The Equation of Software

The PSVita is doing much better than I originally anticipated, but the fact remains that if they want to ever have a shot at defeating or deflating the 3DS they have to focus on one major thing: software.

More software = better hardware sales.

Superior technology does not, shall not, will not make you the victor. As a matter of fact, the past two generations have been won by a system with weaker processing and memory and graphical capabilities. The Nintendo Wii is and will win the seventh generation, while the Playstation 2 pretty much ran away with the sixth generation. The Nintendo DS was weaker than the PSP in the long run but it still became the best-selling system in the history of gaming. The Neo-Geo Pocket was arguably stronger than the Game Boy Color but got obliterated to the twelfth degree. Heck, if you go back to the early 90s the colorful Game Gear got annihilated by the black-and-white Game Boy.

Now the obvious reason in all this is because of software. The Wii delivered more great games early in its lifespan while the competitors released their true-blue gems far too late. The Playstation 2 had the GTA, Gran Taurismo, and Metal Gear games while the Xbox was riding on mainly Halo and the Gamecube remained afloat because of surprise-surprise hits here and there. The Nintendo DS has at least a dozen of the best games released in the last 15 years, while you can barely count on one hand the amount of memorable PSP titles. And of course the earliest example involves the Game Gear providing nothing that could even touch Link’s Awakening, Super Mario Land 2, Donkey Kong, Wario Land, and Kirby’s Dream Land (All released at around the same time, by the way).

So if software is such an easy answer then why do companies continue making the same mistakes? By the way, the Vita already has Uncharted, yet for some odd reason there was barely any press, minimal commercials, and no hype for it. Instead, the PSVIta focused on a baseball video game---that’s originally a PS3 title as its headlining commercial. There’s even Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on the Vita but we barely see any attention for it. Hardware will not move hardware sales. It has never been the case.

The 3DS learned this the hard way, as its starting sales were extremely subpar and remained that way until Ocarina of Time, Mario Land 3D, Star Fox 3DS, and of course Mario Kart 7 pushed its sales to the limit in the holiday season. And now with Kid Icarus and Metal Gear on the horizon, the 3DS will continue to destroy the Vita until Sony can throw in some third-party support and bust out their big guns soon. Sony still has Gran Taurismo, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear, GTA, Final Fantasy, Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, Burnout, and so much more. Where in the heck are they?

Nothing breeds amazing games like nasty competition. This previous amazing generation proved this, as the PS3 and Xbox 360 have been neck-and-neck for second place for about a year now. In order for the 3DS to really pull out all the stops, they need Vita to catch up and pose as a threat. And in order for the Vita to ever pose as a threat, they need to ante up the software. And now before it is too late. The idea of the best of Playstation being at the palm of your hand equipped with PS3-like graphics is a good one---so why in the heck is it that Sony has yet to release a handheld that has gotten my interest?

No software.


Sony, get to work.