Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified News

Judging Vita before its first Christmas is "preposterous" - Sony

NewsPublish Date 11/10/2012 - 1:14pm GMT+1

But admits that it would "love to be further along" with sales of the handheld.

Sony admits that it would "love to be further along" with sales of PlayStation Vita, but believes that "judging [the] console before it has had its first Christmas is preposterous".

Speaking in the latest issue of MCV, PlayStation UK MD Fergal Gara admitted that the release schedule for PlayStation Vita "did dry up during the summer," but that new releases should "ignite" hype for the handheld in the run-up to Christmas.

"We'd love for us to be further on," Gara told the magazine. "And the release schedule for Vita was rather like the release schedule for the industry this year, in that it did dry up during the summer. We had that incredible summer of sport and very little focus on gaming.

"But the great news is that we have got the content in place. We have got the cash to invest in terms of marketing and retail to really ignite it this Christmas. To start judging a console before it has had its first Christmas is preposterous, really. And we are giving it everything we have got."

PlayStation Vita has struggled to sustain sales since its release in February.

It was revealed yesterday that the console had finally managed to crack 1 million sales in Japan.

Vita's success this Christmas will no doubt lie in the hands of four key titles: Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, Need For Speed: Most Wanted and FIFA 13.

FIFA 13 released late last month. The game was criticised for featuring "no significant differences" to February's FIFA Soccer.

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User Comments

keelan123

please everyone buy the vita i think its good just have to give it some patience for the good games to come out

Posted 20:43 on 27 October 2012

tvr77

It seems like this debate could go on forever i guess its just a matter of personal opinion, you either like it or you dont.
I thought the console felt a little odd at first but now it feels totally natural. Im not sure what people expect it to do its a handheld gaming device it looks great and performs great, content is an issue at present but can be fixed and soon will be.

Posted 12:06 on 12 October 2012

dav2612 @ rbevanx

Perhaps it is all down to the size/shape of our hands as I didn't find the 3Ds comfortable to hold, bottom left and right corners always felt like they were jagging into my hand.

Posted 11:52 on 12 October 2012

rbevanx

It's good to know I'm not the only one here who had similar problems with it Lee.

I really wanted to like it and Karlius warned me about some of his mates who bought it (one of them being a Sony fanboy he told me) and all of them hated it.

I had the same problems with it personally as you did fella and understand where you are coming from.

Posted 11:44 on 12 October 2012

dav2612 @ CheekyLee

Playing one game isn't giving it much of a chance. I hope that first game on the Wii-U is a good one :)

Perhaps Media Molecule's next game would catch your interest more. I've lost all interest in LBP myself but Tearaway looks interesting.

In direct contrast to your impressions, the Vita is the most settled I've been with a handheld for the GBA. I was never truly content with the PSP, DS or 3DS.

At least the Vita will be dirt cheap (through price drops or it bombing completely) by the time you've bought everything on that list.

Posted 11:39 on 12 October 2012

Woffls

I played it at EGXP last year and I was wholly unimpressed by Uncharted. Aside from it just being a by-the-numbers Uncharted experience, I couldn't help but wish I was playing it on a big screen. The sticks weren't good enough, and it was really difficult seeing enemies on the screen because there's so much detail everywhere.

Then this year I played WipEout HD something face rremix turbo and it just felt right. Sure it was still Wipeout, but with a handling model better suited to the razor thin tracks, but that's great for Vita because it's a game that works for the platform.

Unfortunately it works just about as well as the PSP version did, so the Vita platform has added very little to the Wipeout experience.

Vita is trying so desperately not to be a handheld that it will never truly find a demographic.

Posted 11:38 on 12 October 2012

CheekyLee @ dav2612

Possibly because I played Little Big Planet on it, which is admittedly not the best game for showing the strengths of the console. It felt wrong in my hands, basically. For absolute fairness, I should say that the direct competitor, 3DS, didn't bowl me over either, but I knew there would be enough quality releases from Nintendo to justify that purchase. So far, though, I am not seeing the same for Vita. It remains something that I will only get if I am particularly well off at some point, but behind all the following:

Wii U
iPad
Kinect
PC upgrade

Posted 11:13 on 12 October 2012

dav2612 @ CheekyLee

And you were unimpressed because...

Posted 10:58 on 12 October 2012

CheekyLee

I played on the Vita very briefly at Eurogamer Expo, and was unimpressed. It remains incredibly low on my radar. And this is what Sony have gotten wrong.

Me. I am the ABSOLUTE definition of the demographic that should be champing at the bit for the machine. That they have failed to convince me, along with plenty of others like me, is a huge failing on Sony's part. Huge.

Posted 10:50 on 12 October 2012

BC_Animus

It's a GREAT piece of kit, but problem is it really doesn't seem to be targeted towards anybody.

Battery, size, UI, and usability this device just doesn't compete with any of the other similar devices out there. And gaming-wise this platform doesn't really offer anything overly unique, and beyond the backlog of PSP and PSOne titles on the PSN it doesn't really offer much, period. They NEED a steady influx of new IPs on this device, and perhaps support from existing killer franchises like Monster Hunter, Skyrim, and Dark Souls.

It's also priced too high for the casual consumer, and to be honest I highly doubt the average Joes and Janes even knows of its existence in the first place.

I love the Vita, I really do, but with all the new devices like iPhone5 and the new iPod range, the new Windows 8 and RT and Android tablets and devices, the Wii U, the new Pokemon games... there is just too much competition, and not enough public awareness of the Vita for it to do well this Christmas.

Posted 10:17 on 12 October 2012

crave

I caught a glimpse of the PS Vita in store a few days ago, had a quick fiddle. Not sure about it. But I will say this, if there is any concern regarding the PS Vita from a sales point a view then be prepared to be absolutely crushed by the iPad Mini from Apple, which will most likely release before Christmas. Not even a dramatic price drop will save the Vita as I predict the sales charts will show a considerable downturn when all is said and done after the holiday season.

All I want is Black Ops 2 which I've pre-ordered already for my PS3, that's all I want, that's all I need to play.

Posted 21:45 on 11 October 2012

SelfSuicide

As Benjen Stark once said, nothing that comes before the word "but" really counts

Posted 13:59 on 11 October 2012

FantasyMeister

Considering plenty of equally expensive and competitive products are now on the market (S3/iPad/Kindle Tablets) I'm not sure the Vita is on many peoples' radar right now.

But to be fair I'll leave the judging of Vita's dismal failure over the Christmas period until after Christmas.

Posted 13:44 on 11 October 2012

MJTH

Whilst this is still no excuse for tracking behind it's competition in a equivilant time period (which also hadn't experienced a christmas yet either), this still is a fair point. Christmas should be see a massive boost in sales for the handheld for a little while.

Posted 13:40 on 11 October 2012