PS VITA PRICE ANNOUNCEMENT – E3 2012
With the benefit of hindsight, we know how big of a commercial failure the PS Vita was for the Sony, but back before it came out, most were convinced that it would be one of their biggest success stories ever. While its direct competitor 3DS hadn’t had the best launch year in terms of games, Sony unveiled the Vita as a handheld that was significantly more powerful, and could – potentially – deliver console-quality games on a handheld. The biggest deciding factor in the war between Nintendo and Sony in the handheld space, according to most, was going to be price. The announcement of its $249 price point was a stunning one, because of how close to the 3DS’ price that was (at that time, at least), in spite of being a significantly more impressive piece of hardware. Sure, the years that followed didn’t really capitalize on the system’s incredible potential, but at the time, that price announcement was considered by many to be the blow that would kill the 3DS and allow Sony to assert their dominance in the handheld space.
