PS Vita: General Discussion

[FooFan73]

We're all aware that there's some good titles to be found on the PS Store for less than £12. Not crappy games no but some good titles like Everybody's Golf

Now it seems several high street stores like Argos and HMV have dropped the prices of these same titles to £15 for a physical copy

How do you see this price drop? As a clever (albeit late) move by Sony to make the Vita more attractive (If indeed it's Sony and the distributors who have dropped the wholesale price on the high street) or are you more of a pessimist and think this is a sign of desperation of a struggling console?

[joff81]

To reduce the price of games for the vita by over half their retail price a little over 3 months after the consoles launch shows just how hard it is to attract people to purchase vita software, and has been done by retailers to try to get vita games moving.
With the price of the vita being at a premium and with no killer games as such on the market everything vita related seems a hard sell, yet the worst thing is Sony are reluctant to admit they have missed the mark with the vita.

Some sort of relaunch is going to be needed just like the 3ds had including a drastic price reduction and some offer program to launch day buyers as well as getting some killer software out and pretty quick as up to now Sony have proved that they have learnt nothing from the psp and the vita is never going to thrive and be a success.

[Royston99]

Joff - surely its a move by Sony, and not the retailers? Retailers frequently have cheaper physical copies than the PS Store, and yet the PS Store has dropped its prices too for the same games that have dropped in price on physical copy. Uncharted is still £45 in Game, yet they have Everybodies Golf and Modnation Racers at £16.

Anyway, I think it just proves the Vita (or at least, the Vita software) just isnt selling, so Sony are trying to sell the lesser known titles. Game still have the "big" releases (FIFA, Uncharted, Resistance - though this is new) all at the high-end retail prices of £40-£45, with Gravity Rush, which came out today, at £3, yet the ones that are reduced on the store are also reduced in Game (which isnnt known for its great savings). I went into Tesco up at the Ricoh Arena today (largest Tesco in Europe), and they had 3 Vita games... Ridge Racer, Fifa and Uncharted. They had spaces for others (EG, MR, Lumines), but no titles. The other week, they didnt even get Resistance Burning Skies in. When I went to the counter to ask about Gravity Rush today, the woman said that they havent had any more Vita titles in since launch, they only have whats out on the shelves, and she said they are struggling to sell it, and are not sure about if they are going to be continuing to stock it for much longer. I noted they havent dropped the prices of the (non-existant) Modnation or EG games.

Sony need to do something to get the Vita going, because I am finding it difficult to find anywhere with a decent supply of games. All the shops in Coventry that I can think of that sells Vita games, I still cant find Ninja Gaiden Sigma+, and that was since launch. I have only seen it in CEX for £45 pre-owned. Game (x3 - now 2), GameStation, HMV, CEX (though pre-owned), supermarkets (Asda x2, Tesco x4, Sainsburies x1, Morrisons x2), and the range of Vita games available is extremely limited... in most cases, just to the big games (in terms of supermarkets), with Game, etc. having the new releases.

[RotorHed]

I view it as a good move for consumers by Sony - what other way to view it is there? Other than that it's just speculation.

I've bought lots of games v. cheap just weeks after release, not necessarily months. No one then says the platform is dying.

You guys need to get over the Vita is dead meme - it was amusing anti-satire during launch, now it's just lame.

Rotor.

[AlexAtkinUK]

My take on this, well I HOPE its a sign that Sony have woken up and realised that they need to remain competitive with the second hand market.

If the Vita carries on with discounts like this, I can see myself buying a lot more games brand new than I usually do.  I already picked up Modnation Racers which I did not feel was worth its full price when I already have Mario Kart on my 3DS, but at £11.99 its a steal.  On the other hand Gravity Rush seems well worth £29.99.

I just joined PSN+ for the first time too in order to play some Little Big Planet 2 while waiting for the Vita version, and do some more Burnout Paradise (a game I have on Xbox but I get to go on again on PS3 now).

So are you going to argue that Little Big Planet 2 and the PS3 are lost causes?  Again, I'd like to think instead its Sony realising they can hit Microsoft where it hurts right now if they play it right.

[wiipass]

all i say is thanks to tablet & mobile phone's affordable gaming for the recent Vita discounts,in order for vita to have success it has to become competitive with other gaming platforms otherwise sony will continue to struggle with vita.

for example max payne was recently released on android selling for £2 if this was on Vita we would get ripped off paying 7 or 10 times more money. this is why hardly anyone buys Vita games. 

[Cringles88]

How can you compare games like Angry Birds, Cut The Rope or Temple Run to games like Gravity Rush or Uncharted, or even the LBP Beta.

The Vita only has to contend with the 3DS really, as it's the only 2 handhelds on the market. I really don't see any competition between the iPad or the Vita. 

It's really 2 different markets.

How does Max Payne handle on the phone? I've always found the touch screen sticks on a phone to be terrible.

[AlexAtkinUK]

Indeed.

I bought GTA III for my phone and can't get any anywhere on it as the controls lead me to get killed/arrested all the time.  Then after playing it for a while it crashes my phone.

You can hardly compare that experience to PS Vita.  Well maybe the crashing , but certainly not the control problems.  I would gladly pay 2-3x the price to play those games on PS Vita instead.

What DOES annoy me are games like Angry Birds and Plans vs Zombies that originated on touch screen devices, so aren't improved at all by the PS Vita, but cost a lot more on it.

Its one thing to buy it on PS3/Xbox for the big screen, but when its on a device with practically the same form factor it seems bloody cheeky.  Although I expect this to change now that there is a common platform to release games on Android and Vita using the same SDK, it would make no sense to charge more for one device than another.

[RotorHed]

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wiipass wrote:

all i say is thanks to tablet & mobile phone's affordable gaming for the recent Vita discounts,in order for vita to have success it has to become competitive with other gaming platforms otherwise sony will continue to struggle with vita.

for example max payne was recently released on android selling for £2 if this was on Vita we would get ripped off paying 7 or 10 times more money. this is why hardly anyone buys Vita games. 

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Phones/tablet are cheaper? - I would laugh, but that joke has worn thin now.

However you said, in another thread :

"none as both are best played on a home console or even better on PC not on a tiny 5 inch screen with miniture control buttons & analog sticks."

And yet here you want to play Max Payne on a phone!

I think you're confused - confused enough you bought a Vita which has no games you want to play and so confused you bought a handheld game instead of a console one.

A fool and their money.... Sony saw you coming lol.

Rotor.

[Terramax01]

I would like to apologise in advance for this very long post. Also, to those that I disagree with, do not wish to offend in any way.

@Rotor, I find you to be the more confused here. wiipass is pointing out that games are cheaper on other handheld systems, ones that work as other accessories (phones), and have a market base much larger than the gaming crowd, so it seems quite obvious that Sony (and Nintendo) are up against some serious competition, and need to have both the outstanding titles, and very affordable prices to compete, in order to appeal to anyone out of the gaming community, to whom have the money to own the latest home consoles AND change spare for a handheld to boot.

Wiipass' post doesn't refer to the kinds of games he/ she likes to play themselves - that's not the point.

@Cringles88 - yes, you can compare the Vita and 3DS to mobile phones, because chances are, unless you're a hardcore gamer, you won't feel the need to own any of the handheld consoles if you can make do with the games mobiles have the offer.

To use an example: I'm not a car fanatic. If I want to buy a car, I'll make do with some cheap £1000 car on ebay than save to buy a top quality Mazda. Because high quality doesn’t matter to me. The only way a Mazda is getting my money is if a.) it really sells itself as a product I can't live without or b.) the price is low enough that I don't mind paying the extra bit to get it instead of the ebay car.

Are the Vita and 3DS part of the mobile phone market? Yes, they are. Or, at least, handheld gaming is a piece of the mobile phone market pie OR mobile gaming is stealing potential hand held buyers. Bottom line is, handheld gaming is a niche. To be fair, it's always been a niche even before the dawn of mobile phones. Besides hits like Tetris, Pokemon, Monster Hunter, GTA portable, how often do you find handhelds toping the western game charts? Very rarely.

Most people whom have bought handhelds in the past have bought as a novelty, with industry analysers being quick to point out that most who’ve owned handhelds only buy a handful of games before either getting bored of the device, or just sticking to a few select titles for the duration of its life. Very few bought GBA, PSP or DS titles on a regular basis.

Because that’s the case with most people, even most gamers, it would make sense just to buy a few puzzle or Premier Manager games on your Iphone than spend £200+ on a new console to play half a dozen games at £30 each

So how have Nintendo profited by the above considerations? By relying on the same renowned franchises (Mario, Zelda, Pokemon) spread out over several years, and the right gimmick to keep them afloat.

Sony, on the other hand, doesn’t have the same zealot fan base as Nintendo. Therefore, in order for the Vita to really sell, their titles need to be original, suit the console, have enough of them on a constant cycle, and be affordable for enough of the hardcore gaming community to buy, and keep buying for.

Now, relating this to the question of slashed prices, do I believe this is the reason for the price reduction? Nope. I’m not even sure if Sony are even targeting the mobile phone crowd (despite it being what I said the above) or, at least, I think they’d be silly to go for that angle.

It think it to be regarding two factors. Firstly, the quality and size of their titles.

I'm sorry, but games like Modnation just aren't worth £30+ for. And whilst I ADORE Everybody's Golf - it ultimately feels like a simply designed golf game, despite the shop features and overall polish. There's no way I would've been persuaded to buy that game at £34.99.

Games like Gravity Rush and Resistance, however, are very complicated and original titles, that feel to have more meat to them, more money pumped into and, you’d hope, greater depth and longevity, hence these being reflected in their higher price tags.

Secondly, Vita owners (future and present) aren’t stupid enough to buy titles at a price higher than they’re debatably worth. Nintendo managed it with the DS (and wii) due to targeting kids, ignorant parents and the casual crowd. But that is not the approach Sony appears to be going for with the Vita. It’s a handheld for hardcore gamers and people who want all the latest devices. And that’s a very small market to be relying on business for. Especially with the costs to make the games being as high as they are this gen.