In the weeks following the PlayStation 4 launch in November 2013, we learned from Sony that Remote Play between PS4 and PS Vita was “resonating most in Europe” and there was a 163% sales boost for the PlayStation Vita in the UK, while the PlayStation Vita 2000 redesign helped increase overall Vita sales.
Since then, the PS Vita is consistently finishing in the 10,000+ unit sales range each week in Japan, but as we learned in Sony’s Q2 financials, the combined sales of the PS Vita, PSP (which was discontinued), and PlayStation Vita TV were down 50,000 compared to the previous quarter.
The somewhat small sales for the PlayStation Vita don’t have Sony Computer Entertainment America President and CEO Shawn Layden down though, as he told IGN that he thinks the Vita is the best handheld on the market:
I believe that Vita is the best handheld gaming experience, full stop, period. Nothing comes close to that. You can talk about your mobile, you can talk about your tablet, you can talk about, you know, Nintendo platforms or what have you in the handheld space. I think, pound-for-pound, buck-for-buck, Vita is the best gaming experience you can have.
After talking about how the Vita isn’t following the PSP’s sales spike in terms of initial success, and how many people think it’s in trouble as a result, Layden added that the PSP did have a slow burn after that spike:
I think with Vita, we have a similar opportunity for us, and we can continue to cover the content. I think a lot of that content, a lot of the big AAA stuff, doesn’t seem to be coming across any longer to the handheld. I think development teams have a lot of options of where to take their content, and every selection they make is, ‘I do this version, I can’t do that version’-type of thing.
Layden continued by saying new developers – indies, or just those new to the market – “see an opportunity across Vita.”
While Layden and Sony declined to talk about specific sales number for the Vita, he did confirm sales have been picking up ever since Remote Play between PS4 and PS Vita was enabled. “We have not stood back from it,” he added. “We have not started to withdraw from it. I think we’re just seeing it maybe move into a new place as far as game content goes.”
Do you think the PS Vita is a better handheld gaming experience than the 3DS, N-Gage, a tablet, or your phone?
[Source: IGN]
