Sony's next-gen PlayStation Vita priced to compete with iPod touch

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
During a keynote at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Sony confirmed its next-generation gaming device, formally named the PlayStation Vita, will cost $250 when it arrives in the U.S. later this year.



Late last year, Sony gaming boss Kazuo Hirai hinted that the next generation of the company's PlayStation portable handheld gaming device would learn from Apple's success with touch-based controls and casual gaming. In January, Sony unveiled the device, then codenamed the Next Generation Portable, which features a 5-inch OLED touchscreen and front and rear touch pads.



The Tokyo, Japan-based electronics giant announced Monday that the NGP will be officially named the PlayStation Vita, as noted by MacNN. The PS Vita will sport a quad-core processor and quad-core graphics, as well as dual analog sticks and front and rear cameras.



Sony also revealed an aggressive price of $250 for the Wi-Fi only version. AT&T will partner with Sony to launch the 3G PlayStation Vita in the U.S. for $300, with access to over 20,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots. The device is scheduled for release in time for this year's holiday season.



However, several analysts criticized the device as being too costly. "That's fine for core gamers who want to play games all the time, but it's too expensive for the mass market," said Dan Ernst, a Hudson Square research analyst.







By comparison, Apple's entry-level iPod touch costs $229. Apple, however, will have a chance to respond, as the company is expected to release an updated version of the iPod touch later this year.



Sony's other major mobile gaming rival, Nintendo, also offers its Nintendo 3DS gaming system for $250. But, after the initial wave of early adopters this spring, 3DS sales dropped off to "lackluster at best," The Wall Street Journal reports. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata warned in April that sales of the device had weakened, with just 194,000 systems being sold in the U.S. that month, compared to 400,000 units in the first week of availability in March.



Games demoed during Sony's keynote included LittleBigPlanet, Street Fighter vs. Tekken, Ruin, Wipeout 2048 and Uncharted.







Sony has lost considerable share to Apple in the mobile gaming market. In 2009, Apple achieved a 19 percent share of U.S. mobile gaming market revenue, compared to 11 percent from Sony, according to Flurry Analytics. In 2010, iOS and Android took 34 percent of revenue, while the PlayStation portable shrunk to 9 percent.



Sony Ericsson recently launched the Xperia Play, an Android-based PlayStation phone meant to compete with the iPhone for smartphone gaming. In April, Sony revealed plans to launch an Android-compatible PlayStation Suite content platform that will offer PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 1 gaming titles.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 74
    quillzquillz Posts: 209member
    Seems like the pricing is more to compete with the 3DS.
  • Reply 2 of 74
    addicted44addicted44 Posts: 830member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quillz View Post


    Seems like the pricing is more to compete with the 3DS.



    Unfortunately the Sony brand is just toxic right now, especially amongst the hardcore geeks gang, which would normally form a large percentage of the early adopters for this device.



    Its a device arriving a year too late, at a price too high, and in a really really bad environment for Sony.



    That being said, I think it could still succeed, because as far as I can tell, the 3DS is not setting the world on fire, and gamers might want a more traditional handheld console. However, its highly unlikely that any of its sales are going to be at the expense of the iPod touch.
  • Reply 3 of 74
    2oh12oh1 Posts: 503member
    I think this thing is practically DOA. And it hasn't even arrived.



    Clearly, at this point, devices are merging. If Sony really wants to compete with Apple, they need to build a media player/gamer/phone/web/etc. The days of devices that do one thing are going away as we all expect tech to be more and be able to do more.
  • Reply 4 of 74
    2oh12oh1 Posts: 503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addicted44 View Post


    Unfortunately the Sony brand is just toxic right now



    That isn't entirely true. Have you seen the Sony a55 camera? It's more or less a DSLR, but with a fixed mirror and an electronic viewfinder. That thing is really impressive... and their next model, the a77 that's coming next month, could be downright amazing.



    The problem Sony is facing is that they're trying to do too much, and they're accepting too little from themselves. Their high end cameras are really impressive right now, but so much of their other stuff is a mess. The brand needs a wake-up call, but their problems are fixable.



    Still... this gaming system looks like a perfect example of what Sony is doing wrong.
  • Reply 5 of 74
    skottichanskottichan Posts: 193member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addicted44 View Post


    Unfortunately the Sony brand is just toxic right now, especially amongst the hardcore geeks gang, which would normally form a large percentage of the early adopters for this device.



    Its a device arriving a year too late, at a price too high, and in a really really bad environment for Sony.



    That being said, I think it could still succeed, because as far as I can tell, the 3DS is not setting the world on fire, and gamers might want a more traditional handheld console. However, its highly unlikely that any of its sales are going to be at the expense of the iPod touch.



    Toxic, doubtful. The recent hits on an FBI site, GMail and Nintendo, show that no one's immune to hackers.



    Even with PSN down a month, Sony's looking at record sales of the PS3, and while in the US the PSP isn't a huge success, it is successful globally. The NGP has a lot of support and interest from the hardcore geeks, especially with the Transfarrance system.



    The 3DS is suffering the same problem the PSP Go did; too much money for a minor upgrade. Plus, there's starting to be a backlash against Nintendo releasing a new DS every other year. Parents aren't appreciating having to fork out a couple hundred for a minor upgrade for their crotch spawn.





    With that said, I think Sony's probably going to see a bigger success will be with the "Playstation Phone". Because, like it's been said, people are moving more to "all-in-one" devices like media players/tablets.
  • Reply 6 of 74
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    Looks neat, and the price doesn?t seem too bad.



    The big problem is that it only makes sense for people who don?t mind carrying an additional, fairly bulky device. (Which used to be the only option for mobile gaming, but it isn?t anymore.) A device you?ve left behind at home isn?t doing much for you.



    Or, if you?re gaming at home, you don?t need a handheld. You can game on a real console, Mac/PC, or iPad.



    It has its place and I wish it well, but I don?t see a dedicated game device having that big an audience. Not these days.
  • Reply 7 of 74
    macrrmacrr Posts: 488member
    The main take away for Sony should be the impending doom apple is about to throw over them. I'm kind of doubting Airplay Mirroring will be entirely up to snuff, but given how much apple has concentrated on graphical improvement in the A5 chip- I think once apple TV and subsequent generations of Ipads come out air- wirelessly airplaying video games to your big screen for the cost of an iPhone you'd already have, a TV you'd probably already have, and a $99 AppleTV it's a no brainer. The content is starting to mature and will no doubt get there.



    Sony sucks ass. They fumbled super hard, and a lot of people are going to remember it. Their welcome back package included a choice of two games out of five that suck or are 3+ years old and a pixel art ( i shit you not) background. In addition, you get 30 free days of shitware on their PS+ offering.



    not to mention looking out for ID theft for the next few years.
  • Reply 8 of 74
    recrec Posts: 217member
    The new PSP is DOA. Sony has never been able to create a successful portable and there's no reason to think they will now. On top of the price, what doesn't get talked about alot is that this thing is gonna have terrible battery life (sub 4 hours). Games and applications for it will be limited and have a very slow adoption. There's also no reason and no indication right now to believe it will ship when Sony says it will.



    In the end all the PSP was really used for was emulation gaming among hardcore gamers, and people downloading pirated ROMS doesn't equate to a whole lot of revenue for developers.



    So out of the gate they're beaten on price, features, battery life and software. I do think Sony's reputation will be mostly mended by the time it ships however, I wouldn't hold that against them (unless they get hacked again).



    The one interesting thing about this new PSP is the quad core cpu and quad core gpu. Same GPU as the ipad2 but a quad core instead of the ipad2's dual core. There's no doubt it has horsepower. But that sort of thing doesn't translate to sales or popularity, I consider it a preview of what iOS devices may have in the next 1-2 years if they figure out how to maintain battery life, and that I think is a big if. The SGX543 GPU scales up to 16 cores, but I think there's a decent chance Apple will skip all that and wait for the next dual core GPU (something that is both more powerful and has more efficient battery draw) than just throw 4+ cores at their hardware like Sony has done.
  • Reply 9 of 74
    rabbit_coachrabbit_coach Posts: 1,114member
    I think 250$ for an an entry-level of a sorry-I-can-do-one-thing-only device is aggressively over priced.
  • Reply 10 of 74
    irnchrizirnchriz Posts: 1,616member
    If Sony can leverage lots of 3rd party Support and the platform is easy to hack (piracy always helps a platform to get going, just look at the Wii and DS and Original Playstation) then they should do ok.
  • Reply 11 of 74
    gromitgromit Posts: 37member
    Not the best name they could have come up with.
  • Reply 12 of 74
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    I am a Apple guy but I don't wear blinders either like some do here.



    iOS and the devices that run it make nice gaming machines but they are not the end all device for gaming.



    While a good many games work well with touch, face it, some just need hardware controls.



    THe Playstation Vita crushed anything Apple has from a processor power standpoint. Sure, it will eventually surpass it.



    Frankly, the $249 price is surprising. Most figured it would be a very minimum pf $299 and many predicted as much as $399.



    You got a 5" OLED screen, all the motion sensors an iDevice has, quad core CPU and GPU, dual cameras, touch screen and a touch pad on the back. And of course, full hardware controls including dual analog sticks.



    Pretty much the ultimate gaming handheld.



    Oh yeah, Apple is going to sell more devices. That does not make it the most superior gaming device.



    THe Nintendo 3DS looks pretty sad here, even with its 3D screen.



    One thing is that at $249, its the first Nintendo handheld to have such a high price. Uncharted territory for them.



    I am seriously considering a Vita. But then, I like games.



    Not dumping my iPhone 4 or iPad 2. They themselves do many other things.



    But if you want the ultimate gaming handheld, the Vita is where its at, not an iDevice.



    The iDevices are awesome in their own right.



    I can see outside my shell.
  • Reply 13 of 74
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gromit View Post


    Not the best name they could have come up with.



    Yeah lol, like apple calling their next os copeland... Lol!
  • Reply 14 of 74
    jexusjexus Posts: 373member
    The sales for the Wi-fi model are assured to whoever is planning to purchase one.



    The 3G model? Well, When Sony announced AT&T exclusivity, all hopes of surging sales for that one died. Hell, the crowd BOO'd Sony for that.
  • Reply 15 of 74
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by REC View Post


    The new PSP is DOA. Sony has never been able to create a successful portable and there's no reason to think they will now. On top of the price, what doesn't get talked about alot is that this thing is gonna have terrible battery life (sub 4 hours). Games and applications for it will be limited and have a very slow adoption. There's also no reason and no indication right now to believe it will ship when Sony says it will.



    In the end all the PSP was really used for was emulation gaming among hardcore gamers, and people downloading pirated ROMS doesn't equate to a whole lot of revenue for developers.



    So out of the gate they're beaten on price, features, battery life and software. I do think Sony's reputation will be mostly mended by the time it ships however, I wouldn't hold that against them (unless they get hacked again).



    The one interesting thing about this new PSP is the quad core cpu and quad core gpu. Same GPU as the ipad2 but a quad core instead of the ipad2's dual core. There's no doubt it has horsepower. But that sort of thing doesn't translate to sales or popularity, I consider it a preview of what iOS devices may have in the next 1-2 years if they figure out how to maintain battery life, and that I think is a big if. The SGX543 GPU scales up to 16 cores, but I think there's a decent chance Apple will skip all that and wait for the next dual core GPU (something that is both more powerful and has more efficient battery draw) than just throw 4+ cores at their hardware like Sony has done.



    You are a hateful little person.



    I expected more from an Apple guy.
  • Reply 16 of 74
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jexus View Post


    The sales for the Wi-fi model are assured to whoever is planning to purchase one.



    The 3G model? Well, When Sony announced AT&T exclusivity, all hopes of surging sales for that one died. Hell, the crowd BOO'd Sony for that.



    And Apple stuck to them very hard for 3.5 years.



    My guess is Sony wanted a GSM device as thats what the majority of the world uses.



    You got AT&T maybe taking over T-Mobile.



    And Verizons 3G network is slow, but it does not drop calls much though. Well, the Vita is not a phone.



    I get great speeds on AT&T where I work. Mediocre where I live but then I do have WiFi.



    Not sure Sony had a ton of options here.
  • Reply 17 of 74
    neiltc13neiltc13 Posts: 182member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jexus View Post


    The sales for the Wi-fi model are assured to whoever is planning to purchase one.



    The 3G model? Well, When Sony announced AT&T exclusivity, all hopes of surging sales for that one died. Hell, the crowd BOO'd Sony for that.



    The rest of the world is calling. They want to know what AT&T is.
  • Reply 18 of 74
    d-ranged-range Posts: 396member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by msantti View Post


    I am a Apple guy but I don't wear blinders either like some do here.



    iOS and the devices that run it make nice gaming machines but they are not the end all device for gaming.



    While a good many games work well with touch, face it, some just need hardware controls.



    THe Playstation Vita crushed anything Apple has from a processor power standpoint. Sure, it will eventually surpass it.



    Frankly, the $249 price is surprising. Most figured it would be a very minimum pf $299 and many predicted as much as $399.



    You got a 5" OLED screen, all the motion sensors an iDevice has, quad core CPU and GPU, dual cameras, touch screen and a touch pad on the back. And of course, full hardware controls including dual analog sticks.



    Pretty much the ultimate gaming handheld.



    Oh yeah, Apple is going to sell more devices. That does not make it the most superior gaming device.



    THe Nintendo 3DS looks pretty sad here, even with its 3D screen.



    One thing is that at $249, its the first Nintendo handheld to have such a high price. Uncharted territory for them.



    I am seriously considering a Vita. But then, I like games.



    Not dumping my iPhone 4 or iPad 2. They themselves do many other things.



    But if you want the ultimate gaming handheld, the Vita is where its at, not an iDevice.



    The iDevices are awesome in their own right.



    I can see outside my shell.



    I agree on the hardware controls part, but that's just about all this thing has going for it. We're past the point where a spec sheet will sell your console, and that's especially true for mobile consoles since they are limited by their battery life. Also 'quad-core CPU' doesn't say a lot if that means '4 cores running at 500 Mhz', and as far as typical game code goes, "more cores = better" kind of stops being true at 2 or 3 cores, at least without making it really hard for developers to create efficient and portable game engines. The '4 core GPU' is the exact same one as in the A5, except for the fact that it has 4 cores instead of 2, but I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes if your outputting to a relatively low-res 5" screen. All in all the 'Playstation Vita' (absolutely horrible name by the way, it sounds like something for old people) is surely going to be a fair bit faster than the next iPod Touch & iPhone, but again, that alone is not going to sway a whole lot of people to carry 2 devices. You'd have to be specifically in the market for a separate gaming device to justify buying this alongside a powerful smartphone.



    Now one thing you can be pretty sure of is Sony messing up this fine piece of hardware in all kinds of ways they are famous for, such as a bad SDK that will result in crap games until the 3rd generation, obnoxious DRM and lock-in to other Sony services and formats, expensive games that are too narrowly focussed on hardcore gamers, overpromising and underdelivering on features and capabilities, a confusing and complicated OS and user interface, and so on.



    So while the Sony Vita will likely be the best portable console in terms of hardware, at least for a while after it is released, that doesn't make it an automatic success. I think the market for dedicated portable consoles has already shrunk to levels that don't justify investing millions into specifically developing for it, now that many of the 'occasional handheld gamers' are sufficiently happy with the quality of typical smartphone games.
  • Reply 19 of 74
    maccherrymaccherry Posts: 924member
    The Vita isn't going to do a damn thing to the ipod touch, business wise. However, the narrative that the author uses suggest the contrary.

    And most of the games for iSO don't even go past $5.00

    Can Sony offer such prices? Highly doubt it.
  • Reply 20 of 74
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by d-range View Post


    I agree on the hardware controls part, but that's just about all this thing has going for it. We've past the point where a spec sheet will sell your console, and that's especially true for mobile consoles since they are limited by their battery life. Also 'quad-core CPU' doesn't say a lot if that means '4 cores running at 500 Mhz', and as far as typical game code goes, "more cores = better" kind of stops being true at 2 or 3 cores, at least without making it really hard for developers to create efficient and portable game engines. The '4 core GPU' is the exact same one as in the A5, except for the fact that it has 4 cores instead of 2, but I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes if your outputting to a relatively low-res 5" screen. All in all the 'Playstation Vita' (absolutely horrible name by the way, it sounds like something for old people) is surely going to be a fair bit faster than the next iPod Touch & iPhone, but again, that alone is not going to sway a whole lot of people to carry 2 devices. You'd have to be specifically in the market for a separate gaming device to justify buying this alongside a powerful smartphone.



    Now one thing you can be pretty sure of is Sony messing up this fine piece of hardware in all kinds of ways they are famous for, such as a bad SDK that will result in crap games until the 3rd generation, obnoxious DRM en lock-in to other Sony services and formats, expensive games that are too narrowly focussed on hardcore games, overpromising and underdelivering on features and capabilities, a confusing and complicated OS and user interface, and so on.



    So while the Sony Vita will likely be the best portable console in terms of hardware, at least for a while after it is released, that doesn't make it an automatic access. I think the market for dedicated portable consoles has already shrunk to levels that don't justify investing millions into specifically developing for it, now that many of the 'occasional handheld gamers' are sufficiently happy with the quality of typical smartphone games.



    I am kinda thinking this may be their easiest to develop for system to date.



    Yeah, Sony has made some real difficult to program though mastering it will reep great results.



    A few very impressive looking games so far. They seem to have solid support.



    I never felt the need to bash another product (well, maybe if its truly bad). It makes one insecure about their own choice.
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