Only 10 Thousand PS Vita Sold in March (US)

Nintendo 3DS – 159,000

PS Vita – “little over” 10,000

PSP – “around” 5,000

Looks bad.

I wonder what will happen after the release of Borderlands 2, since it seems that especially US gamers want to see more AAA titles on PS Vita.

*Research analyst David Gibson shared the information on Twitter.

A shame, its a really good device, enjoying it more than my 3DS.

10,000 smart people I guess.

Well, I can also purchase a 3DS if I wish, but the only thing I want to play in its library is Pokémon. Because, when I was a teenager, Pokémon was very popular in my country. A childhood thing, that is. And, I see people complaining that PS Vita has not enough games. I cannot believe it!

I don't know why 3DS is that popular in US.

Such a crying shame. I think if a lot more people tried the system they'd realise it's an absolutely fantastic hand held, despite the terrible sales numbers. All I can say is that I hope Vita owners have deep pockets to keep this baby alive.

My girlfriend has a 3DS and I just cannot see the appeal at all. Seems designed for 10 year olds and women.

• The Vita already have Uncharted, Killzone, Wipeout, LBP, Assassin's Creed, CoD, etc.
• Platform exclusives like Gravity Rush, Tearaway, Ys: MoC, Soul Sacrifice, etc.
• Of course, we also have dozens and dozens of niche Japanese games (courtesy of localization companies who actually cared for the Vita's potential), indies, and kickstarter games.

The audience of the platform has significantly changed. And there's the shrinking portable market since the advent of smartphones.

When it all comes down to it, perhaps it's because the Vita can't just win no matter what. People are looking for a console-like experience on the go. We already have games like that, but people went "Why would I play an inferior version of this game/series when I can just play the 'proper' ones on home consoles?"

People are complaining about the lack of exclusives. But when these games do show up, others would say, "Why are they wasting this game on the Vita? They should just port it to the PS3/PS4 since it has a larger user base!"Seriously, even Tearaway isn't spared in this one :/

People also complained a lot about ports, but forgetting the simple fact that not everyone owns all consoles. It's kinda funny when a lot of Vita ports are often the definitive/expanded version of the original. Some ports may have performance issues, but that's not a reason to downplay everything that's a port on the system.

With majority of the (exclusive) Vita games being localized games, they only cater a select niche. Everybody else outside that little circle though are wary of those games and would prefer to see more big popular titles instead.

Thinking about it, it's no mystery why SCEA seemingly gave up and instead focus on the PS4. But to be fair, I guess they do care as we're getting Borderlands 2, Minecraft, and other first-party games (Freedom Wars, SS Delta, Oreshika). And I still believe that a portable GTA should give it a hefty boost. What are the chances for it though?

Hang in there, Vita.

I'm a WOMAN. Stop making crazy-ass assumptions please.

I didn't say that was a bad thing. Just that it's small, cute and rather simple ;-)

I own a DS and Vita but lets be honest here...DS sells so much better because its marketed to/aimed towards kids. Not saying there is anything wrong with that its just reality. Every kid I know over 3 has a DS and like 2 games

That makes sense. I don't know much about it, since I'm not in the States.

Hello, how are you doing?

Fancy running into you here of all places.

Seriously, it's a good platform. I'm enjoying it as well.

Part of this is because the current models are discontinued. We haven't had any for over a month at our store, and other Best Buys near me are the same. The new models wont be in until late May. Hard to sell anything when its not available. We don't get a ton of people asking for them, but a few a week. Mainly people who have picked up a ps4 recently.

If sony was smart they would just bundle it with the PS4.

I enjoy my PSP, but I refuse to buy a Vita for the same reason I won't buy a smart phone: I will take a death in-game just to wipe a smudge or speck of dust off my screen, why the hell would I want put my fingers all over it?

I HATE touchscreens. HATE THEM.

You can navigate the Vita's UI with physical buttons. And you can only see smudges when the screen's off anyway.

But I understand that.

I saw something like that on the Internet. Not an official announcement, though.

Personally I would not worry too much. I am eyeing off a PS Vita to go with my PS4. When people want something portable then they will pickup a Vita to go with there PS4. Give it time.

Smartphones have eaten into the portable device market. Why would a casual gamer buy a vita when they can get a phone that plays games from PS1-PS2/N64/GBA emulators.

True, but it's not like people are buying smartphones for their portable gaming needs. We can assume they play games just because smartphones happen to have them.

And it also happens that you can do so much stuff on a smartphone nowadays. Instead of playing games in short bursts (e.g. when commuting on a bus or something), most are already content in browsing the net, checking their Facebook accounts, watching movies, etc.

These alternatives leave little room for gaming too.

I would not even call someone who plays Candy Crush Saga on the subway a casual gamer. They're not gamers at all. But, yeah, more and more companies want to make money with these so called free-to-play games with microtransactions on smartphones.

Would have thought the sales would have picked up after releasing Final Fantasy X HD for the Vita but I reckon the sales will pick up more once more Indie games are released along with Boarderlands 2 as well

Maybe the upcoming Borderlands 2 bundle will boost sales.

It's nice that it comes with an 8GB memory card which is one of the main reasons why I'm picking it up (aside from wanting to play other Vita/PSN games). Would have been better (for me at least) if they bundled the Vita with just a 16GB card instead of Borderlands 2 and the 8GB card. I'll just leave my download code in the box. lol

I'm thinking a lot of people who want to buy Vita are holding out for the new edition that comes out next month. Free Borderlands 2 is also a huge incentive to hold out. If the game gets a 85+ score on Metacritic then it will be huge.

same here aswell, i have been playing my Vita way more

It basically boils down to the general public's perception of Vita. The perception of Vita is that it is a portable PS3 with very little software. The average Joe has no clue about PSN or downloadable games. The Vita is a lot of money for a handheld when everything is said and done. The system in the US is $200 without a memory card. A good sized memory card costs at least $50 on top of that without a game. Games for Vita are $40 in the US brand new. The handheld costs more than a PS3 and almost as much as a PS4. Why get a Vita when I can get a whole new console for near the same price? The biggest thing for Vita right now is Borderlands 2 and God of War Collection. One of those games is already available on three different platforms while the other is a collection of games over half a decade old.

The 3DS' basic price is now $130 for the 2D version, and you do not need a memory card. Games are $40 brand new . For $170 people can get started on 3DS instead of paying $300 for Vita. The 3DS also has bigger names like Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon, whereas Vita does not have any mass appealing titles that are exclusive to the system. There is not going to be any AAA titles from third parties that are exclusive. There are not going to be any GTA, Final Fantasy, or Battlefield titles only for Vita. The only reason Borderlands 2 is happening is because Sony itself is porting it over.

The Western Market just is not into the Vita. The system will probably live on due to the Japanese support, but it is not going to sell 70 million like PSP. I would love to get a Vita and play all of my PS Plus games that I have missed out on, but I just spent money on getting a PS4 and Wii U. I barely have time to play three platforms let alone four.

I don't understand why people don't like the vita I love the vita, I guess I would have to agree with gamenerd and say it the way people perceive the vita. I think the price is fair but maybe if they did drop the price of games it would make the vita more appealing. I dream-hoping for a tegra 4 handheld from Sony if they do decide to replace the vita with a more viable option.

What about Uncharted, Killzone, LittleBigPlanet (all Sony exclusives)and Tearaway? Lot's of great games and indies are coming to PS Vita as well.

So, Nintendo games are cheaper? Seriously? Not to mention, there's almost always a sale on PSN. I've just purchased Terraria and KickBeat for less than 10 bucks.

We're going through a drought again. At least with the holiday we had Tearaway, Killzone, & PS4 Launch

PS4 has had a drought since the day it was released....

as a frame of reference, ~180 games were released for each console in the first year last gen.

this gen? each console will be lucky to have 60-80 games in the first year.

that is a -serious- reduction in the number of releases.... devs just arent making games like they used to.

@Geminon: or the production cost of the games got huge, people are not easily satisfied with simple games and prefer deeper, more immersive games, current technology requires much more development time for aaa games, developers are trying to implement new mechanics with the widespread use of internet, etc etc etc...

The mass majority does not care about play Killzone, Uncharted or Little Big Planet on handhelds. Killzone 2 did not move PS3's like Sony thought it would. The franchise sold well, but it did not shift units off shelves. Little Big Planet 1 was a big hit, but Little Big Planet 2 only sold half as much. The mass majority would rather buy a PS3 for cheaper and get many more RETAIL games, then pay more for a handheld with not as many BOXED games. The mass majority does not know about downloadable titles or PS Plus. It has only been in the PS4 commercials that Sony has been pushing Plus. At least in America anyway.

I would love to get a Vita. People saying it has no games are wrong, but then again this is Sony's fault for not advertising its franchises when PS3 was struggling against 360. Infamous Second Son is the fastest selling game in the franchise. WHY!!! This is because people are actually gravitating towards the PS4. By the time Infamous and Killzone came out, people already had 360's and used PS3 as a secondary console if at all. In the Vita's case, why buy a $300 system handheld with minimal amount of boxed software when I can pay $200 in some cases for similar titles with a whole lot more boxed software?

the vita is $200.... so... yeah.

I only bought the 3DS XL over the Vita because I have a PSP GO with a ton of games, mostly RPGs and I looked at the selection of games on the vita and I didn't really like them. I have to say the 3DS XL is a pretty good system for JRPGs atm although in the past few months there has been FF X on ps vita and borderlands 2 coming which is quite appealing, I might get the vita at some stage but for now the 3DS is taking up most of my time. It's funny you guys say 3DS is targeted for kids when most of the Wii and 3DS ads I've seen it's adults playing.

Those are paid actors in the ads. Just saying.

Yeah.... so they are trying to target adults it's not just kids

its a shame because my vita is the best handheld gaming device i've ever owned, but sony really should have seen this coming

seriously, what the hell were they thinking with those proprietary memory cards? the device was already expensive, and you're pretty much required to blow another 100 bucks on a card large enough to hold a decent number of games. but no really, how could they be so stupid, they made a device that revolved around digital downloads, but then made it extra expensive to actually take advantage of it

the memory cards are much less expensive now.... i got a 32 for like 30 dollars?

Cool where did you get that? i got a 8gb for like 20 dollars!

@Geminon: oh well thats cool. i imported a 64 gb one from japan for like 80, but it was worth it. though even if its cheaper now, its still a bit far too late. and at the very least they need to start bundling the damn thing with the 32gb or 64gb's built in.

you can get them at christmas time for really cheap. i mean, i bought my vita at christmas like 2 year ago... vita, 8gb memory, AC liberation, and playstation all stars.... all for 170 dollars....

I seriously think the vita is one of - if not the most under rated gaming device in history. I've had a vita since launch and couldn't ask for more variety and play it has given me and remote play was an added boost even more. Its my favourite handheld over the ds lite and I loved that with an r4 a lot! I wish they would market the vita as no one knows what one is! There have never been any adverts here in the uk.

I think i can wait for Christmas. I want to pick up a 32gb memory card. I played playstation all stars and loved it but i was wondering if the button mashing can damage the face buttons. They're pretty small as it is.

Since the PSvita introduction on December 17th 2011 only 8.01 million have been sold worldwide. The 3DS has sold 45.9 million since Feb 11 2011. The market for handheld gaming has decreased as people would rather turn to smartphones for other diversions other than gaming. The original PSvita price for the wifi/3G model was $299.99 and since the PSvita memory cards were expensive with the 32GB one costing $99.99. It just wasn't worth it.

Sony never quite recovered. The PSvita 2000 has a longer battery life and 1GB of on broad storage. Along with an 8GB PSvita memory card and a copy of borderland 2 for $200.00 This may be Sony's chance at PSvita's renewed growth in sales. A longshot at this point in 2014.