This European PS Vita Mega Pack Is Actually Pretty Good Value

The only reason I didn't buy a vita yet is the ridiculous storage. give me a huge sd card please.
I ready want to play Tearaway and killzone mercenaries

In the netherlands there's still a bundle including psvita 3G, lego batman, lego batman 2, lego star wars 3, lego harry potter years 5-7, lego indiana jones 2, lego pirates of the carribean and a 16GB memory card for only €179.99

The games aren't great, but they're practically free.

Ya I agree with the above statement- the games aren't that great, but they ARE free.

I'm enjoying my Vita moderately, I'd say. It's definitely not the greatest system that's ever existed but it's certainly not the worst either. Games like Final Fantasy X/X-2, God of War HD Collection, Borderlands 2 (despite the poor controls with touchpad/screen), Gravity Rush, PS All Stars, and a few others, along with a decent selection of PS1 and PSP games, make it worth having for sure. I like it more than the PSP

Ratchet & Clank collection on PS Vita will make the Vita my ultimate source of gaming, even if the ports are like Jak and Daxter's (Which I doubt).

Hoping they make a Ratchet & Clank PS Vita bundle that comes with the collection, Size Matters, and a PS Vita 2k w/ 8GB memory card to cope with the movie. I'd totally buy that as a gift to a friend or sibling. No to mention others would definitely buy it.

@JaxonH - Wheres the outrage at the Vita being labeled "essentially dead"? Or is it more dead than Wii U?

Sorry I got you so annoyed the other day and havent replied, Im waiting for Wii U sales to quadruple so my comment becomes a moot point letting me off the hook

In case sales dont rise, that dead comment was meant to be in reference to it being a PS4 and X1 competitor, I know Nintendo will keep making games for it for a few more years so for those of us who own it we'll still get to enjoy its life, but I also still enjoy my Dreamcast - Ooga Booga mostly - but most people would agree that system is "dead" no matter how you define it.

In my opinion, the Vita is one of the greatest systems ever made. That doesn't (and clearly hasn't) mean a huge market share.

It's easy enough to reason out why it's not doing so well, but I'll never understand it fully. It's a cracking bit of tech, and a great games machine.

@rjejr

Lol, the thing is I really don't think one game is going to quadruple anything. No matter how good the game or level of hype. Increasing sales and interest can be a fickle process, drawn out over many hard years of great games that don't seem to yield much increase.

In fairness, I've made similar arguments for the Vita too. It's not just Wii U. But that's not automatically true- it's true for the Vita because Sony is still supporting it (albeit with a great number of ports and collections). Still, games are games.

I just hear a lot of accusations about Wii U (and Vita) being dead, and I feel it's using the term in the wrong sense. I feel that if a person is referring to the console's ability to compete saleswise, then that can be said without labeling the entire console as dead, which has other implications beyond the inability to compete. I feel that too much emphasis is put behind sales nowadays, something that never factored in before last generation. The Wii U was never going to be able to compete with PS4/X1, just like the Vita was never going to be able to compete with a Nintendo handheld.

Sorry if I sounded cross. Sometimes I get frustrated because I fear all gamers care about nowadays is what's selling well- like sales are more important that fun games

@JaxonH - "The Wii U was never going to be able to compete with PS4/X1"

Considering the Wii ran sales circles around PS3 and Xbox360 for many years, and last I check it still leads both, to say Wii U was NEVER going to be able to compete this gen I think is more hindsight Monday morning QB than anything else. W/ a 1 year head-start and $100 - $200 price advantage Wii U should have CRUSHED PS4 and X1 this gen. Whether it's the name, lack of advertising, lack of games, the price or Mahe's most hated Gamepad, the Wii U was poised to crush the competition, but it didn't, but it should have. I place all the blame squarely on Nitnendo's shoulders.

OK, I think that makes us rant even now

@rjejr

But see, that's the kind of thinking I'm talking about. "I put blame squarely on Nintendo's shoulders". Well first, I don't place blame anywhere. Because to me, it doesn't really matter. Blame implies wrong doing. Sometimes products just don't catch on. Doesn't mean anyone committed a transgression, it just means that's how the cookie crumbled. You can't predict what consoles are going to be "in" each generation. Consoles are predominantly owned by minors, and adolescents largely base their opinions on peer pressure and what's "in" at the time. So if they decide Xbox/PS is cool and colorful Nintendo games aren't, well, no one is to blame for that, it's just the way it is.

But I don't think the Wii U was ever going to compete. Anyone who was paying attention to the latter life of the Wii knew that sales started to sharply decline around 2010. The writing was on the wall years ago. Not to mention, if one understands Nintendo's full history, and understands that 100 million consoles sold is NOT the norm, then they will come to terms with the fact that success on that scale is not likely to be repeated. They will understand that the trend will most likely regress to standard fare.

I knew the Wii U wasn't going to sell as soon as they announced it. It's a fine system- that's not the problem. The problem is that Nintendo failed to capitalize on their ONE chance at gaining a permanently large install base. Too much shovelware was put in the spotlight on the Wii (entire Wii retail sections dominated by filthy cash-grabs and party games), drowning out the classics that make people Nintendo fans for life. So the casuals lost interest, and those that went on to game for a hobby moved onto a different platform. It left a bad taste in the mouth of many, and is to this day the very reason most will cite the Wii as a horrible console, when in actuality it was one of the best.

Point is, when you've got a 30 year trend of only selling X amount, it's safe to assume that trend is going to win out in the end. Especially when the sales spike only REALLY lasted 3-4 years (2006-2010). The Wii was just the right console at the right time, that it became the next "in" thing that all people "had to own" (because as always, the masses buy what's popular, NOT what's best). And for that very reasoning (masses buying what's popular), you can't shoulder all the blame on Nintendo for the Wii U, because as many of us know who own one, it IS a great system. The problem is the politics and consumer demand that blows with the wind of popularity.

@rjejr

Oh crap, I just realized you had evened the score on our rant-o-meter. My long-ass reply is just going to perpetuate it even further! (I don't mean to write long posts, but they always seem to end up being a wall of text- you know me I'm a yapper and incessantly flap my trap) Ok, rant officially retracted. We're back to even ground. I'll even let you get in a nice freebie jab at a time of your choosing to smooth it over

Now, shall we race? There's a tournament going on sometime this weekend I think, held by N-life

I've owned like three Vita's. The latest one, a white 'phat' vita I imported from the US to UK, Six months ago. It has been stored in it's box for the past five months. I have killzone Mercenary for it - Big Killzone player on PS3 and the PS2, yet for me it just doesn't work on the Vita. Virtua Tennis and that side scrolling fantasy hack and slash game with the dwarf and big boobed wizard woman etc - I can't be bothered to remember its name as I hate it. I have a couple of digital games. And all are so boring. In sort the PS Vita is boring. The memory cards are over priced, and with silly sizes.
I love handhelds. I liked my PSP, Though I liked it more when I put a pandora battery in it. Something I only did when a PSP update bricked my nine month old handheld back in 2008, and then Sony customer care had the cheek to try and charge me £77 for a refurnished one!
Yet for some reason I have never got on with the PS Vita. Sorry for the rant.

@JaxonH - "Consoles are predominantly owned by minors"

I read minors as "minions" and laughed so uncontrollably I couldn't read the rest.

OK, that's not true, but it's dinner time so my full response will have to wait. Spoiler - as usual we won't agree

@rjejr

It's just my personal belief (speculation, yes). But the point remains that sometimes certain products just catch on and others don't. It's not so much the systems, it's the types of games and the culture we live in. Here in the United States (and other western countries), Hollywood movies are the norm. AAA TV shows like Breaking Bad are the norm. Big-budget productions are what the culture revolves around. And western AAA games embody that. So naturally, people in the west are more inclined to gravitate toward a console that's built on a western foundation, like the PS4 or X1 (I understand Sony is not western, but their PS platform most definitely hinges upon western games now).

It's why the PS4 is selling gangbusters in western countries but just got outsold by the Wii U in Japan last week. It's why Xbox sells big in western countries but not Japan. Western audiences gravitate toward western culture. And PS4 and X1 primarily consist of big budget, high-profile development western games. Which is what we've all been groomed to accept.

@JaxonH - OK, before I read the other posts, gotta get this one out of my head.

Oh, but before that, RE: "Lol, the thing is I really don't think one game is going to quadruple anything."

MK8 sextupled - septupled Wii U sales, up 666%, (Google "Wii U 666%")

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=wii%20u%20666%25

which is way better than quadrupled, which would be 300%, so it is possible for 1 game to make that much of a difference in console sales. Admittedly it was in the UK, so a small sample size, but its promising for other countries as well. At least I'm looking on the bright side for a change.

OK, back to blaming Nintendo. I blame Nintendo for poor Wii U sales b/c they had momentum and an audience w/ Wii and they purposely threw it all away. Yes Wii sales were flat in 2010, but that's b/c everybody already owned one after 4 years of selling well. If 2011 saw Wii 2, promoted as Wii in HD w/ online Sports Club and maybe online Sports Resort 2 and Just Dance 2012 the casuals - who were all upgrading to HD tvs then - would have upgraded. Mahe is correct in 1 regard, had the Gamepad never been considered Wii 2 could have sold if marketed to the Wii audience. Once Gamepad is out there it can't go away though. (Not even for a SSB bundle though I'm sure Nitnedo is considering it.) Rather than pushing Wii remakes in HD Ninteod went after hardcore gamers w/ the Pro and Zombie U, Batman Armored, Mass Effect and AC. Yes they had NLand but asynchronous was never going to fly. Maybe they thought the casuals would just upgrade for NSMBU? Still Nintneod could have sold Wii U even late and w/ that name (which I personally like) if they focused on my parents and sisters who bought a Wii for Sports. But Ntineod is all about the road less taken and doing their own thing - that weird N64 controller, the lunchbox Gamecube design, the Wiimote - and not about easy since the SNES followed the NES. I think there may be a great disconnect at Nintendo between the people who designed Wii U and the game makers. Who wanted a Gamepad? Who wanted another underpowered system to program for? Also, while the Wii U is sitting on store shelves collecting dust Nintneod is all hands on deck trying to save 3DS - their #1 - and I'm sure Wii U game programming and marketing suffered for it. I just don't think they or anyone are capable of properly supporting 2 consoles in today's world, the graphics - even on handhelds, are too demanding. So int hat regard they bit off more than they can chew.

hubris, arrogance, confidence, smugness, individuality - Nintnedo does what they want to do, not what could have been easy money w/ an HD Wii 2. (Then save Wii U until the tech is there that the Gamepad is its own portable console, a 2DS that doubles as a home console controller. One system, one set of games at home or on the road.)

@rjejr

Not just Wii sales were flat. I get that everyone already owned one. I mean software sales. WiiShop sales. Accessory sales. Interest in the console began to decline. And there's a reason for it. The 100 million people who owned a Wii, well, at least 75% of them were not really gamers. And they lost interest. They either don't play games at all now, or they play Smartphone games. You should see all my co-workers (people who used to own a Wii), and they play that Candy Crush game during their breaks every day. They don't care about consoles. They'll tell you "Ya, Wii was fun" but don't really care about playing consoles again. They're happy playing games on their phone.

I really don't believe a "Wii 2" would have sold to the Wii audience. They're too unpredictable, and too attached to their phones nowadays. But you know what, even if it would have sold to them, it would have only been a small portion of them. Certainly not all of them. Because many Wii owners were turned off from the low quality shovelware. And why pay $20-50 per game when they can play smartphone games for free? But even so... ok, so it does a little better sales wise, but the implications would have still been bad for me, and bad for every other gamer out there. Because that would have been YET ANOTHER console stuffed to the brim with 'casual' type games. Which means no development resources for games like Hyrule Warriors, or Wonderful 101, no Bayonetta 2, just your normal franchises. It would have meant no Gamepad too, just ANOTHER console generation with the same controller. I mean, I don't see how that's a good thing. Sure, maybe for casuals, but not for me! And not for other gaming enthusiasts!

As for the "underpowered" system to program for, that makes no sense at all. The only developers who require massively powerful systems don't put their games on Nintendo consoles anyways! So that statement is more criticizing the Wii U's power for the sake of it, rather than because it's ACTUALLY a problem. Mario Kart 8 looks phenomenal. DKC looked phenomenal. All their games look phenomenal. You have to look at things in context. Wii U is not a 3rd party system. It's library is not 3rd party AAA multiplats. Therefore, it is not underpowered, because it's not FOR that. I mean, underpowered for WHAT, exactly? Nintendo's games? Cause that's the lifeblood of the system. That's what it's for. The power of the Wii U was specifically designed BY the developers. BY Miamoto and his teams. They made it exactly how they wanted it, for themselves, not for 3rd parties, because let's face it- look at any top 30 list of software sales for Wii U OR 3DS and you'll be hard pressed to find more than a couple 3rd party titles in the list.

People have to stop treating Nintendo like they're Sony or MS, cause they're not. They don't go by the same rules. What's underpowered for one is not necessarily true for the other. Wii, THAT was underpowered. It was basically a Gamecube with no leap whatsoever. The Wii U is a ginormous leap from last gen.

And you criticize the gamepad like it's the popular hate train, but I like it. And so do alot of other people. In fact, every "casual" I tell about the controller having a screen on it, they think that's a lot cooler than the Wiimote was. The problem is it's not enough, because those people just don't care about consoles when they can play games on their all-in-one device. But the gamepad was also designed by Miamoto, and the only time I've ever heard people argue AGAINST it is by people who somehow think having more features is bad. And NOBODY was criticizing it at launch. Only when it was clear the Wii U wasn't selling well, THEN everyone looked for a scapegoat. Oh, it's the gamepad's fault. If they JUST hadn't put that second screen on the controller, everything would have been fine. I mean, who DOESN'T want a second screen? How could anyone NOT want a second screen? I just don't get that. Even just for off-TV play and hand drawn Miiverse notes, that ALONE makes it worth having.

And the gamepad is most likely here to stay for the next 20 years, just to give you a heads up. Nintendo, for the last 30 years, has been fond of dual screens and off-TV play, dating all the way back to Game&Watch in the 2nd gen. When the Gamecube era came, they finally had technology to connect the GBA to the Gamecube, resulting in games like Four Swords Adventures with 2 screen gameplay. The Gamecube also had an off-TV play screen that connected to the console itself. They again continued their 2 screen quest with the DS, followed by the 3DS, and now that the technology is finally there, they have wirelessly integrated as second screen on the Wii U. This is not some bad idea they went with. This is a belief of theirs. It's been shining through their hardware for 30 years. The gamepad was the natural next step, and I can tell you right now, their next console will have a screen on the controller too.

@rjejr Btw, you're right about the sales. I was thinking in terms of annual sales, not weekly.

@JaxonH - "I was thinking in terms of annual sales, not weekly."

Well I would agree w/ you, no 1 game can quadruple sales for a whole year, but w/ the weekly sales info out of Japan and the UK and the monthly from the US that's the way my brain has been looking at stuff lately, and I really have been wondering if even MK8 would make a difference in Wii U sales when it launched. Looks like it has, thank goodness, I always knew the game itself would sell.

If E3 has a good release date schedule announced - Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2, Sonic Boom, SSB in Dec - I think Wii U can continue to sell better than it has been. And if they can come up w/ one good toy NFC game, something like Animal Crossing or Pokemon that's a huge hit, even better.

@JaxonH - Apple had a "Zen garden" game demo at WWDC today. Maybe iPad will finally get the game I've been wanting on Wii U these past few years

@rjejr
Nintendo of France let slip that Smash Bros will have NFC figurines. That right there is like, THE best possible game for something like that because of how many characters are in it. But yeah, I've been saying the Wii U will end up selling a little more than the Gamecube when everything's said and done, and I still think that will be the case....

What is this 'Zen Garden' you speak of? Like, tiles and dice and stuff? And you have to match color of landscape for the Zen Garden?

@JaxonH

Hey, how you lookin' as far as CN coins this year? If you're a few coins short of Gold or Platinum, let me know. It's the least I can do considering you were kind enough to share that Beta code, and I've got coins falling out my ears anyways, so it's really not a problem. I think June 30th is the end of the club year, so you'll probably wanna get caught up on surveys and see where you stand. Let me know...

@JaxonH - I'm fine w/ Club Nintendo coins but thanks for the offer. I have 900 expiring June 30th and about 1600 total. And I have 5 game codes - SMG2, DKCTF (I bought it, just didn't play it very much), Xenoblade, MK8 and Kirby TD - waiting to register on July 1 since I already hit Plat w/ Child of Light. I'm glad they gave us until 7/31 to register MK8 to get WW HD.

@JaxonH - "What is this 'Zen Garden' you speak of?"

I know you're just goofing on me, but here's Apple's zen garden WWDC demo:

http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/2/5773128/metal-ios-gaming-wwdc

And here's Nintendo's from 3 years ago:

@JaxonH - "Smash Bros will have NFC figurines."

I commented on this already where it was more appropriate - how long until Sammy bans us? but I really think SSB is the WORST possible game for NFC. It's one of the few "hardcore" Nintendo games and it has tournaments. I can just imagine the outrage from the tournament players about people using toys. Not that any tourney would allow toys, but that wouldn't' stop people from whining about it.

Now what I do think is that a Subspace Emmissary sequel (disclaimer, my family and I LOVE SE, still play it) called "SSB: Adventures" (to copy "Starfox Adventures", another game my family loves but was roundly hated) could be created for the toys. If you think about it SE is very similar to the Skylanders model of gameplay, only in 2 1/2 D. That's where the toys belong.

@JaxonH - OK, time to tackle the "opus"

"Underpowered" - I was this><close to taking that out, but Wii U not getting Madden or Watch Dogs on time had me leave it in. Maybe "differently powered" would have been a better choice of words. And no, not for Nintendo developers, they don't even need a home console, just 3DS w/ HDMI out, but for 3rd party. This year won't be a problem, Wii U can get PS3 and Xbox360 ports, but 2 years from now 4th year Wii U game sales could make 4th year Wii game sales look like a tidal wave.

The "Gamepad" - yes it's here to stay, I like it, but Wii U has suffered b/c of it. Not "it" exactly, but how it was handled. I never did get "Nintendo Land" as a system seller. Too difficult for the casuals, too casual for the hardcore, a no-man's land for marketing. When I first saw Gamepad w/ it's built in camera I thought "Nintendo GAME Land". Using only red Mario and green Luigi poker chips you could play backgammon, Connect 4, checkers, Othello and Tic-Tac-Mario. Teens, wives drinking wine, grandparents and grandkids in video chat tv commercials. Also "Bowership" (Battleship), Hangman, 4-player Uno w/ Nintendo character cards. Risk or Stratego w/ Pikmin characters. And they already have Dr. Mario and Pokemon Trozei. And we own a hardcopy Mario chess set. The casuals who bought the Wii understand board games and videochat. You can't videochat while playing sports. And they are just now offering "Sports", 2 years after the consoles release, but the main reason so many people bought the Wii. HD Sports w/ online at launch would have helped sales, people like repetition, see CoD.

"Casuals" - why do yo think having casual games means no B2 or X? Those companies aren't making those those types of games. Well Level 5 (my favorite JRPG developer) is releasing Wonderflick on Wii U and PS4 this year so maybe they are? The people who made Nitnedo Land wasted their time making "app" minigames that nobody wanted. But the hardcore games like Zombie U and Lego City were still there. PS3 gets plenty of crap $2 minis but it gets plenty of AAA stuff as well. I don't understand your either-or thinking on this one.

Wii game sales - down b/c Nintnedo doesnt give people the repetition they want. They wanted sports so bought a Wii. Sports Resort sold well, one of the best selling games I believe. Where was Sports 2 or Sports Resort 2? Just Dance sells well on Wii every year even now. Skylanders sells well on Wii. Wii game sales were down b/c Nitneod stopped making games for it. Period. People buy sequels. How did SMG2 do?

http://www.vgchartz.com/platform/2/wii/

OK, think we're caught up now. And Wii U is on the verge of being THE console this year now that MK8 has been well marketed and received and Sports Club is getting a retail release in July and the NFC toys are coming for the kids and the casuals, and B2 and Hyrule Warriors and maybe even X; meanwhile X1 and PS4 have numerous game delays. Just have to hope 3DS SSB is a marketing tool appetizer for Wii U version and doesn't cannibalize it.

Developers have to line up the release date game pins at E3 for 2014 and Nintnedo's marketing team has to knock them down.

@JaxonH - OK, last soapbox blaming Nitnedo for poor Wii U sales until last week.

My dislike for Nintendo Land isn't in a vacuum. Wii sold for $249 w/ Wii Sports. People bought is as a complete Wii Sports machine package. Wii U was $299 w/ no game and $349 w/ NL, making it look like NL was $50 b/c most people don't under DDP. So Wii Sports owners looking at Wii U saw $350 for a system/game they didn't want or couldn't understand vs a $299 gameless system. And Wii U might not be underpowered but NL is. No online, not even leaderboards. For a $50 game. All those people playing Candy Crush ALL know how they've done when they've finally beaten a level compared to their friends. It's a FREE single player game but you are always competing against your friends. (I'm at level 377, I speak from experience.) Not only doesn't NL have videochat or voicechat, showing the consoles advancement from Wii, it doesn't even have leaderboards. And its $50. In 2012 That's an underpowered game not promoting the power of the console.

A $299 Wii U w/ NL for casuals and a $349 w/ NL AND Zombie U for gamers might have helped Wii U Sales, but that binary white no game vs. black game at those prices was just dividing and conquering potential buyers and themselves.

Casuals don't "want" games, they play them b/c they are free or 99c, and then sometimes they get addicted. Nobody wanted NL, so nobody was going to pay $50 for it. Casuals I suspect will pay $299 for HD Sports Club w/ online this Christmas. That's a simple decision for something they can understand.

@rjejr

Lot of information there. Just a couple things. Lot of what you said I do agree with, but I really don't think anyone is gonna take issue with NFC in Smash. Tournament players aren't gonna care, they just wanna game. What other people do with NFC is none of their concern. From what Nintendo made it sound like, the NFC will be compatible with MULTIPLE games. Doesn't affect the game in any negative way, just allows custom skins and stuff, stores save data, you know that kind of stuff.

As for 3DS with an HDMI mini out port, eh, I accept no substitute for Nintendo home console games. Even if it's just better graphics, better graphics in HD is enough to make a HUGE difference, at least for me. Wii U games look smooth, no major jaggies like 3DS has, and it has lots more detail. Wii U is the first Nintendo console that produces graphics that to me, could be acceptable the rest of my life. Future consoles aren't really going to have games that look much better. Wii U kind of hit that plateau, so maybe once their handhelds can run graphics like Wii U I'd be ok with that.

Although, I like having twice the games, and them not being the same. I like having a portable Mario Kart that is different than the home console version, and a NSMB, and Zelda, and every other 1st party franchise. And the controller options. And the Wii BC. And the unrestricted Miiverse. And the added game options that are MIA in 3DS games. And the VC can handle more recent systems on a home console. Yeah, I don't ever want to see their home consoles go away. I'd throw a serious fit, for real.

And I'm not convinced casuals are ever going to buy another console again, at least not for the next decade or two. Wii Sports Club or not, like you said, they can play games free now. And they're perfectly content playing those games. So yeah, I don't think ANYTHING could have altered the fate of the Wii U. They chased a market that blows with the wind, and now they've blown elsewhere, where games are free and they can play them anywhere. If they ever DO wanna play real video games, they'll just dust off the Wii and have at 'er. Those people are cashed out.

And yes, Nintendoland was a sub-featured game (not underpowered). It should have had online, no doubt about it. But it WAS fun, and it WAS a very good game that I enjoyed thoroughly. I have no complaints with N-Land, except the lack of online play. That was a no-brainer. But, oh well. Either way, like I said, the casuals are gone with the wind, so discussing what woulda coulda shoulda is a moot point anyways.

Hey, I got that Mario Kart 8 limited edition in the mail today. Pretty awesome- I can't believe only 350 of them were sold. And I've got one of them.

@JaxonH - " Tournament players aren't gonna care,"

Not in any meaningful way, but I bet there's a LOT of whining about it online when it's announced.

I still think you give the casuals too little credit. I think they still want games on tv they can play in house w/ their friends while drinking beer and wine - yes Nintendo needs to have a home console - but they need to be simply grasped concepts, like tennis. OK now I'm insulting the casuals.

Glad to hear you got your 1 of 350. I'm not much in to collectables, though I do have this cool Caesar's head DVD case for PoTA.

http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Apes-The-Ultimate-Collection/dp/B000E6ESG2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401917866&sr=8-1&keywords=planet+of+the+apes+head