Let’s be honest- the PS Vita is in poor shape right now. Other than Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush and a few others, it has very little games, it hasn’t got a very strong upcoming lineup, Sony is not marketing it at all, and as a result, the system’s sales are plummeting with each passing week in all major regions of the world. On the other hand, the 3DS seems to have recovered from a bad start and seems to be going from strength to strength. The Vita is in clear danger of a very untimely demise. And Sony needs to do something.
But what? What can Sony do to prevent the Vita’s ‘doom’?
Given below are five things we think Sony must absolutely do to ensure the Vita’s success. Got any ideas yourself? Leave them behind in our comments below!
Better third party support
Other than the upcoming Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed titles, there’s no compelling third party software coming out for the system. Sure, you’ve got you FIFAs and Maddens, but every system gets those titles. What Sony needs to do is secure some excellent third party titles exclusively for the Vita, and make sure it doesn’t let Nintendo run off with something as valuable as Monster Hunter. And yeah, get a Monster Hunter game on the Vita ASAP.
Sony also needs to make sure that the titles it secures are actual system sellers. So we’re looking at exclusives like GTA, (a good) Final Fantasy, Battlefield, Mass Effect (highly improbable) and such.
Better first party support
Sony has an excellent first party that appeals to almost all kinds of gamers. From LittleBigPlanet and Ratchet and Clank to Uncharted, from Gran Turismo and WipEout to Killzone and Resistance, they’ve got it all. And what do we have on the Vita? An Uncharted game that was very good, a disappointing Resistance title and a crappy ModNation Racers game. And while we’re looking forward to information on the next handheld versions of Killzone and LittleBigPlanet, Sony goes ahead and announces that Sly 4 and All Stars Battle Royale on the Vita too! Good news, right? Except why would anybody buy those games for the Vita if we can play them on the PS3?
We need system sellers, Sony. Give us an excellent Killzone game with a fully featured multiplayer. Give us a new Gran Turismo. Revive old franchises like Jak and Daxter. And please, please don’t let them be half-assed handheld ports developed by crappy second parties.
Better marketing
Why would someone NOT advertise such a beautiful piece of hardware?
It’s stupid that this even has to be on the list. I mean, you release a new handheld system, you HAVE to market it properly. Instead, Sony is making the same mistakes it does every time, like with Resistance 3. It is hardly marketing the system. And then you wonder why it isn’t selling. Come on, Sony, use the (little) resources you’ve got, tell people about your systems and what a great piece of hardware it is. Seriously, this is retarded, nobody should even be telling you this.
Price cut
The 3DS faced (relative) failure in its early days when it was launched at an unreasonable price of $250. A few months later, Nintendo cut the price down to $170, and the difference was visible– the 3DS has now sold 17 million units worldwide and is going strong. Now, some people might justify the Vita’s higher price tag of $250 by saying that it’s a more powerful and that it has more features than the 3DS does. But none of that will matter to buyers if they can spend $80 less and get a system that currently has more (and better) games. Sony needs to cut the Vita’s price. They’ve been constantly saying the system doesn’t need a price cut and that it’s going strong, but that is not true. The PS Vita needs to be brought down to a price of around $200.
Agree? Disagree? Have any of your own ideas? Leave them behind in the comments section below.
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