PlayStation Vita's Disappointing Japanese Launch: Sony Learned Nothing From Nintendo

Chris Buffa (Modojo): By all accounts, Sony's U.S. PlayStation Vita launch lineup will easily be one of the best all time. It's tough to argue against a list that includes Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Lumines: Electronic Symphony, FIFA Soccer and Wipeout 2048, and that barely scratches the surface of what this impressive machine will have to offer.

[ksense]

wow people need to stop making these vita is doomed articles.atleast wait till it is released worldwide. maybe sony realized that they have been selling psp's in good numbers in the past two years that not a lot of people would jump to psvita in a short time period. they are more worried about being successful in US and Europe than they are about japan at the moment because they know that when the games that japan loves comes out they will buy it. the launch lineup makes it obvious which market they are trying to capture initially. why push a new system in japan where the older system is doing great and probably making them profit right now.

[lorianguy]

Exactly.

What I find strange is the Title bashes Sony and the Vita but the description supports it...

[GameTavern]

I agree with the abundance of PS Vita is doomed articles. But I do think, you can't stick your head in the sand and say, just wait until Feb or March to see how it does in Europe and the States.

Sony has a real issue at hand in Japan, and if it doesn't begin to look good, you can see Japanese developers take a more wait and see approach with development. Which would mean less titles for the Vita overall.

~Edit
And reading the article, I don't read it as a PS Vita is doomed article at all.

If anything, I kind of agree with their point. Sony has a handheld and a line-up catered for a Western audience, but decided to release it in the East first without any compelling software to move it in that area of the world.

[Megaton]

Well in terms of the media doom brigade, yes, it's getting a bit excessive, but this is a separate case.

Anyone who was around N4G in 2008 knows Chris Buffa was a gigantic anti-Sony "journalist" over at GameDaily. He's been shuffling around from site to site since then, but his act hasn't changed much.

[miyamoto]

Chris Buffa is over numerous websites like a hired mercenary paid to spread negative press for the sole purpose of destroying Sony's credibility all over the internet.

I never thought such a job existed.

I wonder how much his is worth to sell his soul to the devil?

I went to his profile and he had numerous post approve under "Buff1044"...how can that be?

[zeksta]

It's unbelivable that you're getting disagrees for stating the Truth, show's you what N4G is slowly becoming :/

[ronin4life]

"Slowly"?
Not if you are a Nintendo gamer...

[StrongMan]

So is the Vita doomed like the PS3?

/s

[Iamback]

well PS3 is 3rd place console, so

[Games4M - Rob]

Not from where im stood.

[kewlkat007]

The PS3 Console brand has always been on much stronger footing than Sony's Handhelds. Especially after dominating 2 Generations. Though things are a little bit different this time around though.

Sony have never Dominated Nintendo with the handheld, even with better specs/hardware/hardcore games.

[Lirky]

Ps vita is extremely better than psp original : 2 analogs , touch-screen and plethora of tons of additional cool things.

[lugia 4000]

So youll buy it without any games, okay.

[smashman98]

Actually I had 2 games in mind for my self uncharted and gravity rush tho my collection of digital psp games and minis should also keep me buusy

[miyamoto]

For the Internet Browser, Facebook, Skype apps, Media Player alone ... yeah why not, cave troll?

[LiamIRL82]

Whats putting me off buying a Vita is that I have to buy a memory card, which is kind of hard to swallow after spending €250. Its like Sony (& Nintendo) have taken no notice of iPod Touch which is the device to beat.

[Half-Mafia]

So you can spend $250 but cant spend aleast $20 on a 4gb card. How can you even afford games then.

[LiamIRL82]

My point is after spending €250 on the Vita you shouldn't have to spend extra on memory.

[JoeReno]

@ Liam

Come on man, that kind of thing has been going on forever. You must be new to gaming, because I remember having to buy a memory card for the PS2, and maybe the PS1 to save games. Its not that big of a deal. Yes an internal hard drive would have been nice, but then you would be complaining about its 300$ price tag instead of 250$.

[Viper7]

Well no matter how you look it, the system would look more appealing with standard 2GB or even 1GB memory card in the box. 3DS comes with one and so do many phones (E.g my Galaxy mini)

Not a real deal breaker tough and they still have time to announce some special offers for NA and EU.

[Half-Mafia]

Have you ever bought a gaming device before?

If you bought a 360 u need to pay £40 to play online.

If you want to play a splitscreen or sports game then you need to buy an extra controller.

You always buy extra things for a device, especially on gaming products.

[LiamIRL82]

If you enjoy spending too much money on things then who am I to argue, enjoy your Vita.

[kewlkat007]

All those things you mentioned are not required to play an Xbox game by yourself.

Someone said you need a Sony Memstick for certain games and there is no ways around it.

[ronin4life]

Sorry liam. Accidentally hit the disagree while scrolling.

[forevercloud3000]

@kewl
How is needing a memory stick for "some" games any different than needing an extra controller for "some" games? If you don't want to get a memory stick don't get one but as with most accessories, it will limit which games you will be able to fully enjoy. That is why accessories exist in the first place.

Why is the fact the Vita needs a memory stick a surprise in the first place? So did the PSP! Media is only blowing this up to facilitate the idea that the Vita is "DOOMEED!"

[SandwichHammock]

Hmmmmm

1st week (2day) approx 375000
2nd week 72,479
3rd week 42,648

Calculator Time! --> 490127 units.
Shipped Units - .5 mil.

Relativity is a b**ch, and that is all these media outlets are doing: "well it sold this much...but compared to...dooooommmmmz!"

I personally think that these are very solid numbers taking into account a number of factors. Just the fact that you can move so many units of a new kit while your competitors are releasing their killer apps for an established kit, says enough.

Just my two worthless cents.

[ronin4life]

If stock was a problem, then that is how everyone including sony would be reporting it. But that's not the case. Sony hasn't issued any statements about the sales, and none of the retailers or sales trackers are reporting high demand or massive sellouts leading to shortages.
And remember, the 3ds really did experience shortages and Nintendo fixed them with a quick shipment the next day or 2. You can't tell me sony hasn't done the same.

[forevercloud3000]

The difference?

Sony is still recovering from losing productivity of their factories due to the earthquake/tsunami. They have said this is the reason they didn't just do a simil launch in all territories. They would not have been able to make enough.

Also what seems to be being omitted here is how much each VERSION has sold. Its like 300k is Wifi and the other 200k is 3G. We all know the demand for the 3G version is not yet as appealing as the Wifi version. Hence the reason they are not ALL sold out. I want to really see those numbers and proper totals of all shipped by Sony.

[ronin4life]

The earthquake didn't damage production according to sony, and would have done the same to Nintendo(down the line) anyway(edit: as well).
But like I said, that was not the case.

[Half-Mafia]

Games didnt really turn the 3DS around. Nintendo dropped the price in August, which is when the 3DS started being the top selling device onwards.

The 3DS went from 45k one week to 390k the next with no games. and to add the first 6 months FEB-AUG Nintendo sold only 3.8m. after the price drop AUG-DEC its sold 10.2m

The 3DS only has 3 good games atm

Super Mario 3D Land
Mario Kart 7
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Even Monster hunter isnt the blow out game like normal monster hunter games. 3DS version has not even broken 1m. Compared to the PSP version that sell 3-5m.

Its also pretty sad that the 3DS has already become the Nintendo only game system.

If you havent noticed, I dont really like the 3DS :)

[GameTavern]

That doesn't make sense.
While the price drop helped, the sales have done better and remained higher since the slate of games you mentioned.

Not to mention each of those 3 games you listed have sold about 25% of the userbase which is great, no matter how you cut it.

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

The games are great... perhaps the wrong audience for them though?

[SandwichHammock]

One thing that I think Sony is doing wrong is that they don't have a killer/must have title that would make this thing sell out. I know about all the launch/launch window titles, and some are stellar, ie Gravity Daze. But imagine just for a moment something like the next instalment of the Chrono series, exclusively for the PSV. They wouldn't be able to stock that sh*t fast enough.

[ronin4life]

Neither did Nintendo, and that didn't hurt them nearly as much at launch/post launch.
The "western style" launch is also another excuse (though certainly a contributing factor, just not the major one) skirting past the real problem: the psp and 3ds are better values at the moment, and neither have seen great market penetration.
Many gamers have just discovered the psp and its now massive library of games. Why pay more than necessary to play one?
And the 3ds has just picked up with several key games and just like the psp is cheaper. The vita just isn't appealing enough to warrant but so much attention. The 3ds had a similar problem, but it only had the psp to deal with. The vita has its predecessor and the 3ds, so it wil take longer for it to find its own place.

[Sithlord-Gamble]

I agree. Good point. Bubble+ for u sir!

[killasder]

here he goes again.. Chris just quit with your doom articles u loser of a journalist!!!

[D3mons0ul]

Does anybody really want a world where Sony is no longer involved with gaming? Is that really what people are trying to push for? Is your petty bias really more important than balance?

[smashcrashbash]

Chris is a bias VITA hater. You can't take anything he says about it seriously.Sony has sold out most of what they shipped and haven't even had a chance to shop more before the doomed articles arrive. If they shipped 500,000 units and sold 5,000 then I would agree that the VITA was doomed. But they sell out most of what they shipped in a short space of time and it's 'the VITA is doomed'.

Just like the PS1 was doomed and the PS2 was doomed and the PSP was doomed and the PS3 was doomed when they all went through the same thing.The 3DS had problems finding a place because until it got several key games. What happened to the same people that were yelling give the 3DS a chance? What, that doesn't apply to Sony's stuff or something?