The Unnecessary Departure of Sony (From the Handheld Market)

So Sony is the latest company to drop out of the handheld race, leaving Nintendo once again in the lead and by an absolute longshot. Joining the ranks of Neo-Geo, Sega Game Gear, Lynx, Gamate, WonderSwan, N-Gage, and many more, the PSP series is going by the wayside after years of slowly disappearing from obscurity. There are dozens of reasons why the other handhelds didn’t work, but Sony’s departure is a bit of an enigma considering if anyone can take on Nintendo, it would be Sony. Sony has the history, the resources, and the fanbase to pull it off.

Sony was in the first for a decade. The PSP despite its less-than-stellar reputation in the United States, still managed to sell a superb 80+ million copies. Japan, that fun little country, accounted for a quarter of the sales. Even though the software sales weren’t a fraction of what the Nintendo DS pulled off (Nintendo DS Games with 7+ million sold: 13. Playstation Portable Games with 7+ million sold: 1), the hardware sales were definitely higher than all the previous non-Nintendo handhelds.

So what happened you ask? Sony claims it’s because the smartphone industry damaged its sales. But that is extremely far from the truth.

The Vita got delayed when it could have really punched the 3DS during the dismal launch. The Vita lacked any major IPs when it could have transferred some of its successful console franchises (Final Fantasy, Little Big Planet, Ratchet and Clank, etc.). The Vita could have had some price cuts as opposed to being twice as expensive as the 3DS after you throw in the insane $100 memory cards (A price cut is what SAVED the 3DS). The Vita could have transferred all the PSX/PS2 classics to the handheld to keep the quantity high as opposed to ho-humming its backwards-compatibility. Lastly, Sony could have made adjustments during its extremely tough first year and instead abandoned the handheld into obscurity.



It was left to die.



There is room for success in the handheld industry, as long as you appeal to the correct crowd. The Nintendo 3DS will never reach the astronomical numbers of the original DS because of the meteoric rise of smartphones and tablets, yet has managed 53 million copies. It may not be as big a deal in America, but in Japan there’s nowhere else to go but up. It took the only franchise that made the PSP relevant (Monster Hunter), revved up the amount of software, and made it far more affordable than the PS Vita and also created products that would appeal to both coasts. Argue what you will about all the asinine decisions related to the WiiU, Nintendo figured out how to beat the odds and made the 3DS a device that has earned them more than 10 billion. Sony threw in the towel far too early.

Nintendo’s success and failures has been directly tied to the amount of software it releases for its consoles---not memory power. The Nintendo Game Boy survived nearly a decade against far better-looking options because of games like Tetris, Link’s Awakening, and especially Pokemon. The Nintendo Wii and Super Nintendo were its last two console victories because it had the most games, and most of the best games. The WiiU and Gamecube have been its biggest failures (Virtual Boy isn’t even going to be brought up…ever) because of the lack of software. This is what doomed the Vita: not the competition, not the cheaper options, but because of the sheer lack of reason to spend the money on it.





The Vita is dead. But it didn’t have to die.

The Quiet (Yet Successful) Year of the Playstation 4

The multimedia aspects that tarnished XBox One’s reputation is actually saving the Playstation 4. Funny how the gaming industry works.

The PS4 is outselling the competition handedly despite not having too many big games out there. And even Sony admitted that their first-party lineup is lacking, and that the rest of this year isn’t going to deliver much hype. So unless the upcoming E3 delivers surprises, don’t expect much in the gaming environment from Sony (and to an extent, Nintendo and Microsoft as well). However the PS4 is surviving mainly because it’s not just a piece of gaming hardware, it’s a multi-media device. Even if you don’t have new games, there’s the online features, the connectivity to the internet, the incredible Playstation Network, and Playstation Now. There are tons of options while awaiting the next big game.

Playstation Now is hands-down the biggest reason for Sony’s success. 300 PS3 games available at your fingertips if you are willing to shell out the bucks for the monthly subscription. Where Nintendo dropped the ball despite the overwhelming history, Sony has utilized fully by offering hundreds of classic and past games to always cover for shortcomings that can and will occur. We are witnessing gaming companies dropping left and right, some to bankruptcy and others to mobile gaming. To have something to fall back on has been nothing but lucrative in Sony’s part. After all, why else would Sony have such a big lead on Microsoft despite having similar lineups?

Microsoft dropped the ball because during the disastrous E3 they made it sound like they weren’t going to focus as much on games. Sony learned that the multi-media external activities should be a clutch, never the main focus. Simply switching the priorities around slightly could have resulted in a closer race. But the Playstation 4 is hands-down the system best geared towards the hardcore and casual gaming crowd. Microsoft may have XBox Live, but Sony has arguably everything else.

Bottom Line: Remember that gamers come first, and that your Plan Bs should be gaming-related, not NFL-related, Netflix-related, or anything that could be accomplished by a laptop. The PS4 has looked and sounded like the premiere system for gamers, and its paying off in dividends for the time being----despite the lackluster lineup. Even with Nintendo having the top game in the past year (Smash WiiU), the year and generation has belonged to the PS4, because of the superior focus.

How Sony Got It's Console Groove Back

Sony is slowly inching its way back into the game.


After a horrendous beginning in the PS3’s lifespan Sony has turned things around in the console wars and is inches away from taking second place away from Microsoft while also developing the best momentum with the best arsenal of games in the past couple of years.

And continuing this momentum is the announcement of the Playstation 4.



To make things simple and clear: The Playstation 4 conference delivered, and righted every wrong Nintendo committed when announcing the Nintendo WiiU. They announced the specs, they answered most of the burning questions, revealed plenty of hardware and software dropped a few upcoming projects. And announcing this before the E3 brings the pressure to Nintendo and Microsoft to truly impress or Sony is going to arrive towards a successful holiday season (Granted they don’t have a ridiculous launch price).



Unlike Nintendo, Sony knew that gamers wanted to know: hardware details, what software to look forward to, and why we should be excited in forking over another $400 to another console. Streaming software, supposed connection to all previous Playstation systems and games, heavy amount of software backed by great third-party support, an expanded multi-player online system, and perhaps biggest of all: Diablo 3. The PS4 seems to be starting to bridge the gap between PC gaming and console gaming by taking one of the best PC franchises out there.

The conference in New York was long, had plenty of information, had barely any downtime, and showed a lot of wonderful gameplay. Sony fans could not be disappointed, there was no way. New Final Fantasy, new Killzone, Diablo III, and the rising favorite Watch Dogs. How can you go wrong?

Sony fans, this month belongs to you. The PS3 has three new JRPGs on the way, released one of the better ones in recent memory, continues pouring a good lineup of quality games in recent years, and have the PS4 to look forward to by the end of this year.



Welcome back Sony.

P.S. Now....about that failing Playstation Vita.....

The Required Makeover of the Playstation Vita

Now, we have discussed the disaster of the Playstation Vita time and time again. Its actually kind of fun sometimes. Well, the disaster continues as they can barely break 100,000 on weekly sales and their hold on the handheld market stands as a miserable 12.7%. Their best-selling video game is all the way down in the #72 spot with a Call of Duty game that is more likely being sold in a 1 to 6 ratio when compared to the console versions. The Nintendo 3DS and the tablet gaming market has been utterly annihilating this system, and to be honest its only going to get worse if 3DS’ software lineup continues expanding (Virtual Console being a ho-hum addition has definitely saved Sony as of now) and Pokemon X/Y is hitting shelves simultaneously this fall.

And with Sony continually trying to breathe some life into the Vita, the big question is how they can possibly develop an audience for the neglected handheld.

What the Playstation Vita might need more than anything is this: exclusive IPs.

The PSP couldn't beat the DS despite superior hardware because of the totally inferior software. Sony learned the hard way that it takes more than just taking Sony's best console games and translating them to a smaller screen. They needed more games that cater exclusively to the dimensions of the PSP. The Nintendo DS had the likes of Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright, Brain Age, Pokemon (most prominent example), Golden Sun, and several other quiet gems that propelled the handheld into becoming the most successful system in history, even though it wasn't the most powerful system out there.

Sony needs to start crafting some new IPs or exclusively continue them on the Vita in order for any chance whatsoever of creating any sort of success or profit from the machine. Franchises like Chrono Trigger, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Sly Cooper can benefit from moving permanently into handhelds, while Sony can find ways of making new IPs to make the Vita fresh and exciting. While Nintendo is the first-party IP king, Sony has had its share of great recent franchises like Little Big Planet, Uncharted, Journey, Infamous, among others.

Games are getting more expensive--it becomes difficult to justify a $40 purchase of a game that is a watered-down version of a much bigger game that's just a mere $20 more. You need to offer experiences that you couldn't encounter with the PS3 (I did offer a solution of selling tons of classics as opposed to new IPs, but you can still manage both as long as the classics are sold at APP prices). Part of the trouble with such a massive software lineup like the 2011-2012 PS3 lineup is that it leaves no room for the Vita to stand out.

The Vita needs to become less like a younger brother of the PS3 and more like the red-headed stepchild.

The Eighth Generation begins............next year.

In our latest episode of “Sony You are a Stupid Company and it’s a Miracle That You Still Exist” we have the higher-ups in the Sony company announcing that they will release the new Playstation portable only in Japan, while releasing the handheld in 2012 to the other regions around the world. Instead of fighting the 3DS in the holiday season to officially kick off the gaming wars in the eighth generation, they are taking a step back and letting the 3DS conquer the entire holiday season. Without giving a fight, they are handing the Black Friday rights to the DS systems to dominate. The Japanese audience is the only ones getting their hands on it this winter, once again proving that the Japanese gaming companies to give to shifts about the Western Hemisphere world of gaming.

This is where I stop being a news reporter and become an analyst. Sony you idiot. You stupid, stupid idiot. The 3DS was a sinking ship and despite the major price change you guys still had the slight advantage in terms of momentum. You had an ITouch-like system with a decent price tag, nice sleek look, none of the 3-D nonsense, and with seemingly all the PS3 franchises ready to invade the handheld. You had hordes of gamers willing to wait those few extra months to get your handheld. You were so close. And now you’ve given Nintendo a chance to not have to compete against anybody in the market---during a time period that Nintendo has mastered for the past several years without fail.


Have you learned nothing from the launch of the 3DS? Nothing? The 3DS launched to absolutely no success, and they are still barely making money despite the fact that one of the greatest games of all-time has been restored, remade, and re-introduced to a new generation of gamers. You don’t launch a system in such a nasty fickle industry in any time period that isn’t the holiday season. Before, Sony would have had to take on a small Nintendo wave of success heading into the holiday season. Now, whatever release date Sony has, they have to take on a much stronger Nintendo wave. With the price cut, Mario Kart and a new Mario adventure inches away, I predict some nasty-good numbers in December as long as Nintendo doesn’t fudge up the marketing.


Bottom Line: Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Sony, you are making the dumbest decision in not pushing for the holiday release date. You have a decent handheld that was one of the brighter spots of this year’s E3 show. And now, you are about to throw away all the momentum by releasing it next year---when we have the 3DS AND (repeat, AND) the WiiU lurking around the corner. While we are so sure that the WiiU is pulling a “Dreamcast,” we have to hand the award to the PS Vita, for releasing it late in one competition and pitting it against another big system that’s about to come out (Dreamcast came late in the PSX/N64 war and was released before the PS2 struck—killing itself in two different conflicts).

Sony, you had your chance.



In 2012, you are about to see the window of opportunity close shut.



Idiots.