All eyes on PlayStation Vita sales ahead of Western launch
Second week sales figures prompt speculation of a price cut
Sony's PlayStation Vita saw a 78 per cent drop in sales figures in its first two weeks, from 324,859 sold in week one to 72,479 in week two.
This allowed older consoles, the PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo 3DS, to actually outsell the new machine in week two, with the 3DS hitting 482,200 sales and the PSP 101,121.
The handheld launched in Japan just before Christmas on December 17 and the figures came from researcher Media Create.
Sony Japan itself has refused to comment on any sales figures.
By comparison the Nintendo 3DS sold 374,764 in its launch weekend in Japan, while the Vita's predecessor, PSPgo, sold 166,074.
It's still early days for the machine in Japan, and the drop in sales could be attributed to both the high price, which is set at 24,000 yen, to the lack of a Monster Hunter launch title, a key franchise for the console in the Japanese market.
Some are now speculating that the sales will force a price cut for the machine.
Elsewhere in the industry developers and publishers have remained sceptical about the console's chances in a market dominated by mobile and tablet devices, with Dr Mike Capps of Epic Games the most recent.
"I'm not sure how well it's going to be accepted in our Western market which is primarily where our games sell," he said in an exclusive interview.
"It's a really cool platform, but I have a phone, and it's really hard to compete with that. So I'm not sure if it will be successful or not."
The Vita will launch in the UK on February 22, priced at round £230.
Actually, the 3DS outsold it in week#1 as well...
I'm a little surprised by the sales figures, especially given Xmas week - but maybe it does show how critical big-name games are to the success of a handheld/console. The 3DS has been picking up considerably, and now has 3 million sellers (in Japan).
Given that Sony always targetted this price for the PSV, and its relative cheapness (to the original PSP), I doubt there is much scope for a price cut.
The PSV also suffers from one issue that the PSPGo had: because software sales are split between retailer (reported), and digital (not reported), its going to be harder to have "chart success" - which in turn gives a perception that the console isn't doing that well software-wise. If I was Sony, I would publish a matching weekly chart, with sales units - which will allow chart companies to correctly adjust figures (if they want to).
Dedicated console over smartphone every single time.
"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal"
The haters are saying "Told you it would be a flop" just like they did for the 3DS. But the sooner Sony realise it is games that sell hardware - Nintendo are finally shipping titles that make it worth having a 3DS for example - the better. The stupid price of the memory stick, proprietary only to attempt to prevent piracy so legitimate users are paying a premium yet again, is also a major factor. An already expensive handheld is nearly 50% more than list price to have a useful system as all games are downloaded to the memory card...
Still think the haters will be right in this case. This is IMHO going to be a failure as the PSP was, with not just Anonymous out to break Sony, because I think that this console will probably get hacked rather quickly. Not condoning it, but the high price tag and protectionism is excuse enough to motivate the pirates.
Look no further than the Vita lineup of your company and compare it to the iOS lineup. The lack of EA titles is not a vote of confidence.
The PSP actually took ages to take off in Japan - and it wasn't until Monster Hunter, that it had a real smash hit - and grew from there. But I also wonder if the PSV is going to be fighting the PSP... if people are more or less happy with the PSP, with a huge software library and cheap software...
I dont think the Vita is expensive, what does apple charge for the iPhone or iPad with hardware thats less powerful?
Its too early to call it a flop and demand a price cut, unlike the 3DS at launch its not overpriced. The Vita launch lineup is strong, but its more geared towards the western market with Uncharted and so on.
Secondly, I have never considered EA to be a big player in the handheld console space. Nevertheless, launching a fully fledged FIFA game shows that EA has a willingness to support the platform with a flagship title.
Thirdly, I was only responding to Mike's assertion that the PSP itself was a failure, it clearly wasn't by any sensible measure beyond comparing it to the DS and saying anything less is a fail. I'm not sure why your comments were directed at me.
I'm not calling the Vita a success, it's way too early to call the Vita anything. Personally, I'm excited for it, I'll be getting one on day one, even though I know it'll drop in price eventually and I'll have a limited line up of titles to begin with. The same thing has happened with every console ever.
Because without the handheld market, the only things left are the mobile phones and tablet devices that don't have traditional control buttons to make fighting games enjoyable and it will be even more harder to play Japanese RPGs without buttons.
So I really do hope that the handheld market survives for those who have not experienced the enjoyable handheld games yet.