The Playstation Vita: Where Did It Go Wrong?

[SlimShadyDroid]

KBG29 said:
The only reason the Vita failed, is becasue it is not a Phone. Had Sony released the Vita as a Phone on all of the major mobile networks, it would have sold like crazy. People can not justify carrying a Vita and a Phone everywhere they go. So what eneds up happening? High end smartphone, and games that are good enough to waste some time.

All of the other issue would have been fixed with this one simple thing. The Vita Phone could have come with 32GB of internal storage, and been free on every carrier, and Sony still would have profited on it.

With a Vita Phone sales would be well over 50M if not nearing 100M at this point. With that kind of user base, we would be seeing every yearly franchise, and many exclusives to the device. All of the Smartphone apps on iOS and Android would be comming over. Even the memory cards would be better off, because the high production rates would have seen prices plumit. Basically, by just offering it as a Phone, Sony could have seen the true potential of the hardware.

The thing is, I still don't think they are to far off to give it a go. Releasing a PlayStation Phone right now on every mobile carrier, they could outsell the Vita in the first quarter of release. The thing with the Vita is just keeping a locked spec for the Games. They could easily have a 4G PlayStation Phone with 3 or 4GB of RAM, a 1080p screen, 64GB internal storage, and the battery life of the Z3 series Xperia phones. This would allow you to run a Vita game, and have Phone, Facebook, Twitter, Web Browseing, Video Streaming and more multitasking. They have PlayStation Mobile where garage devs can build any app they want. This would light a spark that could see the Vita blast right by the 3DS/New 3DS family in a matter of months.

They can continue to upgrade the non gaming features with yearly revisions, all while keeping it as a Vita based Phone. Then once they have the tech to make a generational leap, they can release a full on PSPhone 2. Thus giving devs a new set spec to build better, and stable games for another 5 to 7 years.

The oppertunity to hold a major share of the mobile market is staring them right in the face. They have the network, they have the tech, all they have to do is deliver. It is the simpilist puzzle in the freaking world, but will they ever put it together? I really don't know.

1) They tried that already and failed.... miserably

2) Those components would cost a lot

3) Sony's Xperia phones aren't making any profit and aren't popular by any means (look at the iPhone, Galaxies)

4) They brought remote olay to the Xperia line up (Z3/Z3 Compact). It's still quite cumbersome because you still need a DS4 Controller

5) Phones are crazy expensive, especially where carriers don't subsidize them

6) Who's going to advertise the thing?

7) Bettery life will suck, and it'll be crazy thick. People don't like thick phones.

8) Just to throw another wrench into this idea, Sony is looking to sell their smartphone business, just like they did with their laptops (Vaio). Sony just doesn't have the money to take these crazy risks anymore and will try to sell anything that isn't making money.