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Playstation Vita News
by Published on August 20th, 2012 20:56- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
It was the week that Vita seemed to live again. But all too quickly Sony’s ambitious handheld has been brought down to earth.
Sony has traditionally been coy about revealing Vita’s sales numbers, but be it deliberately or not the numbers were finally revealed at Gamescom last week, with PlayStation Germany boss Uwe Bassendowski revealing to Playfront that the machine has sold 2.2m units since its launch in Japan in December and in Europe/America in February.
And as compiled by a Neogaf user, this does not compare favourably to other formats.
At the same stage in its lifecycle, PSP had sold 5.05m units and the 3DS 6.68m. DS had shifted 6.65m units and the Game Boy Advance 9.58m.
Furthermore, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida has subsequently admitted to Andriasang that the fantastic Cross Buy initiative – which means those who buy a title for either PS3 or Vita receive the same game free if it’s available on the other system – is only confirmed for Europe at present.
Then PlayStation Europe’s chief executive Jim Ryan admitted to CVG that Cross Buy will not play as significant a role in the console’s fortunes as we might have hoped as "the development environments [for each machine] are rather different".
Added Ryan: "PS Vita is a more PC-based environment whereas the PS3 is a more bespoke development environment. So the cross-over between both platforms is rather limited."
Sony confirmed to MCV last week that it is to spend more marketing Vita this Christmas then it did for the machine’s launch in February. This is perhaps the biggest positive of all, of course.
Despite all the negative press and the disappointing sales, Vita remains the most technologically advanced games machine on the planet. With the right marketing – and perhaps a price cut? – it could still do the business.
It’s certainly a make or break period for the machine worldwide this Q4.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/was-v...-revea/0101527 ...by Published on August 18th, 2012 18:40- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
Many feel that a price cut would potentially give a shot in the arm to the PS Vita and possibly give it a lift before the coming holiday season. Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida, however, indicates that isn't likely to happen and that some of the recently announced bundles for the system will have to suffice.
"People like cheap or free," he said. "Of course, cost reduction is one area our engineering team is working on. But we just launched the platform earlier this year. It takes time to do so."
"At a certain point in the future we would like to address the pricing issue for some of the people who are waiting. But this year we are trying to add value by creating different types of bundles. We announced we will provide LittleBigPlanet PS Vita bundle pack. That's affordable for people who are looking for a good deal."
When asked flat out about a price cut, Yoshida said, "No, it's too early."
Nintendo cut the price of the 3DS from $249.99 to $169.99 in North America a half year after launch when early sales failed to meet company expectations. Sales of the system improved after the price cut and Nintendo recently launched the first 3DS variation in the 3DS XL.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...vita-price-cut ...by Published on August 16th, 2012 23:14- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
Sony engineers are working to reduce the cost of manufacturing the PS Vita so it can cut the price of the handheld - but that price cut won't happen this year.Sony's fledgling portable has endured torrid sales since its launch last year in Japan and early this year in Europe, sparking calls for the Japanese company to slash its price.But Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida told Eurogamer at Gamescom this week that the price of Vita will not drop this year. Instead, it hopes prospective buyers will find new bundles, such as the LittleBigPlanet Vita bundle announced during Sony's Gamescom press conference earlier this week, good enough value to convince them to take the plunge."People like cheap or free," he said. "Of course, cost reduction is one area our engineering team is working on. But we just launched the platform earlier this year. It takes time to do so."At a certain point in the future we would like to address the pricing issue for some of the people who are waiting. But this year we are trying to add value by creating different types of bundles. We announced we will provide LittleBigPlanet PS Vita bundle pack. That's affordable for people who are looking for a good deal."So, no price cut this year? "No," Yoshida replied. "It's too early."Another criticism Vita has endured is that there are not enough games available for it. Yoshida said Sony had noticed this perception, and the addition of new games and content was now its number one priority."The reaction to the hardware platform itself has been very strong," he said. "We are very pleased with the response we got. It's up to our expectations in terms of what we were hoping for in bringing PS Vita to the market."But the actual sales of PS Vita, obviously we would like to see more uptake. We see lots of feedback from consumers saying they would like to see more content, they would like to see their favourite franchises coming to the PS Vita."From our perspective, we were very pleased to launch with many titles. Many people said we had the strongest launch line-up for a PlayStation platform. But it's amazing how much more people want and how much content they consume."We designed PS Vita as a medium you can spend hours immersed into playing games. That means any amount of content can be potentially consumed pretty quickly. Also, we feel the expectations of people have changed since the launch of smartphone gaming. There is so much available in terms of variety and numbers."So we have to continue to work on bringing more content from big titles people are looking for in terms of franchises, to very small, snack-sized, intuitive casual games on the digital distribution side."During its conference Sony revealed a raft of Vita games that are spin-offs of big franchises, including Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation, Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified and Killzone: Mercenary, and Yoshida hopes these games will boost sales of the handheld.But another way new content will be added to Vita is through PS Mobile, Sony's new way of getting smaller games built for the Android platform on a raft of PlayStation certified devices, including smartphones, tablets and, of course, Vita."PS Mobile is one of the initiatives we are working hard to provide an ecosystem like the App Store, so small developers and even individuals can create content and publish on PS Vita as well as PS certified Android devices," Yoshida said."And anything in between, like offering the PSone emulation compatibility. We were very happy to be able to announce later this month we will bring lots of PSone titles to PS Vita. That includes lots of great RPGs that people were asking for on PS Vita. I for one am looking forward to playing Legend on Dragoon again on PS Vita."So, that's our biggest focus now. The best way to realise the potential of the PS Vita platform is to provide the content. That's absolutely number one."...
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...2012-price-cutby Published on August 16th, 2012 22:52- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
It's time to get realistic about the prospects of a PlayStation Vita price drop. Sony Worldwide Studios' head Shuhei Yoshida dampened the fires of speculation at GamesCom this week by telling Eurogamerthat it was simply "too early" to slash the price on the gaming handheld -- it was only just launched this year for every active region beyond Japan, after all. That's not to say Sony is determined to keep the PS Vita at $249 forever. Much like what it did for the PS3, the company is working to bring down the price by streamlining part costs. The cuts might be necessary given the mismatch between the warm reception to the quad-core, OLED-packing hardware and the actual sales; Sony would "like to see more uptake" than what's been seen to date, according to Yoshida. In the meantime, we'll have to be content with bundles like the European LittleBigPlanet combo if we want to eke out a little more value at the game store counter.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/16/s...e-cut-in-2012/
...by Published on August 16th, 2012 22:36- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
Sony used its Gamescom press conference to effectively relaunch its Vita handheld for Christmas.
And as part of the revamp, it will spend more money on marketing Vita this Q4 than it did over the platform’s launch earlier this year.
To improve the console’s slow sales the platform holder will launch a series of bundles featuring the biggest brands in games: Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, FIFA, LittleBigPlanet and Need for Speed.
“We’re currently putting the finishing touches to our campaign, and throughout peak we’ll be spending more marketing money than we did during the launch period,” SCE?UK’s senior product manager Ian Vinten explained to MCV.
“Our comprehensive TV plan kicks off in September and will run in key bursts to Christmas, focusing on the new titles. Our first ad will feature FIFA 13 and LittleBigPlanet.
“Having FIFA 13 in our creative is a great example of how we’re engaging with the third-party titles. These games really deliver against the promise of the hardware and are what our consumers have been crying out for.”
Sony called on its own studios to satisfy demands for more Vita content too, unveiling two key titles in Germany:?a new Killzone and new IP from LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule called Tearaway.
“History has shown that great quality content drives demand for hardware,” added VP and MD for SCE UK & Ireland Fergal Gara.
“We hope you’ll agree that the outstanding array of software showcased at Gamescom, covering some of the biggest and best franchises, demonstrates our commitment to the platform.
“This strength and depth of software support, in combination with a heavyweight marketing campaign, retail focused bundles and sampling, puts the PS Vita in a very strong position for Christmas and beyond.”
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/revit...launch/0101375 ...by Published on August 15th, 2012 23:21- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
The president of Worldwide Studios talks about what's next for Vita
Shuhei Yoshida is the affable, approachable face of Sony. The president of worldwide studios is often seen sitting quietly in his own company's presentations, looking more like an interested fan than a whip cracker, earning a reputation as one of the good guys amongst journalists and fans alike.
He's also a happy interviewee, or always has been when the sun has shone for Sony. Catching up with him today at Gamescom, during a period when Sony is under heavy fire from a lot of angles, it was hard to know what to expect from the usually chatty executive. Would the generally positive response to last night's conference have him relaxed, or was it time to don the corporate armour and deflect a few of the more pointed questions? Read on to find out what sort of mood he was in.
Q: The conference yesterday seemed to be well received. What was your agenda? What message did you want to communicate?
Shuhei Yoshida: Our focus was to feature PS Vita. One big criticism we got from E3 was where's the PS Vita, where are the PS Vita games? We spent too little time talking about it, so that was a big focus going into Gamescom.
We were very happy to announce five new titles from Worldwide Studios, as well as the new Ratchet & Clank game - so that's six new titles. PS Vita, PS3, Move, PSN, they all got new titles, so we were able to cover all of the initiatives that we have
Q: Sony has quite a range of products and initiatives now, so it must be difficult to make sure your messaging is strong across all of them.
Shuhei Yoshida: That's fair to say. But we have a lot of development employees at Worldwide Studios, so we should be able to support all of those platforms and initiatives. It's our job to makes sure that our resources are allocated well to give that support.
"We're getting really good feedback from the media and consumers...about the hardware features, as well as the games that try to take advantage of each new input method."
Q: Has the Vita suffered in that respect? It's very impressive hardware, but it can do so many things that making sure people understood it struck me as a key challenge.
Shuhei Yoshida: We're getting really good feedback from the media and consumers...about the hardware features, as well as the games that try to take advantage of each new input method. With that feedback, our developers can be smarter about how to use the new features the Vita offers.
Q: Is the Vita as popular as it should be?
Shuhei Yoshida: In terms of the reactions of the people who have already bought the Vita, we're very happy. They are happy with the hardware. In terms of the sales, we'd definitely like to see more. There are millions of people we're sure will enjoy playing PS Vita games. Our job now is to decipher what's preventing these people from making the jump. Our priority right now is definitely to bring more content.
Q: Is that why the Vita hasn't sold as well as you'd like? A lack of content and services?
Shuhei Yoshida: Yeah. The good thing is that the one thing we can't change is the hardware features, but they are very well regarded by people. But in terms of new content and new system and service features, we can add that, and we can work with third-parties to get more. We're getting a very good feeling when we talk with third-parties companies, and of course we're developing our own titles. And for the people who are hoping that the PS Vita becomes more affordable, we are creating new bundles and adding new value to the package. We're hoping that this Christmas more people will jump over to the Vita.
"For the people who are hoping that the PS Vita becomes more affordable, we are creating new bundles and adding new value to the package."
Q: It was good to see new IP being launched so late in the console cycle. A lot of publishers claim that's next to impossible.
Shuhei Yoshida: Well, it's true that when new hardware launches it's a really great time to launch a new IP, because people are more willing to try out something new. The library is also more limited, so the IP gets more attention from consumers. But that doesn't mean that there's no way to launch new IP later in the cycle: looking back on PS2, we launched God of War and Guitar Hero late in the cycle, and they had a very significant impact.
Q: With a game like The Last of Us, is Sony demonstrating just how much potential could still be mined from the PS3 hardware?
Shuhei Yoshida: That could be the difference with a company like us: our developers can totally focus on one platform and really go deep into what it can offer, but third-party publishers have to create for multiple platforms.
Q: Does the Vita play a part in that for Sony? The conference featured several announcements around ways the Vita and PS3 can work in tandem. That was suggested with the PSP, but it never really took off.
Shuhei Yoshida: The PSP wasn't really powerful enough to do much. We had the Remote Play function with the PS3 and PSP, and that was technically very advanced in terms of concept, but from ...by Published on August 15th, 2012 21:10- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
The message from Sony's Gamescom 2012 press conference couldn't have been clearer: the company is taking Vita seriously. With a new Media Molecule IP, some of PlayStation's biggest franchises, and the arrival of PlayStation Plus and PSOne classics, much of Sony's 80 minutes on stage was devoted to its ailing handheld. Will it be enough to revive Vita's fortunes?
Media Molecule's Tearaway was the highlight, with studio co-founder Alex Evans on stage to reveal the company's first new IP since LittleBigPlanet. It's a 3D adventure starring Iota, a cartoony figure with an envelope for a head who has a message for you, but is stuck in his papery world. Helping him out of his world and into yours is the aim, a simple goal that lays the foundations for inventive uses of Vita's unique features. Rear touch featured heavily, with rhythmic taps on the back panel increasing airtime from trampoline-like jump pads, and stabs replicated on the Vita's screen, human fingers poking through the ground to clear enemies. It looks delightful, and has clearly been designed with Vita's feature-set in mind - AR was also shown off to good effect, the demo closing with the camera pushing up and out of Iota's world and into the Gamescom audience, captured by the Vita's rear camera.
Then came Killzone Mercenary, a Vita exclusive developed by Guerrilla Games using the same engine that powered Killzone 3. However, it seemed that the only justification for SCEE president Jim Ryan's claim that this was "an FPS that could simply not exist on any other platform" was a heavy emphasis on touchscreen melee kills. Guerrilla's hand could certainly be seen in the visuals, the quality of which was put into stark context when Ryan closed the show with a first look at Call Of Duty: Black Ops Declassified.
At E3, Sony had only shown a logo for Call Of Duty's Vita debut, and it seemed the company was trying to get away with it again when Ryan briefly discussed the game partway through his presentation. And having seen it running at last, perhaps that might have been the better option. Looking disctinctly rough around the edges for a game due in November, Declassified's multiplayer is capped at 4v4, and it's being developed by Nihilistic Software, whose last game was Vita's original great shooter hope,Resistance: Burning Skies, and we all know how that went. Despite Ryan's claim that the multiplayer would feature new maps designed from the ground up for Vita, the trailer leant heavily on Black Ops' Nuketown, a tiny map presumably highlighted to offset disappointment at the meagre online player count.
A look at Assassin's Creed Liberation was more positive, though concerns over crowbarred control options remain after heavy emphasis on touchscreen combat and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of protagonist Aveline riding on the back of a crocodile. It's in development at Ubisoft Sofia, and while there's no disputing that both Liberation and Declassified will be two of the biggest names on the Vita shelves at Christmas, neither dispel the notion that Sony's new handheld is repeating the same mistakes as its predecessor, playing host to cut-down versions of major IP farmed out to B-teams.
There was more LittleBigPlanet Vita, with Pete Smith - the man who revealed that Sony lost a potential Limbo exclusive because it wanted the IP - showing off Cross-Controller, using the Vita to play through a specially designed level on PS3, with the Vita showing objects and traps that are invisible on the big screen.
CrossBuy - where buying a game on Vita nets you a copy of the PS3 game, and vice versa - has previously been reserved for downloadable games like Motorstorm RC and Sound Shapes, but is now to be offered on full retail games. PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale will lead the charge upon its release in November, with Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time and Ratchet & Clank Q-Force to follow. The PlayStation Plus subscription service, whose appeal to PS3 owners will be further boosted next month with a free download ofRed Dead Redemption, was also confirmed for Vita.
A firmware update due on August 28 will finally bring support for PSOne classics on Vita, though it seems that compatibility will be restricted similar to current PSP support. The update will also bring Cross-Controller implementation and a host of minor tweaks including, at last, the option to control the home screen using buttons as well as the touchscreen.
It was a much, much better showing than Vita got at E3, and even though that's a low bar to clear Sony deserves praise for giving its ailing handheld the support it deserves - and one assumes there's more on the way, too, with its plans for Vita's Japanese recovery coming next month at the Tokyo Game Show. PS3 was hardly ignored, either, with two new announcements from Sony's Japan Studio and the Move-controlled Until Dawn. There was no Vita price-cut, despite predictions, Sony's hardware announcements limited to Black Ops, LBP and PS All-Stars bundles, with the ...by Published on August 15th, 2012 20:41- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
PSOne Classics support comes to Vita on August 28. Along with it, Vita firmware 1.80 adds several new features to the platform – like actually using the Vita's buttons on the handheld's menu. We know!
The new firmware also adds fast rewind, fast-forward, and variable speed to the Video application. If you're using the thing to play music, you can now import playlists from PS3 or iTunes. The web browser supports rear touch for scroll and zoom, which actually seems like a worthwhile use of that rear touchpad. And there will be a new "Cross-Controller" icon in the Remote Play app to round up Cross-Controller supporting games.
That's the most noticable stuff: there's a whole list of tweaks at the PlayStation Blog.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/14/vi...o-home-screen/ ...by Published on August 15th, 2012 20:17- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
Sony's cross-platform gaming service will be available on Vita and Android.
Speaking at the Gamescom conference in Cologne, Sony said that it will release Playstation Mobile this autumn in 30 countries including the UK, US, Japan, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
According to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe CEO Jim Ryan, the company is planning "bite-sized games" which will play on the Vita as well as PlayStation Certified devices, which include Android smartphones and tablets.
Games will be purchased from the PlayStation Store where they'll be tied to a user's PlayStation Network ID, meaning that one PlayStation Mobile purchase can be played on any certified device tied to that user ID.
In addition to the PlayStation Mobile news, Sony announced that ASUS and, surprisingly, Wikipad have been added as new PlayStation Certified partners.
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...-autumn/019039 ...by Published on August 15th, 2012 15:18- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
Burning Skies studio entrusted with creating first handheld entry for the series
US developer Nihilistic Software has been handed the reigns for Call of Duty: Declassified for PS Vita.
Nihilistic has previously worked on Sony titles such as PlayStation Move Heroes and Resistance Burning Skies, which received 53 and 59 average review scores on Metacritic.
Declassified will be the first handheld release for the immensely popular series, which has broken numerous sales records since the launch of Modern Warfare in 2007.
The game will take advantage of Vita’s touch-screen capabilities and PlayStation Near technology, enabling users to share content such as loadouts with their friends.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified will also offer eight player support over Wi-Fi, although it will not be accessible through 3G.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...y-Declassified
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