Is the age of the portable games console as we know it over? It seems like company president Lyle Hall and new signing Matthew Seymour at Heavy Iron Studios think so, at least in some fashion.
“People don’t want it,” said Hall speaking about Sony’s upcoming portable. “That’s Nintendo’s huge challenge – how do they add value to that? If people aren’t willing to pay $249 for a Nintendo 3DS why would they pay $299 for Vita?”
[drop2]Of course, we’ve already discussed at length the notion that Vita is already too expensive. But perhaps it’s not just the price.“People don’t want to carry more than one thing in their pocket,” he continued, “that’s why Android and iPhone have done so well, they are the devices of choice, they offer multiple functions outside of gaming.”
Seymour’s been in the industry for 20 years, having worked for 2K Games and Microsoft Games Studios, and now works for Heavy Iron. “With all due respects to Sony and Vita, it’s a car wreck,” he said. “And how about Xperia Play? I’d love to pull up the numbers on that.”
He’s obviously not talking about the actual tech, more the pricing, position and the struggle against platforms like the iPhone, we’d imagine. The market is shifting, and we reckon Heavy Iron know this all too well. It’s hard to imagine he means that Vita itself will be a “car wreck” – more the whole situation that Nintendo and Sony are facing.
“The technology is sweet,” admitted Hall, “I’m a huge fan of mobile technology, but I just don’t know there’s a market out there anymore for the hardware. I can’t see why you would want to put a device out that only does games. The consumer has spoken. We wanted to see that world exist – more players, more opportunities for us, but at the same time people don’t want that.”
“Unless there’s a super technology paradigm shift it’s not going to shift back.”
The LA based studio recently worked on UFC Personal Trainer. We’ll have our detailed thoughts on this, PS Vita and the whole ‘mobile console’ deal later today…
Via GI.biz.
bg
What makes me laugh is how all the fanboys say ‘COME ON SONY WHY DONT U MAKE CASUAL GAMES UR NOT GONNA MAKE ANY $$$$$!!!!11!!1!’
But as soon as Sony do make casual games the fanboys will all say ‘ZOMG SONY!!1! YOU SELL OUTS!!’ They just cant win
Samiro05
Hehe, I think these guys are right despite how much we may want to get our hands on the device. It will be great at first but then when you realise you have other things to do whilst on the move it’s hard to just pause game and put in your pocket till the end of the day which is what you can do with phones, I don’t think I’ve ever paused a Gameboy game and had the battery last till the end of the day.
I do carry tons in my pockets because most of my trousers have loads of pockets to put stuff in but I imagine this device is bigger than a Samsung Galaxy S-II and (with a phone cover on) that is quite annoying in my pocket so I don’t know how well this’ll be for them.
As for the device being a car wreck, only time will tell whether the PSV will have the same sales as the 3DS and will just show a shear lack of enthusiasm for gaming only devices. The situation of gaming only mega expensive devices being sold is a poor business move against the giants of mobile phones with multi-functional applications along with games suited for mobile entertainment – not console games wedged onto a small screen.
You also have the pricing of PSV games to consider – a game on android would be less than £5 I think for all games. Whereas with the PSV, oh round about £40. Same as a console release. So why would you part with the cash for a smaller game? PSV games will just REQUIRE another list for people who rent games as today’s games are just too expensive to choose a game which is not going to last you the year – FIFA, COD, etc…
I personally will not be buying the PSV because it costs a lot and I have a PS3 already.
Samiro05
I didn’t mean for the first two paragraphs to be so heavy on pockets :p I meant to say that we have phones that do so much other than games so why just a platform for games is needed, I do not know.
ruinereraser
Not sure what you mean about pausing the game not working, it works pretty well with PSP devices – even if the battery is low and device switches off, you can still resume the game after charging the console.
Youles
Perhaps more PS3-to-PSV game support. For example, I love the idea that I’m going to be able to mess about with my MW3 Custom Classes on my iPhone, ready to play later on. Perhaps some exclusive PSV features like this would encourage more PS3 owners to buy?!
DrNate86
I agree, Sony should be pushing for a lot of PS3 interactivity. If they can make it an essential add-on for the PS3, as well as a handheld console, then they will be getting the best of 2 markets.
Youles
I have a lot of work commitments (and a wife and child), so being able to increase my levels, tune my Gran Turismo garage, or change my loadouts, or add exp during my lunch breaks etc would be awesome! I’d buy it for that reason alone as my game time is often limited, but if I was mobile I could do these things! It really should be a huge selling point for the Vita in my opinion, if Sony and developers implement it. Obviously there should be no advantage gained as it would be unfair for people who didn’t have a Vita.
DirtyHabit
I whole heartedly agree with him. Iphone/android is where its at now. Mobile consoles have had their day IMO.
*runs away and hides from Youles* :)
DirtyHabit
O-Oh there he is ^^
Hi Youles :)
Youles
Lol!
I actually agree with a lot of what that guy says – it’s definately a niche market, but [as I’ve said before :)] I don’t think it’s affected by the iPhone/Android market…but the Vita is going to be much better than PSP and 3DS (I think) so will hopefully sell much more. Guess I’m just an optimist! :)
DirtyHabit
:)
ruinereraser
70 million sold consoles is niche market? :)
DirtyHabit
70m what? Vita releases 2012 to my knowledge.
Youles
Compared to iPhone/Andriod I would say it’s niche. I wouldn’t expect casual gamers such as iPhone users to be that interested, it’s more for console gamers. It’s not exactly encouraging for casual gamers to pay out £200+ for the console alone. Might get a few Xbox users buying it as MS don’t have a portable console, and they get to play some Sony exclusives such as LBP, Killzone and Uncharted.
simplebob
I’ve tried Resident evil on iPhone and although impressive it doesnt compare with what a PSP can offer let alone teh Vita mostly due to control. I have an andriod phone, but apart from Sudoku and Solitaire, I’ve not found anything that I would keep going back to. I want lengthy RPGs, and shooters, and Uncharted. I have it in my living room with the PS3 but if I have the option of taking those experiences with me, and if I have the money, then I will get a Vita.
kivi95
Will absolutly buy one as it has one importing things BUTTONS. And smarphones are expensive.
Sympozium Pawa
Erm… far as I’m aware, Heavy Iron made the Spongebob games so they’re evil in my book of evily things.
djhsecondnature
My main disagreement is with this bit: “People don’t want to carry more than one thing in their pocket”
I personally would never carry it around in my pocket, nor a Gameboy, DS or PSP. If I was out it would almost certainly be in a bag or a big coat pouch.
Secondly, I think people forget that a lot of people don’t ever take their handheld consoles out of the house. It’s often about just being able to play it in different places in the home.
jason1971
most of his games has been a car wreck