GameStop not forcing companies to do things to suit their own portfolio would 'make sense'.
GameStop: PS Vita price cut ahead of PS4 release would 'make sense'
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
President Tony Bartel believes gamers would be more likely to purchase PS Vita to tap into PS4 multi-screen features if new bundle or price cut were offered.
GameStop president Tony Bartel believes a PlayStation Vita price cut or the release of a new bundle ahead of the PlayStation 4 launch this holiday would "make sense." Speaking to Forbes, the retail executive said he believes more gamers will be spurred to buy a PS Vita to tap into multi-screen functionality with the PS4.
"With multi-screen gaming continuing to rise in popularity, I think you’ll see more gamers purchase a Vita to take advantage of the enhanced gameplay offered by the PS4," Bartel said. "We’re always happy to see a price cut! Both bundles and price cuts tend to spur additional sales, so this would make sense leading up to launch."
During the PS4 announcement in February, Gaikai CEO David Perry revealed that PS4 has integrated Gaikai technology into the system to allow PS4 titles to be streamed directly to the PS Vita. According to Perry, the PS4 acts as a server and sends video straight to the PS Vita screen, which can then be played remotely on the handheld.
Sony president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida said last month that a PS Vita price cut for North America was not in the cards. In Japan, the recent price drop for the device led to sales jumping by a factor of four.
The PS Vita currently retails in North America at $250 and $300 for the Wi-Fi and 3G models, respectively.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
141 comments
it would if they dropped the price on the f*%king memory cards
seriously! why a 32 gig cost 90$ where i could get from sandisk in 20$
hell, even nintendo allows sandisks memory cards so why a sony customer should pay the 70$ sony tax?
fuck the vita until they chop the price on the memory cards
@thequickshooter I know I have a vita but no fucken way I'm spending 90$ on a 32 gb memory despite having plus.
adding an LTE model for North America would make sense. I would sell mine and buy a new LTE model. 3G is just worthless once you have LTE.
2 Like The 250 price,plus 50 Dollars PSN(Obviously optional) plus 50-100 dollars for Memory card. Is just plain too much for a handheld with its crappy selection of titles. Only main reason I would get it for would be to play PS1 titles and PSN.
It's very similar to the original PSP. Nothing break through. I've very much happy with my 3DS purchase, I debated a long time on which I should get. 3DS added a whole new way to experience gaming, the 3D effect, which I think is very awesome and something that no other gaming console can simulate right now. Withthe Vita being so pricey, and no support. It's just not worth the money right now.
@LastLaughLol the 3D effect sucks major ass
but the awesome games like SM3DL and Fire Emblem are well worth the 3DS XL purchse
@LastLaughLol I made a judgement call too and bought a 3DS the day it came out. I haven't regretted it...especially with Monster Hunter about to come out! ^_^
The graphics on some games with the 3D effect just can't be beaten. Period.
@LastLaughLol I know it's kind of a matter of opinion, but do you really think that '3D' adds a lot to the 3DS? I had one back at launch, and I felt like it didn't make much of a difference. A lot of other people I talked to then said they just left the 3D off when they played theirs most of the time. And Nintendo hasn't been pushing that one 'major' aspect of the system in a while, from what I can tell.
I also don't see where the 3DS has many good games, though that's once again a personal opinion. Aside from Fire Emblem Awakening, I don't think the system really has much to offer, except maybe GB and GBC titles.
At best, I'd say the 3DS is really in pretty much the same position as the Vita, except it's cheaper and has a lot of crazed Nintendo fans and little kids supporting it. I don't think it's in that much better of a position than the Vita, honestly.
@Ovirew @LastLaughLol The 3DS XL is pretty awesome... I have both the 3DS XL and a PS Vita. The Vita is a better device overall, but the 3DS is very capable. The titles on the 3DS are incredible. I don't know what anyone means who says there aren't any. Mario Kart 7, New Super Mario Bros 2, Zelda Ocarina in Time(I never played the original) and Super Mario Tennis are all great games. The store is starting to fill up with games also.
Vita has better graphics, is easier to hold, and has dual analog sticks as well as the touch screen on the back which makes it possible in games like resistance...to touch the back instead of your hand getting in the way. However....
3DS XL has an EXCELLENT analog stick. Big and curved and almost flat. Easy to grip... as well as using STANDARD SD cards and not expensive "vita only" memory cards. Also, it is backwards compatible and you can play the Whole DS library of games on it. The Vita also allows you to play the old games...as long as you bought the downloadable version...since it doesn't include the UMD player. Sony should fix this and offer a way to download the games you bought on UMD.
@condelirios @Ovirew @LastLaughLol I agree, I had both, just got rid of my xl, it's just too big. I'll probubly just pick up a regular 3ds. It is quite capable, and the battery life is excellant. Both have their perks. The thing the 3ds does so right for me is it's touch pad doesn't interfere with the game. The biggest downfall is controlling the camera angle without the second analog stick. Also, you see games like RE revelations, and I wonder why you don't see more graphically capable games on the 3ds. Most games are cartooney.
@Ovirew @LastLaughLol Also the 3ds sales are over the top right now with the New Pokemon coming, almost 30.000.000 units sold.
@Ovirew @LastLaughLol "Back at launch" Much has change since then, the 3ds is by far superior to the PS Vita, I know games are coming to this console but after 1 year do you think they have bring something worthy to the console? Nope... just mostly ports.
Professor Layton is a master piece for Puzzle lovers, FE Awakening, Resident Evil Revelations is the first RE in ages to bring the survival horror back. You also have Kid Icarus wich have one of the most intense Online Gameplay out of all the handheld consoles... Ace Attorney is coming this year too. I'm 20 Years old and I LOVE the 3ds, the titles it has to offer are pretty much far from being Childish at all... and with the New Super Smash Bros coming to the 3ds too and Monster Hunter 4, New Zelda... I'm pretty much excited about it.
The vita has now been out for a year and it looks like sales aren't going to get any better. If sony doesn't smarten up soon the vita is never going to do well. A price cut announcement soon so people can spend their tax return on a vita bundle would be smart, but sony isn't that smart.
@digitaltiger the vita sales just increased by 4x in japan. They have the sales by price per unit ratio calculated to the T..they know what they're doing. you could almost call them professionals
Since PSV has been HACKED that means that it is better for Sony to make money from the console itself and LESS from ROYALTIES. SO LOWERING the price of Royalties is a great steep, look at steam for inspiration for the cost of games it would be a little more due to even cheap Royalties and keep the price the same with value coming form bundles.
1. PSV basic pad for $249 with 2 FREE games 1 year PSN+
2. PSV PS4 bundle for $180.00 more than a PS4
3. PSV bundle with 4 free games 8GB memory card 2 years of PSN+ $299.00 $50 PSN Money code.
4. PSN 7" screen basic model $349.00 with 3 games. 1 year PSN+ (upsale or increase Rez so looks the same)
The basic premise is that increase the price of the hardware and make money that way and LESSEN the price of the software To make PIRACY as close to irreverent as possible.
Even try a buy from Sony online for $100.00 down and $50.00 a month for 1 year for bundle 4, or 3. (cheeking account, or credit card needed... pay through Sony.com)
@Ravenlore_basic so whats the point of playing a hacked vita? emulators? thats what everything else is for. The only purpose for a hacked vita would be remote play, pirated Vgames, and being able to install android which I don't think has happened yet. being able to play pirated games would mean a person would go through hassles and probably wouldn't get online play what a waste
2 Like @Ravenlore_basic So, are you saying that they need to get money from the console and Ignore piracy? Developers won't make any game for a console that has been hacked and is not doing anything about it.
As and when I do get a VITA, it will not be for the purpose of making use of the multi-screen functionality. No self-respecting gamer lets anyone throw them off the main gaming TV. The only reason it's caught on with Wii U is because Wiis are typically located in the living room as a family device, not hidden away in a gamers Fortress of Solitude.
3 Like I think lowering the price is something Sony should do, but I still believe that the Vita is worth its current price. Ask any of us who have owned the system for months, and we will all tell you that the cost of the memory cards is the real issue.
@Ovirew no its not. Except of Persona 4 there is not 1 other game i would like to play that are on the vita so far. Same like WIIU. I think there is also juat 1 game so far i would be interested in (the new mario)
@edinko Well that's your opinion. I have a bunch of games on the system right now that I enjoy. And not one of them is Persona 4 Golden.
Maybe people still don't consider PSN games to be worth anything. I have great games like Super Stardust Delta, Escape Plan, Dokuro and Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack on my Vita. They are all great, in my own personal opinion. It's surprising how so many gamers overlook games like that.
Gravity Rush is a great, imaginative little game. I know it's short, I do not care. It's still a pretty good game, people are just never satisfied. I'm sure that Uncharted: Golden Abyss wasn't bad, either.
People gave Touch My Katamari poor reviews, but I'm finding it to be pretty much as good as every other Katamari game I've played, and even better than the PSP one with its crappy controls.
Disgaea 3 is a great game, even if it's a port. It's amazing to me that the game gets less recognition than Persona 4. It includes all of the DLC of the original game, at a huge savings of over $50.
Of course I'm not surprised. When Persona 4 is the only game people talk about, it's the only game gamers are going to be interested in for the system. It's just too bad that people don't actually look into all of the great games for the system before deciding its library sucks.
@Ovirew I Agree with this so much. The real issue of why I didnt buy the Vita and chose the 3DS was because of the Memory cards. Its ludicrous. The Vita costs 250 Dollars plus PSN 50 dollars to utalize that amazing feautre plus anywhere from 50-100 dollars for the memory card if you want to save actual whole games on your Vita from PSN and such and would be dishing out around 450 dollars with a game. While I payed only 250 dollars for my 3DS XL with a game, memory card included and built in memory included as well.
3 Like You know what's funny? I primarily use the PS Vita to play the PSOne classics. They look great on that screen.
2 Like @TC_Squared Back when I owned a PSP, it was little more than a portable PSOne...and MP3 player.
:P
2 Like in japan the ps vita will start out selling the 3ds last week the sony vita sold over 60.000 systems in one week its picking up fast in japan the vita is huge after the price cut
@surferosh @emptycowAnd when that price cut finally comes over here, that's when I (like many others) will finally be picking up a Vita. Hopefully by then, its library will be a bit more impressive as its a bit lacking now with the exception of a few quality titles.
3 Like After perusing the 1,2,3, ...100+ comments here, I hear that the majority of us complain that the PSV is lacking in the game department. This is not as much a SCE issue as it is a Game Developer issue. Now, now peeps, they did drop a PSV specifically made Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty, and Sony's Uncharted, Resistance, and Little Big Planet. Let's also note some main stream titles also available on the PSV like; MLB 12, Madden 13, Need 4 Speed, and Mortal Kombat, just to name a few. There are also some cleverly done not so blockbuster AA titles such as; Escape Plan, Touch My Katamari, and Gravity Rush that should be considered for PSV owners. Now this is only the first year and we haven't heard as much from developers as we should be on the next big PSV title, but I do see plans for the PSV. Decent plans, whether it be the next Killzone / BioShock major title, or a Tearaway / God Eater 2 like AA title, or the HD remake of some PS1/PS2/PSP title that now has trophy support, or for that unique interaction with our PS4 as described to us back on 20Feb2013. I do acknowledge that the Vita is suffering some on the numbers side of available titles, though not lacking completely as mentioned above. The lack of titles are not the fault of SCE and the Vita, but the desire of the Game Developers. They do have in-house Dev. partners too that need to jump on board with both feet more so than they have been. Now, if we, "Da Gamers", want to see the Vita more mainstream, then we, "Da Gamers" need to complain to those Game Developers about our desires on the PSV. They are out to make money and if there are only "X" number of PSV's sold and it costs "X" amount to make the game and has to be sold at "X" dollars and those "X's" don't equate to profit then the idea gets dropped. So stop complaining about a system you're not going to buy till they make more games for and complain to our favorite Game Devs about not supporting the console you own or want and don't complain that they don't make games for a system if you haven't done your part in increasing the demand for the system. I can recall a time that we, "Da Gamers", wanted the next best system because it was. The launch titles are just that {launch titles] and after your pallet was moistened by those we started getting fed more and more of the good stuff. Then they made stellar games for it and we all bragged about our systems and enjoyed the library of games on it. Metroid, R.C. Pro-Am, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, Kid Icarus, Golden Eye, Altered Beast, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, NBA Jam, Madden, Sonic, Resident Evil, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Halo, Gears of War, Uncharted, God of War, The Elder Scrolls, Fable , Need 4 Speed, Tom Clancy's anything, hell even Pac-Man, Asteroid, and Space Invaders. All good games by developers to support a large selling /sold console. Now go out and pick up a Vita. Yell at your favorite Devs all about it. Hopefully Sony will drop the Vita cost down and the damn price on the mem cards. Then we'll do less crying and more gaming. Now imagine your PS4 game on that PSV. Sweeeeet...
1 Like @WyteMike77 the vita is picking up after the price cut its out selling the wiiu in some parts of the world and in japan last week it sold over 60.000 units in one week its only going to get bigger
@emptycow @WyteMike77 Ham-burger ...and french fries! [Over weight 'mer-can (I know, I know. Oxymoron.) - for Hell yah!] That's what I'm talking about. Do it to it - Vita. So yah, more consoles sold equals higher reason to dev games for it. So they can make money - money, make money. Now time for Capcom to release Resident Evil: Code Vita. Square Enix to provide a Kingdom Hearts: Vita. Konami could grace us with Metal Gear Vita. All good to go now that the PSV is selling again. Here's to hoping for some Daddy's Day/4th of July/Back-to-school sale on PSV's in Norf 'mer-ca. Come on Sony, recognize our market and how we drop chedda on merch. You can't expect us to want you for almost 2 years, especially when we know that new lil hotties are coming. Don't wait till the holiday's and act shocked that we didn't choose you over the new lil hotties out there.
those saying bundle it, you really think sony got into the mess its in by offering value for money, i mean look at every possible memory card the vita could of used but no, they wanted a new memory card to suck more peoples money and it back fired.
*edit* and the charger cable is pathetic, its so weak its like the designed it like this so you would need to buy a new charger every now and again...
sony are getting so greedy i dont think a "value bundle of PS4+Vita" ever crossed their minds
@NuclearDefCon1 Greedy? IF they were MAKING Billions then I would say yes they are but Sony is not making billions. They are just making money here and there, and a lot.
Again look here for comparison
http://n4g.com/news/976706/each-xbox-360-sold-nets-microsoft-115-in-profits
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2008/05/hardware-analysis-suggests-the-xbox-360-hdd-is-overpriced/
. http://gamerlimit.com/2009/11/microsoft-sued-for-blocking-third-party-memory-cards/
http://gamerant.com/red-dead-redemptions-liars-cheats-dlc-details-revealed-bow-36654/
http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/02/14/203247/xbox-360-game-patching-costs-40000
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368510,00.asp increase in Live
I could go on but after this IF you still think that Sony is greedy for making some money from Memory cards that everyone has to buy INCLUDING PIRATES, then read this go here http://www.gamespot.com/news/playstation-vita-reportedly-hacked-6394719
There are countless sites that promote Hacking of PSV. They may have hacks but will need to buy PSV memory cards to hold ALL those Pirated games. SO, Sony will make SOME money from them.
@Ravenlore_basic@NuclearDefCon1Thought they squashed that moto game exploit almost day one by pulling it off their online store.
Personally I don't think even piracy would get people to buy a PS Vita. And I call bullshit on those hackers reasons for 'homebrew' as just an excuse to be the first to crack a system's security. It's a gaming handheld system, if you want homebrew get a damn android or iphone and hack that.
I don't see any real reason for all hackers to buy a PS VITA just to hack it so they can play snes games or what bs they use to excuse the fact they just want free games.
That news is from a year ago, if you have anything current that proves Sony is really in peril and justifies the proprietary mem cards they created, then yeah I'll probably buy into the notion that Sony is justified in making us spend more money than a handheld should ever cost just to play a single game.
I wouldn't buy a PS VITA unless it came with a 32gb memcard WITH the system and have it be just under 200 bucks. You can't really enjoy games you download much with limited space on a 4gb card and I don't see myself buying 4 of those...
It's a shame piracy is so rampant that devs feel so threatened that they pull support on a decent system like PS Vita. It could of worked, but I see no real incentive to buying one aside from the new Y's game.
I'm not against Sony wanting to make money, but they need to really invest on better security than cutting corners to save money if they want to fight piracy. That new bootloader tech built into the games will eventually be cracked imo rather quickly. But, we'll see.
for the love of god sony drop the price on the vita and its memory cards already. I'm patient and can wait as long as I need to till this happens even till the handheld is deemed obsolete.
no im sorry my vita wont play anything now after the new firmware update, always need to be connected to psn, well if it wont connect how can i play. Im so disappointed in Sony right now after buying my 3rd ps3 too. The vita just doesnt cut it fellas, £300 well spent, should have bought a lap top.
@itchyflop your third PS3?! hat happened I've still got my first gen PS3, still works fine :|
Price drop is okay if it also covers that new model PS Vita coming out. There's still the matter of those expensive memory that Sony should look into.
Unless this price drop is to $80 dollars I am not interested. The only PS Vita game I am even interested in is Persona 4 and that is just a port. Before anyone says anything I have looked at EVERY game that is out and will be released.
It might make sense, but I'm sure it isn't going to come soon enough for me to still be interested in buying a brand new one.
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