Something About Japan: is there hope for PS Vita?

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http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/02/playstation_vita-610x344.jpg (http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/02/playstation_vita.jpg)The current issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu (http://www.famitsu.com/) includes an in-depth, 12-page examination of the current status of PS Vita, including buckets of data based on a survey of 1,500 Vita owners. It paints an insightful warts-and-all picture of Japan’s mixed reception to Sony’s struggling handheld, and ends on a hopeful note.The article breaks down hardware and software sales since the handheld’s release on 18 December 2011. Monthly hardware sales spikes occurred around its launch (over 400,000 units in a short month), the release of Hatsune Miku Project Diva f in September 2012 (around 90,000 units) and the Japan-only price drop in March, when discounts of up to 10,000 yen (£64) combined with the release of Soul Sacrifice to generate a sharp uptick and well over 200,000 sales. Indeed, Vita was No.2 in last week’s hardware chart, according to Media Create, when it had previously languished near the bottom of the chart for most weeks since its release.The top three software titles to date are Persona 4 The Golden (238,064 copies since June 2012), Project Diva f (208,837) and Soul Sacrifice (166,404). The anonymous survey first asked Vita owners what convinced them to buy the hardware, and the results show an optimism that has since faded somewhat.“The screen looked so beautiful, it made my heart go boom,” said one woman, aged 30. “I usually rely on the information in Famitsu to keep me informed but I went to Tokyo Game Show for the first time just to touch it.”“It seemed like an evolution of handheld consoles such as the PSP, and the specs and the two thumbsticks reeled me in,” said a 25-year-old man.

http://www.edge-online.com/features/something-about-japan-is-there-hope-for-ps-vita/