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Forums - Gaming - GamrDebate: Is the Playstation Vita already doomed?

 

Is the Vita 'dead on arrival'?

Yes! 323 45.69%
 
No! 283 40.03%
 
See results. 100 14.14%
 
Total:706
Conegamer on 04 February 2012

For me, a console that will likely sell around 1/3rd of its rival is a failure. 'Dead On Arrival' may be a bit harsh, but it is certainly doomed IF, and only if, things continue as they are in Japan.

It may well be too early to tell. But then, where's the fun in waiting 6, 12, 24 or 36 months before asking this question? We have some evidence. We have something to go on, at least. Sony can turn things around. It will be interesting to see if they do.



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

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Wagram on 04 February 2012

It's just as d000med as the 3DS is.



Conegamer on 04 February 2012
spurgeonryan said:
I think Slimebeast that at this time, if a system were to sell only 50 million units it would be a failure. Back in the 90's and 80's no. It would be very successful. The Wii just sold around 10 million units last year from what we have learned from sales recently. That is what the Vita would need each year just to make 50 million over the next five years. I know you all can count, I was just saying. So if it were to do that it would be considered mediocre. The wii was mediocre last year. Christmas was pleasant as usual, but the rest was kind of disastrous. Vita def. needs 60-80 million. PS3 cannot old out for ever, Sony is in trouble in other areas as well. When Nintendo has had a bad year what have they almost always been able to fall back on? Their Handhelds. Sony needs the vita and PSP to do that for them as they transition to the PS4. I know they have other ventures that are doing good and bad. But I do not know much about them , and this is a VIta thread.

Now that I have gotten that over with, I will say that I think vita will do well in America and Europe. It is getting pretty good reviews. It is a very nice machine! Plus there will be a lot of Western oriented launch games! Consoles do not have to thrive in Japan to stay relevent anymore. AS we have seen with the 360.

Proceed to argue with me.

Some good points here. However, for Sony, their strongest area has always been Japan. If they can't do well here, then it's likely they'll struggle everywhere. The games may be more western orientated, agreed, but with no advertisment, it doesn't matter. If people don't know the difference between the PSP and the Vita, where's the incentive to fork out £300 for it? Especially this soon after Christmas...

Finally, to get to 50 mil sales in 5 years, you need only average 10 mil a year. 7,11,14,12,6 would also reach 50 mil in 5 years. And, as the Gamecube proved, power isn't everything. Doing things differently isn't always beneficial.

My point is, Sony shouldn't (and can't afford to) abandon Japan like Microsoft has. MS was never ever going to be competitive in Japan, but that didn't matter. They had a huge foothold in America to make up the difference. I'm not sure whether or not the Vita can be sustainable without Japanese support.



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

Conegamer on 04 February 2012
Wagram said:
It's just as d000med as the 3DS is.

Maybe 8 months ago :P



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

blkfish92 on 04 February 2012

Sparta! Doomed?! MAdness! I say! The Vita has plenty of hope, maybe a Super Bowl commercial??



           

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MontanaHatchet on 04 February 2012
Conegamer said:
spurgeonryan said:
I think Slimebeast that at this time, if a system were to sell only 50 million units it would be a failure. Back in the 90's and 80's no. It would be very successful. The Wii just sold around 10 million units last year from what we have learned from sales recently. That is what the Vita would need each year just to make 50 million over the next five years. I know you all can count, I was just saying. So if it were to do that it would be considered mediocre. The wii was mediocre last year. Christmas was pleasant as usual, but the rest was kind of disastrous. Vita def. needs 60-80 million. PS3 cannot old out for ever, Sony is in trouble in other areas as well. When Nintendo has had a bad year what have they almost always been able to fall back on? Their Handhelds. Sony needs the vita and PSP to do that for them as they transition to the PS4. I know they have other ventures that are doing good and bad. But I do not know much about them , and this is a VIta thread.

Now that I have gotten that over with, I will say that I think vita will do well in America and Europe. It is getting pretty good reviews. It is a very nice machine! Plus there will be a lot of Western oriented launch games! Consoles do not have to thrive in Japan to stay relevent anymore. AS we have seen with the 360.

Proceed to argue with me.

Some good points here. However, for Sony, their strongest area has always been Japan. If they can't do well here, then it's likely they'll struggle everywhere. The games may be more western orientated, agreed, but with no advertisment, it doesn't matter. If people don't know the difference between the PSP and the Vita, where's the incentive to fork out £300 for it? Especially this soon after Christmas...

Finally, to get to 50 mil sales in 5 years, you need only average 10 mil a year. 7,11,14,12,6 would also reach 50 mil in 5 years. And, as the Gamecube proved, power isn't everything. Doing things differently isn't always beneficial.

My point is, Sony shouldn't (and can't afford to) abandon Japan like Microsoft has. MS was never ever going to be competitive in Japan, but that didn't matter. They had a huge foothold in America to make up the difference. I'm not sure whether or not the Vita can be sustainable without Japanese support.


Sony's strongest area has always been Europe. And the Vita has been out for a month or so with Uncharted as its biggest game. Have a little patience and at least wait for the American and European launches before speculating this much. And no, Sony isn't going to abandon Japan. They're a Japanese company. Seriously, this is making my head hurt.



 

 

Conegamer on 04 February 2012
blkfish92 said:
Sparta! Doomed?! MAdness! I say! The Vita has plenty of hope, maybe a Super Bowl commercial??

My point is, though, that Sony so far doesn't seem to be willing to advertise the Vita. 



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

man-bear-pig on 04 February 2012

The vita and the 3ds are both doomed, the iPad is just too damn good!



My prediction threads:

Wii U will sell under 40m units (made on 14th September 2012)

PS Vita will sell under 20m units (made on 30th September 2012)

Wii U will sell under 7m in 2013 - I was right

Halo 4 first 9 weeks sales prediction

PS4 to be down YOY in 2015

Conegamer on 04 February 2012
MontanaHatchet said:
Conegamer said:
spurgeonryan said:
I think Slimebeast that at this time, if a system were to sell only 50 million units it would be a failure. Back in the 90's and 80's no. It would be very successful. The Wii just sold around 10 million units last year from what we have learned from sales recently. That is what the Vita would need each year just to make 50 million over the next five years. I know you all can count, I was just saying. So if it were to do that it would be considered mediocre. The wii was mediocre last year. Christmas was pleasant as usual, but the rest was kind of disastrous. Vita def. needs 60-80 million. PS3 cannot old out for ever, Sony is in trouble in other areas as well. When Nintendo has had a bad year what have they almost always been able to fall back on? Their Handhelds. Sony needs the vita and PSP to do that for them as they transition to the PS4. I know they have other ventures that are doing good and bad. But I do not know much about them , and this is a VIta thread.

Now that I have gotten that over with, I will say that I think vita will do well in America and Europe. It is getting pretty good reviews. It is a very nice machine! Plus there will be a lot of Western oriented launch games! Consoles do not have to thrive in Japan to stay relevent anymore. AS we have seen with the 360.

Proceed to argue with me.

Some good points here. However, for Sony, their strongest area has always been Japan. If they can't do well here, then it's likely they'll struggle everywhere. The games may be more western orientated, agreed, but with no advertisment, it doesn't matter. If people don't know the difference between the PSP and the Vita, where's the incentive to fork out £300 for it? Especially this soon after Christmas...

Finally, to get to 50 mil sales in 5 years, you need only average 10 mil a year. 7,11,14,12,6 would also reach 50 mil in 5 years. And, as the Gamecube proved, power isn't everything. Doing things differently isn't always beneficial.

My point is, Sony shouldn't (and can't afford to) abandon Japan like Microsoft has. MS was never ever going to be competitive in Japan, but that didn't matter. They had a huge foothold in America to make up the difference. I'm not sure whether or not the Vita can be sustainable without Japanese support.


Sony's strongest area has always been Europe. And the Vita has been out for a month or so with Uncharted as its biggest game. Have a little patience and at least wait for the American and European launches before speculating this much. And no, Sony isn't going to abandon Japan. They're a Japanese company. Seriously, this is making my head hurt.

Sony consoles in my eyes have always been famous for Japanese games (for example, Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy etc.). A lot of people I know, and people who post on forums feel the same. Not selling well in Japan could easily mean big titles like those previously mentioned not going to Vita, but to the 3DS. This would only give the 3DS more momentum in Japan, and so more and more games would move to the 3DS and away from the Vita accordingly. This has a big impact in Europe, where the people who buy Sony consoles for the JRPG's would move to the 3DS and bypass the Vita altogether. Not everyone wants Uncharted, and it's certainly not a system seller in the same way a Mario game would be, or a Final Fantasy. Or a Dragon Quest.

Uncharted will keep things alive for a while in the west. But, it won't have the legs and the longevity to keep the Vita afloat. And not as many people as you might think would pay £300 for a game which is similar to one they can play on the PS3. 

We could be patient. But the point of the thread is speculation. It will be good to see in a year or two who was right, and who was wrong. And launches are hardly representitive of how a console will do in the long run anyway...but after a couple of months, you sort of get an idea. 

I'm not sure what's making your head hurt though...I doubt it's this thread.



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

blkfish92 on 04 February 2012
Conegamer said:
blkfish92 said:
Sparta! Doomed?! MAdness! I say! The Vita has plenty of hope, maybe a Super Bowl commercial??

My point is, though, that Sony so far doesn't seem to be willing to advertise the Vita. 


The Taco Bell thing they're doing is rather awesome I must admit, but I do agree with you a bit, they need to do something better.