isnchz

Not so long ago indie developers and their supporters were critical of AAA games' practises of exclusive DLCs deals with platform holders etc.
Look, what's happening now.

I should have said "a few of the main reasons".
Yes, I do believe that seamless DS -> 3DS transition helps a lot. If you DS breaks you buy 3DS and continue playing your old library, etc.
It was a very important factor for me when making a decision to purchase 3DS. I've since replayed some unfinished DS games, and found out a few old one that I haven't even played on DS.
Btw, eShop is so much better than PSN store. Vita's store still doesn't have screenshots/videos of minis/PSP games. New PS3 Store is full of movies and some other non-games stuff (akin to Xbox 360). But when you launch eShop it navigates you straight to the new releases, it gives recommendations, there are notifications on new games released, etc.
You are right though, 3DS has better games. NSMB2 was a system seller for me. I wish Sony made 2D platformer rip-off of NSMB with sack boy and cute visuals - that would shift a few units unlike Battle Royale.

Three main reasons why 3DS outsells Vita:
a) backwards compatibility: 3DS accepts DS's cartridges, try putting a UMD into Vita
b) seamless transition from previous gen: if your DS breaks, you can get a 3DS and use the same cartridges and the same SD card with your downloadable games
b) cheaper eShop titles than PSN when you factor the cost of memory cards to store them at. I stopped purchasing anything off PSN, since my 4GiB card is full now.

Nice, will pick it up. I could not understand why would devs port free iOS games or old iOS games to PSN (I'm speaking of minis version). But this one makes sense.

Was it a mistake for me to get Sonic & All Stars Racing: Transformed for PS3? Since from the comments it looks like everyone is playing it on Wii U. After watching interview with devs on Nintendo Direct it seems that Wii U has the best version of this game, eh.
So I'm playing Sonic & All Stars Racing on PS3 and Kid Icarus on 3DS. Haven't touched Vita in a while. I don't have Little Big Planet 2 (only the first one), thus can't even use it as a remote for PS3 version.

@nathanuc1988 thanks for the info!
Oh, well, Vita is still gathering dust then.

@get2sammyb
Thanks, waiting for it.

I picked up a PS3 version for £20 and must say that it's the best kart racer I've played recently. We are enjoying it now in split screen and Vita-PS3 play would be awesome. Although, I have a bad feeling that it might not be there. If it is, then this means insta-buy of Vita version for me.

@turtlelink
If I were able to play ModNation Racers on Vita versus my wife on PS3 that would be a system seller for me.

Does anyone know whether there is cross-play functionality between Vita and PS3 versions?

Looks like half of the games are ports from other platforms priced higher on PSM for some reason.

Well, three(!) new games that Sony announced during their press conference for Vita isn't something to get excited about.

"Still, you can’t help but feel that Sony should be placing all of its attention on the struggling Vita for now."
Not at all. I personally (as probably millions of other PSP gamers who are planning to replace their devices) welcome this move.

More "minis" games would be great too.

@Slapshot
There might be a reason why you write for the site, but you are clearly ill-informed (stating that Playstation division is profitable) and your arguments don't stand scrutiny (e.g. iOS is a platform of choice for indies not because Apple runs Pubfund).

@Gemuarto @Slapshot You are saying that SCE is profitable. No it's not, @Yogsoggoth is right that SCE is losing money: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-05-10-sony-playstation-division-suffers-full-year-USD2-8bn-loss

I've just realised that some of my comments might be too harsh, thus I'd like to compensate for them with kind words.
@get2sammyb You've done a really good job as a journalist with this article converting a passive reader like me to an avid commentator. It was too controversial for me not to comment on. Thanks for that.

@get2sammyb
Oh, forgot Frobisher. Yes, it's free, thus I tried it and it's crap. But Sony spent (= lost) money on it. Just one in a series of great business decisions by Sony.

@get2sammyb
You: Stardrone is really good (8/10), go get it!
Me: Hm, this is a mediocre iOS title, that wouldn't have even made to "New and Noteworthy" section on Appstore, considering that it would have played better on iPad. And it's not just me - guys from Edge think the same.
You: Well, but it's just 5 times more expensive than a (good!) iOS game. This is open to debate.

Sorry, I can't see what is left here to discuss.

@Slapshot all of your points are wrong.
I'll counter them one by one:

• Pubfund. You are mixing two different things here: a) Pubfund means Sony paying money to developers when the game has passed International Product Assessment Stage 2 (= game is almost finished), and then Sony is recouping this from sales. This money paid to developers just before the release allow for marketing campaign. b) Super Stardust is published by Sony. If you'll take a closer look on PSN store you'll that SCEA/E is the seller of the game, whilst Joe Danger is being sold by Hello Games (Pubfund deal). Anyway, you can count Pubfund success stories with fingers of a hand of a veteran, who lost 2 fingers in combat. How many developers applied for Sony's help and got nothing? I presume Team Meat are not alone.
• Uncharted not possible on PSP. Have you played God of War or MGS: Peace Walker? MGS is set in a forest environment, looks gorgeous, plays extremely well. Sure the graphics capabilities of PSP are less than that of Vita, but for me (and hundreds of millions other gamers who buy Nintendo consoles) gameplay is the king.
• Team Meat not doing PSN port of Meat Boy. You used it out of context: originally I referred to them doing iOS game instead of PSN - choosing them probably was not the best idea to highlight my point, but I was trying to say that there are better cheaper downloadable titles on iOS than on Vita, and that there is no indication that this will change in favour of Vita, since developers prefer iOS.
• Again, a vet can count them all with 4 fingers. By the way, stop using Super Stardust - it's been on PSN for ages, because Sony pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to developer in advance to make it. This isn't exactly an indie title - it's published by Sony. Regarding PS Suite: Sony is treating indie devs well? How about "minis" developers who for most part funded their development themselves (like it should be, like it happens on iOS), but now Sony wants them to throw away their code (C++) and start using PS Suite (C#)? Imagine Apple releasing a new SDK for iPhone 5 which is completely different from the previous and makes developers start from scratch? Apple wouldn't do that. Sony does.
• Your last two bullet-points refer to the same matter pretty much: iOS is not profitable, whilst all other listed by you platforms are. If this is the case, why iOS has the largest number of developers and games? They are so keen on losing their money? This is like saying: farmers who sell milk to Supermarket A lose money, so go and buy milk in Supermarket B. Well, if Supermarket A has better milk and greater selection, I (as a consumer) will go there. All those people who need a reality check will go to Supermarket B.

I have PSP, it costs 3 times less than Vita, it offers better gaming experience than Vita. So, yes, to me (as a consumer) PSP is a success, while Vita is the opposite. But I am special consumer, who enjoys being an early adopter, thus I purchased Vita day one. Although, I can see why normal people are not queueing for it. You (not referring to Slapshot specifically, but to all who defend Vita like @JaverYHL), on the other hand, are delusioned by Sony's PR and all those great announcements. When all those great future titles come out for Vita and it will be a better value than PSP, then we'll talk. So far you are just speculating.

@nathanuc1988 I am comparing downloadable (cheaper) Vita games only with iOS. I agree that titles that require physical buttons will be playable on Vita much better than on iOS. Although, this is true about PSP too. Uncharted could have been made for PSP (Peace Walker/God of War look gorgeous and play well).

Yes, iOS and Vita are totally different platforms. But they both compete for the same indie developers. It's obvious which platform wins here. Why is Team Meat doing Super Meatboy for iOS and not Vita?
I think Sony is trying to lure indie developers - otherwise why did they create PS Suite?

Now, since there will be no indies only large publishers will create games for Vita then, right? But for some reason they haven't made huge profits on PSP (I'm speculating here, but it's a fact that PSP didn't have huge 3rd party support outside of Japan). Why would they act differently in Vita's case?

Would love to see it on Vita!

> that an entire platform is going to fail because its indie development platform runs C#. I actually think your "arguments for failure" are pretty weak.

This is just one point. And it says that Vita indie scene has gloom prospects.
Why? Because indie developers are developing mostly for iOS at the moment. Why? Because of the install base that dwarves Vita.
Why would they develop for Vita if that requires creating your games from scratch? Name at least one reason.

@get2sammyb
I was speaking from consumer's point of view - it is a failure at the moment.
Absolutely no idea whether Vita makes money for Sony, and if they consider it a success. But, I am 90% sure that what they have spent in R&D, manufacturing, marketing of Vita is less what they have earned. Amazon already sells vita for £179 and if you pay £15 extra you get a game + 4GiB memory card (somehow I just can't believe that this is profitable for Sony).

I agree that both your and our views are backed by many assumptions, but, again, the opinion that Vita is a failure has more factual backing.

Just out of curiosity, have you played iOS games? I can't comprehend why you like Stardrone which is touch-only controlled, would have been much better on iPad (where player would be able to see further ahead due to larger screen). But there are better games on iPad. The latest issue of Edge magazine reviews "Frobisher Says" (a title published by SCEE, which means it was handpicked and funded by Sony) on the same page with two iOS titles. The latter get better scores. Having played all three games, I agree. Think about it: iOS downloadable titles are better than Vita downloadable titles. Game over.

Most of my time with Vita is spent in this game - good stuff!
Yes it does look so much better than Zuma as @rjejr pointed out.
Also, couldn't get all this fuss with Coconut Dodge - it should have been a free flash game.

@Xerxes and @Yogsoggoth I completely agree with you, guys.
@get2sammyb Yes, you can love something and consider it a failure. From company's point of view failure means failure to generate profit. From consumer's point of view failure means failure to meet expectations.
Personally, I think that Vita is a great device from the hardware point of view. If I were to rate it only on that basis, I'd consider it a great success.
Unfortunately, in 2012 a great hardware is not enough to succeed. The consumer is expecting much more: service, ecosystem, etc.
There are a few things major flaws with Vita, and in order to understand them one must look at the reasons behind Sony's current dire financial state:

• Proprietary memory format: Sony tried to lock users to its proprietary format for more than 15 years now (remember ATRAC?) - we know how it ended. It seems they don't learn from their mistakes and prevent customers from using anything else except proprietary Vita memory cards.
• Absence of developer community, hence absence of games: Again, its 2012 and Vita competes with iOS/Android devices that boast hundreds of great games - this was achieved by Apple/Google (Apple to lesser extent, since they censor what can be released. Google gives total creative freedom) allowing everyone to develop games. Something that is totally impossible on Vita, thus you have a couple of launch titles and several other games in development (most of them are PS3 ports). Looks like someone at Sony understood the problem, and they announced PS Suite initiative that would give hobbyist a way to develop for Vita. Unfortunately, this is nowhere since: a) It doesn't work yet: you can't create your game and distribute it on PSN b) PS Suite allows developing only on Windows and only with C# (while most iOS developers use C++/ObjC, which means that they have to rewrite their games if they want them to work on Vita - will they do that? No.) Basically, they are trying to do what Microsoft have done 6 years ago with XNA. Thus Sony is more than 6 years behind on this.
• Gloom prospects: Sony is losing money for several years in a row now. Vita sales are not exactly something to be proud about. Small gamedev studios are not able to create games for Vita, and large have no incentive due to a microscopic install base. Will there be many games created for Vita in a future? Sony has just closed down Big Big Studios (the only studio that was doing games for PS hand-helds exclusively).

I do like Vita, PSP games look awesome on it, I can play "minis", but I (as a consumer) won't consider it a failure only if it will give me a new gaming experience. So far this is nowhere near. All we've got is PS3 ports (Uncharted, Rayman, etc - good games, no doubt, but they could have been ported the same way to PSP, just look at Motorstorm Arctic Edge on PSP which I actually like more than a new RC). Vita-exclusive downloadable titles that you mentioned in the article? Let's go through them one by one:

• Escape Plan - well made iOS title (well, it's even made with Unity engine favoured by iOS devs), but x4 times more expensive than it would have been on AppStore.
• Super Stardust - same old Stardust we played on PS3. Oh, they added firing rockets with a touch - well done!
• Stardrone - my favourite! How come this made to PSN store at all? I can name 50 iOS games that are better. Edge reviewed it: http://media.next-gen.biz/reviews/stardrone-extreme-review

Obviously, we are all speculating about Vita "failure", since it is early to tell for sure. But all our arguments for failure are quite substantial, whilst your arguments against failure are pure assumptions on what will happen in the future.

I totally don't agree with the review. This game would be mediocre at best on iOS devices and you give it 8?
EDGE reviewed it properly: http://media.next-gen.biz/reviews/stardrone-extreme-review