After the Nintendo 3DS price cut, it’s hardly unexpected to find analysts and commenters assuming Sony will do the same. Regardless of your thoughts on mobile gaming, Apple have changed the market, forever.
Compared to the PS3 (and, indeed, the 3DS) PS Vita is actually priced quite competitively, but that hasn’t stopped people urging Sony to reduce it further. “Gamers are increasingly anticipating Sony to lower prices, especially after the 3DS cut,” said Hideki Yasuda, a Tokyo-based analyst. “Sony is under major pressure to cut the price of the Vita or risk a major failure,” he said, as picked up by Bloomberg.
[drop2]Sony Consumer Group president Hirai is defiant, though. “We have a very good product at a very affordable price, he said. “There’s no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game industry decided they were going to.”Sony’s main competitor in the market isn’t just Nintendo, though – it’s Apple, who have sold more than 200 million devices capable of playing more than 100,000 very cheap games. “The market opportunity for specialist devices is shrinking rather than growing” aid Piers Harding-Rolls, analyst at a research firm IHS, and it’s all due to convergence.
Koki Shiraishi, analyst at Daiwa Securities Group, agrees. “The environment for portable game players has become more difficult because of smartphones,” he said.
Gamesindustry.biz’ Rob Fahey is of the same opinion. “What you can’t do,” he says, “is make smartphones and tablets go away… It’s smartphones and tablets that will have the largest impact. Multifunction devices may not play games quite as well as dedicated devices (yet), but they play them well enough for most consumers.”
“And [that has] led many consumers to see handheld games as something that should be free or very inexpensive, casting huge doubt on the market for £30 software.”
“The money being pumped through the iOS revenue system, contrasted with the failure of the 3DS to ring the tills at retail, is proof positive that [this is] already happening on a large scale… 3DS and PS Vita will, quite simply, never scale the heights of the previous generation of handhelds – but if Nintendo and Sony are fast, and clever, and more than a bit lucky, there’s a good chance that they can carve out a viable, if smaller, market.”
Of course, Vita’s main draw is the PS3-quality gaming, which from what we’ve seen is absolutely a reality, rather than the more ‘disposal’ games that the iPhone is, often wrongly, understood to concentrate on. With games like Uncharted and WipEout the Vita will certainly appeal to existing PS3 fans. But is this enough?
“One thing is certain – dedicated handheld gaming devices are now in rapid decline, and barring an extraordinary technological advance, they’re not going to come back. Birthed with the Game & Watch, this sector is going to end with the 3DS and Vita. All that remains to be seen is whether it ends with a whimper, or a bang.”
What do you guys think about this?
Youles
I don’t understand this mobile gaming comparison to console gaming, it’s not even close. I can’t imagine anyone buying Angry Birds, then saying “I now won’t buy Fifa or Call of Duty”. If someone has a console, they will buy games for it. I can’t see anyone buying an iPhone instead of an XBox. You don’t see iPhones being sold next to PS3s as a rival or comparison. They offer different things.
Youles
*rant continues* If I buy a Mars bar for like £0.79 these days (used to be £0.28) I don’t think I can’t afford to buy Uncharted 3 in a few months. Same goes for a similarly priced App/Game. Most consumers don’t think twice about spending the odd pound here and there, that’s why Apple etc make so much money from App stores as we don’t think we’re spending much, but it does add up. However, not enough that it stops the purchases that we do ‘account’ for, such as a £30-£40 game.
colmshan1990
Exactly.
Throw away purchases shouldn’t and don’t compete with the AAA purchases.
Different markets.
To be honest, my PSN and mobile phone game purchases both take what would have been my magazine money, but none of my game money.
Jaffa-the-Cake
The only reason ios gaming is so high is because of the ease of jailbreaking. No one i know pays for ios games, they get em all free.
Guyers94
Yes but they’re comparing mobile games consoles, that you carry around with you. People have an Xbox or PS3 at home but they can’t carry them around with them. Almost all people will have mobile phones so they’d rather play games on that than buy another handheld system such as the 3DS or Vita. That’s the argument anyway, not that I necessarily agree with it.
colmshan1990
That would hold only if the iPhone and Vita were as similar as the PS3 and 360, but they’re not.
Nowhere near each other in fact.
Youles
I guess…although even if you replace PS3 with Vita in my rant, I still think a console is different than a Phone that can play some games, and I can’t see one person buying one over another. I could be wrong for a few people, now that phones and tablets are getting better, but I don’t think Sony need to worry. If they support Vita better than PSP it will be a success.
DirtyHabit
I think the problem lies in the fact that the likes of you, I and other people on here appreciate the differences of between an (e.g) iphone and a Vita, but general consumers will not.
‘Why would I spend £200+ on a handheld, for which the games cost £40, when I can occassionally play 70p games on my iphone, which was free on contract. plus I have to carry 2 devices around.’
Thats the problem Nint and Sony are facing IMO. Its not the likes of us thats the problem, its the general consumer market, thats where the money is and its them that need convincing. Yes, WE are likely to buy a Vita/3DS but WE are the minority. They need to sell 10’s of millions, not millions.
colmshan1990
The gaming market is bigger than you think.
The PSP apparently failed with 60million + units sold, because the DS managed to outsell it nearly two to one.
That’s nearly 200 million portable console users.
Now, even saying that half the PSP owners also own a DS, that’s 150+ million customers for just two consoles, which cater to different ends of the market.
I can’t see the market being killed by phones just yet.
DirtyHabit
Ok, they need to sell 100’s of millions, rather than 10’s of millions…
:)
carson321
but the DS, as far as I have seen with the people I know that own one, has very much gone the way of the Wii, lots of general consumers have bought one, thought it great, played with it a bit, and now its gathering dust
Youles
@DirtyHabit
‘Why would I spend £200+ on a handheld, for which the games cost £40, when I can occassionally play 70p games on my iphone, which was free on contract. plus I have to carry 2 devices around.’
…but these types of people are obviously not interested in consoles anyway and are not a target market for Sony/Nintendo. If someone doesn’t know the difference between a £40 game and a £0.79 game, then they’re clearly aren’t interested in console gaming. So, I don’t think Sony are going to lose customers due to iPhone/Android gaming, they just aren’t going to gain customers who aren’t interested in a hand-held console (you can’t lose something you never had).
DirtyHabit
As you say at the top of this conversation, we are not talking about console gaming. We are talking about the handheld market. iphone/android has made a huge leap in the past couple of years. Gone are the days of ‘Snake’ preloaded on you monochrome(?) screen. I’m not denying that Vita/3ds are great bits of kit. but as far as the general consumer is concerned, I think the line between the phones and HH’s is much less defined. Plus now adays its not just about gaming. Its media capabilities, web browsing, photography….
Youles
I meant Vita/DS when I said console in my previous comment, sorry.
I agree that the differences between phones and HH consoles are getting smaller, as the HH consoles are now getting web browsers, Skype, Apps etc….but the gaming is where they completely differ. People who buy a DS or Vita do so for the gaming (primarily) and a phone is not going to replace this yet, the quality of games are still worlds apart. As I said before, people will not choose an iPhone over a HH console. They probably only play games on their phone because they are available, not because they bought a phone with the intention of buying/playing a shit-load of games. It’s for communication purposes. Then the people who want a HH console will still buy one, I don’t think one affects the other. Like someone else mentioned, MP3 players and Cameras still sell loads despite most phone including these. In most cases (including gaming) these are bolt-on features to phones and not their primary use functions. There are exceptions though like the Sony Cyber-Shot phones and the X-Peria Play. Would Sony have release the X-Peria Play if it though it would damage PSP or Vita sales? I doubt it.
DirtyHabit
I agree to a certain extent (I had done since the start TBH) :)
I just think the casual market is so saturated in some serious pieces of hardware and some good cheap casual games that that is the reason Nint @ Sony are going to struggle to crack that market. In the days of the first PSP’s and DS’s they had it alot easier because they had something new and different that stood out from the crowd, where as now they are struggling not to fall into the ‘just another gadget’ category.
When I had my S/E K810i I was falling over myself to get a PSP. But now I have my xperia arc, I’m not that arsed about the Vita. (I do buy stuff other than Sony) :)
Although I do see the advantages of the Vita over my Arc, I also see the advantages of my Arc over the Vita and the HH’s biggest problem there is…I already have my Arc and I’m left thinking ‘do I really need another shiny thing?’
What would help swing it for me however, is if the games were of PSN size/quality/price. Therefore the hardware wouldn’t need to be quite so high spec. Making the unit Cheaper. Say £150 plus approx £10 games is where they need to be right now IMO.
Youles
I see what you’re saying, and we definately agree on some things. I agree that the Vita won’t attract over any casual gamers – especially at the price.
Why can’t Sony do what mobile phone companies do, especially when a new iPhone retails at £300-£400…we could pay £20 a month, includes 3G costs, certain PlayStation+ digital content (which doesn’t really cost Sony much) and that monthly fee (signed in for 18 months) covers the cost of the device….and they will make money on the games? Just thought I’d put that out there!
Youles
…it would also spread the cost for people who couldn’t afford the initial purchase of £200+
Obviously this is only good for people of 18 years old due to contract commitments. I know there is more to it and a lot of management required for Sony, but it could work.
DirtyHabit
If we make this page any longer TSA is gonna explode! :)
On your point on the Xperia Play. I only know 1 person with one, its pretty cool, but feels kind of dated? not sure why? Its a bit small n chunky? dunno.. shoulder buttons are akward too.
Out of interest, did you know with my Arc, I have a few emulators and can play N64 and PS1 games amongst others, With a DS3 controller via bluetooth. Through my TV via HDMI :) Which is kinda cool :) Or obviously with DS3 and without the TV. but its kind of odd when the controller is bigger than the screen :)
Youles
I didn’t know that – and that is pretty cool!!
We could continue to argue whether most people would know how to do that with emulators, or I could just accept that its a very good argument from your point of view of phones being able to play decent, less casual games! :)
DirtyHabit
Good shout on the subsription. Something like that could work. But as you say could be costly on management. I think they need to do something to succeed.The HH market isn’t what it was 6-7 years ago.
tantalus_blank
Another reason to buy the vita – reducing the likelihood of Apple taking over the world and turning us all into i-tools. In all seriousness though I think it does seem likely that this will be the last generation of handhelds, I just hope that by the time they die out we’ll have more sophisticated control interfaces than touch screen control layouts. I’ve tried a lot of touch mobile games and, while the touch screen limitation did add something fresh to begin with, it’s now getting rather stale.
BLAGGER
I would rather Apple do it than Microsoft…at least their tools work ;)
anthro
Except for the reception on the iPhone4. And the cooling system on MacBooks. And the screens on iPod Touches. And the lifespan of the Time Capsule…
BLAGGER
Reception on my phone is and always has been fine, don’t use other products so wouldn’t know. My comment is based on experience of working with Macs since 1994 and not once have I lost any work through them! Wish I could say the same about other OS’s!! ;)
anthro
I’d have to agree with Apple’s OS on the Mac… I always viewed it as a spiritual successor to Workbench :)
BLAGGER
What your saying about touch screen gaming is true, I have iphone but only play games that are intuitively used with touch screen, I cannot stand virtual analogue sticks, I can’t play for shit with them and always turn to PSP for a better gaming experience (on the move that is! ;)
Spence1115
Drop the price of WiFi to £200 and 3G to £230, and do adverts showing not just the games, but quick switching to Skype for video calling, and then show playing video on it, then streaming it to a networked TV/PS3 quickly, and you’ll get a lot of unsure people interested as well. It should be able to do these things anyway. The pausing games and switching to Skype should be easy enough for it if programmed well, and the video streaming should be possible if it’s possible to easily do Wii U style game streaming from PS3 to Vita. Oh, show that off as well, preferably someone playing the game on console with the handhold
tantalus_blank
The only problem with that would be that people may find the advertisement of Skype to be a bit misleading, seeing as video calling will probably only be available on WiFi, regardless if it’s subscription 3g or not
colmshan1990
Colmshan1990 looks at phone, remembers that he’s been video calling since 2007 on 3G networks, wonders why it wouldn’t be possible for the Vita…
stingraz
And the fact Skype is owned by Microsoft..
Heading a psv advertisement campaign with a Microsoft owned service might not be the best idea.
PoorPaddy89
I’ve seen Windows advertised with Sony laptops. No one really cares that MS has taken over Skype – it’s almost irrelevant.
PoorPaddy89
*Irrelevant to the PSV that is :P
colmshan1990
Yeah.
Pretty much only the name links different Microsoft departments, because the company is so big with a finger in so many different pies-
Skype has no more to with xbox than it does PS3.
PoorPaddy89
Theoretically, in the next gen of consoles I guess they could implement cross-console chat! :P
colmshan1990
Cross-platform chat will arrive before cross-game chat on PS3. :P
Spence1115
Drop the price of WiFi to £200 and 3G to £230, and do adverts showing not just the games, but quick switching to Skype for video calling, and then show playing video on it, then streaming it to a networked TV/PS3 quickly, and you’ll get a lot of unsure people interested as well. It should be able to do these things anyway. The pausing games and switching to Skype should be easy enough for it if programmed well, and the video streaming should be possible if it’s possible to easily do Wii U style game streaming from PS3 to Vita. Oh, show that off as well, preferably someone playing the game on console with the handhold, then switching to playing it on the Vita as someone changes channel on TV.
Spence1115
Not sure why that double posted. I blame my iPhone *returns to Cut the Rope*
Guyers94
I love my iPod touch and take it with me wherever I go, I really enjoy the games on it and some recent ones are getting very advanced.
But, I’m still getting a PS Vita day one because as good as iPhone games get you will never get publishers like Naughty Dog and Media Molecule making top quality products for it. Indie developers are great and all, and I know EA put a few games out, but they will never compare to what the big guns can do with the power of a dedicated gaming console.
I’ll still take my iPod out with me, probably even more than my Vita but I know I’ll enjoy playing Uncharted on the Vita a lot more than playing Gangstar on my iPod.
Spence1115
Oh and I’m also getting Vita day one. Wifi version, don’t need 3G version to be honest. I’d reply to my own comments, but iPhone website doesn’t support that so instead I’ll fill up the comments page :P
Dange
For me Vita is a day 1 purchase, cant wait. If this is the last generation of dedicated gaming hardware i think thats a big shame. We still have dedicated cameras even though modern phones do a good enough job. I just cant play games using a touch screen. I want ps3 quality controls and thats not happening on an iphone. And even if its integrated into a sony phone then the phone is gonna be too bulky for my liking anyway.
colmshan1990
Mobile phones are yet to kill the MP3 player, the camera, the GPS unit and the laptop.
Why would portable consoles be the first to go?
DrNate86
I wouldn’t say killed off, but certainly diminished. Most people I know use smartphone cameras instead of digital ones, and I imagine the amount of iPhones outnumber the amount of iPods. I certainly don’t know anyone that carries around MP3 players with them anymore at least.
While more specialist machines such as high end digital cameras and the PSV do a better job at what they do, smartphones are definitely favoured by the more casual (and predominant) user. It is cheaper and more convenient to have one small gadget instead of several!
cc_star
People know they can hold off purchasing and the price will come down.
Although always unlikely not to be on store’s shelves for Christmas, it is nevertheless a huge miss, meaning sales will probably meander along across late spring & summer, selling to the committed niche, meaning a pre-Christmas 2012 pricedrop is inevitable. Studios aren’t going to spend millions on games if the install-base isn’t there and the only way to get the install-base is to get to DS price as quickly as possible.
There won’t be too many commenters on here, but out in the wider world a portable console is irrelevant and those that think it isn’t have proven that £129 (maybe 149) is the sweetspot required for mainstream breakthough, which is where studios making bigger budget games need to keep investing after the launch bubble has burst.