Mr. Malstrom –
First off, do not think for a second I’m trying to suggest in a roundabout manner that we’re in need of a 3DS solution, because I think I get the failure. You’ve explained it well.
But could you explain why a lot of your articles suggest the Vita is attractive? Now, I sort of understand. Its attractive by comparison, sure, but I’ve been around your website for awhile to know that there are business principles at play beyond just happening to be better than the other product.
And….I don’t know for sure….but it seems to me Sony isn’t pushing any winning blue-ocean strategies with the Vita. It has a gimmick, albeit not 3D. Its game library doesn’t have the classic platformer that Nintendo had for the DS, the same sort of breakout game SMB DS was. Its expensive enough. It doesn’t seem to match up to any of the business ideals that you discuss in your articles. The only thing I think we can both agree on is that it doesn’t have 3D.
So, are you simply being slightly sarcastic with the Vita interest, or is there something we should learn from the Vita besides not having 3D?
– Interested Reader
At the end of the day, I don’t think the Vita will ever be outselling the 3DS except perhaps in Japan.
The Vita and 3DS situation is much different from the PSP and DS situation. The 3DS is in a much, much worse position than the DS ever was. And, aside from the hype, the Vita is in a much better position than the PSP.
Sony of 2011 is not the Sony of 2004. Sony does not and financially cannot replicate the mistakes of the PS3. The Vita is being made in a much smarter way than the PSP was.
Vita is made with off the shelf parts that cell phones use. Instead of competing with cell phones, Vita is riding in their hardware wake. Vita hardware will easily be revised and will come down in price fast.
Vita is region free (except for the Internet downloads).
Vita also uses cartridges. No more UMD discs.
Sony really got the hardware right with the Vita (aside from the small buttons). There is none of the PSP, PS3, Xbox 360, or even the 3DS wackiness. Getting the hardware right is very important because Sony will be stuck with it for half a decade. Marketing campaigns and pricing will change, but the hardware design cannot fundamentally change.
Vita will start off selling very slowly. The PS2 and PSP had insane hype when they launched. Vita will not have this hype. But that’s OK. As the price of the hardware goes down and the software library increases larger and larger, Vita will become more and more attractive to people.
I’ve been very impressed at Sony’s PSP performance in Japan. Vita will have Japanese game companies on it. The home of JRPGs will be on the Vita. Monster Hunter will definitely be on the Vita. I see the Vita emulating the PSP success in Japan.
In the other markets, it is harder to say. Handhelds are bought mostly for kids and Vita will not get kids… at first. Then again, 3DS has been keeping parents from buying it for their kids.
It is not so much bullishness as it is that people are underestimating Vita. It will likely perform better than the PSP. (It still remains to be seen whether the 3DS will perform better than the PSP.)
As a gamer, I find the Vita interesting. The iOS and Android games are too awful and a rip-off for their $1 price (way too much). The 3DS is leaving gamers like myself who do not want to play N64 or Gamecube games. So I am stuck with Vita. Vita does have some console ports and will likely get more. But what I find intriguing about Vita are the download games. Between now and 2004, a new strata of games such as PSN, Xbox Arcade, Wiiware, and various download PC games have been created. These would be perfect on a portable.
The Sony console philosophy is a machine with as much software as possible on it. You play games in your own way. The 3DS is very different. Did you know that Iwata was not allowing any 2d games onto the system (until just recently)? It was reasons like that which is why I stopped buying Nintendo consoles with the N64.
Vita doesn’t do the Blue Ocean. But neither did the GBA. I see Vita as an alternative to portable gaming for people unhappy with the Gamecube-esque direction of Nintendo. There is also no Xbox handheld to take away from Vita’s sales.
It is possible that Vita will be the portable where you get the 2d games, the RPGs, and the quirky games. And the 3DS looks like it will be the portable with its main games being Ocarina of Time, 3d Mario, Mario Kart 7, and Smash Brothers creating the Second Coming of the N64.
Vita seems so much less bloated than the 3DS. I like the simplicity that there is only one screen, no voodoo 3d output, and a ton of downloadable games will be available from the start (not metered out as Nintendo does to make “surprise”).
Remember, I was not a fan of the DS. It was only until NSMB was announced for it, and I saw the RPGs and other games (along with its SNES controls) that I knew it felt like the Second Coming of the SNES. I need to get a DS XL so I can keep playing DS RPGs and other games for the next five to ten years (yes, I’m serious. Five to ten years).
All the PS1, PSP, and Vita games will be available on the Vita. That is a very rich game library. I can go through it and find at least six things I’d want to buy (six software titles and the general direction of the console determines if I buy the hardware).
There are things we don’t know at this time, of course. The hardware could be defective at launch. There could be problems we don’t see. I’m definitely going to wait and let the early adopters take the arrows. But for the Eighth Generation, I’m definitely going the Vita route. Nintendo is doing a N64 redux on me all over again (and still, no 2d Mario!). Vita will have games (like RPGs) from the PSP that I missed first time around.
I’m tired of dealing with Nintendo’s nonsense. And Vita is the only alternative I have.
Vita won’t ‘rise to heaven’, but I expect a better performance than the PSP. People shouldn’t underestimate the Vita.