For another era—
Handheld game consoles have been the mainstay for anyone who wanted portability when playing games. Throughout the years the names of GameBoy, Nintendo DS, and Sony’s PSP have dominated the small screen gaming scene.
But the game field, so to speak, has changed drastically in the past few years and some industry watchers are wondering if Sony’s new Vita has already become obsolete in a world full of game capable smartphones and tablets.
PS3 anyone?
The Sony Vita is retailing for $250, and this may be a problem for some prospective customers since a full-sized gaming machine such as the Xbox 360 or PS3 can be purchased for this price as well. Being portable is fine, but is it worth the premium price?
The experts seem to say “no.”
Michael Gartenbery, research director at Gartner Research said:
"It almost feels like Sony designed a product for a world where smartphones and tablets don't exist. It costs more than most phones and the same as most gaming consoles. It is hard to say who is [in] the market for this."
They will come
Sony still believes that its Vita will strike a chord with gamers because the gaming experience will be heads and shoulders above what is found on smartphones and tablets.
Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony U.S. said:
"On a tablet or smartphone, you notice the limits right away with the controls or lack of depth in a game."
But to have an improved gaming experience with a Sony Vita means shelling out $35 to $50 per game.
Add a proprietary memory card to save games and content and $20 to $99 is added to the cost of a $250 Vita. An even more expensive 3G/LTE Vita version for $299 is also being sold, and don't forget the monthly data plan charges to use this feature.
The price isn’t right
Most first impressions from the press have been positive towards the Vita (they get their units free); however, the $250 price tag, for real world people, may drastically slow sales. Nintendo found this out with its $249 Nintendo 3DS. Sales were so slow that Nintendo dropped its price to $169.
“Games sell consoles” is an old adage that is often quoted by professionals in the video game industry. But it seems that this sage wisdom may have to be modified for today’s economic times to “Games sell consoles...if the price is right.”
Via Reuters
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Written by: Frank Ling on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 - 12:15 PM
