Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO and president Jack Tretton says early signs bode well for the PS Vita launch in the US.
Speaking about hardware and peripherals, he said the signs were "very, very positive... Memory is going out the door very aggressively despite the fact that memory is in a lot of the presale bundles. The software appears to be selling quite well top to bottom."
On the software front, Tretton said "Uncharted [Golden Abyss] is far and away the big winner, but I think we kind of knew that."
The exec went on to dismiss suggestions that Vita has underperformed in Japan following its December launch, referring to gloomy reports as a "perception" issue.
"Quite frankly, it scares me if people think that the Japanese launch is struggling. The fact is they sold 500,000 units in three weeks... I would be pleased if we did 500,000 units in the first three weeks here in the United States. I think that's a real healthy number for a new platform launch."
PS Vita released at midnight last night in the West. We were at official London launch event and snapped a few pictures - have a look.
Will you be buying a Vita today? Let us know by participating in this poll.
Comments
36 comments so far...
Gambini on 22 Feb '12 said:
It's a slow start, but certainly solid. The entire gaming industry press seem to put a negative spin on anything Sony does this generation... "PS3 games are just bad ports", "The Move is just a Wii Rip-off", "Vita has bombed in Japan" etc etc - CVG in particular seems to enjoy giving Sony a bashing.
I think the *only* mistake Sony makes time and time again is the lack of marketing for their products. They have the most exclusives on PS3, they have a superb new portable console - and even Move has it's merits... but, Sony just don't get the message out to the general public. Unless you're on gaming sites etc you just wouldn't know what the heck a "Vita" was, let alone why you would want one. (Point and case: a friend of mine who has a PS3 and a PSP didn't even know what a the Vita was or that it was even being released... he's not as big a gamer as me... but still..)
Sony need to push their products as well as Microsoft do (you have to give credit to MS for getting the message out whenever they release something new).
As for the Vita, I'm definitely going to pick one up this year, just waiting on a couple more game releases to get the most out of it.
JBoo on 22 Feb '12 said:
"It scares me if people think that the Japanese launch is struggling," says PlayStation boss
LOL Don't worry Sir Jack it is only idiots on the internet & most of the idiotic gaming sites that say that
flash501 on 22 Feb '12 said:
Yep, only an idiot would think that a brand new handheld selling less than the 7 year old Psp in it's homeland is struggling a bit.
jim2wheels on 22 Feb '12 said:
You could argue that the price drop of the PSP has a part to play in that. Monster Hunter and a PSP for less than half the price of a PSV would tempt many in the land of the rising sun. The fact they still sell thousands of PS2's every week illustrates how hard it is to really draw any conclusions this early.
B_G_G on 22 Feb '12 said:
Guys. Come on. There is no way to spin the current Japanese sales figures positively. There just isn't. Sorry. Being hugely outsold week after week by the previous generation is A BAD THING.
I'm almost certain it'll turn around as the Vita is a sexy piece of kit, and since no-one in Europe or the US was buying the PSP I'm pretty sure the Vita will outperform it here.
But right now, in Japan? Its horrible reading for Sony.
humanhand on 22 Feb '12 said:
Any press is good press, look at the 3DS. Now Sony just needs to Capitalize on the attention with a price drop in a few months, just like the 3DS.
flash501 on 22 Feb '12 said:
Ah, you're probably right, Jim. I just couldn't resist having a dig at the usual tits who jump to Sony's defense every time there is something negative said about them. I mean, look at this s**te:
Ugh!
jim2wheels on 22 Feb '12 said:
@Flash
I get ya!
@BGG
I don't agree as there's no logic to your argument. New consoles do not fly of the shelves from Day 1 anymore, people get burnt being beta testers and are now wise to that. The next gen of consoles will be exactly the same.
SuperMike861 on 22 Feb '12 said:
The Vita isn't doing all that well in Japan right now. The launch numbers were solid, but have fallen away pretty sharply, more than Sony would want them to, I suspect. Launch sales numbers in US and EU will probably be solid as well, the true test will be in the weeks and months afterwards, if they fall away like the Japanese sales have then that is not good.
It's features and price are aimed at hardcore gamers, when you look at smartphones and what they offer, there's obviously a big quality difference, I'm just not sure the quality difference is worth the price Sony are charging. I've never been convinced the Vita can be a truly mass market product. A few years ago it would have been great, but not so much in 2012. Even the PSP didn't do great, and that was released at a better time for a product like this. I'd love to be proved wrong, as it's a great piece of kit, but I'm not too sure. That's just what I take from the situation, and is all opinion of course.
Don't know if anyone else feels the same as me about this but looking at Uncharted Golden Abyss, it looks too good to be a handheld game. For me, Uncharted is a game I sit down and play for 2 hours in the evening, not a game I play for 10 mins at a time for example, that's for smartphone games. I haven't played Golden Abyss, but if it's close to the standard of the PS3 Uncharted's, as the reviews say, then I'd much rather play it on my TV as I believe that's a better experience for an Uncharted game.
subform on 22 Feb '12 said:
It is not a bad thing. Its an EXPECTED thing. The same sales trends apply to most non FMCG consumer products. People who buy a new product are called early adopters. By definition there are less of them, they are a group of consumers who have more disposable income and have a greater interest in new technology.
Mainstream appeal takes place over time and as more people buy, the more the price drops, the more people talk, the more people buy... that is categorically how it works and you simply cannot make a comparison between them.
This same trend applies to new TVs, cars and ALL consoles. It's ureal how many people on here think they have some sort of authority on this kind of thing when they are most likely whining because their folks said "no you can't have one".
sammikid on 22 Feb '12 said:
You must be the tit on the otherside of the spectrum. 2012 being the WORST year for this recession, they could do alot worse. I guess some people aren't chipping at the block to paint failure as quickly as others. Props to Sony and Nintendo for supporting gamers with new gaming devices and products in such a turbulent market.
Where the hell is MS? No new or exclusive IP's or additional gaming device (sorry, kinect doesn't count as gaming
)
FlacidDonkeyGuy on 22 Feb '12 said:
When they sell at a price closer to what they cost to make I will consider one. And then, only if the RRP of new (good not like Asphalt Injection) Vita games drops to below £30. So it looks like I will never get one meh.
clayf1ghter on 22 Feb '12 said:
Wipeout 2048 is less than £30 most places Uncharted was £30 if you pre ordered from amazon, you just need to shop around theirs always deals to be had.
TheLastDodo on 22 Feb '12 said:
Just imagine how good it would be doing in Japan if they had a Monster Hunter Vita or other japanese favoured game ready for the japan launch.
You can't spin it, Sony botched up the Japan Vita launch.
The US/EU launch should go much better as they have games ready for the respective territories that people care about.
gmcb007 on 22 Feb '12 said:
You know, a lot of these articles and comments are like de ja vu now.
Gambini on 22 Feb '12 said:
Are you 12? ...Or Stupid?
Or both?
TheWonton on 22 Feb '12 said:
Amazon is matching Target's AND Gamestops Buy 2 Get 1 Free on PS Vita games! http://amzn.to/yQlN3v
Agent75 on 22 Feb '12 said:
The hardcore buy at launch. On top of that, there's never really millions of consoles available, so usually, it's a sell out. But once things die down, the sales figures hit home, sales slow right down. It sticks out like scouts knees that the Vita is very over priced, add it up with 2 games and a memory card, it's a total rip off. A price drop will happen, just like in Japan, then Sony will knock out a compensation scheme like what Nintendo did with the 3DS, which I thought was p**s poor anyway. If you've bought one at launch, don't be moaning at the price drop....
gmcb007 on 22 Feb '12 said:
The only other person on this site that whinges about CVG being anti Sony is Jboo and he's a f**king idiot. In fact, it ony ever seems to be people complaining about Sony being picked on. Do you suggest that we praise everything Sony does for now on?
ensabahnur on 22 Feb '12 said:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Sony-MZ-N707-MD-Walkman.jpg/220px-Sony-MZ-N707-MD-Walkman.jpg
http://www.innovatrs.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/betamax.jpg
Better get on those knees and praise, boyo.
humanhand on 22 Feb '12 said:
GTA on the Vita... just you wait.
gmcb007 on 22 Feb '12 said:
Haha this reminds me of the Walkman in Peace Walker. Seeing how the game was a exclusive to a sony console, any convo about the walkman was filled with cheesy advertisement praise.
flash501 on 22 Feb '12 said:
Care to elaborate? I'm just a little bit surprised that you're accusing me of being stupid after you just accused the entire gaming press of being biased against Sony!
The answer is no, btw, on both counts. Well, definitely to the first part of the question, at least.
sevvybgoode on 22 Feb '12 said:
I get why people mention the lack of monster hunter is hurting Japanese sales of the Vita but there are plenty of other games that drive console sales. It's quite obvious that it isn't selling the units that it was expected to in the one region where historically they enjoy a lot of success. Look at the bias of PSP sales for Japan compared to the rest of the world for proof of that.
However if the sales don't get an exponential increase with the launch of persona 4 in june then they really are screwed.
It will be interesting reading of the sales figures next week but either way the pro zealots will claim it a success whereas the opposite will be true of the "haterz". Personally I don't think it will do to well at first (and if sales figures for preorders were really that good Sony would have been crowing about it) but I would like to own one eventually.
And before the ninty fanboy barbs are chucked in my direction I sold my 3ds last weekend to buy a PS3. Then they announce a summer release date for mario tennis ffs...
billysastard on 22 Feb '12 said:
what is scary is last weeks 13k sales (the lowest yet), the ps vita is now only just above the end of life wii and still being outsold by the psp system it was supposed to replace.
i wonder if he's even worked out that since launch day sony still havent sold the total 700k launch day supplies, now thats scary.
billysastard on 22 Feb '12 said:
i just got this weeks media create numbers and guess what, vita sales have dropped yet again to 12k (3ds sales INCREASED by 16k this week).
1. 3DS – 94,667 (67,558)
2. PlayStation 3 – 21,993 (22,002)
3. PSP – 14,824 (15,860)
4. PlayStation Vita – 12,309 (13,939)
(last weeks numbers in brackets).
in software sales the top 20 is comprised of 10x 3DS, 3x PS3, 3x PSP, 2x PSV and 2x Wii games with 3ds holding 4 of the top 5 slots and psv only getting one game in the top 10 (gravity rush at number 10)
Barry316 on 22 Feb '12 said:
Are you over 12 billy ?
Every Vita story you're in having a good old cry, moan and making yourself look very silly. I've reported you for trolling so hopefully the mods can set you on the road to your emotional recovery.
Balladeer on 22 Feb '12 said:
I've got to say that at the moment, both the Nintendo crowd and the Sony crowd are being awful. The Nintendo crowd are feeling the need to disparage something which (shock horror!) is looking like it might be a good console; meanwhile the Sony crowd are trying so hard to justify their darling's low sales figures and high price. Pains me to say it, but the Nintendo-ites are probably being worse. Why can't we just accept that there are two decent handhelds out there now and enjoy playing the one/two we like?
But then, we don't have JBoo.
El Mag on 22 Feb '12 said:
You have Wiigodboy, you lose every time. Least JBoo shuts up if you give him a crayon to eat.
Balladeer on 22 Feb '12 said:
Wiigodboy is enough of a cretin to ban, though. JBoo skirts the line with his "one post per thread", never enough to get himself in proper trouble, and rarely spouting insults. He's cleverer than he looks, even with wax dribbling down the side of his mouth.
We did have Veng back in the day. Also Biggwedge. That was the Golden Age of the Nintendo fanboy.
El Mag on 22 Feb '12 said:
We've still got the sane Nintendo fans around with yourself, Ste and Jaster. But these new crazed few will drag the image right down.
And that's the last time I'll say you 3 are sane so take it as a complement!
Balladeer on 23 Feb '12 said:
Taken.
And don't forget Izo!
billysastard on 23 Feb '12 said:
over 12, yes, just a little, in fact i have kids over 12.
as a matter of interest just how is posting THIS WEEKS SALES FIGURES considered trolling? since this site has now also posted those same figures (after my post) are you going to report them to themselves for trolling too.
oh and i would suggest you look again if you think i'm posting in every vita thread because i'm not, only a few.
luckily it would seem that the moderators of this site are more capable of reading peoples posts than you appear to be or at least they can read them accurately and not somehow see them as being something that are not.
just because i post something you dont like reading does not make me a troll.
Barry316 on 23 Feb '12 said:
Really not trolling billy, really ?
Well here's a couple of your childish, emotionally unstable posts from yesterday, from different stories.
Seek help fella, all that rage isn't good for you. And don't assume, it just makes you look more silly considering i'm a proud owner of a 3DS.
ricflair on 23 Feb '12 said:
They're all as bad as each other. For nearly every person giving Sony s**t, there a Sony lover who will jump to their defence over any criticism or have to call an anti-sony post out above any other - ignore them, or add them to your foe list. My foe list is pretty big nowadays.
There's nowt wrong with criticism, but the same stupid points, made aggressively, over and over again are just pointless. Sony do seem to have had a bit of a PR nightmare over this last year, despite coming out with some great stuff.
gdawgtuk on 7 Mar '12 said:
Funny how the 3DS was considered a failure at the same point the Vita is at now with around 2 million sold, but this is an outstanding success? Wrong. If it's a success then why does Sony refuse to release regional sales numbers when it would be the norm to do so by now? Instead they will only release the 1.2 million figure. Odd right? There is no reason why the PSP has outsold it's successor every week since the system has been out, especially when it only has about 15 stand out titles after being on the shelf for 6 years. That "failure" I mentioned, the 3DS, has also been outselling it since it's launch. Articles litter the internet about how publishers and developers are changing their projects to the 3DS due to the more stable user base, but that is a sign of positive to Sony? I just watched a YouTube video of someone running an early hack on the Vita, but still Sony stands by their overpriced 'anti-piracy' memory cards that have terrible performance over a thinner card 4x cheaper than the one Sony is slinging.
None of this is positive.....