PS Vita Launch Being Compared To Car Wreck Says Game Publisher

The boss behind the recently released UFC Personal Trainer, Lyle Hall, has had a few words to say about to PS Vita and portable gaming.  What he had to say echoed similar views other analysts have, that there is no place in today’s world for a dedicated gaming portable device.

He is quoted, “[People] don’t want it.”  His reasoning is,”People don’t want to carry more than one thing in their pocket, that’s why Android and iPhone have done so well, they are the devices of choice, they offer multiple functions outside of gaming.”  He continued to say the launch will be a car wreck.

The PS Vita, and 3DS for that matter, both do more than just games but games are the primary function.  The price of the 3DS has just dropped substantially to spur sales for the unit, even though it sold millions in the world before the price drop.  As far as Hall is concerned, the ‘consumers have spoken’ and he’s confident there will not be a swing back to dedicated gaming machines.

The commenters seem to have a different view on the PS Vita and portable systems.

Gigawings says, “First, I don’t want to play “Fingers: The Video Games, give me buttons, then we talk.”  

Blessrok commented, “Oh come on, the people the 3DS and Vita are marketed towards are those who are gamers and want to game on the go. People who game on iPhones or Android phones just game cause it’s convenient…it’s already on the device so why not. It’s not like they bought the phone to game on, it’s added fluff.  All I know is if I buy a portable game system I’m buying it for games. If it does something else then that’s the fluff for me. I have room in my pocket.”

Lastly, DeadnBuried said, “Nintendo are the ones that are at risk here. Their runaway success with the DS wasn’t built on “hardcore” gamers, they had the attention of hardcore gamers, sure, but they were so successful because they tapped into the casual market. The problem now is that the very same casual market has now moved onto smartphones and the chances are that a lot of them will be perfectly happy with the games provided on iOS or Android, as such, the 3DS will never be anywhere near as successful as the DS was. That’s also the reason why the Wii U won’t be anywhere near as successful as the Wii has been, they’ve based their success on a fickle audience with a short attention span.”

Only time, and sales numbers, will tell if the Vita can cater to a hardcore gaming market, a market that some analysts believe is dead, but that many gamers seems to still believe in.   The PS Vita is launching in 2012 in the U.S. and EU and late 2011 in Japan.  The two models will be 3G/Wifi and Wifi only which will sell for $299 and $249 respectively.

Kotaku