The Playstation Vita: Where Did It Go Wrong?

[Cloudman]

KBG29 said:

Cloudman said:

If it was like a phone device, would it still be in direct competition to Nintendo`s handhelds anymore? It sounds like with what you propose, it would shift competition to smartphones, which is another audience. It sounds like it would be a phone, but can play sony games too. Would that help it thrive in the smartphone market? I think it would have to distinguish itself well at a good price to do so.

Hell yeah, it would absolutly be in direct competition with the Nintendo product. Whether people want to admit it or not, PS Vita and 3DS are in competition with mobile phones and tablets. These are all mobile devices that can play games, browse the web, view social apps, hook the user up to a digital entertaiment ecosystem and more.

The way it should be sold is as a PlayStation Phone, the ultimate gamers phone. The current Vita is the perfect form factor. The driving force behind it would be the ability to play full featured handheld and console games on the go, without the need for additional accessories. With access to PS Now and Remote Play over 4G, a user could jump in and play home consoles games any time anywhere to go along with the massive cataloge of local PS Vita titles, and Legacy PSP and PSOne titles.

Honestly, by making the Vita a phone, I don`t think it would be directly competing with the 3DS anymore. A core difference between a smartphone and a handheld is their core focus.  A smartphone ranges from a wide sort of things it can do, but a game handheld has the advantage of games being the core focus, which would make for the best optimization of games. It distinguishes itself from smartphone games, by having games be its core focus. Smartphones you can play somes, but most of them are not like games you can play on handhelds. A game focused portable system has the appeal for people who just want to play those bigger sized games.

A smartphone has that advantage, but since it focuses on a wider range of things, trying to have games match that quality while having the other functions would be more difficult, or cost more. It may also be that smartphone owners don`t care for large games, or people who play games would prefer just a core game handheld.

I don`t think your idea of a gaming device/phone would work as you proposed, at least for now.