apple actually starts stealing market share and is successful. Nintendo will hold out the longest as they have the most to lose with such a transition. In the end I don't see all three console manufacturers fully embracing this concept for another three generations. Nintendo has the most to lose, Sony has the second most and Microsoft has been considering merging their X-Box and Windows together for a while and creating a single device that does everything. But a handheld/home console isn't likely what they had in mind. |
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Vita costs $249 and its games cost $39. Your assuming the entire market purchases double of every single game both on home consoles and handheld console and that every game made on the Vita acquires all its in-game assets from PS3 game development (those are incorrect assumptions). Also, the vita, at launch, will sell at roughly a $0 loss, where as the PS3 was sold at about a $300 loss at launch, how would selling at a lower loss raise the price of the system???
PS Vita game development costs are closer to the PSP game development costs than the PS3 game development costs. Big budgets are actually a problem developers are burdened with this generation and has caused many studios to go bankrupt and then go indie or quit the industry. And, having lower budgets give room for new IPs which we need much more of.
The vita is practically made to do both home console and handheld console experiences, it only needs the software and battery life to do so.
