Jump to content

"PlayStation Boss Sees Limited Potential for Handheld Gaming" Tokyo Game Show interview


Oobedoob S Benubi

Recommended Posts

Source:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-25/sony-vs-nintendo-playstation-boss-sees-limited-handheld-market

 

In an interview with the press on the Tokyo Game Show, Andrew House (president and CEO of SIE) has stated that handheld gaming is not a huge market opportunity for them outside of Japan and Asia (when talking about Nintendo's hybrid console, the Switch).

 

The quote that will get many a Vita owner frustrated is the following:

 

Quote

 

 


“The Vita experience was that outside of Japan and Asia, there was not a huge demand,” House said. “The lifestyle shift toward the dominance of smartphones as the single key device that is always with you, was the determining factor.”
 

 

 

... Conveniently forgetting that outside of J-RPGs, there isn't exactly a whole lot to do on the Vita.

 

What do you think? Is Sony right on putting more focus on the home console market, or should they either make or have made more of an effort on the handheld console market?

Edited by BillyHorrible
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, SnowxSakura said:

They have no one to blame but themselves for the failure, they want to blame smartphones, but the lack of any real marketing, overpriced proprietary memory cards, and dropped support for exclusives is what did it in. 


I completely agree, not to mention the fact that either the cards or the vita are prone to eating your saves.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, RVMcypress_grave said:


I completely agree, not to mention the fact that either the cards or the vita are prone to eating your saves.

For me not the saves, but I have to delete and re-install the games after some time because vita cannot load them without error and the game closes before full start

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

He's not wrong about the smartphone. People just don't want to believe it. Breaks at work arn't long enough to do anything besides browse my phone. Can't play while I commute. Why would I bring a handheld and a smartphone with me? Nintendo's handheld is still alive primarily because of Pokemon when it comes to children who have nothing but time to play handhelds out and about. Sony doesn't have an IP that's only on handhelds to do the same for them. It all comes down to that.

 

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The frustrating thing about the Vita is how good it actually is and how satisfied everyone was with it. I don't know anyone who owns/owned a Vita who didn't love it.

 

They handled the whole launch badly and got worse from there. If they had done it right the Vita could have been what the switch is now, they just needed a HDMI out port, you wouldn't even need a dock, just use the Vita as the control pad.

 

For me personally if I'm going away for a few days, going on a flight or even just a long train journey the Vita is always in my bag.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally, I'm most annoyed about not just that they blame the lack of demand for the Vita on smartphones (instead of that Sony should have made sure there were more "West-friendly" exclusives, or big AAA games at all), but that this also means they won't soon try again or improve their ways.

 

For me, personally, I have the Switch for my handheld needs so I am helped by Sony putting more focus on PS4 instead of spreading their efforts, but it's a blow for people who want a decent non-Nintendo handheld (and it's bad for fans of Nintendo, in a way, because more competition should help to ensure they'll keep making an effort).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Western companies were never going to jump on the Vita, just like they ignored the PSP, and Sony can't force them. Handhelds have always been more of a Japanese centric console for a variety of reasons. When they release shit like Resistance Burning Skies you know the Western Market is just phoning it in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Already heard this a million times... :P

 

14 minutes ago, Yadilie said:

Western companies were never going to jump on the Vita, just like they ignored the PSP, and Sony can't force them. Handhelds have always been more of a Japanese centric console for a variety of reasons. When they release shit like Resistance Burning Skies you know the Western Market is just phoning it in.

 

Not true. If the Vita was a huge success in the west, you can bet western developers would have flocked to the system. They go where the money is. How did they ignore the PSP? There were a ton of games from western devs on there. The PSP even had stuff like GTA - the biggest IP in the west. Clearly Rockstar saw some value in handhelds.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

“The lifestyle shift toward the dominance of smartphones as the single key device that is always with you, was the determining factor.”

 

While that's part of it, its definitely not the biggest reason the Vita never took off. If cell phones were the sole reason that handhelds don't sell, then the 3DS wouldn't be selling either. It all comes down to the way the Vita was handled.

 

I bought a Vita at launch and I can tell you for sure that everyone was turned off of it the moment it was announced that it would use proprietary memory cards and charging cables. Even today the memory cards are going for $90 for a 64GB card compared to $20 that other SD cards cost. At launch it was even more insane because 32GB cards were $100. I had to replace the charging cable for my launch Vita last week and it was $20 for a simple usb cable. The prices are just nuts, especially when you consider that the Vita cards are prone to failure. 

 

The biggest thing is the games though. The Vita was marketed as having big western titles like Uncharted on the go, which was the worst thing they could have done. The only western games around launch were either ports or handheld sequels to console games, and western games don't tend to run well on it. Once the launch didn't go well, western devs stopped making games for it. The Vita just never had any games that were truly must haves. The few highly rated exclusives it did have like Gravity Rush and Tearaway were eventually ported to the PS4 anyway. Add in that the PSTV was being sold insanely cheap and guess what? No one bought the handheld here.

 

Yes, there are a handful of games still coming out on Vita regularly and the attach rate for games is pretty good. The problem is that the japanese games that are coming out are pretty niche and typically low budget. A lot of the games don't have physical releases and are available on other platforms anyway. If you look at the average scores for Vita games, nothing is coming out that's going to sell the system to anyone who doesn't already own one. 

 

Also, sometimes I think people forget that hacking is what saved the PSP and ended up boosting late 3DS sales pretty heavily. Henkaku just came too late for the Vita, which is a shame because the system is so perfect for it. Sony already stopped production of the Vita last year and now it's a pain to even find one to buy, much less get one that's the right firmware for it.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, RVMcypress_grave said:


I completely agree, not to mention the fact that either the cards or the vita are prone to eating your saves.

Knowing that I suffered from a corrupted memory card last week, the Vita has it's share of problems. The again, I think Sony is underestimating the Vita's popularity in the west. I personally don't care for games on my smartphone anymore, that wore off for me five years ago. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that from a business point of view, it makes sense to play to your proven strength. It's fact that Playstation have owned the console market for quite a while and they continue to roll strong there. So it makes sense that they would want to stay focusing on that.

 

I think that Nintendo truly have the handheld console market cornered since the Gameboy. Not necessarily through quality and quantity at times, but always by pure market saturation, they seem to continuously iterate and version their hardware - i think we're on something like 6 versions of the current DS alone - with all the 2DS and 3DS iterations around.

 

I reckon that the only way they could compete with their Vita hardware is to do a Vita 2.0 and have it's tech on par with a Switch but with a more affordable price point.

 

The gamer in me is sad that we won't see much Sony handheld activity in the future, but I definitely get why it won't happen too. RIP Vita, you are a great little handheld that sees me through lots of boring commutes and plane journeys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The VITA failing in the west wasn't a fault of the vita's, but on sony I hate that old business men always want to whine about smart phones and those darn kids these days. Like a hand held gaming system will never have the same functions as a phone, but on the flipside while phone games are getting more unique they're never really going to hold a candle to the capabilities of a modern portable gaming system. They're two wildly different products and looking at them in the same light is a wrong move. 

 

The vita may not be the world shattering success any business man wants but ultimately it's still trucking along with  packed release schedule, even in the west, it did SOMETHING right and they have to realize what it was. Sure, a vita may not be able to hold a candle to a ps4 in most ways but there's a reason devs, and fans, continue to make and buy vita games. Start recognizing the appeal of the portable system on its own merits and stop trying to make it the next smartphone. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Undead Wolf said:

Already heard this a million times... :P

 

 

Not true. If the Vita was a huge success in the west, you can bet western developers would have flocked to the system. They go where the money is. How did they ignore the PSP? There were a ton of games from western devs on there. The PSP even had stuff like GTA - the biggest IP in the west. Clearly Rockstar saw some value in handhelds.

 

By that logic Western Developers would've overpowered Japanese developers on the 3DS because of its high sales over here, but beyond shovel ware their presence is largely limited to indie companies. The west will always be focused on home consoles and PCs. They know the player base for these two will be high and there's no massive lack of fidelity of going between PC, PS4, and X1. Companies are companies; they are there to make money and that even includes Sony. PSP was weak over here and the Vita continued that. They hoped that western companies would come to the Vita but all they got were extremely shitty to lackluster FPSs. Next came the explosive selling force of the PS4 and that was what ostensibly killed the Vita in the West when it came to non-indie Western developers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Yadilie said:

Western companies were never going to jump on the Vita, just like they ignored the PSP, and Sony can't force them. Handhelds have always been more of a Japanese centric console for a variety of reasons. When they release shit like Resistance Burning Skies you know the Western Market is just phoning it in.

 

I think Nintendo has proven for close to three decades that the west can and will embrace handhelds, if certain conditions are met. Companies will go where the player base is, which is why companies are now flocking to the Switch when on the Wii U it often remained dead silent (in the first month of being available, the Switch had a playerbase of about 22% the size of what the Wii U has amassed over its whole lifespan).

 

More Vitas sold means more companies making stuff for the Vita. Sony would have managed to sell more Vitas if they had produced some high profile exclusives of their own. The idea of being able to play on PS4 through the Vita was amazing, they should have done more to ensure a positive playing experience.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, BillyHorrible said:

 

I think Nintendo has proven for close to three decades that the west can and will embrace handhelds, if certain conditions are met. Companies will go where the player base is, which is why companies are now flocking to the Switch when on the Wii U it often remained dead silent (in the first month of being available, the Switch had a playerbase of about 22% the size of what the Wii U has amassed over its whole lifespan).

 

More Vitas sold means more companies making stuff for the Vita. Sony would have managed to sell more Vitas if they had produced some high profile exclusives of their own. The idea of being able to play on PS4 through the Vita was amazing, they should have done more to ensure a positive playing experience.


Misread what I wrote. Handhelds are not something that comes into the view of Western developers but instead Japanese developers. There are a lot of smaller companies in Japan that thrive off the ability to not have to worry about making a high fidelity game. These are the people still making games for the Vita in the East but they're not the games that are going to take the West by storm. The other issue is that some of the companies in Japan are now switching to straight up PS4 only as the install base in Japan is getting bigger and these companies want to improve their game both on the surface but also what they're capable of behind the scenes. Biggest example is Koei Tecmo dropping Vita completely from their Musous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andrew House is a fucking joke.
"it sold poorly ayyyyy" well, it's your fault, we did everything we could as consumers to buy your shit, but your overpriced memory cards and the lack of first party games and features did nothing but to dig a big hole for its coffin. "Stability update xddddd"
 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's easy to say that the Vita would have flourished if it had more triple-A titles, but I'm unconvinced. There's simply no denying that handheld gaming isn't what it used to be - even the 3DS had a rocky start, and sold considerably worse than both the DS and GBA, even after six years and several revisions. I personally have no interest in smartphone gaming, but it has gained traction, partly because performance has caught up with dedicated hardware, and partly because of convenience. The only real advantage handheld devices have over phones and tablets today is tactile control - and this is something a huge portion of the market simply doesn't care about. 

 

I seem to recall the Vita having a very strong launch, and promptly falling off a cliff. With that in mind, I can't really blame Sony for not ploughing lots more money into first-party development, especially considering the losses the PS3 made and that the PS4 hadn't even been launched yet. Memory cards were a problem, true, but it wasn't long before Sony released the Mega Packs - I picked up an 8GB memory card bundled with games like LittleBigPlanet and Wipeout 2048 for £32, which was insanely good value at the time. Ultimately I think the Vita was doomed before it even hit the shelves. The closest it got to glory was probably in 2013-2014, when the triple-A games hadn't quite dried up, and the indie scene was booming. It's funny that people say Sony could have saved it if they'd made more first-party titles, but look at PS4: it had nothing but Knack, Killzone Shadow Fall and The Order for a good year or two, and it still sold like hotcakes. Success or failure isn't that simple. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And yet, the Switch and 3DS are proof that smartphones have nothing to do with it. The Switch is basically a more powerful Vita, that you can conveniently plug into your TV. It really annoys me how much praise the Switch gets, when it hasn't really done anything new. The only real reason it's successful, and the Vita wasn't, is because it had better marketing, and can be plugged into the TV. That's really it. Give the Vita a docking station, and let you sync a PS4 controller, and it's effectively a PS version of the Switch.

 

Like many other have said, the Vita didn't do well because of lack of support and expensive memory cards. It really has nothing to do with smartphones.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

He's right.  There's no denying that Sony made a mess of the Vita themselves, but the mobile market really did eat into the handheld market.  Even the DS, albeit with good sales, saw a sizeable reduction in units shifted.  I've had lots of these conversations with people on here, usually on 'Is it worth getting a Vita?' threads, I can't remember all the figures, but they were significant.  Personally, I think Sony losing the MH franchise at the time dealt a mortal blow to the Vita, had they retained it I've no doubt they'd have sold much higher numbers, not just in Japan either, and subsequently, speculative as it may be, the Vita might have garnered a larger market share...and all that comes along with that.  Obviously there are plenty of other factors too, and Shu himself commented on the encroachment of mobile gaming, but whether it's just distraction or salient cause, there is truth to the claim.

 

The Vita, imo, is still the best handheld on the market, it's a great piece of kit, but unfortunately what's done is done, I don't see it's fortunes changing nor any potential successor, at least not for the foreseeable future.   I've no doubt Sony rue the mistakes they made with the Vita.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

People who only play on phones are not the same kind of people who play on a dedicated gaming device.

I have played a few phone games and the experience is not even close to an actual game.

Phone only gamers play for a few minutes just to kill some time. For example my mother does play a bit on her phone but she would never buy an actual console. If phones didn't have the free games she plays, she just wouldn't play at all.

 

IMO, mobile games actually opened another revenue and advertising source for big gaming companies. They can put lite versions of their games in there with mobile style monetization systems while advertising the real deal on the real gaming devices.

 

I don't know a single person who stopped buying consoles because they can play games on their phones.

Edited by AndresLionheart
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...