So.... why is the Vita so crap (in terms of sales)?

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TheUltimateKoopa

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The Vita was released in Japan on December 17, 2011, followed by US on February 15 as a first edition bundle, and then officially, on February 22, with Europe on the same day, and Australia on the next day....

As of February 28, it had sold 1.2 million copies worldwide. That's 1.2 million copies over 74 days, averaging 16216 sales per day worldwide.

The 3DS sales were 15.03 million sales as of December 31, 2011. This is an average of 48,641 sales per day. And that's including the slow start. And just within the last 74 days alone, the average is probably much higher.

Also, I never realised that the last Game Boy game was released in 2004 <_<.
 
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This probably explains why I got 7 StreetPass tags yesterday. I live in a small town, and I have went to larger towns to get StreetPass, but I only got a tag or two. It is also good to see the 3DS having more sold. Also, the reason the PS Vita may be failing is because it is $249.99. Thats the same price the 3DS was before the price drop in August 2011. The 3DS did bad in sales before the price drop. So the price of the PS Vita may be the reason for bad sales.
 
It's most likely failing because (like Yoshian said) the high price tag,and that people don't seem to be attracted to the Vita anyways.

Coming from a Vita owner,it's a good system,but I conpletely understand why it has bad sales.It doesn't attract gamers.The 3DS does.

(Besides,you HAVE to buy a memory card,though the 3DS comes with one)
The game cards FORCE you to download things onto it,so you'll lose space fast,forcing you either to delete things,or get a new card.

So,yeah.That's probally why.
 
Because people don't care for the console in general. I mean, people don't want home console type games on a handheld, and that's what the Vita has. They don't like the price tag. There's no Monster Hunter for it in Japan. List goes on.
 
I also found something very interesting -- it lists the total number of sales for hardware for every fiscal year, from the Fiscal Year ending on March 31, 1998 right up to December 31, 2011 (as it's not quite March 31, 2012 yet
tongue.gif
)

It also shows the total lifetime sales. What's interesting is that as late as 2004, there were roughly 10,000 SNES units sold. While that's not a lot, considering that this is 14 years after, that is pretty good.

Another thing I found was something which basically shows the net income of Nintendo.... here's a list for you lot (note, that these are all in Yen):

August 1981 = 1.64 billion
August 1982 = 10.711 billion
August 1983 = 10.462 billion
August 1984 = 9.644 billion
August 1985 = 9.823 billion
August 1986 = 16.742 billion
August 1987 = 25.191 billion
August 1988 = 30.109 billion
August 1989 = 34.271 billion
March 1990 = 32.929 billion
March 1991 = 68.885 billion
March 1992 = 87.104 billion
March 1993 = 88.608 billion
March 1994 = 52.653 billion
March 1995 = 41.660 billion
March 1996 = 59.870 billion
March 1997 = 65.481 billion
March 1998 = 83.696 billion
March 1999 = 85.817 billion
March 2000 = 56.061 billion
March 2001 = 96.603 billion
March 2002 = 10.644 billion (that's a pretty steep drop here)
March 2003 = 67.267 billion
March 2004 = 33.194 billion
March 2005 = 87.416 billion
March 2006 = 98.378 billion
March 2007 = 174.290 billion
March 2008 = 257.342 billion
March 2009 = 279.089 billion
March 2010 = 228.635 billion
March 2011 = 77.621 billion (Ouch! -- I wonder what the income will be at the end of the current fiscal year, i.e. March 31, 2012)
 
At Nintendo Of Japan's bulding,there's a actual MONEY POOL.
Well that's impressive.Mostly because they were first,and...well,everybody trusts Nintendo.They've been there awhile and have DOMINATED every single type of gaming,so everybody trusts them.
 
Maybe because people want to play good games and classics. Although I think you should compare the sales with the same amount of time since release.
 
Because mine didn't like using it's Wifi so I took it back and got a refund, games and all?
*Ducks*

I don't know, I've had some rather bad luck with both the 3DS and Vita. I plan on getting the 3G model of the Vita so I can access the internet in order to download content, since that's all I use my Playstation Network for (I don't bother with Online on the Playstation consoles, I HAVE it, but only to download stuff). If that doesn't work, well I won't be getting a Vita then, will I?
 
Well, if you don't get the 3G model, then it really is not up to snuff imo. But asides from a lackluster release title selection (which has lately seen many sales for buy 2 get 1 free, etc just to try to push more systems), you have to take in the competitive field it is releasing into. The 3DS is cheaper and has started to gain momentum with the release of SM3DL, Mario Kart 7, and recently titles for an older crowd like RE and MGS. Also, on the PSVita's release, Nintendo started Nintendo Direct and cut prices the second time just to draw in more crowds. Combined with the Vita's poor reviews/press in comparison, I saw little reason to investigate more until other games come out.

The bigger story is why Sony considers it to be such a success. Even though they have less numbers than the 3DS at launch (which was called a flop by everyone), they think of this as a success because of the competition from not only Nintendo, but the iPad and Androud markets. Less people see the need for a dedicated mobile gaming console and particularly with some PSVita games costing over four times how much they cost on the mobile markets. Why should I buy your new system and a very expensive game when I can get the same game for my i-whatever for only $8?

Whereas Nintendo offered many free VC games and apps to push the 3DS until more new games came out, PSVita needs to find a strategy to make it a better gaming console. It may start out with more apps then the 3DS did, but all of that is wasted when it is little more then a glorified iPad right now.
 
SpoonySage said:
Whereas Nintendo offered many free VC games and apps to push the 3DS until more new games came out, PSVita needs to find a strategy to make it a better gaming console. It may start out with more apps then the 3DS did, but all of that is wasted when it is little more then a glorified iPad right now.
Click to expand...

It makes another point:Nintendo is more generous when it comes to it's customers.
2011-08-01-apologies.png


Nintendo CARES about us.That's why they lowered the price and gave early adopters free games.
And all because of a weak launch.
Sony?Have everything to do with their online service leaked and stolen,give only 4 games.
And don't care about a poor Vita launch.
 
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I think people do want the portable home console experience, but perhaps not badly enough to pay for it.

It's also a different audience. Nintendo skew a little younger. I've seen tiny kids with DSs. No one would trust a kid that young with a Vita. I'm sure older kids and teenagers want Vitas, but they also want other things like bikes, phones, laptops, mp3 players, tablet computers. The Vita gets pushed down the list. It's lower priority.

I also suspect after the 3ds's weak start, consumers may be waiting to see how things pan out before taking the plunge on a Vita, maybe to see if Sony are forced to do a pricedrop or sweeten the deal in some way.

Other reasons: wrong time of year.

There's also the aspects of the products themselves that may make them more or less attractive to consumers. 3DS is backwards compatible. Even with the poor launch titles, there was still a large back catalogue of content. And I'd argue the 3DS has the better gimmick. You won't get glasses-free 3d anywhere else at that cost. The most unique thing about the Vita is maybe the rear touchpad. I wouldn't say it's a bad idea, but it did seem an odd choice.
 
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Bad word of mouth, I think. I haven't heard any of my friends talking about the Vita. Not a single one.
 
Audacity said:
Zexis said:
Bad word of mouth, I think. I haven't heard any of my friends talking about the Vita. Not a single one.
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what are they talking about? Did they talk about the 3ds?
Click to expand...

Some of my friends raved for months about how they wanted a Vita. After the release? Didn't hear a peep out of any of them. As for the 3DS, they all were against it for the longest time and only after the price drop did they buy it. Now, they have added Mario Kart 7 to the list of game night rotations.
 
Zexis said:
Audacity said:
Zexis said:
Bad word of mouth, I think. I haven't heard any of my friends talking about the Vita. Not a single one.
Click to expand...

what are they talking about? Did they talk about the 3ds?
Click to expand...
They actually tend to talk about either Minecraft, Skyrim, or Call of Duty.
Click to expand...

Maybe when it'll happen when Call of Duty comes to the Vita.

And no offense, but your friends sound kinda dull. But they're probably typical enough that you could extrapolate their tastes to the wider audience that PS Vita needs to appeal to in order to succeed.
 
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What Nintendo considers crappy sales, Sony may think otherwise. The initial sales of the 3DS was considered poor because it was far below Nintendo's expectation. Sony may have a much lower level of expectation in what they consider successful for their 2nd attempt at a portable. The Vita was close in sales with the initial 3DS sales so in a way, the Vita had a successful launch. From what I've heard, the Vita has already surpassed the PSP sales in the same time frame too.

I think either at the end of this year or beginning of next year, the Vita will gain more momentum and give the 3DS much competition.
 
Well the vita is more than 249.99 when considering you need to buy memory and a game to play than will take you up to about 360 dollars to get started. Plus the high profile games aren't out yet.
 
Also,do you really think you're gonna trust a 10 year old with a Vita?

No, no you are not.

Nintendo markets to all ages.
Sony?Vita is being marketed to older people,and gets them less sales.

They need to either safety-proof the Vita with a new System model,or just find a way to make it seem it's okay for kids.
 
It's obvious why the vita has crappy sales...


It's not made by Nintendo!!!

*Insert other rampant fan rants*







In all actuality, I think it boils down to 3 things...
Price
Appeal
Games
Seeing as the vita doesn't seem to excel in any of these areas, Sony is not making huge sales.
 
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