Nintendo’s executive vice president of sales and marketing Scott Moffitt has put down the ability to play PS4 games on the PS Vita while not at home. Moffitt also said that VIta’s sales don’t indicate that Sony’s “found something that we haven’t discovered.”
Sony’s Remote Play feature will allow you to play PS4 games on the PlayStation Vita without a need for a TV. It’s something that sure sounds a lot like the Wii U GamePad’s off-TV play functionality, and in response to the similarities, Nintendo commented on the Vita and Sony’s strategy with it — but not before taking a jab at the handheld’s poor sales.
“Sony I believe seems to have a different kind of strategy,” Nintendo’s executive vice president of sales and marketing Scott Moffitt said in a GI.biz interview, referring to the Vita which can play PS4 games via wi-fi. “They believe that the away-from-home gaming occasion and the at-home gaming occasion are pretty similar in that way, and that what people want outside the home is to continue the play of their home games. We just don’t believe that. So we have a different belief — a different strategy — as far as what we believe consumers want.”
“It doesn’t mean one is right or wrong,” continued Moffitt, after explaining that people want to play “shorter games“ on the go, “but clearly the PS Vita’s sales wouldn’t suggest that they’ve found something that we haven’t discovered.”
Ouch. That’s basically a way of saying that Vita’s sales have been poor. According to VG Chartz, Sony’s handheld has only sold 5.6 million units worldwide so far, while the Nintendo 3DS has reached 33.3 million sales (note, however, that the 3DS came out a few months before the Vita).
Recently, Sony cut Vita’s price to $199, while Nintendo not only dropped the Wii U Deluxe Model to $299, but also announced the Nintendo 2DS, a new $129 version of the 3DS with a different form factor, but without the 3D functionality.
For the Vita, hopefully sales will pick up now that it’s cheaper. The ability to play home consoles games on a handheld sounds really cool, though at the same time, I’d rather play console games on a big screen. When I’m on the go, I’m usually more in the mood to play something simpler and quicker like Cut the Rope.
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