forevercloud3000 said:
I am not trying to spin this into whether they were right or wrong to do so, it was their choice as a company. You say it like not doing so would have put Nintendo in Sony level financial jeopordy. They were/are completely stable and could have toughed through the low sales for a year.3DS at its original price was pure Apple level profit. During that time there was much back talk that at the same price point Nintendo looked meek next to the Vita. After a few months of baring the torment and low sales they caved in. They didn't want to possibly be seen as on even ground with Vita. They COULD have stayed their ground, it wasn't like they were losing money. If they kept the course they could have squeezed more of that hi sell value out of consumers before dropping. At least that way the consumers wouldn't feel they can just cold shoulder a system in the future just so they can get the price point they want(which in the future might not be a feasible choice) hence the reason it could be seen as detrimental. Nevertheless it was pure bad news for Sony upon release. Sony is opting to stick to their ground for the very reason I described. At this point its too late for them to keep tight lipped as Nintendo already set that standard that they have to if they don't want to fall too far behind. Regardless, Sony is making profit on all games and systems sold, which is all they care about right now. We will just have to see how this all pans out for Sony in the end. |
I think the problem would be worse than that. If Nintendo hadnt dropped the price the portable market would be caving in to the mobile devices even faster. If both products stayed at that price and showed sales like the Vita has shown, there would be no further support from 3rd party developers for either device. The whole market would be in risk of collapsing and both companies would have to withdraw. Well, though im sure nintendo could keep on soldering because of their IP's (mario/pokemon). At least now the 3DS is a sucess, and as much as everyone wants to say portables are dead because of mobile devices, the 3DS is showing that the market is still here. Sony really should have forseen it and lowered the production costs/specs of the Vita so they could have a more competitive price. They thought the specs of the system would be recognised by consumers to justify the higher price, but obviously that didnt work.
We all know that if the system had a similar price cut to the 3DS the system would be revived (though it might be a too late now in terms of software support). The 3DS was in a position not very different from the Vita with lots of negativity before the price cut. I remember several "haha" threads from Nintendo haters and articles that were saying the 3DS was a failure. Alas, they stopped showing up after that christmas with mario 3D, matio kart and the price cut. Now the price cut did cost Nintendo alot of money. If you remember there were reports that the system was beeing sold at a loss.
Sony just doesnt have the money to lose on every unit, and thats the only explanation on why the price hasnt droped yet. If they are smart in the slightlest and still want to save the Vita they should bring out a revision of the Vita, with less expensive components (is a multitouch screen really necessary?) at a cheaper price. I really dont see what else they can do. They either give it up, they integrate it on the PS4 as a tablet controller bundling it with the PS4 (this choice is dangerous given microsoft is intent on going for a price war to rat Sony out of the market), or they release a revision at a much cheaper price.
Is it too late to save the Vita? Sadly i think so. But they can still try.
