| the_dengle said: The more I think about it, the more I think Sony honestly doesn't care how the Vita sells this year. That when they say its sales are "acceptable," they mean it. The Vita is a long-term investment for them. How it sells right out the gate isn't important in the long run. What matters is that the console is on shelves, slowly but steadily building an install base. As production and development costs slowly drop and software sales slowly increase, the Vita will eventually become a steady stream of income for Sony -- probably not this year, maybe not even next year, but soon, and for the rest of its life. Basically the same strategy they employed with the PS3. It started slow, but it's doing just fine now. Sony isn't looking to dominate the dedicated handheld market; they really aren't competing with Nintendo... at least not yet. They just aim to make a product that will be profitable for them, especially in the PS4's early years when it will likely be a money sink. They want the Vita to counter-balance those losses. Hopefully Vita sales start to pick up next year and this strategy pays off for them. Think of it like a sports team that isn't even in the running for the playoffs this year giving a huge multi-year contract to a superstar, hoping he/she will help them be contenders next year. They don't care how the player does this year, only in the following years when it counts. |
Yeah, you can definetly say that. Their approach with the Vita is much different than their norm. The system is at cost or profitable at the start, their memory cards are proprietary and are priced higher than even the extra manufacturing cost would justify, they have a fully digital storefront, and a plethora of 1st party/proprietary accessories. They might be having a hard time with 3rd parties (but maybe not actually if you look at their line up, but still effected by low install base) but Sony has a huge stable of studios and has rightly utilzed them onto the system to create some great games and are willing to contract out to other studios to get those big franchises out there. (LittleBigPlanet PS Vita is the best LBP so far, even though they had XDev make it) The Vita just screams revenue stream and Sony can keep the thing moving along with their 1st party deliveries, so what if 3rd party support is fickle and waits a year before they make games for it. The system is not going anywhere and handheld systems have been the go to for publishers who don't want to pony up the cash for a game on a more powerful more costly system like next gen will be.
Vita holds something over 3DS that I think will make it the system to go to for developers, its graphics, engine, and control capabilities but more importantly its online functionality. Those factors put together make it a viable location for multiplayer games that have the edge far beyond the 3DS. The 3DS has sold very well and it is a neat device but I fear they didn't step far enough away from the DS and it will cause the system to go out of date in 2 years. People predict the Vita won't sell as much as the PSP, but I don't see the 3DS selling anywhere near the DS and that will push a good deal of marketshare to the Vita. One thing this generation of home consoles has had over the past is online multiplayer and if those publishers/developers are looking to a more affordable route than the WiiU/PS4/Xbox3 the Vita might start attracting them. I just don't feel the 3DS can handle that gameplay mechanic and in the end Vita will end up with the support which will change the handheld landscape. Strange starts this gen, even stranger will be the conclusion.
Oh, and yes the Vita profits could be an effective off set for the PS4, up to $100 loss I'd wager unless Sony is really going for ensured profitability and launches an at cost system, which I don't see how if they plan on bolstering the power of next gen further along than the Wii U. So anxious for the announcement.
Before the PS3 everyone was nice to me :(
