Playstation Vita

[The NZA]

PS vita (new PSP) at $250 for wifi, $300 for 3g with AT&T. shots fired at the 3DS! if it launches with Uncharted, that's gonna be tough to handle.

Wipeout, Resistance, Bioshock Infinite spinoff and more shit was shown/discussed, looks fucking good.

[Thelogan]

That is a completely acceptable price point, IMO. Exciting.

[The NZA]

agreed. kinda impressive given the OLED screen too, i think.

[Thelogan]

Ayup. I can't see them turning a profit on that, at least not for a while. They've clearly (and logically) got their ONLY (not counting the entire cell phone industry) handheld competition in their sights.

I loveloveloveLOVE my 3DS, but like a lot of grown-ups with full time jobs, I don't have to pick one and be all loyal. This thing looks pretty sweet.

[Jables]

If I get one I'm not even going to fucking bother getting in AU. Still debating importing a 3ds, actually.

[Jables]

Didn't Sony take a bath on PS3's when they launched anyways? It's as solid a move as any since they've just guaranteed to move a ridiculous amt of units at that price.

[The NZA]

i used to think like that too....then they ate a loss of a few billion while nintendo kept selling at profit and banking.

 

im fine with it as a consumer, but if i was a stockholder? FUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[Keth]

I was ready to totally dismiss that new handheld... but they kept throwing cooler and cooler shit at me. that Uncharted game looks as good as it does on the ps3 and those cloud saves they demoed in that cool little rpg was pretty awesome. not an instant buy from me (250 is still steep for me regardless of the fairness of the price). shit looks like it might get owned with a price drop for sure though. Pretty boring conference, but at least they showed off their product nicely.

Edited June 7, 2011 by axel_napalm

[The NZA]

ahahaha, gamefaqs kids are brilliant.

 

[Visitant]

Microsoft, you lost it.

 

Sony. I have a hard on for the handheld.

 

Also this:

 

 

Sony you're converting me from being an Xbox player. Damn

[Lulu]

Dammit tash.... This is all gun, nick can you up my post counter by one now? :P

really need to learn to check if she's signed in.

 

Ayup. I can't see them turning a profit on that, at least not for a while. They've clearly (and logically) got their ONLY (not counting the entire cell phone industry) handheld competition in their sights.

I loveloveloveLOVE my 3DS, but like a lot of grown-ups with full time jobs, I don't have to pick one and be all loyal. This thing looks pretty sweet.

 

I think they may just be breaking even in fact. First off they have learned from the ps3 and have said that they would never take a bath like that again.

 

2. They have also stated that they had this price point in mind before they started making that thing and built it around that.

 

3. There's nothing in there thats over the top or exotic. It's all off the shelf parts, even the oled, hell george's zune has Oled. Not only are they proabbly not taking a bath but the components should drop in price very very fast for them, I'd guess they finally learned the nintendo lesson.

 

4. I wonder they are taking a small hit on the 250 but make a profit on the 300? with only a $50 difference it's an easy upsell if they can add extra memory or some kind of package in addtion to the 3g.

 

5. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. that screen looks effing amazing, I"m so day one on this thing and yes will be camping out(with bis and nza!)

Edited June 7, 2011 by Lulu

[gunsmithx]

Some more psv news

 

Tretton just said that it will be out in Japan by holidays, and golbal by march 2012, other terrorties outside japan getting it for the holidays will depend on how many they can make.

 

Best guess? Japan and US this holiday and EU/aus gets screwed like always and it will cost a newborn in AUS assuming they even let it in the country.

[Jables]

(heh). Watching the video for Vita I'm confronted by the absolute lack of a portable requirement I have now. My Xoom addresses all boredom concerns from books, comics, movies, and even little timewasting games. I have a top-end PC and all current-gen consoles for everything else. Nonetheless, even an excuse as weak as 'poor Sony needs a hand' will probably solicit a day 1 purchase of this thing from me. That, and Uncharted portable looks great and a Bioshock spin-off was mentioned...

[The NZA]

yeah, gitantbomb (one i linked) had a discussion about that very thing last night - there's no doubt room for nintendo's efforts on the handheld scene, but can sony make a profit on $40 games that many either a) will pay less for more on-the-go disposable entertainment or b) people like us mostly want to play on our big screens?

 

i wanna say they can, but time will tell. I think the moves they/nintendo make to tie their home consoles & portables together are good, and sony's big push to transfer your ps3 game & save back & forth on the go sounds really awesome. my concern is: how is this gonna work? i.e., I buy Dark Souls at $60, am i expected to buy the handheld game at another $40 to utilize this? there's not many experiences i personally will throw $100 to have, single-game wise. now, if there's somehow a voucher for a big discount on the PSN copy of the vita version of said game at retail purchase, this might be a lot more feasible - but i guess that's up the publishers.

 

either way, its sexy tech with what looks like a potentially strong opening, i hope sony does well with it.

[Jables]

Having still not gotten a decent explanation about why game prices are as imbalanced as they are, I'm 100% certain they charge us more so they can charge you less. My purchase of a Vita is the equivalent of you purchasing 2.

[Maldron]

They've been bundling Bluray-dvd-digital download for years now, and you're wondering how they're gonna handle this?

[gunsmithx]

Also remember the other thing on this, while sony will get the blame for it it's really up to the publisher about how they want to do bundles, that said we saw the first thing with portal 2, also metal gear HD is said to come with a dl could for pw on psp(at least in japan is confirmend.)

 

If pubs see it increases sales it'll be added, or they might do a 2 for one deal as well maybe 70 buck for both games or something. I think we'll see several different ways while pubs figure out what works best. Now I just need a steam client for this thing and I"ll be happy :P

 

edit- oh god, you know what someone will try? as part of collecters editions, like buy this set and you'll get the ngp version. There's also the question of buying say... super star dust, do I need to buy 2 on psn or just one? mini's and ps1 is only a one time buy so I'm hoping that holds out for psn games(might need to be recompiled though)

Edited June 8, 2011 by gunsmithx

[The NZA]

MMO's do nothing for me, but EVE stories are kinda interesting.

 

i had to move my post, but i was kinda curious about mal's sentiment, as having 2 different production costs makes the blu-ray/DVD thing not comparable in my mind. yeah, it's on publishers if they want to eat a bit of loss to bundle and encourage this sort've thing, but youve gotta wonder: with presumably larger costs for NGP games than say 3DS, how happy are they gonna be to lose $ on said bundles? thought also occurred to me, as im selling my ps3 Portal 2 on amazon today: how will anyone know if the codes in said bundles were used?

 

gun - you lost me on your stardust question, can you elaborate? ive never used a mini, but i assume anything i buy on PSN, i can load onto a Vita, unless told otherwise.

[gunsmithx]

on the psn stuff, they havn't said, it's possible it'll need to be recomplied for vita(different system require different programing sdk) but from the event in feb. The dev's were saying most porting only took a few weeks to get done so it might be fine.

 

BTW one reason for vita/ps3 bundles is they use the same assests(which is a huge money saver) golden abyss uses a ton of stuff from uncharted 1 which makes it much easier and cheaper to make the game. that plus ease of porting and every engine having an vita version gives me hope.

[The NZA]

huh, i didnt know that latter part; that's actually pretty cool. good on sony to go that route, the hardware guys come through sometimes.

 

i guess my concern is not wanting to see this go the way the PSP often did: sexy tech, started sloowwwwww with ps2 ports & the like, and only got stuff like GTA, god of war etc that too many people just waited for the inevitable console ports of. there were a lotta great games, but i didnt see any that made such a killing as to lead many other 3rd parties to take chances, like the DS got.

 

my question here is: if production costs are higher (though presumably far less than current gen, that's gotta be a big plus) than they were, what's going to attract/keep 3rd parties on board? bundles work great for me, as a potential consumer, but not really for them...unless they've a brand already that i'm committed to. i guess im hoping that the really good price point garners so much initial sales, it cant be ignored, and gains momentum from there. thoughts?

[gunsmithx]

2 words, psn and ps suite, you can make all kinds of games from big AAA titles, psn fun little titles, and hell even ios type shit!. thats the real beauty of this thing, it can do all kinds of gaming, and if the ps suite is like they said you'll be able to buy all kinds of games and even some apps for it, fuck the ps3, This thing will really do everything.

 

edit* Also look at the line up of games they showed off, it's got something for just about everyone. Sony needs to keep that up and they seem to understand that, for now.

Edited June 8, 2011 by gunsmithx

[The NZA]

dear gunsmith:

 

we both know you don't keep my deviant hours, so...let me make your day.

 

In a PlayStation Vita session for European and Australian press at E3 today, Michael Denny, Sony's Vice President of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe, confirmed that - to the best of his knowledge - Vita would be region free.

 

aint rock solid, but it's more than nintendo gives me at the moment.

if so: fuckin' good on sony, region-locking is archaic, anti-consumer bullshit x 10 at this point.

[gunsmithx]

Yup, btw on the of the money losing stuff,

 

First off it's all off the shelf parts(yes even the oled, off the shelf) so the price will drop very fast on the backend. 2. they have always launched as loss leaders and it worked for 3 our of 4 systems(psp sold 70 million... made sony money) the ps3's big problem was the insane cost to make the damn thing and it's out of box cost for us.

 

3. confliting reports on if they are losing money, personally I think they lose a bit on the 250, and make a little bit or break even on the 300 and plan to make it up in sales like they have done and it has worked before.

 

4. Games prices are pretty much out now on gamestop(they got the 3ds prices right and know shit we don't) 40 bucks means no increase from psp and with a bit of luck we'll get more and more psn sales and price drops!

 

5. I said this in the e3 thread for JAY but I understand you can order hardware from amazon US so you can get a reg price vita from there, games are easier to get from the UK I understand. region free is amazing btw!

 

Sony is playing for keeps and nintendo screwing up the 3ds launch gives them a huge in, I still think they need to launch this year in US/Jap though.

[The NZA]

again....i really hope you're right. they're hardware guys, but they're too willing to sell at a loss, and after selling too many factories, i mean, i hear you but...i still can't picture them not selling at a loss. fuck, i hope i'm wrong. the day i dont want major experiences even at the handheld front, you can slap me.

 

3DS...i don't wanna make excuses here. i don't. buuuut....being friends with a lead gamestop manager in years past...nintendo games can have legs way, way past most coprs. mario kart DS did ok at fist, and blew up months later @ the holidays...this is unheard of most times. if i had to? id venture 6 months from now, 3DS sales are gonna be so hot no one's gonna give a shit about its slow start, gimmick or not. this is the company that brought you nintendos and brain age and spanked the shit out of the PSP even when it brought quality.

 

sony was happy with the marketshare the PSP brought this last gen, i think. it stands to gain even more. and i'm the last dude to tell you that traditions mean shit these days, but...honestly, the 3DS is gonna have legs is all i'm saying. if the vita ends up selling 60-75% of it at its end, sony will be tickled pink, and that's even with them right now at the same price point. if i'm wrong...you can pick my member title for a month. i'm in a gambling mood!

[gunsmithx]

Again Sony has always sold at a loss and outside the insanity of the ps3 it's always worked well for them(also remember we are talking loss at launch not forever) The trick is not to take an insane loss(wasn't the ps3 rumored to cost double to make?) I'm not worried about something that has only failed once and that was due to complete craziness.