Sony doesn't feel like reacting to Nintendo's 3DS price cut, but one analyst believes the Vita must fall in price or risk "major failure."
When Sony revealed that their new portable wouldn't be available in the US this year, Kaz Hirai told reporters that Nintendo's price slashing plans won't affect the Vita. He seemed convinced that the price is reasonable and affordable, especially considering what the Vita offers:
"We packed so much into the device and made it very affordable. There is no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price."
But in speaking to Bloomberg , Ace Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda said consumers are actually expecting Sony to drop the price of the Vita.
"Gamers are increasingly anticipating Sony to lower prices, especially after the 3DS cut. Sony is under major pressure to cut the price of the Vita or risk a major failure."
There will be two versions of the PlayStation Vita; the 3G-enabled one will cost $299 while the one without 3G will hold a $249 price tag. This month, you'll be able to get the 3DS for as low as $169, although higher models do approach the Vita cost. But are both units catering to the same audience? Should Sony be worried about this price differential?
Sony shouldn't worry too much about the "hardcore" gamers and Sony fans who are revved about the Vita, but the less gaming-centric consumers might balk at that price point. Let's just hope that Sony makes the right decision so we don't have another flop on our hands.
what flopped?
The Go, and the 3DS imo.
I wouldn't consider the Go a separate system from PSP, and PSP wasn't as bad as people say. Not nearly.
Yeah, I was referring to the Go, which I was foolish enough to purchase, so I have that buyer's remorse shaping my opinion. Hence the "flop". 🙂 I loved the PSP otherwise. Great library, solid construction despite the screen issues, etc. Just didn't like the battery life and hauling the discs around, and I thought the Go would rectify that. Le sigh.
I'm worried that the price compared to the competition will keep people from buying the Vita, resulting in a Go-esque failure. But, generally speaking, the guys at Sony know what they're doing. Just need to keep my spirits up, ne?
Hmmmm,
Maybe there could be some sort of commotion from the 3DS's upcoming price cut, causing some gamers to take a "wait & see" attitude towards whether or not there will be a Vita price cut too.
LOL it was the Vita the one that pressured Nintendo to make the cut, before all people were like..oh Vita has a great price.
Now this? come on!
I know huh?
Whats even funnier i though Vita at 299 was the price cut. i would of bought it for 499 for whats it comes with. Imo i think Sony overdid the Vita in specs.I dont see how they made the price as low as it is now.
neighber,
Three years of selling at a loss, and that's only for starters.
Is it me or does Sony seem to loose money off the get go with almost all new systems? Im not talking PS or PS2, more along the lines of PS3 and now the PSV….I will still buy Vita at the $250 mark. I think sony will be fine in the end.
Not just Sony…losing money on hardware (at least, early in its lifespan) is the industry standard.
Xbox never sold at a profit. PS2 probably didn't until the slim.
Sony isn't losing money on the Vita at the prices they're selling it for at launch. If they are it's minimal and made up by accessories and games on day one. There's at least three interviews by ranking officials at Sony, if anything the 3G model is probably going to be profitable on hardware alone due to the price increase (adding 3G doesn't cost that much) and exclusive deals with wireless carriers, namely AT&T. Kaz's three year talk was likely including everything that goes into making a new piece of hardware, he didn't say they would lose money on each one sold.
Also, shouldn't we know by now that analyst are idiots? $249.99 is fine, Nintendo's price was just stupid and the 3D should have been no more than $200 at launch.
LoL this is just crazy. I agree with Oxvial, the price was good just a couple weeks ago and now Nintendo lowers the price of its p.o.s. and its a big deal… The Vita hasn't even released yet and they want a price drop? wtf.
look at the specs of that monster! why would anyone pay anything less then what its already at. This price is already more than fair.
3ds was overpriced. Vita isn't. I don't think the price could be any lower without Sony suffering significant losses.
I think it's likely the Vita will offer the richest portable gaming experiences on the market for some time to come, so vita can be sold higher than 3Ds.
I just hope there's enough of an interested market there to support and sustain it's premium offerings. I'm not even certain if I will be interested enough in the Vita to ever purchase one.
Aren't they already losing money on the Vita?
I agree the 3DS is over priced as is. Though I am tempted to spend the extra money now just to get the 20 free games Nintendo is going to give away to those who bought or buy the 3DS before the price cut.
I just dot get NIntendos marketing strategy with 3Ds. It seems for some time now they've placed an emphasis on how a person interacts with their games, rather than how their game's look. 3Ds seems to abandon that ideology and sells itself as a better looking DS.
Maybe Nintendo thought they'd capture the now more grown Nintendo fan from the DS era. I dunno
Sony always takes that debt for the consumers, they just love us 🙂 lol
There are 20 3DS games?
😉
Yes, I'm going to kind of repeat what I just said in another reply. Actually I'll just provide the links to interviews…
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-playstation-vita/715473
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-09-sonys-andrew-house-interview
http://psp.ign.com/articles/117/1177042p1.html
Hopefully I don't get flagged for spam or something. <_<
They should be more worried about releasing the Vita with a good line of games. Which is the reason they decided to wait until 2012 no? So I don't see anything to worry about. $250 is more than a fair price. I think the reason the 3DS failed to catch on was because Nintendo has squat for games upon it's release. I mean a Ocarina of Time remake is great but they should have had at least a new Zelda announced or ready for launch among other games.
Last edited by Jawknee on 8/8/2011 1:35:04 PM
Hey Jawknee, can I blame Nintendo this time?
Nope.
But they made it happen so…
I reckon that's crap. The Vita will be worth considerably more than the 3DS ever was, and consumers should realise that. Whether that will correlate directly to sales we can't tell, but the mentality is there. Nintendo were arrogant to think that they could get away with their initial price, and Sony followed them, stunning everyone in the process, due to earlier assumptions that the Vita would cost a small fortune. But honestly, let's wait until six months after Vita's launch to see if the sales are so stagnant as to need a price cut. I can't help but think that they won't be.
It's no even close to the disaster that is the Nintendo 3DS. It has two screens, which I still do not understand. But with the 3DS one screen is bigger than the other and one is brighter than the other. I feel sorry for anyone who buys the 1st model of the 3DS as it is flawed. I am sure Vita will arrive when it needs to & it will be good at least, unlike the 3DS which is the worst console I have played since the Sega Saturn.
But… the Sega Saturn actually had good games.
The 3DS as a piece of hardware is fine. It's just lacking games.
Sega Saturn was awesome! And it probably had the best 2d controller ever.
But yeah…other than Zelda there are really no 3DS games I want. The GameCube started this way too but now it's a great system – so again, we'll wait (and wait) and see. I just hope there's no Metroid for 3DS…then I'd have to get one eventually 😛
Saturn + Virtua Fighter 2 ahhhh the good old days. That thing made frame rates on Playstation laughable.
Price cut the Vita? Seriously? Did anyone else hear the crowd rejoice at the price when they announced it at E3? Why the sudden change of heart?
Because of the 3DS? Get out! I'd wager that almost nobody is stuck in a toss up over which handheld to get. You'll want one, or the other, or both, and their respective good prices wont change that. I mean, $250 is still a seriously good launch price for what Vita has to offer. In fact, I wouldn't expect a price drop for a good while after launch.
"risk a major failure"? C'mon, what kind of analyst are you… *slap.
wait. i thought analaysts were happy with the vita's price point. i guess that was before nintendo dropped its price. i understand their reasoning and the 3ds price drop does put pressure on sony. the market will determine if it's at fair price. the market seemed to reject the 3ds at its price point without any games . nintendo was forced into a price in an attempt to strengthen the platform. i think there are real lessons to be learned from the 3ds luanch or even the ps3's luanch. a high price point without games to drive sales equals trouble.
Sony will be making a loss on the vita for 3 years before they even make profit.
But consumers still expect a price drop before its even released?
Just can't please some people these days, want everything for nothing sheesh :S
Price lower are welcomed at anytime for me!!!!!!
I think it would be a failure if you cut the price. It would fail to ever bring in revenue because the damned thing is already more expensive to make than the cost to us.
Why would Sony ruin themselves because Nintendo lost confidence in their system?
ugh, bottom line, ppl go for the cheaper system.
they should really cut the price by a bit.
i mean 299 for a handheld? (Thats PS3 Prices) yea ill stick to my iphone till i can grab that for cheap. (If i ever do, doubt i will. sorry i have better things to do than carry around 2 different devices to just play games.)
i know everyone here is a hardcore gamer so obviously we care about whats under the hood but lets face it. (WE ARE THE MINORITY.)
the real sales aint gonna start rolling in till its cheaper.
Last edited by Mamills on 8/8/2011 4:30:34 PM
Your a hardcore gamer?
Really?
And you wouldnt carry around a 2nd device just to play games?
helllll, id carry a ps3 around in my pocket if i could.
I bet your iPhone cost more than $299…maybe even excluding your contract.
If only it could play real games.
I think the price is fine, I would pay this for it for sure I cant' wait for the Vita to be released I know sony will have a good line up.
Hey Jawknee the 20 free games might not be worth it I have the 3ds and the list they gave me kinda sucks a little we'll see though their are a few good titles.
Metroid Fusion! =p There were a few others I wanted too but I'll take another look.
Sony shouldn't be worried.
Nintendo and Pokemon fans are the only people that will really buy the 3DS.
But then again, i think the Vita is only catering to PS fans, or even portable fans at large. Casual gamers don't seem interested in anything portable beyond their iPhones or Androids.
The price of the Vita is fine, if ANYONE asks for a price cut, just because nintendo cut theirs, is a fool. 3DS has nowhere near the same capabilities of the Vita. It's like comparing a Ford Fiesta and a Nissan GT-R. You CAN'T/wouldnt expect Nissan to lower the price of the GT-R if Ford dropped the fiesta would you?
I'm neither a Pokemon fan or a Nintendo fan and I have a 3DS that I love. I've only got 2 first party games out of the 5 I own for it. One being Ocarina of Time and the other Nintendogs.
Only reason I'm holding off on Vita is I just dropped $250 on the 3DS and then the price dropped. That and I'm waiting for games that are gonna make me HAVE to have a Vita. Most of the stuff is coming to PS3 as well making it less worthwhile.
I'm assuming Hideki Yasuda is japanese?
It should be noted that the 3DS isn't selling very well outside of the japanese market. It is possible he is basing his theory on the japan market.
So it could very well be, that people in the japanese market want a Vita cut, but that doesnt mean the rest of the world does.
sigh.
back to your bridge!
Wow that article is stupid. The Vita price is way more than fair, for what your getting. Maybe the analyst should talk about how no one is buying an ipad cause of its price…. oh wait they are. Even with cheaper alternatives around.
your nuts, you cant compare a apple device to a sony device!
thats like saying wow ford are selling more cars then Ferrari!
apple could release a turd in a cup and charge 200 bucks for it and it would fly off the shelf!
hell look at all the better phones on the market, not to mention cheaper and less restricted, and which ones still selling out?
thats right the more expensive, more restrictive, less capable one!
im the worlds biggest apple fan, but the popularity of there devices is just ridiculous!
"your nuts"
LOL! Look who's talking!
This is like comparing apples and oranges. The 3ds is not anywhere near the equivalent of the go in features, so they should almost certainly not be priced the same. That's like saying a dodge pickup truck should get a price cut because they cut prices on a toyota corolla. Some people want a truck some people want a compact. Some people want a good handheld and some want a gimmick.
$250-$300 for this. Seriously, speaking for myself, this is just a useless device. Who's their target audience and I wonder…will Sony even advertise this thing? Seriously though. No need for a handheld gaming device when my PS3 satisfies my gaming needs. When I'm not home, I don't plan on playing video games…just saying. I know people need them for train rides, road trips…etc, but seriously is it that serious.