Vita’s fight for life: After almost a year, has Sony’s handheld managed to distinguish itself?

[GhaudePhaede010]

gigantor21 said:

GhaudePhaede010 said:

You guys are killing me with this talk of phones/tablets hurting the hand held market. What hurts the hand held market is thee inflated entry price on new hardware and accessories. Jeesh!

So then why did Sony feel compelled to give the Vita such phone-like control features? Why are they making such a big deal out of Playstation Mobile/Suite having Android support? Why, when the PSP sold at the same damn launch price and equally stupid memory prices, had it sold so much more at this point when it didn't come out in Europe until the fall? 

The market has changed. Back in '04, the notion that phones would be able to offer a gaming experience on par with the PSP or DS was laughable at best. Now, casual players have plenty of gaming options on devices they already have, and the Vita is using similar hardware--hardware that will be outmoded compared to other handheld devices within a year or two. Thus, without any bonafied system sellers like Monster Hunter or Pokemon, the Vita would've been a much harder sell than it's predecessor at ANY price.

Yes, price has been the main killer for the PS Vita. But it's hurting it more than the PSP because it's competing with FAR more than Nintendo this time. The notion that the rest of the mobile market isn't having an impact is ridiculous.

1) Because they wanted to. You have no way of proving to me Sony did these things because phones are a threat or matter at all. Even if they said such, that would still not be proof enough. But, maybe they like the features. That is like saying, "Why did Nintendo add a touch screen? Was it because they felt threatened by PDA's back in '04?" when nobody would be able to prove that was the case. You have no legs to stand on, only speculation at best.

2) I was unaware the PSP sold at $300 USD... totally unaware of this.

3) Sure the market has changed. But Nintendo has already disproved the position that mobile games are cutting into the hand held market. It simply is not happeneing yet. Will it happen, yes. Is it happening today? No. I have yet to know online or in person, anyone that has said, "Why get a 3DS when a tablet can play games too?" like... it is not happening. Again, will it happen? Absolutely. But is today that day? Not on the scale you think it is!

3) You are totally incorrect. If Vita were, as it is, $99 USD then it would be thee easiest sell in the history of video gaming consoles. I know, that is not a true possibility, but saying, "any price" is absurd.

4) With all that said, if you agree with me that price is the main factor in Vita's lack of success, then I could care less how you feel about anything else I said. My main point is that Sony saw the ship was going down and have yet to do anything to react to this crisis. It may be too late now, but if they had done something like Nintendo did then there is the possibility they would have better market penetration. They would still have to compete with the beast that is Nintendo, but at least they would have had a fighting chance. I have been calling it on 3DS and Vita since before they launched, $250 USD is too much to ask mass market to pay for a hand held console. The market results show I was correct then, and am correct now.