Forbes: Sony in Big Trouble with PS Vita

[asif9t9]

I feel like the PSP was supposed to deliver on the "console in your hand". And it could so easily have if it had a second analog controller. Now, is Sony too much, too late?

Article

During its first week on sale in Japan, PS Vita sold 320 K units. The sales period tracked was just two days, so hopeful fans thought that perhaps the first full week would bring good news.

But the second week brought devastation – just 72 K units sold. When Nintendo launched its latest handheld, the sales of the 3DS declined from 370 K to 210K over the first two weeks.

[BGY11]

I think Sony was betting too much on the dedicated portable console. Unlike Nintendo which caters towards the casual gamers with their 3DS, Sony really seems to be targeting the same market as those who are already enjoying gaming with smartphones and tablets. Trying to integrate cellular functions further blurs the line between handheld gaming device and cell phone.

I don't see this taking off much over here as well - destined to be a niche product that few people outside of the Sony faithful will purchase.

[audacity]

So, I suppose the PS Vita could be described as the "PS3 of handheld gaming".

[dezzpayne]

I think there is a serious anti Sony sentiment among NA press. Spin doctors at best, hit trolls at worst.

http://n4g.com/news/913468/cnet-play...-north-america

I mean, really?

Undoubtedly the Vita won't be a runaway hit in NA. I like the idea though and they can really make it work. I would have preferred an all-in-one device but perhaps that was asking too much. One of the main draws of the Vita is the ability to play your PS3 games on the road. With cloud saves it makes it completely transparent. If they implement that feature properly and not require a 2nd purchase of the mobile copy of the game it makes the Vita a very tempting proposition for any of the current 60 million PS3 owners. Sony isn't targeting your mom who plays Angry Birds on her iPhone but truth be damned, that won't stop anyone from calling it a failure if it can't beat IOS and Android phone sales.

"News" agencies continue to call both the PS3 and PSP failures.

PSP Sales 72 Million
PS3 Sales 60 Million

Releasing the Vita was a gutsy move and no doubt given a green light due to the Japanese roots of the company. Japanese are notoriously addicted to handheld gaming. I can't see any NA company who would be willing to take on that kind of risk to try and sell a dedicated mobile gaming device in today's market.

[asif9t9]

I'm torn the more I think about it. I go to play games on my phone and tablet and I realize those games.....aren't all that great. The reason Angry Birds is so popular is because it's a rare game where a touch screen works for it. But there are no games that I keep coming back to.

One difficulty with console gaming, for me, is getting the time to head to my gameroom with free time. I haven't played Arkham City yet. If I could keep pulling it out on a handheld, that could be cool. But it would be imperative that I felt I was getting the full Arkham City experience, not a mobile version of the game. If the Vita can deliver with its graphics, I just might be ready to hop on board.

[audacity]

"News" agencies continue to call both the PS3 and PSP failures.

PSP Sales 72 Million
PS3 Sales 60 Million

The reason the media (and generally informed people) would call the PS3 a failure is because the PS1 and PS2 were first place in the console wars. Not just first place, but first place and ahead of the competition in sales by a country mile. It wasn't even close.

Then, with the PS3, they went from first place to last place.

The PSP started out its product life doing allright, but later got clobbered by Nintendo when they released the DS which sold over twice the number of units as the PSP. I don't think the PSP should be viewed as a failure to the same degree as the PS3. This is because in the case of the PS3, Sony was the "defending champion" of the last two console generations. In the case of the PSP, Nintendo was the "defending champion", and this was Sony's first attempt at the handheld market.

[audacity]

Oh, and one more comment: the reason market analysts are concerned about the handheld gaming market is they feel that (in the future) general purpose phones/tablets will do to the handheld market what they are doing to other markets where smartphones and tablets can replace other single purpose devices. Like the point-and-shoot camera market.

I agree with that viewpoint. Smartphone games don't need to be better than PS Vita games. They just need to be good enough to entertain people who want to pass some time on the bus or in a waiting room.

Plus, smartphones are iterating faster than the "console game" model will allow for, so they will end up with superior graphics most of the time.

[dezzpayne]

So if you're not #1, you're a failure. Someone should call Apple and let them know because Android sells more phones and Windows is more popular than OS X.

This will be the last dedicated handheld console. If the PS4 has a handheld release down the road I'd expect it to be a part of their smartphone road map.

The PS3 did not do all the things Sony had hoped and dreamed for. They shot for the moon and didn't get there. Using the word "failure" is kind of harsh. The Sega Saturn failed, the Dreamcast failed, the Nintendo virtual boy failed. The PS3 joins the ranks of companies that lost market share (lots of companies do from time to time). Such as Nintendo did with the Gamecube. The market has proven itself large enough to support all 3 consoles. MS and Sony are neck and neck and that's considering the 360 was out a year before the PS3.

The only people capable of determining if the PS3 or PSP or 5 years from now if Vita was a failure are the people at Sony head office. They know what the development costs are, they know how many units of software they need to move. It doesn't help when the news agencies spout that the Vita is dead before it even gets released here. Everything I have read about the Vita's capabilities has been excellent. When it is released in North America I'll read reviews by actual people who love games and make my decision based on that. Not by analysts at Forbes or Cnet who sadly are speaking to a much larger and ignorant audience considering the material being discussed.

[audacity]

So if you're not #1, you're a failure. Someone should call Apple and let them know because Android sells more phones and Windows is more popular than OS X.

I agree that being #1 in market share doesn't mean that a given product is a failure. Your Apple example is a interesting point of comparison. Apple is generally regarded as being successful because they are highly profitable by serving their (smaller) market. Unfortunately for Sony they are a failure on that front as well. It was a well known fact that the PS3 has been a money-losing product for them. In fact, I remember about 8 years ago seeing a summary of Sony's financials that basically said that their only major money-making department was their game console business. I wonder to myself what the future of Sony (the company) is when their only major money-making division starts losing money hand-over-fist.

Well, a quick trip over to Google Finance shows that I don't need to wonder any longer. Make no mistake, Sony is a beleaguered company; a shadow of its former self. When the PS3 is placed in the context of their earlier efforts, it would be considered a failure. Especially when placed in context of the expectations that everyone (including Sony) had for the product.

[dezzpayne]

Sony is indeed a shadow of it's former self. I may be corrected but I believe the video games business has been one of the brighter areas in the financial reports. They do lump the video games business with TV's and Cameras. TV's especially have been a sore point for Sony. What was one their bastion of strength is now just another brand trying to stand out in a sea of clones. Point and shoot cameras are no longer a premium item that can be sold at a premium price. You can buy a DSLR for under $500.

There are of coarse other extenuating circumstances for the past 12 months.
Earthquakes. floods, hackers, strong yen have all taken their toll on the bottom line.

Ultimately, Sony is a hardware company where it has been brilliant in the past. The battle however has moved to software and services. Apple is a prime example of how you can do more with less (in a hardware sense). IBM also saw the writing on the wall and got out of the race to the bottom. I would think that more important than the short term profits are the affects to the brand long term. Having a Sony product meant something 10-20 years ago. Unless they are able to regain their former swagger they are just going to me another Japanese hardware company in the future. I do however believe that their gaming business is where they innovate the most and retain the majority of their brand recognition.

[normancw]

I think the PS Vita will fill a small gap where smartphones really suck - handheld first person shooters.

[Tikker]

I'm definitely curious to get some hands on time with a Vita, but I just can't imagine buying one right now


software titles will be key

if I could get good handheld sports games on it, and that was it, i'd probably jump at one