Japanese PS Vita sales quadruple since price cut
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
After price cut in island nation, sales of portable device jump by factor of four.
The recent PlayStation Vita price cut in Japan has proven popular. GameWatch reports (translated by Gematsu) that Sony Computer Entertainment Japan president Hiroshi Kawano revealed sales of the portable have jumped by a factor of four since the price cut went into effect February 28.
Speaking as part of a One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 presentation, Kawano said PS Vita sales have quadrupled in the past week, compared to the two-week window before the price cut.
Sony cut the price of both PS Vita models in Japan to ¥19,980 ($214).
Gamers should not expect the price cut to be extended to other markets anytime soon. Sony Worldwide Studios' president said last month that Sony has no plans for a similar price drop in North America. Decisions about price drops are made on a region-by-region basis, he said at the time.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
275 comments
Good news for Sony and the Vita. really think it needs repeating in the US and EU though!
1 Like drop the price of the vita and the memory card.....if not both then just the memory card
3 Like I live in Japan, and I bought one at the sale price (and getting all the USA PSn sale price games!!!) The vita's in Japan are selling out all over the place. The bundles (with game and mem card were also sale price) went almost instantly. I was able to grab one straight from sony's websight luckly. I loved my vita so for. well worth the cash paired with PS+ its more than worth it. Trophies on the toilet!!!! woooo
A price cut won't be enough for me to purchase one. I need games. Quality RPGs would be nice.
I also want to point out that the handheld is still the best place for RPG's for the most part. In the last gen if all you cared about were JRPG's nearly every one worth playing was on either the DS or PSP. They take longer to come out though making a 100+ hour JRPG takes a lot of time. The reason the Vita only has Persona 4 and Disgaea 3 so far is both games are just enhanced versions. I imagine Vita and 3DS will have the lions share of good JRPG's this gen also.
3 Like @SavoyPrime They have two of them! I got 20 Vita games for less than 60 dollars with psn plus. Wipe out, Oddworld, Plants vs zombies, unit 13, GRavity Rush, Sound Shapes, Ninja Gaiden plus, Uncharted, Retro City Rampage, Motorstrom, Jetpay Joyride, Bliz, Sine Mora..... and about 10 other. Should I go on. yeah 60$ for ALL THOSE!.
@SavoyPrime @inaka_rob as for RPGs they have Persona 4 (which is still 40 bucks though!!!) and Disegea 3.
They really should drop the price in the West as well. Sure they would be selling the Vita at a loss, but just one game sale will make up for that. It's what Nintendo had to do.
1 Like Drop the price and it sells better? Whowuddathunkit? If Sony has any sense, they'll drop the price in other areas, as well. Wouldn't be surprised if they announced it at E3.
How many MB or GB are PS Vita games and how big of a memory card is good for a PS Vita?
Would 32GB be enough or would I need at least 64GB? I like to download a lot of games..
@GH05T-666 The biggest amount I have seen for a full vita game is BlazBlue which as roughly 3GB.
COOL so the price cut will be here by the holiday.
$180.00 basic
$250.00 bundle with 1 games 1 year PSN+ 16GB memory card
I still would prefer a BIGGER screen 7" screen for $250.00 basic
The Vita has the largest screen of any handheld ever released by a good size company. I am not sure why the heck people would complain about that. The only way any version of the 3DS has a larger screen is if you add both screens together. Not to mention a 7" screen would make the thing even more difficult to hold and carry.
@Mojira7 Can't imagine you will figure that out. Even if it only costs them X dollars to manufacture one, Sony still has to pay all of their internal people who actually developed and manage the thing.
"Gamers should not expect the price cut to be extended to other markets anytime soon."
You idiots Sony, reduce the price and i'll buy it but as it stands im not interested!
It's kind of common sense sony. Cheaper goods means more people will buy... You'd think they learned from the PS3 dilemma.
@dah_master They do not want to lose money. As time goes on the cost drops and so does the price. What they need to worry about though is loss in interest and people buying something else.
ive always said japanese has no idea how to do business.
even nintendo with all their japan only games is guilty of this
Wonder if this will catch on and they take the drop elsewhere.
Especially after hearing about a price drop in another nation I am even less inclined to buy a Vita.
I would buy a vita if the price dropped, but not with the asinine memory card prices. Considering how many games have mandatory patches to play online, DLC, and the fact that it has 0 on board memory, the prices are absolutely stupid. $100 for a measly 32gb? No thanks.
@AfrosRockMan I have a used 16gb card with 15 games (5 full vita games and the rest psp and psone titles) and i haven't seen mandatory heavy patches for the moment, damn even the new characters on PSASBR are a 1mb download.
@AfrosRockMan due to Piracy and the cost to battle it Sony has to make up the difference
as bad as it is with the certification process but its due to exploits that developers inadvertently open.
But look at PC games, it is not because Consoles are holding back PC game development it is because of Piracy that publishers focus on Consoles as the benchmark for games.
another aspect of PC games is the use of Digital Downloads with always online DRM connection.
Sounds like the 3DS all over again, without the pricecut for every other place in the world.
Sony just lower the damn portable and the memory cards and you're sure to see sales increase. The price and the library of games was the reason why I passed on the vita and got a 3DS instead.
7 Like @Drilbit777 vita is expensive i agree. but for the library of games, vita is much stronger than 3ds to me. I'm over 30.... maybe that's the reason. i have both portable but my 3ds has been collecting dust for months
@liuyang61 @Drilbit777 Samedeal with me.The only games i have for my 3ds are SM3DL and MK7. I haven't touched the handheld since November of last year. My Vita in the other hand is with me everywhere i go thanks in large part to PS+
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