Vita Problems: Mistakes of the Past
First off this is not a doom thread, but simply pointing out why the Playstation Vita will struggle in the mobile world and also why it will not fail either.
People Look at the PSP and you will hear many people with mixed reactions. Some saying it was a success and others saying it was a fail. In terms of hardware sales it surpassed being a success, selling over 73 million consoles worldwide and still selling today. Before the PSP there was really no successful portable console made by anybody other than Nintendo, so this was a great achievement alone for Sony, however in software sales is where the PSP lacked. The PSP was unfortunate enough to have the PSP massively hacked and created many problems on the PSP but that is not the only reason games did not sale well on the PSP. Let's go back and think of the games made on the PSP.........Not much right. I mean yes they had a few like God of War, Metal Gear Solid, Crysis Core, and let's not forget about Monster Hunters. But even when you take these games don't you kind of wish they were on the PS3 with better graphics? Wouldn't they have all been better off that way?
Now let's fast forward a bit. Now we have a brand new portable console called the Playstation Vita AKA PSP2. So now that the Vita is coming out with home console like graphics this thing should be a huge hit right? That's where you are wrong. You have some people who look at the graphics and are amazed at what they're seeing so they rush out to buy it. Then you have others who look at it and say, what is on this that makes it any different than my PS3. Some will argue that it has touchscreen front and rear, a gyro scope, and a camera. But wait isn't a gyro scope basically sixaxis? And isn't the PS eye a camera? And touchscreen vs buttons? We have all seen how that ends right?
However, let's continue with the software shall we. So it has Uncharted, Wipeout, Modnation racers, Little Big Planet, Killzone, Resistance,etc, etc! All these First first party games coming to the Vita, it will be an instant hit right?! Wrong. We are looking at the same mistakes that the PSP made. All these games are nice but when you have a home console already, why can't I just play it on there? We have all these games for the PS3 but now we can have them on a portable but with not quite as good of graphics, a smaller screen, and not as good as audio. But i know, I know, Nintendo remakes games all the time for the 3DS and DS. Just look at all the Mario and Zelda games right? Well you are right but a lot of people miss things like Mario and Zelda fits in perfectly with the mobile crowd. Or that Zelda games on the DS are usually a lot different than the console version, and really its Mario. Mario is an icon, that's all that needs to be said. Then you have franchises that are built specifically for the DS and 3DS like pokemon. This all being said Sony has a game that can rival Nintendo with Monster Hunters......Unfortunately the 3DS has that now too which means the Vita lost it's flagship with the Vita. So what games can take over now and have a real impact on the Vita?
Last but not least we look at the price. When the 3DS first came out it paid heavily for pricing the system at $250 with no big name titles. Since then it has dropped the price to $170 dollars with many big name titles and constently being the top seller of all consoles worldwide on a weekly basis. The Vita has also started it's selling point at $250 or $300 with the 3G model. Or is it. Considering the heavy pricing of the memory cards which allows you to play games you are probably looking at $280 at least. Then you have the same people I talked about earlier who says, well the technology is huge and it's worth it. Well I would have to say yes, but is it to much for a mobile device that you can find something similar on the PS3 for a cheaper price but with slightly better graphics?
Truth is, Sony has made these mistakes in the past but just like the PSP I don't believe the Vita will fail, but it will struggle unless it can bring games out that can not be found anywhere else. Meaning no more remakes, but something built from the ground up specifically for the Vita itself.
What do you all think, comment and have fun. And keep it civil.
