Lack of Piracy Killed the PS Vita

[+Gemintronic]

Ful article here: http://gravisludus.com/2015/11/30/lack-of-piracy-killed-the-ps-vita/

 

Basically, I tried to like the Vita. There were enough other awkward things that I just came back to the PSP. Even though custom firmware opened it up to piracy the PSP could do so much more via homebrew. The Vita just didn't have the versitility (or extended life span) because it wasn't easily jailbroken.

 

That's my opinion. What did y'all think of the PS Vita?

[WestofHouse]

I think three things killed the Vita.

 

1) Overpriced proprietary memory cards. Sony should have either priced their memory cards closer to standard SD cards or simply allowed SD cards to be used.

2) Mobile games for iOS and Android. Even for those who liked the better screen and controls of the Vita, it's tough to swallow paying $30 for the same game you can get for $5 on your phone.

3) Sony. It seems like they were never really sure what they wanted the Vita to be, and they kept it so locked tight that indie developers and the average tinkerer couldn't do anything with it.

[eightbit]

A lot of reasons, but lack of piracy I do not think is one of them:

 

1. Lack of advertising (well, I barely saw any advertising in my area)

2. Proprietary memory cards that are expensive AND necessary to play games

3. Handheld initial price was the same price as a PS3 so it didn't take off very well

 

 

I purchased one when it was released and the price was hard to swallow for me (for a handheld) at the time. I took it home to discover I could do nothing at all without the proprietary $50 card. Now I would be $50 over a full game console just to get started with the Vita. I gave up and returned it. I dd not revisit it until very recently (about a month ago) as I received one for cheap.

[WispFollower]

I love the Vita. With playstation plus, I'm getting two free games per month to try, and the games I have purchased are quite entertaining. I've played it for hundreds of hours and will for many more. The memory cards go on sale often, and I love the controls. I bought mine right when they started the new model, as I wanted the old model before they all disappeared (I read all the differences and decided I wanted the older screen over the new one). It has been one of the greatest dollar to hours of entertainment purchases I have made.

[Tempest]

Lack of games I actually cared about is what killed it for me. Compared to the PSP the library wasn't very interesting. Although I hear they have a lot of JRPGs that popped up in the last year or two.

[+Gemintronic]

A lot of reasons, but lack of piracy I do not think is one of them:

 

1. Lack of advertising (well, I barely saw any advertising in my area)

2. Proprietary memory cards that are expensive AND necessary to play games

3. Handheld initial price was the same price as a PS3 so it didn't take off very well

 

 

I purchased one when it was released and the price was hard to swallow for me (for a handheld) at the time. I took it home to discover I could do nothing at all without the proprietary $50 card. Now I would be $50 over a full game console just to get started with the Vita. I gave up and returned it. I dd not revisit it until very recently (about a month ago) as I received one for cheap.

 

Yeah, I don't think piracy itself is a reason. I think the after effect of homebrew developers coming in and creating new apps, emulators and games (and game translations) is the key.

[roland p]

I loved the Vita hardware but I bought a 3DS instead because of the software. If it was easily hacked it could be a cool emulation handheld.

[Dashopepper]

You'll find lots of people who try to justify their piracy by claiming they "helped" the PSP. There's one stat they usually cite where people who pirate more also tend to buy more retail games.

 

But there's an over abundance of information from Sony and others about how much piracy hurt them and game publishers. Hardware revisions, software revisions and eventually KILLING off the PSP and DS earlier then they wanted. It scared away publishers and scared Sony into the Vita.

 

(Full disclosure, I have 50 games for my PSP. I have spent $0 for games for my PSP...)

[DustyKramKram]

Lots of factors killed the PS Vita. Maybe lack of piracy was one of them. I can tell you from personal experience that I was a late adopter of the PSP, and I only bought one to mod it. The biggest issue with the PS Vita was it's weak library, plain and simple.

[leods]

The only Problem the Vita had was the stupid Memory Card, and arguably the ergonomics. The System is great, and the Price dropped pretty fast. Gamers just have trashy taste and didin't buy the Thing. I still have mine and it's great. With the right games released for it it could have been my favorite handheld. In Terms of Hardware it puts even the new 3DS to shame.

 

Now one Thing that Sony Allways got wrong is this whole "home console games to go". Releasing garbage like that uncharted game and Resistance on the Vita. There's no reason for having that Kind of stuff on a handheld. Maybe that's why People didin't want it, because they knew this Focus. But even so, there are tons of good arcady games for the System, and specially if you Count the PSP and PS1 online store the console is a beast.

 

The Memory Card was a horrible dick move thoug, and for that alone they deserved the failure of the vita. That was atrocious. And Price is still really expensive for those.

[FUBARofPittsburgh]

What killed Vita was Sony caring more about piracy than security. The PSN hack, the Taco Bell hack. Eventually this will kill the company.

[dj_convoy]

I enjoy my Vita, but the initial pricing was definitely a turn off. I waited until there was some wacky Black Friday package a couple of years back before getting one.

 

Also, the memory card pricing is still (!) way out of whack. It never really had any killer apps, but it did have a lot of fun stuff, especially if you buy a lot of junk on PSN. It's neat to have so many old PSX games at my fingertips, for instance... and, believe it or not, their arew/were a lot of cross play bargains to be had.

[Flojomojo]

Lack of compelling software support "killed" the Vita, just like with every "failed" platform (see Atari Jaguar). There's probably a good reason that Microsoft never even tried to get into the handheld games space (Windows Phone doesn't count).

 

I like the Vita, especially all the weird little indie games that made it there. The screen is great, and if you splash out for a 64GB storage card from Japan, you can play all your old PSP and PSone games, too. Remote Play of PS4 is nice as well. Cross-buy, cross-save, and cross-play is important and I wish it had been better supported.

 

Piracy never "helped" the PSP if few (or any) of those people purchased any games. Sony probably didn't lose money on the hardware, but I suspect they would have preferred it if people bought some software for it.

[+Gemintronic]

 

Yeah, I don't think piracy itself is a reason. I think the after effect of homebrew developers coming in and creating new apps, emulators and games (and game translations) is the key.

 

Piracy never "helped" the PSP if few (or any) of those people purchased any games. Sony probably didn't lose money on the hardware, but I suspect they would have preferred it if people bought some software for it.

 

I think you might have missed my earlier clarification Flojomojo

[Flojomojo]

I "liked" it, but I hate the idea of giving you the last word! :-P

[Major Havoc 2049]

The high price of the games and the memory cards killed the PS Vita from the get go. I think the sweet spot for handheld games is $30 for new AAA games. You go over that and people will gravitate to cheaper options, such as phones and tablets, even if the experience isn't quite as good as a dedicated handheld.

[Metal Jesus]

It was the stupidly expensive memory cards that kept me away from the Vita for the longest time.

 

However, now that I own a Vita, I actually love the system. Remote play to the PS4 is worth it along and works incredibly well. Also there are a lot of games to mine from the Playstation Store. AND the fact you can grab your memory card and play your games on a Playstation TV is pretty cool too.

[+Gemintronic]

It was the stupidly expensive memory cards that kept me away from the Vita for the longest time.

 

However, now that I own a Vita, I actually love the system. Remote play to the PS4 is worth it along and works incredibly well. Also there are a lot of games to mine from the Playstation Store. AND the fact you can grab your memory card and play your games on a Playstation TV is pretty cool too.

 

I sold my Vita but kept the Playstation TV due to the RPGs and Hulu/Crackle/Crunchyroll. Putting the Vita "carts" in the slot is still a minor mystery to me. Taking them out is even more of an annoyance.

[+save2600]

What did y'all think of the PS Vita?

My $.02... the Vita seems/seemed like a portable game system geared more for adults or older "kids". Now think about that for a moment. I believe that's the reason Nintendo's got the market in the handheld department. They know just who the clientele for such a product is. I see kids dragging around their Gameboy's, 3DS's, etc. all the time. Never once saw a kid, teen or adult with a Vita out in the wild.

[cimerians]

Vita is awesome, hate the expensive memory cards, biggest rip off of all time.

 

Although I now rarely use it. I use the Vita TV since it plays most of the games I want to play and then resort to the Vita for those games that wont play.

 

Ed: The older model with the nicer screen is worth it IMO.

[Bill Loguidice]

Piracy has nothing to do with the lack of success for the Vita. There are plenty of other systems that were successful that had at best, limited piracy. It's not like there are millions of pirates out there just waiting to buy a Vita if they could get free games.

 

In my opinion, the Vita should have been Android-based with additional custom hardware for superior games, rather than the halfway there handheld with superior games but limited utility beyond that.

 

I think Sony came a bit late into the gaming handheld market with the Vita and did a poor job of bridging what they had with the PSP. Outside of Japan, the gaming handheld market is weak, and most casual gamers are more than content with the vast array of smartphone and tablet options.

 

Now, with all of the above in mind, including the fact that I wrote a book on the platform when it first came out, I do think it's an excellent gaming system, particularly if you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber. But it didn't and obviously won't hit anywhere near it's full potential in terms of the way it should have been supported.

 

As a side note, even I tend to use gaming handhelds sparingly versus consoles and PCs. These days, my Vita is primarily dedicated to regular play sessions of MLB 15, and my New 3DS XL is primarily dedicated to regular play sessions of Binding of Isaac. I struggle to find time to play much on the Nvidia Shield. I think the dedicated gaming handheld market in general is going to continue to contract.

[+Gemintronic]

Piracy has nothing to do with the lack of success for the Vita.

 

I concur. As I said in the original article and commented on in this topic it's the resulting eco system of homebrew that the Vita could not fall back on.

[Bill Loguidice]

 

I concur. As I said in the original article and commented on in this topic it's the resulting eco system of homebrew that the Vita could not fall back on.

 

I don't see how homebrew would translate to sales. I just think there was little market for a dedicated gaming handheld, which is why I think they could have just made an uber Android device and supported it with some exclusive games. Who knows if even that would have worked, though. It's not like the Nvidia Shield line has been a raging success, although Sony does have a lot more marketing and retail muscle.

[+Gemintronic]

 

I don't see how homebrew would translate to sales. I just think there was little market for a dedicated gaming handheld, which is why I think they could have just made an uber Android device and supported it with some exclusive games. Who knows if even that would have worked, though. It's not like the Nvidia Shield line has been a raging success, although Sony does have a lot more marketing and retail muscle.

 

Game systems that are versitile are more likely to stay relevent. I'm thinking about this from a gamers perspective. So, this might not translate directly to sales.

[omegadot]

I really like my Vita and it's been great when I travel but in most cases I can see an issue with 'i'd rather play this on a ps3/4'. The DS line has a lot of specific experiences that make sense on the platform but not a dedicated console and that compounds with it marketing to a demographic that isn't driving cars or working all day.

 

But it has plenty of JRPG content for me to be...content.