What do you think can be done to save the Vita?

[Cheeseheadfoamy]

It's no secret the Vita is floundering in sales, and even though Borderlands 2, Minecraft, Final Fantasy X and X-2, and a huge amount of indie games are all entering the library, the Vita needs more help.

What do you think will help save the Vita?

 

[Jacky]

a miracle?

 

[Borshay]

Nothing, its going to be a niche device for the remainder of its life. What it needs is a price drop to go with the slim model. $199.99 bundle with Borderlands 2 & Minecraft would've been the ideal bundle in my opinion, with a bundle free entry point of $169.99.

Who knows though, maybe SCEA's new leader will blow us all away and announce a nonport from them. SCEE & SCEJ are the only ones supporting it (from within Sony) and i'm sure its well reflected on sales. In a dream scenario the Third Party Relations studio thats porting Borderlands 2 will get FFT0 and get Enix and other Publishers on board.

I love the Vita but its no wonder its not doing nearly as well as the PSP once you compare most of the notable franchises that have appeared on the two.

What can Sony do from a software standpoint?
Patapon, Gravity Rush, Uncharted, Infamous, Gran Turismo, new exclusive Jak or Ratchet (or both), Syphon Filter, Twisted Metal, God of War, MotorStorm, Buzz, LocoRoco, Ape Escape, Resistance that doesnt suck, PaRappa the Rapper, Untold Legends, Socom, Warhawk.

Sony has yet to make a sequel to one of their Vita titles and I do think thats a problem. While obviously the PSP was out longer they managed numerous Patapons, God of Wars, LocoRocos, Jak & Daxters, Ratchet & Clanks, to go along with their notable first party franchises in Twisted Metal, Gran Turismo, Resistance, MotorStorm. Plus you add in third party franchises like not-dungeon crawling Silent Hills, X-Men Legends, Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter etc.

Sony themselves started a bad precedent for porting PSP games to the PS2 later its life.

Another part of it is Nintendo made a handheld that doesn't require AAA games. PS2 level graphics don't require huge dev teams or budgets. With its installment advantage and lower budget risk it will be hard for Sony to get publishers to swap.

 

[Cheeseheadfoamy]

Nothing, its going to be a niche device for the remainder of its life. What it needs is a price drop to go with the slim model. $199.99 bundle with Borderlands 2 & Minecraft would've been the ideal bundle in my opinion, with a bundle free entry point of $169.99.

Who knows though, maybe SCEA's new leader will blow us all away and announce a nonport from them. SCEE & SCEJ are the only ones supporting it (from within Sony) and i'm sure its well reflected on sales. In a dream scenario the Third Party Relations studio thats porting Borderlands 2 will get FFT0 and get Enix and other Publishers on board.

I love the Vita but its no wonder its not doing nearly as well as the PSP once you compare most of the notable franchises that have appeared on the two.

What can Sony do from a software standpoint?
Patapon, Gravity Rush, Uncharted, Infamous, Gran Turismo, new exclusive Jak or Ratchet (or both), Syphon Filter, Twisted Metal, God of War, MotorStorm, Buzz, LocoRoco, Ape Escape, Resistance that doesnt suck, PaRappa the Rapper, Untold Legends, Socom, Warhawk.

Sony has yet to make a sequel to one of their Vita titles and I do think thats a problem. While obviously the PSP was out longer they managed numerous Patapons, God of Wars, LocoRocos, Jak & Daxters, Ratchet & Clanks, to go along with their notable first party franchises in Twisted Metal, Gran Turismo, Resistance, MotorStorm. Plus you add in third party franchises like not-dungeon crawling Silent Hills, X-Men Legends, Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter etc.

Sony themselves started a bad precedent for porting PSP games to the PS2 later its life.

Another part of it is Nintendo made a handheld that doesn't require AAA games. PS2 level graphics don't require huge dev teams or budgets. With its installment advantage and lower budget risk it will be hard for Sony to get publishers to swap.

This is incredibly true. Thank you for the accurate and detailed response!

 

[Untraditional]

I'm thinking Just software at this point. In my close group of friends they all own 3Ds's and i'm the only one with a vita, they mostly use it to play monster hunter or pokemon together. I'm sure if a newer, or enhanced monster hunter came to the ps vita, they'd all be interested in getting one. so i'm a strong believer in better software

 

[dragon82]

I have never been in the camp that thinks the Vita needs saving. If Sony is content with what is happening with it then that is all that matters. The games are there for people who own one. They could do better with some more high profile exclusives though.

 

[Borshay]

I'm not a big fan of the "Vita doomed, haz no games!!1!" mentality. Just because you dislike a game or genre type doesn't mean they no longer exist.
It gets a lot of crap for ports (even multiplatforms are usually looked down on.), yet the PSP in my opinion benefited from them. The problem with the ports/multiplatform titles is that there isn't a steady flow of them. The PSP had Burnout, Star Wars Battlefront 2 (and eventual stand alones), X-Men Legends, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Madden, NBA2k, Fifa, proper LEGO ports, NCAA games, Need for Speed, NFL Street, Spider-Man, Ghostbusters, The Force Unleashed, Tekken Dark Resurrection & Tekken 6, Tomb Raider, Tony Hawk, WWE games.

The PSP managed to get multiplatform releases steadily throughout its life. Combine those titles with the Dissidias, Daxters, Ratchet, Resistance, Patapon, Battlefronts and you have an amazing alternative if you want a console like system on the go. Whereas the Borderlands 2 is an extremely late port (I'm pretty excited for it since I had 0 interest in a console version), Madden & FIFA were gimped, NBA2k is a no show, Japan seems to be going the multiplatform route with Dynasty Warriors, Ragnarok Odyssey Ace, Dragonball Z game.

I do wonder how much the success of the Wii helped the PSP. The two were close enough in power that it was practical to port a Wii title down and still make a profit. With the PSVita struggling and the Wii U D.O.A. I doubt a similar situation will occur.

I bought my Vita on its NA launch and I've loved every day that I've had it. It rejuvenated gaming for me. I was getting worn down by PS3 era of games and the Vita re-sparked my interest. Already I have a very large list of games I'm interested in for the Vita, some are ports, some unique localizations. All I expect to be fun, which is what counts.

*EDIT: was an originally short post I made from work, expanded on my thoughts a lot once I got home

 

[stolenxnametag]

Original AAA content.
The Vita has a shitload of indie games and a few higher budget titles here and there, but I think a nice spread of solid AAA exclusives would really do wonders for it. No spinoffs, either - actual exclusives.

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation was an okay game, but it was a glitchy spinoff that was eventually ported to the PS3. I think releasing LittleBigPlanet 3, Jak 4, or Final Fantasy XV-2 (you know it's going to happen) would really help it out. There are only so many people willing to play games like Ragnarok, Monster Hunter, and Soul Sacrifice - and that market has started to quickly pick up some saturation. An actual sequel to these games instead of Soul Sacrifice Delta and Ragnarok Odyssey ACE would be better than glorified expansions. Maybe some simulation games would be fun, too (The Sims 4 when it comes out???). More quality AAA titles and less spinoffs and expansions. Where is Gravity Rush II? The Vita isn't a throwaway device, so they need to quit making disposable games for it.

Better Organization / Integration With PSMobile
A solid integration of PS Mobile into the PS Store would be good, too. It's bullshit that I have to download an extra app to play PSM games. Just throw "Quiet, Please!" into the Vita's PS Store and let it run as a standalone with a PSM symbol noting that it's a Mobile game (like how they do for PSOne / PS2 classics). The random content that exists would be better if it were just presented better and advertised.

Advertising
I haven't seen a Vita commercial in 2 years. 2 fucking years. I saw the commercial with a guy walking down the street playing Killzone in February 2012, maybe March 2012 - and I don't remember another Vita commercial since that one. I don't even recall seeing Vita ads on the Internet anywhere. I think Twitter and PSLS are the only places where I see anything about new Vita releases. Why is that?

Sony needs to create a sense of urgency so customers just NEEEEEEDD a Vita.

PlayStation Home *sigh*
I hate PlayStation Home. I remember going there a few times on my PS3 for contests or to watch a conference or something - but I never enjoyed it there. However, neither does any of my IRL friends. For those who have IRL friends that DO enjoy PlayStation Home, that place was a godsend!

Home hosted one of the best features, too - online lobbies for events. If I knew that there were 20 people ready to go murder Loki on Ragnarok Odyssey because they were all talking about it in Home, I would so be ready to get on that shit! Let's go farm eyeballs and get killed really hard! PS Home doesn't have a Home anywhere but the PS3, though, so that's just another skipped opportunity to reach out to more people. That's a social network that Sony can't use to promote cross platform interaction, so what are they waiting for?

A Serious Hardware Revision
Want to make me buy a second Vita, Sony? Add backward compatible 802.11ac wireless cards so it doesn't take me over an hour to download a sizeable game. Give me a useable 12gb of flash memory for storage. Make an LTE version that can support data plans from any major carrier. I don't care if the screen is downgraded a bit - functionality is more important. The majority of this hardware is just to badass to feel so dated because of connectivity and storage issues.


I love my Vita, but it's hard to make somebody want to get one.

 

[BigPete7978]

I definitely don't think the Vita is a failure. But the one thing that I think would help is a bundle with the PlayStation 4.

The biggest addition (at least for me) is the addition of the L2 and R2 triggers on the handheld. While they might not be needed during the use of Vita titles, it is definitely needed during the PlayStation 4 connection and remote play.

 

[Borshay]

Original AAA content.
The Vita has a shitload of indie games and a few higher budget titles here and there, but I think a nice spread of solid AAA exclusives would really do wonders for it. No spinoffs, either - actual exclusives.

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation was an okay game, but it was a glitchy spinoff that was eventually ported to the PS3. I think releasing LittleBigPlanet 3, Jak 4, or Final Fantasy XV-2 (you know it's going to happen) would really help it out. There are only so many people willing to play games like Ragnarok, Monster Hunter, and Soul Sacrifice - and that market has started to quickly pick up some saturation. An actual sequel to these games instead of Soul Sacrifice Delta and Ragnarok Odyssey ACE would be better than glorified expansions. Maybe some simulation games would be fun, too (The Sims 4 when it comes out???). More quality AAA titles and less spinoffs and expansions. Where is Gravity Rush II? The Vita isn't a throwaway device, so they need to quit making disposable games for it.

Part of the problem with Sony is they did make Jak 4 for the PSP. Yet they dropped the number from it and delivered a mediocre title that will be ignored if they make a true Jak 4. The God of Wars were successful spinoffs partially because the events in those games did help the overall story some and they weren't total throw aways. The same can be said of Daxter and how it fit perfectly in between Jak & Daxter and Jak II. Twisted Metal Head-On was Twisted Metal 3 pretty much. Ratchet & Clank Size Matters didn't have any impact but it didn't matter at the time since Ratchet's stories were stand alone.

Simplified version? For the Vita to have mass market appeal it needs to have games from relevant IPs, both Japanese and Western. As well as exclusives and multiplatform.

.... and micro SD card support.

 

[Lifewish]

My response will be short. it needs more games and more importantly, it needs more RPGs and more true "system sellers"

 

[BigPete7978]

My response will be short. it needs more games and more importantly, it needs more RPGs and more true "system sellers"

I agree, but what do you define as a system seller? What do think will truly sell the Vita as a handheld?

 

[Lifewish]

I agree, but what do you define as a system seller? What do think will truly sell the Vita as a handheld?

it needs an epic game, something like a Monster Hunter.

 

[Borshay]

Sadly there is only so much Sony can do, and they don't seem to want to do that. For me the PSP's system sellers were God of War, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy Tactics War of the Lions, Daxter, & Ratchet on the go.

Just over two years in we've received a very shoddy Ratchet port, almost total absence of Square Enix, and ps2 God of War ports from that list. Although the Vita has gotten new installments in Uncharted & Resistance, the first one while very good was littered with too many of the gimmicky stuff forced on the player. While Resistance came out after the IP was pretty much already dead and the game wasn't very good on top of that.

The Vita has quality titles in a lot of different genres, one of its problems in my opinion is the lack of depth in those genres. It's best strength is its Monster Hunting RPGs but it lacks the franchise who made it popular to begin with. Oddly enough it also has a plethora of fighting games but still manages to lack a true Street Fighter and Tekken title

 

[Big Head]

I'll preface this by saying my Vita gets more play than my PS3, which is so much more than I would have guessed when I grabbed this 18mo ago.

1). Better variety of games.
I don't need ANOTHER rhythmic music, puzzle, or racing game for a while. I'm not a big RPG guy, but appreciate the variety that is available as all RPGs aren't built the same. More sports titles for me. Madden had potential, FIFA (the first of the same three ports) was good, and MLB continues to get a lot of play in my hands. There is so much replay in sports titles for me.

2) Cheaper memory cards.
I get that PS+ is awesome, and by pricing the cards as they do, Sony can recoup some of the cash they are "losing" by giving away $50/yr rentals. But, seriously, these prices are crazy for what we get.

3) Give me a chance to check-in ON MY PHONE with near.
I'm a 31 yr old guy. Whipping out a Vita for a quick check-in is just a little clunky. 3DS allows just walk-bys, right? Give me a near option on the PS app or something. near could be a savior, and Sony refuses to promote it.

 

[stolenxnametag]

3) Give me a chance to check-in ON MY PHONE with near.
I'm a 31 yr old guy. Whipping out a Vita for a quick check-in is just a little clunky. 3DS allows just walk-bys, right? Give me a near option on the PS app or something. near could be a savior, and Sony refuses to promote it.

I'm 26, but I totally agree. I don't just magically whip out my WiFi-only Vita when I go to some place with an Internet connection. I leave it in the car so I don't look like a tool.

 

[Lifewish]

I'll preface this by saying my Vita gets more play than my PS3, which is so much more than I would have guessed when I grabbed this 18mo ago.

1). Better variety of games.
I don't need ANOTHER rhythmic music, puzzle, or racing game for a while. I'm not a big RPG guy, but appreciate the variety that is available as all RPGs aren't built the same. More sports titles for me. Madden had potential, FIFA (the first of the same three ports) was good, and MLB continues to get a lot of play in my hands. There is so much replay in sports titles for me.

2) Cheaper memory cards.
I get that PS+ is awesome, and by pricing the cards as they do, Sony can recoup some of the cash they are "losing" by giving away $50/yr rentals. But, seriously, these prices are crazy for what we get.

3) Give me a chance to check-in ON MY PHONE with near.
I'm a 31 yr old guy. Whipping out a Vita for a quick check-in is just a little clunky. 3DS allows just walk-bys, right? Give me a near option on the PS app or something. near could be a savior, and Sony refuses to promote it.

I agree with all of these items but 3, and that's just because I never use near.. It almost seems like Sony is content to just use the Vita as a sidekick to consoles and give it a random game here or there. It would be nice to see them put a bit more effort into the system and really try to get it selling.

Oh and cheaper memory cards are a must! I am always running out of room but I just can't justify paying the ridiculous prices for a 32GB memory card.

 

[Big Head]

I agree with all of these items but 3, and that's just because I never use near.. It almost seems like Sony is content to just use the Vita as a sidekick to consoles and give it a random game here or there. It would be nice to see them put a bit more effort into the system and really try to get it selling.

Depending on what you're playing, I could totally see never having to use near...but I don't see why creators refuse to infuse it into games. Something like Tearaway would be perfect for near. Other than AC Liberation, I can't think of any other core PSV games that have used near, and even then, Liberation didn't really use it correctly ("SOMEONE LEFT YOU A COIN!!!"). I've seen it a few times on ModNation Racers for tracks, and CoD for something, but seriously, where's it at in Killzone, LBP, P4G (leave cards, upgrades, or equipment!), MLB The Show (unis or RTTS points?), Tearaway, or any other core PSV titles? near could be so great, but Sony refuses to make it so.

 

[yowzagabowza]

Save it from what? Its still here, and games keep coming out. DS might sell a lot, but how many games would u actually buy for it? I have a bunch of vita games and have been happy with almost all of them. Id like a few more AAA titles like everyone else has said, but im also fine with quick little games to play in between retail games. It IS a handheld, after all.

 

[Lifewish]

Save it from what? Its still here, and games keep coming out. DS might sell a lot, but how many games would u actually buy for it? I have a bunch of vita games and have been happy with almost all of them. Id like a few more AAA titles like everyone else has said, but im also fine with quick little games to play in between retail games. It IS a handheld, after all.

I do agree that most 3DS games I have zero interest in, but there are so many 3DS games out that there is more to choose from.