Ben-DutkaThe PlayStation Vita had one heck of a Gamescom, and we've already said it absolutely proved its worth .
But you can't satisfy everyone and when it comes to gamers, it's tough to even satisfy the majority. In the discussion of free-to-play, developers have started to realize that gamers actually want to pay nothing for their entertainment, and this past week, Jade Raymond made the point that these consumers demand perfection .
Sony is even surprised at the demands of the gamer crowd. After confirming to Eurogamer that the Vita will not receive a price cut this year, Sony Worldwide Studio boss Shuhei Yoshida said the goal is to make the unit more attractive at the current price point.
"People like cheap or free. Of course, cost reduction is one area our engineering team is working on. But we just launched the platform earlier this year. It takes time to do so.
At a certain point in the future we would like to address the pricing issue for some of the people who are waiting. But this year we are trying to add value by creating different types of bundles. We announced we will provide LittleBigPlanet PS Vita bundle pack. That's affordable for people who are looking for a good deal."
Then he mentioned all the feedback they had received from gamers, and how the company was a little taken aback at just how much the consumer wanted. Yoshida thought the Vita had a solid launch but clearly, that hasn't been enough for many.
"From our perspective, we were very pleased to launch with many titles. Many people said we had the strongest launch line-up for a PlayStation platform. But it's amazing how much more people want and how much content they consume."
It is true that we are a nation that loves our electronics. But given what the Vita is putting out there between now and the end of the year (and what it already has, especially in terms of hardware potential), we believe the price point is just about right. There's the other argument that gamers seem to be spoiled out of their minds these days, but that's probably not just gamers…nah, it's just about all consumers.
Sorry Yoshida Im still not interested I have yet to see a must have game.
If you haven't seen one yet, I doubt you ever will.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 8/16/2012 7:24:08 PM
If it's just a couple, I can probably see why.
Last edited by AcHiLLiA on 8/16/2012 1:16:36 PM
Well, I agree with Bebe, for me there isnt a MUST HAVE title on the vita atm, but I've got ZERO intrest in most action games, and shooters on any handheld device, I'm lookin more for RPGs and the odd adventure game.
I agree with the Vita being priced just about where it should be, however, and this is the big problem, the memory cards are just flat out over priced. This is the exact same problem that the PSP had, and sony was dumb enough to do it again with the Vita…. sigh. Ah well, I'll just sit tight, wait for the Vita to drop in price ( or the memory cards ), and wait for a couple key series to pop up on the Vita I guess, cheers.
There's no doubt that what they're charging for the Vita is more than fair considering what it can do and it's potential. It is still a large chunk of money ($300 or so for the console, memory card, and a game or two) for me to throw down right now. Disposable income is few and far between.
I'll wait until the holiday season where hopefully I have some Amazon gift cards ready to go, and I might be able to catch a deal on a bundle.
Good to see even Sony see there is as they put it…
…'the pricing issue'
There is one quote in this article about a subject that troubles me more and more. It's this;
"In the discussion of free-to-play, developers have started to realize that gamers actually want to pay nothing for their entertainment,"
…and also from Yoshida-san "People like cheap or free."
Yes, of course people like free things. But the desire for lower prices in gaming seems to have given way to a desire for zero pricing in gaming. Actually it's worse than that, people expect – yes EXPECT – gaming to be free. I just had some family visit. My brother-in-law has two J-tagged Xbox360s he downloads movies, music and games from Usenet binary groups. His expectation is that things should be free, that he should not have to pay. I talked to him about it and he honestly doesn't see a problem consuming all of the media he does for free because he can point to a few cases where he or someone else has actually bought something they first downloaded from Bit torrent or Usenet binaries.
That expectation is so unrealistic and morally wrong I almost don't know where to begin. I mean that old saying about there being no such thing as a free lunch has never been more true. But gamers and consumers of media in general seem to think that it's not wrong to download stuff for free – because you can. Regardless of the legality or morality of it. That's an unsustainable mindset.
People demanding every cheaper goods that turn to piracy to obtain things for free because they cannot get them for cheap are harming everyone. I know that their mantra is that if prices were lower they would pay, but that's complete BS in the majority of cases. If they want lower prices, they could wait a few months and pay when the price is reduced, but they don't they download it.
The same people think that their actions will somehow force lower prices from content creators. It won't, it can't and it never has. If you are making a game that ultimately is played by 4 million people, and all 4 million pay retail price for it, you can afford to reduce the price because your profits are more than sufficient. If you produce a game that 4 million players play, but only 3.5 million players paid you for, suddenly that profit margin is thinner because you're not selling so many copies. You can't cut prices because that makes the profit margin ever thinner. No game maker can afford to make/publish loss making games.
Ultimately this expectation of things for free pushes prices up for everyone else. It doesn't 'hurt' the pirates since they keep doing what they do, and download for free, but everyone else pays higher prices to compensate for the lost revenue.
That brings me to this whole Freemium nonsense that panders to the casual gamers entitlement mindset of not having to pay for anything. The freemium gaming models are all just dishonest ways for convincing people that they are playing for free while at the same time relieving those players wallets of more money than the retail game would have in the first place. Micro-transactions are like mosquito bites, unless you get lots at one time, they are a minor irritant.
That's what freemium games depend on, people paying for the game gradually, through relatively painless micro-transactions. The hope is that consumers will ultimately pay more through freemium micro-transactions than they would have for the full game in the first place.
All of this goes back to that entitlement mind set that expects things for cheap of for free just because they don't want to, or don't think that they should have to pay.
When did we all become so cheap that we can't accept the need to actually pay for the things we consume?
It's just the general nationwide feeling of entitlement that's permeating this industry. That's all. Everyone thinks they should be handed everything, from healthcare to video games.
I just keep wondering what happens when the entire world is looking to the person next to them, waiting for their "just due." …when everyone is looking and nobody is willing to WORK or DO anything, what kind of doomsday situation is THAT?
This is becoming the way of the world though and really I'm not surprised. When groups start telling everyone there is no right or wrong and that we don't have to believe in morals then what else can you expect? By todays world thinking everything should be free because nobody owns anything.
I don't know Ben, but I get the feeling that the doomsday scenario you describe is a step nearer each day.
Kraygen you do know that this phrase;
"everything should be free because nobody owns anything. " essentially describes communism? LOL, that would mean that all the entitlement minded folks are really communists in philosophical sense – not the political sense – of the word.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 8/16/2012 12:40:24 PM
kraygen: It's driving me up the wall. "Everyone is the same," "nobody is better than anyone else," "nobody is ever 'right' or 'wrong;' it's all just an 'opinion' or a 'life choice,'" "nothing is 'good' or 'bad,'" blah blah blah.
Maybe people don't quite get it, but that's a perfect recipe for one thing, followed by another thing: LAZINESS and FAILURE.
Very well said Highlander. Ironically, though, those very people who flog other people's work, tend to get quite irate if someone steals from them, or suggests they should be doing something for someone else for free.
My punt is that in this always connected but often never closely-connected age, the diminishing number of close, personal relationships means humans' perspective of how society works has ironically become narrower even though there's oodles more information available (noting most freeloaders aren't pirating stuff that'll make them much brighter ;)). By having an always-connected, ADHD instant-gratification culture, people are less likely to need to work for things or understand how things are made, and just expect everything for free instantly. It's a right shame, as the vast majority of people who don't understand the value of hard work seem to have a gnawing whole in their soul (not surprisingly), and it's becoming ever less likely they'll learn what they need to fulfil it, but rather live and die without ever fully realising themselves. But that's just a punt of course, could be off kilter ;).
I continue to give pirates a server at every opportunity – in my view, gaming pirates aren't gaming enthusiasts but the opposite – enthusiasts support the industry they are into – gaming pirates are bottom-feeding, parasitic scum that destroy it. And that's my nice description of them.
Get this. A couple years ago I had to be laid off because of industry woes. During that time I contemplated going back to school full time (i was part time schooling at the time). So while looking for work I stopped into a bank and talked to them about loans and stuff for school etc., I told the bank lady that I was just collecting information at this point. But anyway, the lady said I DESERVE taking the year off and just collect unemployment for the max months before returning to work. She said she did this very thing and recommended that I should.
of course, I didn't do that. I had 2 job offers within like 2-3 days of being unemployed. Not once did I think it right to just lay around because I deserved it an collect unemployment (other people's money) when I was very much well and able to work.
Anyway, it just blows me away people do that sort of thing.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 8/16/2012 9:34:22 PM
what's the average battery life on the Vita? considering the fact that it has no UMD support.
Depends on how you run it – in airplane mode, with wifi/bluetooth off, I got a good 4-5 hours of gameplay (Uncharted, Mutant Blobs, Wipeout) on full screen brightness and maybe more (I don't wait until the battery is dead to recharge ;)). But add in all that extra scanning activity and it'll chew more power – similarly, dial down the screen brightness and it'll use less. Battery life hasn't been an issue for me yet, and given the Vita is in a class of its own for portable gaming, and out-batteries anything of a similar size for what it produces, it's doing very well.
Considering a flight tht I took from the west to the east of the US takes about 5 hours and mintues, I'll say that's pretty good battery life. But still holding back, Idk know why they dropped the Memory Stick for the Vita, maybe it's a piracy thing.
Last edited by AcHiLLiA on 8/16/2012 6:18:13 PM
Yeah, the memory stick is the only real downer for it, but it's a one-off, and even with the stick the comparison with other portable gaming devices in terms of capability to cost is pretty good. The interface can also be a little clunky at times, but I'm a bit of an interface perfectionist – it's deffo good, and doesn't get in the way of having fun :). Deffo don't get it until there's a couple of games you're dead-set keen on and you've got the money spare (ie, you won't need to eat baked beans on toast for a couple of weeks afterwards) – a good general rule of thumb for any gaming system :).
The only game I really want to play so far is Gravity Rush. It's too bad Bioshock Vita is probably really far out.
Your teetering on the brink World! I can almost hear you saying "Man, I want to buy one NOW!"
Uncharted is amazing and look what's coming:
Ragnarok Odyssey
ACIII Liberation
PS Allstars Cross-Play
Ratchet and Clank Full Frontal Assault Cross-Play
LBP – With compatible PS3 Costumes
Warriors Lair
Soul Sacrifice
Sly 4 Cross-Play
Final Fantasy X HD
Tearaway
Persona 4 Golden
Bioshock Infinite
PS1 Compatibility, RPG flood gates opened on 8/28!!!
Cross-Controller
And a game I know you are interested in Silent Hill Book of Memories
There has got be a few of the games I listed above that you are interested in and excited for.
Besides, it's really cool to be a Vita owner! 🙂
Last edited by CrusaderForever on 8/16/2012 5:46:13 PM
Oh I'll get there eventually, but I'm not gonna have a heart attack over it. Console gaming is still the best. It would be nice if I could play these games on a TV.
I'll admit I was a little bummed when I found out that the ACIII:L bundle wasn't going to have a memory card with it any more, but I still think the Vita is a grand deal.
I'm not sure how economics work but I do know that the folks working for Sony or selling Sony products need to pay the bills. That isn't going to happen if the Vita price dropped to zero. Which seems to be what the internet wants these days. The forums and comments of some sites is almost as BSed and demoralizing as watching the news!
I hear Yoshida's frustration here – I'm a huge fan of my Vita, and find myself using it more than expected (it was originally just for on the road, but many of the launch games are top-notch quality that I don't feel that I'm compromising my gaming experience to leave the PS3 alone and play the Vita on the couch – for me, it's that good). And beyond some gimmicky touchscreen swipe-fights, Uncharted on Vita is every bit as good as it's PS3 cousins. Mutant Blobs attack is top fun, and Wipeout is top notch, and Gravity Rush looks a blast (although I've only had a chance to play the demo). Through in Unit 13, Super Stardust and Everybody's Golf, and you've got more top-quality games in Vita's first 6 months than for any other platform launch I can think of (supported by a good range of average-good games like F1, FIFA, . And I hear Sound Shapes (out this week) is also very good.
Oh, and you have to pay at least twice the price of the Vita to get anything mobile with comparable game-playing prowess (minus the controls, of course).
And still people complain. You wait until the launch of next-gen – I predict the most whinge-filled, entitlement-addled launches in human history.
I just look to buy all the games I really want first at full price and anything that comes up that's free or discounted is known as a much appreciated bonus deal. I say thank you very much. I am not expecting to get anything free. But if Sony gives me something free it really means a lot to me. Do I expect Sony to give me 1 free game, No. I would be happy to pay Sony $50 a year to help build their network, enhance their R&D and to just show my support. Sony is a class company that I am honored to support.
how can it be amazing?
the vita has only had a handful of must have games in the 6 months its been released!
so of course people are going to be complaining for more!
last time i checked people dont go spend 300+ bucks on something so it can be used as a fancy paperweight!
Yup, you're the type of contextually-oblivious, entitlement-focussed consumer that's got Yoshida confused – how about you compare the catalogue for Vita six months in a console or handheld that does better. Go on, have a go and see how far you get ;). The problem here is that the Vita is being compared with home consoles half-a-decade old, and a 3DS with 12 months more on the clock (and still with fewer games than I'm keen to play than the Vita!)
Last edited by Axe99 on 8/17/2012 5:48:44 PM
ah yes of course, because everyone does it it makes it ok right?
oh please!
go rob a bank, go to jail then say oh i should get away with it because im not the only one thats done it so that magically makes it legal.
$ony said they learned their mistakes with the PSP, and they promised not to make them again.
than they just dived back in doing the same things they did with the PSP!
the vita is not tanking because its so expensive, its certainly not helping, but the main reason why its tanking is because theres no games for it!
just because every system is like that this time of release does not excuse it.
Not surprised, I said before release that they wouldn't officially drop the price this year.
All it means is there won't be an official price drop but you damn well know that there's going to be bundles and major retailer deals just in time for Christmas. The Vita kind of got boned by Nintendo's desperate 3DS price drop last year, now a lot of people seem to think Sony will follow suit. The only problem is those damn memory card prices but I do think we'll be more bundles, especially at the retail level with memory cards as we already have been.
I guess I know who some people might be voting for in this election year from some of the comments I have read.
I would buy the vita if it could stream games from my PS3. All games. Not just 3. Throw in internet streaming from my PS3 and I would buy the 3G version, and be very happy, even if there were NO games available for the Vita itself.