PS Vita slumps to all time low in Japan
Weekly sales fall below 10,000 units for the first time.
Weekly PS Vita sales in Japan have hit an all time low of just 8,931 units, marking the first time the handheld has slipped below the 10,000 unit mark since its launch.
In fairness to Sony's handheld there were slumps across the board, with the 3DS down to 72,115 units from 121,921. It was only the Xbox 360 that managed a sales increase, almost tripling its weekly tally from 1,317 units to 3,764 units.
Much of the Xbox 360's increase can be attributed to the launch of Kinect Star Wars, new at No.12 with 6,010 copies sold.
3DS: 72,115 (Last week: 121,921)
PlayStation 3: 19,370 (23,771)
PSP: 14,804 (18,356)
Vita: 8931 (12,105)
Wii: 7099 (9292)
Xbox 360: 3,764 (1317)
PlayStation 2: 1355 (1374)
DSi XL: 793 (941)
DSi: 743 (771)
Check out Tom's blog for his thoughts on the current state of the PS Vita.
Via Andriasang
User Comments
munkee
pblive@ guyderman
I do honestly see your frustration and I do believe that it's more than partly borne from Sony's lack of PR/announcing titles loudly enough from third parties. There are downloadable titles coming, many of which will be unique and sub £10 games. Most of these so far have been more than just iPhone style titles, though on the other hand there are iOS titles which are becoming more like handheld games.
There aren't a huge number of titles appearing on consoles in the next few months and the list is peppered by just a few AAA titles. The Vita is the same, though as its a new console it suffers from the same issues as other new consoles after their first wave.
However, because it's a new device, sales are important and, yes, a lack of new titles after the first wave will see a loss of sales. For Japan the situation is that they just don't have the sort of big hitters that the Japanese audience go for, plus it seems that new consoles in general are slipping in sales, a full console purchase will often be ahead of a handheld as handhelds are seen as complimentary to a console, not a replacement for it.
Your last point is a very good one and something Sony haven't been too good at of late, they need to get their company geared towards better informing the public, but if you read the Sony Playstion Blog replies, you can see that their front end staff aren't informed by those making the decisions either and a lot of things are kept private.
guyderman@ pblive
Please don't think I'm attacking the Vita as I'm not I have nothing but love for the machine itself I just think the releases could've been a bit more forthcoming - and as I've said before even the news on the releases themselves is very slow.
Sony also need to keep people informed about what's going on with regards to the firmware upgrades for the PSone classics and the Remote play too - even just press releases saying 'yes we are working on it', at the moment it feels like it's just been forgotten.
pblive
guyderman@ pblive
My point was that to entice people into buying the machine then a steady flow of titles would be more beneficial, and so far there has been next to nothing.
You mention that Stardrone thingy as a release - which is fine if you are happy having a machine that has the Vitas capability but are happy to play games the likes of which you could play on your phone - personally they don't interest me and it was titles like Uncharted-on-the-Go that got my interest and made me want to purchase one.
Mini's I also couldn't care less about tbh - I like having the console expierence on the move - I've got my mobile and face book for anything else.
My other point was also that even though there is a large list of forthcoming titles that there is very little in the way of news or articales about them and yet we must get 5 or 6 CoD related stories each week - none of which are even newsworthy - which is also not helping bring the Vita into the limelight.
Woffls@ pblive
3DS got slaughtered last year for having a less than stellar launch window line-up. People just expect so much these days.
pblive
The PSP's big issue was piracy, which pretty much killed off a lot of third party interest. Even first party developers like the excellent Pixeljunk team were put off after titles like the (very very excellent) Pixeljunk Monsters were pirated to death.
Unfortunately, having recently been given a review code from the 'developer' of Childhood's End on iOS, it looks to be continuing. The game is pretty much a copy of Pixeljunk Monsters with new sprites. I wouldn't be surprised if they lifted the source code. It's a shame, I really like the game, but I like it because it's Pixeljunk Monsters and therefore refuse to give it publicity on my site.
Rickitis@ pblive
The real reason is probably because on the iOS devices there are new games on a weekly/daily basis whereas on the PSVita you simply aren’t going to get that since it is never going to have the same consumer base. You are correct though that marketing and PR are probably the main contributors to this rather than an actual lack of games, since considering how recently the console was released there are a lot of great titles. I think a lot of that stems from the fact that a lot of the games have been released on other platforms before making their way to the Vita so most people don’t see them as ‘new’. (Fifa, Rayman Origins, Ninja Gaiden etc)
Clockpunk
dav2612@ pblive
With Minis and PSP games, the Vita has a bigger catalogue than most people realise.
pblive
Aside from turning green and splitting clothes, I'm not angry, just annoyed by the general impression that a handheld has to seemingly have some new content all the time while consoles can get away without it after a big launch.
All I did was post the list of currently known forthcoming releases to show that there are games coming. I believe it's more a marketing issue or PR than an actual lack of games.
For instance, Stardrone Extreme came out yesterday but many sites didn't cover it because there seemed to be very little warning that it was coming. Those who did manage to run a review have rated it pretty highly and it's just the sort of game that the Vita needs.
A good percentage of launch games are getting extra content on a regular basis too, from Ridge Racer and Motorstorm RC to Escape Plan.
My comment in the other thread was due to how I felt the Vita was being seen, I can't fathom why people would not see a portable device as something you carry around with you when away from your console (or even in another room or when the TV is being used). It's not meant to replace a full console, it's supposed to compliment it.
It's not just the Vita, I feel strongly about handhelds and mobile devices as an important part in our gaming lives and tend to be fairly defensive of them, within logical parameters.
Rickitis@ pblive
This is you in another post: ‘Yep, because I love carrying my PS3 and TV on the bus, definitely no reason for the Vita...’
And you have given a sarcastic response here also, don’t get so annoyed! There is even an article posted today on this very site by Tom Orry stating entitled ‘New releases vital for Vita as the handheld starts to gather dust’ so it’s not just guyderman who thinks it needs more releases.
pblive
Mortal Kombat
SFxTekken
MGS HD collection
Resistance Burning Skies
Gravity Rush
Call of Duty Vita
Dust 514
Silent Hill Book of Memories
LBP
Oddworld games
ZOE Collection
Warrior's Lair (RPG)
Lego Batman 2
New Kings Story
Blazeblue
Doctor Who TEC
Virtue's Last Reward
Dungeon Defenders
Super Monkey Ball BS
Shoot Many Robots
Marvel Pinball
Pocket War
Urban Trials
Robot Rescue Revolution
Pocket Garden
Dragon's Racing
Rocketbirds: Hard Boiled Chicken
Malicious
WRC 3
guyderman
CheekyLee@ MJTH