Sony Announces PS Vita Price Drop in Japan

[Timothy Chang]

Sony Announces PS Vita Price Drop in Japan

The Japan-exclusive discount reduces the handheld's price on Wifi and 3G models by up to a third.

As of late, Sony has offered conservative sales forecasts [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121407-Hirai-Vita-Sales-On-the-Low-End-of-Expectations] for its struggling PS Vita, which has seen demand in Japan taper off after release, with even the hardy PSP outselling the device at times. In an attempt to drive demand, Sony has announced price drops of up to 33% on the handheld device for Japanese consumers.

An official online video press release announced that both the 3G and Wifi-only model will cost 19,980 yen (or about $215) from February 28th. This is down from the Wifi model's original price of 24,980 yen ($265) and the 3G's former price tag of 30,000 yen ($320). Unfortunately, no price cuts have been announced for the rest of the world just yet: an SCE spokesperson says that the promotion "is for the SCE Japan region only".

A number of promotional campaigns are running in conjunction with the price drop. Japanese Vita owners will receive a free week of PlayStation Plus with their purchase, and new member registrations for Sony's "Reader Store" will receive bonus Sony Points to spend on eBooks and digital manga. In addition, the PS Vita's "Torne" service, used for TV watching and recording, will be running a free download campaign until March 13th. A new color scheme called "Ice Silver" is also being debuted, packaged with a copy of Phantasy Star Online 2.

Sony has consistently lowered its sales predications on the handheld [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121979-Sony-Cuts-Vita-Sales-Predictions], claiming the device's "slow penetration" of the hardware market. It aims to move 7 million handhelds by March 31; whether these discounts will help the company reach that target remains to be seen.


Source: Eurogamer [http://www.jp.playstation.com/cp/2013spring_psvita/]

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[The White Hunter]

Is the 3DS stll cheaper? And does the Vita have a considerable games library yet? Because there's some big issues for it.

Also: The rest of the world doesn't want to pay the insane price for the thing and it's memory cards.

Edit: I also don't think I've seen an advert for the Vita since it launched.

 

[Terramax]

Is the 3DS stll cheaper? And does the Vita have a considerable games library yet? Because there's some big issues for it.

Yes, right now I see the price of the 3DS, in Japanese stores, as at 15,000yen.

As for the catalog, there are much more games for the system in Japan than what there are in the rest of the world, but the amount of space for vita games on the average game store's shelf is much lower than every other console. You will usually see about 2-3 shelves dedicated to the Vita, whilst about 8 for the 3DS.

The Vita was originally priced at 26,000, so going down to 20,000 is actually quite a big slash (although I'd say it's more 25% than the 33% this article says).

[currently living in Japan]

 

[The White Hunter]

Is the 3DS stll cheaper? And does the Vita have a considerable games library yet? Because there's some big issues for it.

Yes, right now I see the price of the 3DS, in Japanese stores, as at 15,000yen.

As for the catalog, there are much more games for the system in Japan than what there are in the rest of the world, but the amount of space for vita games on the average game store's shelf is much lower than every other console. You will usually see about 2-3 shelves dedicated to the Vita, whilst about 8 for the 3DS.

The Vita was originally priced at 26,000, so going down to 20,000 is actually quite a big slash (although I'd say it's more 25% than the 33% this article says).

[currently living in Japan]

Thats great for japan but the rest of the world isn't gonna bite at that high price point they've been so adamant about. Not to mention the expense of memory cards and all that system locking bullshit.

I see the Vita schedule of releases for the year and it's a big fat "meh". I'm in the UK, so I can't really justify paying for a Vita when it costs more than most home consoles do.

 

[FFP2]

Took them long enough.

I'm not trying to be catty or anything but is there any reason to get a Vita instead of a 3DS except for Persona 4 The Golden?

 

[joshuaayt]

Took them long enough.

I'm not trying to be catty or anything but is there any reason to get a Vita instead of a 3DS except for Persona 4 The Golden?

At the moment? Gravity Rush, and that's about it. I love both of these games, and indeed bought the Vita for them- but, yeah, barring hardcore Persona fans, there's not a whole lot of incentive for aspiring Vita owners.

EDIT: Oh, and also the Vita Metal Gear Solid HD releases are pretty solid. So, one new game and three updated re-releases.

 

[gigastar]

I'm not trying to be catty or anything but is there any reason to get a Vita instead of a 3DS except for Persona 4 The Golden?

I hear good things about Gravity Rush, but everything else of note caught the shovelware disease.

 

[Terramax]

Thats great for japan but the rest of the world isn't gonna bite at that high price point they've been so adamant about. Not to mention the expense of memory cards and all that system locking bullshit.

I see the Vita schedule of releases for the year and it's a big fat "meh". I'm in the UK, so I can't really justify paying for a Vita when it costs more than most home consoles do.

Yeah, I don't blame you. I bought my Vita in August (in the UK) and, personally, I love it. But I can fully understand why so many are staying away from it for the time being.

Took them long enough.

I'm not trying to be catty or anything but is there any reason to get a Vita instead of a 3DS except for Persona 4 The Golden?

Might sound crazy, but i got my monies worth from Everybody's Golf alone. I couldn't tell you how many hours I've put into that (possibly in the thousands mark). I'll admit though that there aren't many games for the system I'm interested in, being an arcade gamer n all, but I guess it depends one what kinds of games you fancy? Lots of people seem to be enjoying Assassin's Creed, LittleBigPlanet, and Uncharted the most.

I've spent most of my time playing PSP and PSone games tbh.

 

[The White Hunter]

Thats great for japan but the rest of the world isn't gonna bite at that high price point they've been so adamant about. Not to mention the expense of memory cards and all that system locking bullshit.

I see the Vita schedule of releases for the year and it's a big fat "meh". I'm in the UK, so I can't really justify paying for a Vita when it costs more than most home consoles do.

Yeah, I don't blame you. I bought my Vita in August (in the UK) and, personally, I love it. But I can fully understand why so many are staying away from it for the time being.

Took them long enough.

I'm not trying to be catty or anything but is there any reason to get a Vita instead of a 3DS except for Persona 4 The Golden?

Might sound crazy, but i got my monies worth from Everybody's Golf alone. I couldn't tell you how many hours I've put into that (possibly in the thousands mark). I'll admit though that there aren't many games for the system I'm interested in, being an arcade gamer n all, but I guess it depends one what kinds of games you fancy? Lots of people seem to be enjoying Assassin's Creed, LittleBigPlanet, and Uncharted the most.

I've spent most of my time playing PSP and PSone games tbh.

The line up is another issue, the 3DS is really starting to flesh out and the lineup for it for this year is quite plump and juicy, lots of interesting stuff and meaty RPG's to sink my teeth into. I really did have high hopes for the Vita and if it gets a hefty price slash and memory becomes affordable and it gets games I really want I'll grab one, but for now the 3DS is easily my main handheld (hell I often play it over my home systems and PC at the moment, can't wait for Luigis Mansion!!)

 

[Terramax]

The line up is another issue, the 3DS is really starting to flesh out and the lineup for it for this year is quite plump and juicy, lots of interesting stuff and meaty RPG's to sink my teeth into. I really did have high hopes for the Vita and if it gets a hefty price slash and memory becomes affordable and it gets games I really want I'll grab one, but for now the 3DS is easily my main handheld (hell I often play it over my home systems and PC at the moment, can't wait for Luigis Mansion!!)

Yeah, horses for courses really. Once I bought my Vita, I never played my 3DS again, and sold it about 4 months later, but I know I'm in the minority. Indeed, I'm surprised that JRPGs are still popular enough in the west to sway people to get a 3DS instead.

Ironically, here in Japan, there's a tonne of JRPGs out for the Vita already, but no-one in the West has decided to translate them over. If I were Sony, I would hire a small crackteam into translating each and every one of them (even though I personally don't like JRPGs).

 

[Colt47]

Yeah this is starting to feel like 2006 all over again with the original PS3 Fat vs the Wii in handheld form. Sony seems to have lost their magic ever since the end of the PS2 era and I'm not sure they are going to be able to get the thunder back under their feet with Microsoft also trying to fit on the same narrow platform. If Microsoft and Sony weren't so adamant on fighting with each other we'd probably have something more like the gamecube days... with a better gamecube.

 

[Soxafloppin]

Thats good hopefully we see it soon.

I WANT to love the Vita I really do, its a lovely bit of kit but I feel Sony have failed it.

The biggest problem is the never ending cycle of

3rd party developers won't develop for it because not enough people have bought it
and
Not enough people have bought it because theres a lack of 3rd party support.

Sad

 

[Colt47]

I think the hand held gaming audience is getting spread too thin, to be honest. Originally, when handhelds really took off there wasn't anything like the app market out where people could get casual games at extremely low prices, so everyone pretty much either bought a handheld gaming system or didn't play handheld games. Now we got two competing handheld systems with different audiences in mind, the smartphone app market, and soon pocket-able home entertainment systems that let people play the app games on a big screen.

In the case of Japan, I'm getting the feeling that a lot of the VN producing studios are not quick on adapting to the newer technologies on top of all of the above (not to mention they got a huge backlog of previously made novels that suddenly become obsolete because of the vita). Hence why I'm so very curious as to why Sony would keep trying to cut out support for their older formats and instead force people to have to indirectly pay for the content again by buying up tons of proprietary memory cards. It's no different than us US and EU people having to buy up the games all over again that we own, only we also get to pay for the cherry on top of Sony's Sunday.

 

[vxicepickxv]

I'm still looking for a local retailer that actually carries the Vita itself.

 

[FFP2]

Might sound crazy, but i got my monies worth from Everybody's Golf alone. I couldn't tell you how many hours I've put into that (possibly in the thousands mark). I'll admit though that there aren't many games for the system I'm interested in, being an arcade gamer n all, but I guess it depends one what kinds of games you fancy? Lots of people seem to be enjoying Assassin's Creed, LittleBigPlanet, and Uncharted the most.

I've spent most of my time playing PSP and PSone games tbh.

I remember playing that game on like the PSP or something... shit was addictive

Most of the replies I got said Gravity Rush is pretty good. Do you have that?

 

[tippy2k2]

Now I'm not a great economist mind but can someone explain to me why companies do this kind of shit?

Sony: Hey guys! Price cuts are coming in 2013 (stated in August)
Tippy2k2: Alright, I might as well wait
Sony: Hey guys! Price cuts are here...in Japan!
Tippy2k2: Great...how wonderful for them but I'm still not owning a Vita

I mean...I am well aware that they are planning on a price drop. I am right now [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.401242-Poll-The-3DS-or-the-Vita?time=1361183549#16526117] shopping for a handheld but buying a Vita now when I know a price drop is coming soon is insane. So because Sony has announced how they're totally dropping the price but not actually dropping it is about to lose them a sale because I'm sick of waiting...

Is there an actual good economic reason why companies do this?

 

[The White Hunter]

The line up is another issue, the 3DS is really starting to flesh out and the lineup for it for this year is quite plump and juicy, lots of interesting stuff and meaty RPG's to sink my teeth into. I really did have high hopes for the Vita and if it gets a hefty price slash and memory becomes affordable and it gets games I really want I'll grab one, but for now the 3DS is easily my main handheld (hell I often play it over my home systems and PC at the moment, can't wait for Luigis Mansion!!)

Yeah, horses for courses really. Once I bought my Vita, I never played my 3DS again, and sold it about 4 months later, but I know I'm in the minority. Indeed, I'm surprised that JRPGs are still popular enough in the west to sway people to get a 3DS instead.

Ironically, here in Japan, there's a tonne of JRPGs out for the Vita already, but no-one in the West has decided to translate them over. If I were Sony, I would hire a small crackteam into translating each and every one of them (even though I personally don't like JRPGs).

Most of what I play on handhelds are JRPG's, platformers and the odd quirky thing like Mario Kart or Theatrhythm. Pokemon shifts nintendo systems for me still believe it or not. I also love TBS and SRPG's and Nintendo caters to the west better for that mostly, whereas Sony seems content to provide fps's and the odd tps and I'm just not that interested in those experiences as handheld ones.

As dumb as it sounds I like to play handhelds in bed with a good RPG or something like that. I'm currently replaying the Mario & Luigi games for example, though I don't think I'd call those JRPG's.

 

[Baresark]

Great for Japan. Not so great for the rest of us. I think the price is the biggest barrier to owning this thing. I would buy one just for a nice little handheld version of the fighting games to take around with me. I make decent money, but I still can't stand the idea of paying for handheld what I pay for a full console at this point. It's just idiotic. I get they are losing money on each sale, but the fact that they are selling it for so much and hardly moving any units should be a sign that there may be a problem with their business plan. If we were to get the price drops they are getting in Japan, I would buy one tomorrow. But, their loss.