PS Vita Shortage As Demand Rises According To Sony

Aran Suddi 10 Comments

According to reports it is rather hard to purchase a Vita in North America, with places like Amazon and GameStop running out of stock rather quickly. According to Sony it’s because of the rise in demand for the handheld over recent months, likely due to the push to show the Vita as a PS4 companion. The company has stated that it is working to meet the new demand which is rising globally, something Sony told Polygon.

We’re seeing healthy consumer demand for PS Vita globally, particularly in markets like Japan. The U.S. launch of the slimmer and lighter PS Vita has generated strong interest among gamers, and we’re working to replenish supply here to ensure continued momentum leading into the holidays.”

It’s very good news for the company but I can’t help but feel a bit cynical. Is demand really that high that major retailers are running out, or was the initial amount of product the stores kept in reserve low anyway? There’s been increased grumbling as months go by without a huge exclusive coming to the console, though there is a lot of gaming to be had if you look around. I like my Vita but it doesn’t see as much game time as my PS4 or PS3. With the announcement from Shuhei Yoshida stating we’d see fewer AAA title on the console some owners will feel let down.

If this is a huge rise in demand for the console and sales do pick up, I hope that will be the kick the Vita needs to bring more devs to the console.

Source: Polygon

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10 Comments

  1. If guess stock has been kept low because demand has been low, although this is good publicity because it looks like it marries up with the high PS4 demand. Good news for our beloved Vita though, more sales should lead to more games!

  2. I love my Vita now give me AAA games now it’s supposedly selling well.

  3. you never know, if sales really do pick up significantly they might reverse the decision on AAA titles. The fact they said there wouldnt be any more triple A type games could have been them downplaying it while they wait and see how well the whole PS4 companion angle works out. then if it gets a much bigger install base they could greenlight some more stuff like Uncharted etc . I sure hope thats what happens

  4. Given that the US isn’t that big on Vita anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me that retailers don;t have that much stock, after all stoke you can’t shift to consumers is stock you’ve paid for and stock thats taking up space in your warehouses. Slow moving stock is not a good thing for retailers, so I don’t see that an uptick on a typically stagnant market couldn’t take retailers in the US by surprise.

  5. I love my Vita and when Playstation Now comes it will be the only place where you can play PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP and Vita on the same device.

  6. Quite odd news, especially after Sony announced less AAA titles for the handheld just a couple of days back.
    Hope this was true, but I doubt it.

  7. Right..Good! Now make some bloody games for it!!

  8. I love my Vita too and while I’m satisfied with the games that are coming to Vita, including some real crackers, I’m disappointed with the stance on big titles by Sony and third parties.
    Especially comparing to the PSP which kept getting big titles like the Syphon Filter and Resistance shooters from Bend, God of War games and even great versions of Tekken and Soul Calibur to name but a few!
    Still I’m grateful for Sony’s push to appeal to Indies which has kept the Vita alive along with some of the more niche publishers like NIS and Atlus.

  9. It’s ironic that this sales spike happens after they announce that there will be fewer AAA titles for the Vita.

    I love that the Vita can provide a decent AAA gaming experience on a handheld – i really thought that was what i wanted, and i still do, kind of. I mean i love that the technology has gotten to this stage. It’s just that given the choice of playing a AAA game on handheld or in more comfort on my HDtv, the latter is always the more attractive option for me. I love that i can play Uncharted, Killzone, WRC etc, but practically speaking for me the smaller, dip in/out games are more suitable for handheld gaming.

  10. Most retailers keep very little stock of vita’s because their demand has been so low. In America most retailers don’t even accept trade in of vitas because of how slow they were selling

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