Vita – No Go For Christmas 2011

At least in the US; I’m not sure why the Japanese region is considered to have a better (more complete) launch lineup. Maybe it is just a region thing where Sony does not consider it all that important to have a huge selection of quality games for a day one launch.

Quoting another PlayStation Lifestyle article, at least one analyst believes that doom and gloom are in store for Sony if they do not adjust the price accordingly to be more competitive with their straight-up competition (i.e. Nintendo 3DS).

I don’t really have any concerns over the price, but I think Sony does need to have a long hard look at the other competition. It is not as if I need PCMag or Bloomberg to point out the obvious, but just for shits and giggles …

Bloomberg reported that Hirai said that Sony will not lower the price of the Vita to keep up with competitors.
The elephant in the room, however, remains the wealth of mobile gaming apps that have sprung up for the Apple iOS and Android platforms. Reports from Flurry and others have suggested that gamers are enamored with low-price, “freemium” games for their phones and tablets, that they can upgrade with in-app purchases.

To this end, Sony will really have to look at the price structure for Minis and PSOne Classics, as those can be the driver for competitive trash apps; at least in the case of Minis.

I could see this being the last generation of dedicated portable gaming hardware. I only hope that Sony moves enough Vitas for it to be well supported for at least 5 years.

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2 thoughts on “Vita – No Go For Christmas 2011”

  1. Delay is not good. There may be products using next gen ARM processors and PowerVR GPUs in 2012.

    So one of the advantages of the Vita, sheer performance, may be gone or greatly diminished.

    They’d need blockbuster lineup of games to get people to buy into the hardware and $50 games. But usually, the big games don’t typically come at launch.

  2. I’m still all in on a Vita – I want a solid gaming system on the go that offers more than the time a dozen $0.99 games, but I bet I am in the minority.

    I would hate having to pay double for PS3 + Vita games, but taking FIFA, Gran Turismo, MLB The Show, or Madden on the go, and then back to the PS3 would be a huge plus.

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