John Koller, Sony’s head of hardware marketing, has spoken to Kotaku regarding the PlayStation Vita. We assume it’s the same conversation he had about the PS3, but split over two articles. Regardless, it’s a fascinating read, if only to be utterly astounded at what the guy is saying.
It’s clear that Koller believes his own spin, even if the sales figures hardly show a particularly healthy bunch of sales since the Vita launched.
“We knew there was a market,” he says of the cynics. “Our research pointed over the last four years of creating it that there was a market. We still absolutely believe that. Right now we’re on forecast to where we thought the platform would be.”
[drop2]According to the report, that’s with existing PS3 owners and an “over-indexing” in the “urban” populace, which Kotaku emphasise as “black and Latino gamers who live in cities,” apparently.With regards to the current line-up of games, Koller is keen to point out the PSP’s main flaw (trying to sell PSP gamers games that were too similar to console games) won’t be repeated with the Vita.
But, and here’s where we get confused – that’s exactly what they’re doing now, isn’t it? Especially with the first party titles: Uncharted, WipEout, Battle Royale, Sly – the list goes on.
And continues to do so for the rest of the year.
“Ports tended to be very difficult to message,” he said. “Consumers go, ‘I’ve got it on console. Why do I need it on this and spend $40 on this and spend $40 for exactly what I have on console? That doesn’t make any sense.’ I think that’s a very relevant position.”
And on those $40 (£40) games? “You have to have the experience that backs up that price point and on a platform-wide level we think—we’ve seen—there is an absolute demand for $30 and $40 games. Uncharted is $49 and it’s [sold to Vita owners] incredibly well.”
“I think that proves that if you have the right game and the right content and franchises, you can price the way you need to, and, by the way, once you get them in, you can start selling them the $5 to $10 games that you have on the Network.”
We love our Vitas here at TSA but this whole interview is confusing – the replies at least – and hardly fills us with confidence.
tonycawley
Wtf does being black or Latino have to do with it? I wouldve thought it’d be more for the suburbian rich white kids.
What he said about not wanting to buy the same game twice, that makes me think there’s going to be more “buy one game, get 2 copies” going on.
I see what hes saying though, its the $40 games that get you to buy the system in the first place and the $10 downloads you buy when you actually own one.
stupid sad idiot website
‘Wtf does being black or Latino have to do with it? I wouldve thought it’d be more for the suburbian rich white kids.’
Well then, wtf does being White have to do with it aswell?
Ignorant racist idiot.
DixNeuf
There’s a world of difference between ports and making platform-specific versions of existing franchises, what the guy says makes perfect sense to me.
skibadee
make sense to me as well.
SavageOranges
I don’t think it’s about him not making sense, it’s about him being contradictory to himself and saying that they aren’t making the same mistakes with the Vita as they were with the PSP.
jimmy-google
Me too but there is room for certain types of ports as well, mainly non story based games like sports, racing etc.. I will always want at least one version of the likes of FIFA on a portable
They can keep making as many portable uncharteds as they want. I also hope that the canceled heavy rain chronicles may make a reappearance on the vita.
Paranoimia
Makes sense to me, too. I’m happy to pay full price for a game like Golden Abyss, as it’s a full game in its own right, and not a port of any of the PS3 games. If I was still interested in the series, I’d also pay full price for Burning Skies and the upcoming CoD game. Some of us actually like, even prefer, the full console experience on a portable.
I think Sony have done well with Vita. There’s a range of game types to suit everyone. Apart from the ‘full’ games, there are smaller, lower priced titles like Super Stardust Delta, Escape Plan and 2-for-1 deal on Motorstorm RC… even minis for those who enjoy bitty, pointless phone-style games.
The only place they’re ‘failing’ is in keeping a steady flow of games coming between launch and now, but I’m still busy with the launch titles, so it hasn’t bothered me personally. That said, there are several titles due over the next few months, so perhaps those will shut people up.
hol
Did they interview him whilst he was drunken? He doesn’t make much sense in either, seems to contradict himself a lot!
Severn2j
ISTR when they released the PSP they had some great games on launch day then nothing else for a very long time, which left many PSP owners (me) with a great looking paperweight while they waited for the endless promises of games in development to appear. Glad they haven’t done that with the Vita. Oh, wait..
I actually got fed up with seeing history repeating itself and traded in my Vita after only a few months and got an iPad3 instead. It gets a hell of a lot more use than the Vita ever did.
DirtyHabit
Same.
I’ve been dissappointed with the lack of Vita support. Plus the Games are too expensive IMO.
I know alot of people like retro games. Personally I can’t see the point of a handheld at the bleeding edge of consumer tech, thats full of 8bit rehashes and Mini’s. Either that or £40 games that (for me) have’nt quite lived up to expectations. There are a couple of good games I guess, but no ‘great’ games. Glad I got to play ‘Escape plan’ but thats about it really.
I enjoyed my time with my Vita, its a cracking bit of kit, But its probably seen 20hrs use since launch. Bought a tablet yesterday. Vita goes on Gumtree tonight…….
Youles
All of what he says sort of makes sense, but is contradictory. There will be “copies” of games on console (Uncharted, WipEout, Resistance, Bioshock) as the entire target market for the Vita won’t just be PS3 owners – Sony will want to target Xbox and Nintendo consumers, as well as new console buyers. Hopefully he’s right and we aren’t just going to see ports though – such as Gravity Rush which I’m looking forward to. And some games I will now prefer to buy on my Vita such as FIFA (good for short games during lunch-breaks), and LBP which seems to be enhanced by touch-screen innovation and the Vita’s features. I’ll mainly use my PS3 for First Person Shooters and games that benefit and create a better experience being played on a 40″, 1080p TV, same as I never played games like MotorStorm RC on my PS3.
Crocadillian
Sucky interview, it doesn’t give me any confidence about the console either, but I bought it because I still enjoy consoles, somewhat shamefully. Great console, bad business strategies.
bigbaldwolf
He seems a bit confused but from this it seems that they want to make games that have that console experience without actually just porting games from the PS3. This isn’t a bad thing and can be a way to tempt people to buy a Vita. Especially if they get those AAA games released.
Sympozium
Problem with the PSP was the lack of games and the pricepoint whenever it became £25 each game that was priced that way was more attractive.
Vita is following the wrong path of the phat PSP ironically.
Soild_Nat
We have to remember this is Kotaku giving their version of the conversation and lets face it, its going to be structured and edited in a way to make a story. We don’t have the context or the order in which things where said, we were not in the room at the time.
I think the Vita is doing just fine, we should all stop worrying about sales and comparing it to the PSP. The whole market and environment are different compared to that of the PSP. Many people have less money then they did or less disposable income then a few years ago so purchases like this are probably not high on the list. We also have iPhones and iPads which offer gaming in a much more casual and accessible way.
If its any indication most of the people i know have a Vita, some that skipped the PSP altogether. I am sure the games will come and the integration with PS3 become even more evident. Any new platform takes time to catch on and grow, lets give it some time and room to grow.
It took a few months for the 3DS to pick up speed didn’t it? Isn’t that platform also suffering a lack of new games coming out?
TSBonyman
They can’t make the same mistakes as they made with the PSP – the Vita has dual sticks!
I bought a Vita mainly because it meant proper console gaming on a handheld, so i hope they’re not going to switch to just focusing on touch-games.