WiiU or Vita will sell more in 2013?

[archbrix]

gigantor21 said:

Soundwave said:
The West is basically done with handhelds, I think that's the bigger issue, though Sony's not doing themselves many favors by having a pretty crap release schedule. 

Even the 3DS is struggling in the West, Sony really doesn't have much hope, gaming handhelds as a concept are becoming a niche use device in the West just for kids and a tiny (but vocal) set of "hardcore players" that probably buy every game system. 

That's exactly how I feel about the dedicated handheld situation outside of Japan.

There was clearly still pent-up demand for the Vita there. It always had a shot to get back into contention there if Sony made the right moves. The price-cut alone wouldn't have had nearly the same effect if that wasn't the case. I don't see anything like that enthusiasm outside Japan, either from gamers or from developers.

Bioshock for the Vita is still in purgatory; there's been no mention of a Grand Theft Auto; Sony itself hasn't been pushing as hard as they could with the Vita like they did with the PSP and it's first party properties (No GOW? No GT?). In the West, FFX is the only game I can think of that might have the same sales draw as any of those, and we still don't even have a release date for that.

People have been talking shit about the Wii U, but as a Vita owner, I'm far more worried about Sony's handheld. There's still a market for consoles in the West; the 360 has sold just fine for years despite being a miserable failure in Japan. I don't know if that's true for dedicated handhelds here, though, and Japan alone won't carry the Vita while the 3DS is doing well too.

That's a MUCH bigger hurdle than being too expensive or not having enough killer software.

+1

Great post.