Sony exec critical of "extremist" quote in Nikkei report saying Japanese companies are moving all their projects to 3DS.
The PlayStation Vita hasn't even officially launched yet, but Sony is already having to address reports that developers are giving up on it.
Speaking to Gamasutra, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios senior vice president Scott Rohde dismissed a Nikkei report stating that major Japanese publishers are moving all their projects from the PS Vita to the 3DS. The Nikkei nugget was in a quote attributed to an unnamed Japanese game industry source.
"I did not see that quote, but you see extremist quotes like that all the time," Rohde told Gamasutra. "I mean, obviously, there is no way anyone could stand in front of a camera and say that all developers are changing focus from one platform to another, no matter what it is."
Rohde also guessed that the quote was "largely exaggerated" and stressed that he knew numerous third-party publishers who planned to support the system for the foreseeable future.
When the PS Vita launches in North America next week, it will do so with 15 retail third-party games from 11 different publishers. Future third-party support is scheduled to include entries from such high-profile franchises as Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, BioShock, and Metal Gear Solid.
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
I think it is way to early to put the vita to sleep, dont believe everything you read on the internet people, it's war between the big companys and they wont let anything or anyone get in there way they have to keep the sharholders happy, anyway sounds like mud slinging imo.
@Dshenlong actually I know people that are buying it now just for the Hot shot golf game which imho it is the best hot shot golf game to date and because of piracy was the reason why less and less games was being made for the psp so actually yes piracy did did kill the psp because since the psp games where being pirated allot devs stop making games for the psp because they wasn't making much money on it and there was still some system sellers on it monster hunter games gow games and mgs peace walker just to name a few
@Sgthombre they first announce Bioshock at E3 2011 Sony press conference but didn't show nothing I believe they said they were still in the planning/designing stage of it so anther words it wont be out for a while
Hmm. All I'll say is that I bought a Vita after a lot of ,"shall I, shan't I?" and I'm glad I got one, It's a great piece of kit.....Still don't like the cartoony icons though :-)
@Dshenlong making long story short, since the vita is avoiding piracy so far we can expect better games coming, and I think it needs firmware updates the hardware looks some and well desing to me, no need for a version 2.0 just better firmware
Its a Portable PlayStation 3!! lol about time they brought a potential replacement for that fat semi-good machine lol
Exaggerated indeed. Every time Sony comes out with a new toy, developers practically put their mouths on it.
@anticusho1984- I didnt say that the psp didn't have any good games, I just said it didn't have any games that defined the system and sold the large amounts of the system specifically for that game, like Halo, Uncharted, Killzone, Mario, Zelda, Kirby, or any other number of games have for other systems. It had some fantastic games, and I still play my PSP, but for mass market appeal games it didn't really have any definitive system sellers. I agree with you about the memory cards as I mentioned that. And no, I don't generally go into forums (I'm only in a couple, none really focused on the psp) and I've never pirated any of my games, but I do know people that have, and aside from not being able to play multiplayer, there really isn't much stopping people who like to pirate software. It may curb some pirates who want to play the multiplayer, but when it comes to single player games it's not really gonna slow them down. I plan on getting a Vita eventually but I'm going to wait to see if they fixed the hardware issues and until some games actually come out for it and they drop the ridiculous price on their accessories.
@Dshenlong "piracy didn't kill the psp" guess you missed psp forums for the last 6 years, and about no good games, Crisis core, dissidia, kill zone, resistance, god of war, valkyrie profile, street fighter, megaman, metal gear, 3rd birthday, tomb raider and many other big games came out for psp, since the piracy started since the psp was launch in 2005 in america, developers didn't invest much in the games, and lot of projects were dropped and if you own a psp with official firmware it turned into a fancy brick so obviously sony won't be heading the same path again, it took a lot of avoid piracy in the ps3, same goes for the xbox360 both have close environments and under control of their developers, any hardcore gamer seems to be fine with that. the real problem are not the memories itself or the software, the problem is the price 32gb memory should be $40.
I'm waiting for the price to drop a bit, but I'm definitely getting a Vita at some point. Plenty of great games announced for the future and even some which I really want to play now.
@digi-demon Exactly, look at the PS3, it was theorized that it was doomed from the start, it was never going to complete with the Wii and X-Box 360, and it didn't have the most awesome launch titles either, but it still thriving system still supported by many developers exclusive to the system. Developers need to give it time and not rush to conclusions. Also about they piracy thing, though the PSP had it worse, the DS had some pretty bad piracy too, the problem with the PSP is you didn't have to buy a special card to save your games on unlike the R4 cards you had to buy with the DS. I think this might be one reason why Sony made the Vita use special memory cards built ONLY for the Vita, to slightly control the huge amount of piracy that is potentially going to hit it.
@JustPlainLucas While the Vita has Uncharted (even if it wasn't made by Naughty Dog) that's really the only definite system seller the game has. Sure people can argue theyre buying the system for a particular release game, but for mass market appeal, it doesn't have many games that would convince many to buy it. While I won't deny there's haters out there, there's also those of us who try to hold these companies to a higher standard (looks at 5th xbox 360 because of RROD) because these companies nowadays try to sell us shoddier products while wondering how they're losing billions off their new technology. It's because people don't like paying 250-350 base (not including games and accessories) for a paperweight. The system has had numerous documented hardware failures in Japan, UI issues, and of course the ridiculous price of the memory cards. I'll be sure to buy one when more games come out, and after I'm sure that I'm not wasting my money because the system is going to junk out on me after a couple of weeks. Maybe if companies like Sony actually made sure their system was ready for launch, didn't rush things, and didn't overcharge for EVERYTHING (you're telling me a handheld should cost as much as a console game? no), then consumer confidence wouldn't be so low.
@anticusho1984 Piracy didn't kill the PSP. The lack of system selling games did. While consoles like the ps3, xbox, and wii have games like Uncharted, Halo, Gears of War, Mario, Zelda, etc etc, and the DS and 3DS have zelda, mario, sonic, and other games that sell those systems, the psp didn't really have any defining games that made everyone want it. Sure, it had plenty of good games, but nothing that really stood out as GOTY, or even handheld GOTY. DRM and proprietary memory cards are NEVER going to stop piracy. All they do is punish those loyal paying customers. I gaurentee you there's already people out there that have hacked the system to use any memory card they want. You have to remember Sony is a business, and while they use piracy as an excuse for the memory cards, the real reason they have it is so they can price fix and control how much they're memory cards sell for. Theyre already making a sizable profit off of every Vita, and what are most businesses main goal? To make a profit. So saying the memory cards are proprietary to stop piracy is just an excuse they give while getting as much money out of their customers as they can.
@nomadski69 the point that you are missing is that piracy killed psp and encrypted memory format is one way to prevent that, is obvious that a company will avoid piracy and that rule applies for any casual and hardcore gamers devices
I just wish people would stop dooming the thing and just buy it. It's a great handheld, and if people would lose the negative attitude, then the system will do well and have a lot of great games. Lack of consumer faith is what kills systems, not the "lack of games". Case in point: Dreamcast.
@anticusho1984 your missing the mark here, Apple devices (like all tablet and smartphones) dont cater to the hardcore gamer, they are consumer devices which play casual games. Completely different demographics.
I'm not surprised. The PSP had a slow start when it was initially released as well, with the DS trampling it wherever it went. Time passed, and the PSP found footing and while it never surpassed the DS in sales, it found it's chunk of the market and stood firm. The 3DS even had a stumble when it first launched. I'm not worried for the Vita, it will find it's way eventually.
TBH I'm probably a good target market for a Vita - I'm 30+, lots of disposable income, been a dedicated gamer since I was 8, have every console/gadget going... yet I never bought a PSP and I dont want a Vita. Why? Its a great bit of kit but its expensive, the games are as much as 360/ps3 games and seem to hold their value for longer despite cheaper dev costs, as its Sony I dont feel Iike I'm gonna be able to watch much on it unless its DRM'd to death... and phones are so powerful nowadays I'm not sure if theres a market for this kinda thing. I thought the same when the PSP came out and I'm amazed the Vita ever came into existance tbh. I'm not sure who its aimed at. It's a very brave dev who makes a game for the Vita, knowing itll probably be too good (for a couple years at least) to appear on a phone or tablet and still hope the Vita has enough of a userbase to sell well enough to make money. Good luck Sony, and devs, you'll need it :)
@TommyT456 thats never gonna happen as long as nintendo keeps on releasing its exclusives like pokemon.
@counterintellig Yeah when ever you kill a zombie in Resident Evil Revelations blood splatters on the floor. Also in Snake Eater 3D blood splatters on the screen in 3D when you stealth knife somebody. Spirit Camera also looks pretty bloody ha ha. :P Just to name a few.
@moviequest14 Ye I'm not disagreeing with anything you've said, it's just an interesting conversation with so many facets contributing to the eventually failure or success of the Vita. It's largely down to us gamers and whether we have faith in it, by which I mean if alot of us buy one in hope that it will do well then the high sales figures will drive the better developers to release well made games for it as it will be a viable money making platform, if we don't buy it because we think it will fail then it will do because those developers won't waste money making games for a system that isn't popular and so however the gaming public receive it will have a snowball effect when it comes to contributing to its failure or success. The problem is not many have this kind of money to gamble on it being a success because it's not just down to whether we as an individual buy one, it has to be on a large scale and we have no way of knowing whether others are going to use the same reasoning as us. Sony's first mistake was not releasing it at christmas, that would have got it into peoples hands on a mass scale and given it the kick start it needed to get the developers interested. I just hope that 1 must have game comes along soon enough to get people buying into the platform, that will get the ball rolling.
3DS have any really great looking action games or shooters? Great visuals on awesome fighting games? No? You mean, they don't have any of the games that don't sell well in Japan? So, Nintendo does well in it's largest market, which happens to be it's own backyard, with games tailored to that market?? WOT?! Vita will bridge the gap for more mainstream gamers to get into handhelds. Gamers who like games that do not look like saturday morning cartoons, or adult coloring books. The dual analog control alone is enough to give it a chance to break barriers, little less the power and gorgeous graphics. No s*$& the 3DS does so well. It's practically the ONLY option for that niche, and that niche happens to be people who like casual cartoony games. Not gory action adventure realistic games. 2 consoles. 2 audiences. There is overlap, but, each console has it's own market. Is the 3DS even able to display blood splatters? =P
@TommyT456 : But it isn't a guarantee that it will sell as much software..if you look at the software sales for psp games they are significantly low for most titles.While software does bring in the most money...you can't very well expect to sell more games if you don't have as many systems.Surprisingly enough,3ds has been referred to many times as ''the hardcore system'' (and yes it's possible to have 2 hardcore portables) as more and more teens and adults are purchasing them.3ds is already showing fairly impressive software sales...Super Mario 3d Land sold more units at launch than ANY other portable mario game.
@moviequest14 No it won't outsell the 3DS obviously because Nintendo is more of a family focused brand. But it is in software sales that the money is made, not hardware. Companies generally lose money on each console sold but they start making money when each person who bought a console spends alot on software. And I would go out on a limb and say that Sony's gaming audience generally would spend more on games per console bought. So "in theory" the Vita could make more money than the 3DS despite selling less units. Less consoles sold = less money lost on hardware. More software sold = greater profit from the brand as a whole. In theory...
Either way, it still gets Gravity Rush which is undoubtedly going to be the best launch title for vita.
Is there a website that is similar to gamespot that is being sponsord by Nintendo or Sony? I'm getting tired of the bias and outrageous news postings, they r starting to get a little rediculous
@wcwj26 wrong every time I show an uncharted game to someone who hasn't seen and/or played goes out and buy a ps3 mainly for the uncharted games then they see all awesome games they are missing and wish they got a ps3 sooner and all of them are planning on getting a vita if they haven't done so already and allot of them were 360 fan some were even fanboys and now they mainly play on the ps3 so actually uncharted converts people
Ahh Microsoft fanboys are so desperate to spread more FUD. These forum posters have no lives they are just so desperate to take a comment and spin it to build fear of PS Vita... nothing to see here folks.
I swear I had an out of body experience today when I tried the Vita. Number one it took me back to the very first time I saw the xbox 360 in Gamestop. NBA 2K-something was playing and I was like...lost for words. The jerseys were moving the players were dripping with sweat. It was astonishment in its purest form. To see that same graphical fidelity, but condensed, so it actually looks MORE detailed just speaks volumes about how far technology has come. It just made really think about how petty people can be sometimes. I'm so over the fan-boyism this and troll that. Man it's crazy how much fun you can have playing games when you do just that and forget about everything else.
At the end of the day the PS Vita will sell. It might just take a couple years for the library to get established and for the price to drop or some bundle. That said, I played the Vita today. I would NOT classify this as a handheld gaming device. You know how you have like netbooks and notebooks. Well think of the Vita as the equivalent of a desktop replacement. It's basically a PS3. That's it. The 3DS is in a different class and they definitely should not be competing because they have different niches ha ha. I love my 3DS, but the Vita is like...hot damn. I don't think there's any way that developers should not want to make games for both of these devices. There is so much to offer with both of them that I don't see why there shouldn't be games coming out of the woodwork. I'm feeling good about this generation. Ya dig?
Im not trying to hate on sony but Im not sure I would put much faith in sony after owning there kdl series tvs 2 ps3 and buying several ps2 and they all broke down and yes I am on my second xbox 360 but I have gone through more sony products than I care to count and thats bad might as well add 2 psp as well Then what they have done as trying to strip our rights away from suing them because of poor products I have no faith in them or there products and on another note im still upset with them for removing lynux I have now bought a panasonic tv and the quality is far superior even compared to the xbr series I now hate sony and hope they have an epic fail on there hands reap what you sow
@TommyT456 : That's the problem..it is ONLY appealing to ps3 gamers. Think of this as a new to Sony (since the ps2) gamer..you could spend $250 (more once you include memory card prices) for the Vita which has titles like Little Big Planet and Uncharted Golden Abyss that,while they aren't actual 'ports',aren't as large,massive,or have as much hype as the originals.But if you spend that $250 on the ps3 you get all the original titles that the Vita is attempting to make portable versions of..while Vita gives you one under-hyped Uncharted ps3 gives you 3 uncharted titles,2 little big planet,heavy rain,twisted metal,Ratchet & Clank,modnation racers,infamous,LA Noire,all of the exclusive titles..not to mention additional features including Playstation Home. To be extremely generous and optimistic and say that every single person that has ever purchased a ps3 buys a vita..we would have roughly about 55 million in sales..and being extremely pessimistic in saying that the 3ds sells half of the units the ds (although the 3ds is already passing ds in sales for this time in each system life) selling at around 75million that is a 20million lead..no laughing difference. I don't want you to mistake what I am saying..it isn't that I don't want Vita to succeed,I very much hope it does,but it is going to be optimistic and positive thinking to say that the Vita will even get close to 3ds in sales..definitely not 'destined to outsell the ds' as many have said.
Oh come on! Game developers like to make money, and since the circle pad pro, the 3ds and the Vita are becoming more alike as far as controls go... So I'm sure there will be plenty of ports. Smart developers usually don't burn their bridges.
@wcwj26 Uncharted is only played by PS3 fans because it is only on the PS3! And any XBOX fanboys may not admit it but if they've had the chance to play the UC games they would give their left nut for it to be ported across to the 360. It would probably take about 12 discs tho! :P
@moviequest14 Ok I get your point and you may well be right. I think the one thing that may help the Vita succeed where the PSP didn't though is how it integrates with the PS3 and alot of harcore PS3 gamers will want to pick one up, primarily because of the addition of trophies and the fact that they are all bundled into your PSN account (or whatever its called now.) So PS3 trophy hunters may well be tempted as they can be raking in the trophies even while on the go. Although as attracting a new audience goes so far I havent been as convinced as I was hoping to be mainly due to the software, although there are rarely any truely great looking games in any consoles launch line up, usually just one. But then it starts getting exciting when the developers get their head around drawing out the consoles full potential, I just hope it sells well enough so it doesn't put developers off spending time honing their skills when it comes to creating the best possible software for the platform.
It will have brisk sales at 1st and then slow to a crawl.If the price of gas goes over $4 per gallon then it will get interesting.Then a game called COD Vita will release and the sales will shoot through the roof sky high just watch I know from watching games and console sales for years.It will happen.
Ha. Can't blame folks for scaremongering.. I think the Vita will sell like hot-cakes in the West. I'm sure as hell looking to get one anyway, they look a damn decent bit of kit. Haters will be haters though I guess!
Oh dear, Sony has got it wrong again! Only this time there's no shiny new Blu Ray to save the VITA! It's gonna be more shoddy ports and no killer apps (including Uncharted which last time I checked is only played by PS fanboys and nobody else).
Vita pre-orders already overwhelm the total sales it had in Japan, adding the first days too and soon the vita sales will multiply. Most of the decent titles are waiting for the global launch to become available and that will further boost the sales in Japan as well, since now the Japs dont really have options. After the launch, the second wave of top titles will be announced and more third party apps and pad functions will be added. Let alone exclusive deals and contents in local shops. Its really futile to draw any conclusions before we have any numbers of Vita sales, after its real start.
I am really loving the vita right now and it's only gonna get better. I don't think you can compare the vita to the 3ds. I am seeing the vita as more of a mobile console than a portable gaming device. It's great for people who want to play console quality games when away from home. Great for military personnel when they have field training.
Aside from the launch lineup, is there a single confirmed fact in this article? I know rumors aren't a new thing to find on Gamespot, but it's getting really old.
@shadow655 Umm actually I know just as much as anyone else. Its not that hard to find out every aspect of a gaming console. Not wanting to get a product doesnt have to mean you dont know much about the product. It means you dont want the product.
Sony's 2013-dated new console supposedly code-named Orbis, will boast system that locks games to single PSN account; no backward compatibility for PS3 library planned.
Users who looked at this article also looked at these content items.
United States Vice President Joe Biden believes there is no legal restriction on ability to tax violent media. Full Story
Avalanche Studios co-founder says developer's ambition is for action, not moments that make players cry; steampunk-style game on hold. Full Story
Developer confirms image suggesting version of upcoming shared-world shooter in development for Sony's latest portable is a fake. Full Story
Assassin's Creed and Far Cry publisher says its network of 26 studios and over 7,000 developers will allow company to ship major franchises more regularly. Full Story
4A Games creative director Andrew Prokhorov thanks Jason Rubin for telling the studio's story, but says, "We deserve the ratings we get." Full Story
DICE head would also like to poach top talent from rivals Infinity Ward and Treyarch. Full Story
Future EA games won't require Online Passes; the service is being scrapped after tepid player response. Full Story
Microsoft: 'If you're backwards compatible, you're really backwards'
Xbox business head Don Mattrick says only 5 percent of consumers play past-gen games on new systems.
