Home Gaming Selling the Vita is “a marathon, not a sprint”

Selling the Vita is “a marathon, not a sprint”

2 min read
0

GIMME!

Sony’s new(ish) handheld, the PlayStation Vita is not selling quite as well as anybody would like, in spite of it being quite a wonderful little machine. SCE America vice president of handhelds John Koller still believes the system has what it takes to be successful – it just might take some time.

“As we’ve said multiple times, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And it’s certainly going to be a marathon for Vita,” Koller said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz regarding all things PlayStation this holiday.

“It’s going to be a very good, solid platform for us, one that performs very well.”

“I think we’ve got a good holiday in front of us,” he added. “We’re confident in our position for the holidays.”

In the same interview, Koller had the gall to say that “content drives hardware, that content’s king,” adding that h expects holiday Vita releases to drive hardware sales.

“If you look at a game like Assassin’s Creed: Liberation that’s coming, it’s a fantastic game. Call of Duty is going to be a very strong game, particularly multi-player is going to be fantastic. It’s something you don’t see on a dedicated handheld device or a mobile device, that console quality gaming opportunity. So we’re big believers in Vita this holiday and beyond,” he said.

“When you talk to retailers or publishers, they are equally looking forward to this holiday for Vita because they’re saying, ‘This is the time. This is what we’ve matched our marketing resources for and this is what we’ve kind of had in our back pocket from a content standpoint for some time.’

“And it’s not just those two games. If you look at PlayStation All-Stars and Need for Speed and some of these other great games that are going to be launching, there is good content for both owners and intenders alike.”

Sure, there are a few nice titles headed for the Vita – but I’m not sure it’s enough. I’ve never been hit with buyer’s remorse so hard, never regretted a tech purchase quite so much as I have with the Vita. It got tons of playtime around launch, but since then it’s been doing little else other than mock me.

The Vita needs more games; big name games that’ll sell systems – something Koller’s more than aware of.

“We’re working with a number of publishers next year to try to get the best content and the best franchises so that once you get into a Call of Duty or an Assassin’s Creed on Vita, you’ve got a number of great titles to follow the next year,” he teased.

“It’s really a promise. It’s a promise you make to the gamer saying, ‘Look, we love that you’ve come in through this path. We’ve got a lot more for you.’”

You’d better have, Koller! I need to feel like i didn’t completely waste my money.

Last Updated: October 30, 2012

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Ubisoft’s having another bad day over fresh misconduct allegations and baffling Assassin’s Creed decisions

Ubisoft’s been on a bit of an upper management cull lately, what with the higher echelons …