superchunk said:
This is why I'm pushing the idea that Vita should have just been a phone/tablet to actually match all of their benefits as well as provide the superior controls. Then even with that business model, Sony could easily afford to put out a new Vita every other or less, like phone companies, to stay ahead of the curve. |
It would be very difficult to sell a bulky phone with buttons that only has a 5-7 hour battery life, not to mention it would cost $500+ dollars and there are a lot of potential customers that would be unwilling to give up their Iphone or Android phone. Also many of those who would be willing are probably already locked into a long term contract, like most people are now days, so it would take a year or so before they even get a chance to consider buying the device.
Though it would be convenient to be able to use your Vita to make phone calls on occasions or not having to carry around two devices, having vita as a separate gaming device allows people to leave it in the car or toss it in your back pack or GF's purse and forget about it, as well as leave it at home all together. As with a phone, most people generally want to have it on them at all times, where ever they go. Because of this much smaller phones are more desirable than something the size of a Vita(And probably why Tablets don't bother getting into the phone market). It would be hard to convince someone to carry around a vita in their pocket on a regular basis.
Sony's bread and butter is selling to gamers and people willing to purchase $30 and $40 dollar gaming experiences atleast a few times a year. If they tried to reach into the Ipad/Iphone/Android market, where games generally cost a few dollars or are even free(That make money on advertisement) they would get very little residual in terms of selling PS VIta games to those people. It's a completely different gaming market. Though I think Sony can sell to those customers it would not be using the Vita as it brings no real value to the majority of those people.
If Sony wanted to sell a gaming device to the casual audience they would have to make games that are designed to play well with no sound, can be picked up and put down in a short period of time without loss of enjoyment, can be played with friends anywhere, doesn't require a big learning curve or lots of buttons to learn, doesn't have long cut scenes or engaging storylines, among other things I can't think of at the moment. In essence it would be designing a device and games that are exactly the opposite of what the Vita is.
I do believe it is possible to sell a sucessful gaming phone, but it would have to be completely different from the PS VIta experience. It would be more along the lines of marketing a phone that happens to do games, not a gaming device that does phone calls. The Xperia was a step in the right direction, but it's a hard sell. One of the biggest challanges is convincing people that they are not buying a gaming device, but still selling them on the perks of their games. As cool as it is in theory to the average person to have a gaming phone, only gaming nerds(I mean that as a badge of honor) or children would want to purchase a phone that is a gaming device because of social reasons. A big portion of Apple's sales alone are because of this social positioning in people's minds. People want to be in the Apple club, it's trendy. Pulling out a gaming phone in many situations such as a first date or a board meeting or interview could make many people feel very self conscious. The fact that the Experia looks like a regular Smart phone when closed helps, but having features that can also sell an Experia as a great phone outside of the gaming would be important. Maybe having an amazing camera, or an extremely long battery life, having NFC or whatever new technology is coming out at the time, etc., would help. I don't believe turing the Vita into a phone would solve any of these problems, and would only take away from what it was intended to be. A gaming device that can sell $30 and $40 gaming experiences to gamers.
