The problem with the Vita.

[Dodece]

outlawauron said:

Dodece said:
Forgive me for saying so, but it doesn't matter what games, or types of games the Vita has on the menu. They might discourage ownership, but they will never encourage ownership either. Sony is charging a premium for their product that consumers refuse to pay, and with damned good reason might I add. They are selling a portable for the same price as a actual console. A substitute or a whittled down version should never cost as much as the original in the eyes of your average consumer, and they actually have a pretty good point there.

Three hundred dollars for the Vita and a game. Goes way beyond a impulse buy. It is the very definition of a real hard sell, and one most consumers aren't going to be able to justify. Not in the way they can justify buying older, cheaper, or customizable platforms. Seriously the Vita is money being poorly spent. I am sorry if anyone is taking that personally, but for most people that kind of money can go a long way to buying more practical or extravagant electronics. The price just isn't matching the need.

Recently I started thinking about getting a portable gaming device, and I actually looked into getting a Vita, but I couldn't even look past that price point. I am actually looking towards picking up a tablet, because if I am going to spend that kind of money a portable device better damn well do more then play games. The Kindle Fire is actually looking way more attractive right now.

*yawn*

It's the same price as the PSP was at launch, as are game prices. People drop far more at the tip of the hat for new technology that has far less value. While price is an issue, for Sony, I do not believe lowering it would be a fix all solution.

I think others have addressed why the PSP succeeded in spite of its launch price. The rampant piracy and emulation that took place on the platform. Created a more viable platform, because the portable basically became a one time charge kind of affair. The price was easier to swallow when the platfom basically came with a infinite supply of free games. It isn't like it is a unknown phenomena either. The exact same thing happened with the 64DD. It caused a explosing in N64 sales in Far East markets, because it made the platform easier to run pirated games on.

Consumers in those markets could hardly afford to buy a N64, and pay fifty dollars for each additional game. They however could afford to buy one, and a 64DD with a pirated disk that contained a hundred games. In the end it may have hurt software sales on the platform marginally, but it did probably move millions more consoles then would have sold otherwise. It is basically the same story with the PSP. I know a number of people who own a PSP, and not one of didn't use it to pirate games, or run emulators. That was always their sales pitch for the device anyway.

Your second comment is entirely subjective, because one mans garbage is another mans treasure. Beyond that though most of the technology you are probably thinking about is far more utilitarian then a portable gaming device. Tablets, Laptops, Smart Phones, and other such devices. Can do games, and a hell of a lot more. To you the Vita may be worth it, but it is hardly the jack of all trades that so many other devices are. Like it or not there is a reason that swiss army knives sell better then bowie knives.

As for your last comment I am in complete agreement. My point isn't that the price point is the only issue. It is just the salient issue, because it is the first one that a prospective customer must contend with. If people are getting scared away at first glance by the price. Then they aren't even going to weight the pros and cons. In this case the price is disproportionate to the need.