Petrae said:
First, no new software tends to hurt consumer interest. There was next to nothing (for ALL platforms, of course), so consumers aren't driven to retail to spend money if there's nothing new to see. Secondly, I think that Vita *may* be a wild card. With the release so close, it's possible that some consumers are still on the fence about whether to go 3DS or Vita. Next, weather patterns in the USA were generally mild for January, leading to more outside activity and less sedentary activity. Lastly, I think that consumers pulled back on spending overall as they paid down holiday debt and awaited potential disposable income via tax refunds for Feb/Mar. That's my $.02, anyway. |
I sure hope you are right and the Vita had something to do with it, that beauty deserves commercial success, because if that happens that think will have one of the best library of games ever. Potential is huge, but the Playstation brand has lost so much power in US that I think the Vita has a HUGE mountain to climb.
As for the other points, they make sense, we just need Feb numbers to see if this is a trend, or just a one year kind of thing (weaker Jan)