When it came to which medium for game storage the Vita would use, Sony looked at a few options. The PlayStation Network marketing and operations team was adamant about having the Vita be percent digital. The exact opposite side of the spectrum was considered as well, with Sony utilizing a physical retail model which would have required consumers to go into stores in order to download content or purchase game cartridges.
There was also the possibility of using UMDs again, but publishers were concerned about the sheer operational costs of them. UMDs were expensive and had a capacity ceiling. If Sony had gone down this route, then it would have had to either increase the price point of games or ask publishers to absorb the cost. The former was obviously not favorable for the consumer, and the latter would result in a decreased amount of games available for the system.
The last option, which is the one Sony ended up choosing, was a hybrid with both physical cartridges and digital downloads. Having both these avenues allowed consumers to make their own choices, kept the costs lower for publishers so game development for the platform would continue, and retail stores would stay invested in the business.
At the time, this was considered the best decision available, and luckily, that seemed to turn out to be right in hindsight. One of the most debated strategies internally at PlayStation was the move to use proprietary memory cards on the Vita. This was one of the most contentious aspects about owning the system, as the memory cards were incredibly expensive. At the time, there was significant concern around the PSP game piracy situation and the PlayStation Network hack.
That was the reason why there were so many options considered when it came to physical media, downloads, and memory cards. Security was a huge priority after the effects of the hack, and third-party publishers needed to be assured that their content would be protected if they were to develop for the platform.
Sony focused on the ideas of proprietary technology and owning all factors of production at the time.
The proprietary memory cards were expensive but Sony tried to soften that blow with various bundles and retail promotions. Sony was also shifting its focus from being a product and engineering-focused organization to a brand and audience-centered one. Former PlayStation executives Kaz Hirai and Andrew House had huge roles in making this approach a mandate across the company.
There was also quite a bit of resistance internally on this endeavor from entrenched teams. The marketing leadership needed to work out issues in real time as Sony would evolve into a more progressive, consumer-first model that allowed it to succeed in the future.
Koller says that the old days of creating a product and then throwing it over the fence to the marketing department to make it a successful launch were over. In , the Nintendo Switch has largely taken the place of where Vita used to be. First and foremost, the Switch launched in into a world with much greater broadband penetration that allowed for easier and frictionless downloads and online gameplay.
The second differentiator was the commitment toward first-party titles that Nintendo demonstrated. They wanted to create PS4 games instead and Vita was almost viewed as a secondary platform, which was unfortunate. Phillips notes that first-party support moves in the direction of where Sony needs to plant the next flag. It was more so that the PS4 business was a huge investment, and first-party studios absolutely needed to be there to support the consumers and developers.
He also thinks Sony ended up happy with the performance of the Vita. The last distinction is that it was very clear Nintendo was determined to make the Switch a success. The secret to any platform launch is that the first six months are critical.
Now the real question is what has happened for the Vita to suddenly become such a hot ticket? The pandemic has left people with a whole lot of time on their hands, and what better way to keep those hands busy than by purchasing a portable handheld they may have skipped back at release. It also helps that lately people seem to be more interested in retro gaming than ever before.
The PlayStation Vita truly is a neat little system. There are still games on the horizon for it which you can easily find via a quick Google search. Considering also the sheer success that Nintendo has had with their Switch lately, it may be time for Sony to once again take another look into the handheld market.
Sadly, however, I think they may be done in that realm. So, for now, we still have the awesomeness that is the PlayStation Vita with a library that still continues to go strong on its digital storefront. This is pretty rare in today's industry. Han isn't wrong about how much PS Vita developers care about their fans; that community has been part of the reason for multiple games launching at all, as was the case with Benjamin Widdowson of Suzaku, developer behind Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story, which was recently released on the console in In fact, Suzaku's love for the Vita is part of the reason it chose to release the game on the seemingly dormant device.
Growing up with PlayStation and being one of the three people at my local GameStop who waited in line at midnight for a Vita, it's even cooler Even though the store itself will stay up in perpetuity, developers will no longer be able to release new titles on the digital storefront.
The decision to close the PS Vita, PS3 and PSP storefronts -- which was quickly reversed , at least for the most part -- came as a surprise to many around the industry. However it wasn't surprising news for everyone; Brown said "the writing has definitely been on the wall for a while now," and UnMetal developer Francisco Tellez de Meneses, said he was made aware of the decision by Sony a year before it happened.
In fact, the game had to be finished, pass the Sony Quality Control and be fully approved before the end of That really scrambled my plans and even made me lose a great publisher. Lillymo Games has released three games for the PS Vita, but while its next two projects were also set to come to the handheld, the PS Vita versions have since been cancelled.
And yet Sony still allowed the team to purchase a development kit earlier this year, weeks before the first announcement of the digital store closures. The PS Vita has been sustained primarily by its community for most of its life, and there was a reason people latched on in the first place. Its position as the PSP's successor at the time of release was enough to build up a great deal of excitement around the console, and even despite its pricing issues it was able to impress players enough to stick around once they had bought in -- and developers noticed.
I think it also widened the appeal of indie games to a lot of markets and particularly Japan.
0コメント