Sony’s newest handheld, the PlayStation Vita isn’t doing particularly well in face of competition from smartphones and tablets, and most importantly, Nintendo’s 3DS. Sony’s biggest enemy with regards to the Vita at the moment though seems to be Sony itself; with not enough of a title push, the company’s said it expects to sell fewer than 5 million of the things in FY 2014. Sony, however, believes it can turn that around.
“Sometimes things can happen and they can dramatically change the evolution in terms of sales of a platform,” Sony’s indie-friendly European senior business development manager Shahid Kamal Ahmad told Gamasutra in an interview.
“But what you can never do is say ‘We’re definitely counting for this kind of increase.’ So you can put plans into motion and say ‘We’re trying this approach, that approach,’ and if something comes off, it’s going to be fantastic.”
Ahmad says that’s it’s probably best to not give up on the Vita just yet.
“Looking back at the performance of different consoles over the course of history, sometimes you’ve had slow starts which have been suddenly sprung into life by a number of activities,” he said.
“What you don’t say ahead of time is, ‘Oh this will and that will happen, and suddenly we’ll have a massive spike in sales.’ It’s not the sort of thing that companies do.”
The Vita’s had a slow start, thanks largely to a (perhaps perceived) drought of games, something he doesn’t expect to happen with the impending PlayStation 4.
“…there isn’t a console in history where making sure that you have content for it wasn’t an issue,” he said, adding that “I think we’re going to have a really good launch, and I think we’re going to have a good amount of content appearing for quite some time on that,” he said.
“We’ve got more developer engagement on PS4 than we’ve had for any previous console, so that’s a really healthy sign.”
I think the PlayStation 4 could actually help breathe new life in to the Vita, giving us the inter-connectivity and remote-play we’ve been promised with the Ps3, but have largely failed to received. what would it take for Sony to convince you to buy a Vita?
Last Updated: May 15, 2013
Martin du preez
May 15, 2013 at 14:07
I’m following this Shahid on Twitter and he’s the exact opposite of that doos Adam Orth. He’s dealing directly with his followers who are designing games etc to try and get their games on the VITA. Really cool guy.
Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim
May 15, 2013 at 14:42
Indeed. He’s a rad guy.
Rince an repeat
May 15, 2013 at 14:55
Y u mention Adam Orth… Must… Resist… trolling…
Martin du preez
May 15, 2013 at 14:08
Dude there’s no official price cut announced but a lot of retailers slashed the price by 1k locally. It’s going for R1999 @ CNA and the BT games,
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 15, 2013 at 14:19
Still a bit high for me though, getting my S4 in a week or so (finally), and will then use that for gaming 🙂
FoxOneZA - X-Therminator
May 15, 2013 at 14:54
You just summed up why the Vita is struggling but Mr Indie ain’t listening to you.
ElimiNathan
May 15, 2013 at 14:31
Ye
ElimiNathan
May 15, 2013 at 14:32
Gif fail
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 15, 2013 at 14:34
Yeah, someone posted a gif earlier, not sure when, that worked. Might need to see how that was done 🙁
Have you tried a hyperlink?
Rince an repeat
May 15, 2013 at 14:55
hehehe
FoxOneZA - X-Therminator
May 15, 2013 at 14:55
Stagnant Homer = Stagnant Vita sales.
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 15, 2013 at 15:04
Yellow card!
Rince an repeat
May 15, 2013 at 15:04
Borderline trolling offence here sir!
Illuchne Mancera
May 15, 2013 at 15:04
I sees it too!
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 15, 2013 at 15:05
He has been yellow carded my friend
Rince an repeat
May 15, 2013 at 15:07
Like, already? 0_O
FoxOneZA - X-Therminator
May 15, 2013 at 16:07
*Walks around with Yellow Card smug*
FoxOneZA - X-Therminator
May 15, 2013 at 16:07
*Walks around with Yellow Card smug*
ElimiNathan
May 16, 2013 at 14:37
Haha classic
ElimiNathan
May 15, 2013 at 14:31
Ye
umar bastra
May 15, 2013 at 14:44
Final Fantasy X HD and Persona 4 , main reasons for getting a vita , once it’s out I’m jumping on this vita faster than Julius can yes to a new tender
Weerwolf
May 15, 2013 at 16:20
Only thing that can save the Vita is MOAR MONSTER HUNTER!!
Vitaisdead
May 15, 2013 at 16:35
Lol. MH is exclusive to Nintendo now. Bow down!
grpeephole
May 15, 2013 at 21:05
meh soul sacrifice is better