Breathing new life into the Vita

Sony have forecasted 10 million PS Vita units sold this fiscal year, and looking at the numbers it would seem that have around 9 million units more they need to sell in nine months. It's not looking good, but Nintendo have shown with both Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS that slow starts aren't necessarily the end of the prospects of a handheld device.

In this article we take a closer look at some of the methods Sony can use in order to turn things around for what it is without a doubt a very powerful and capable device.

Killer apps

Great games push hardware sales. There's nothing that can help spur hardware sales like well received games from popular franchises. While third parties may benefit from introducing new franchises at the launch of new hardware (to attract a new audience) it is vital that a first party publisher brings out its big guns to lure in early adopters and longtime fans.

Nintendo found this out the hard as they launched Nintendo 3DS with a rather weak line up of first party titles - and it wasn't until The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and later Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land appeared that sales really took off. In Japan, things were also helped on by Monster Hunter.

Obviously, Sony does not any franchises on the level of Mario and Mario Kart, or perhaps even Zelda - but Uncharted was undoubtedly a good choice to help launch the device, yet it wasn't enough to really accelerate sales. This fall they have secured exclusive entries in the Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty franchises - arguably the two most lucrative third party properties out there - and they will be accompanied by fan favourite Little Big Planet and reliable performers like FIFA 13 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

Obviously, the first party line up could be stronger. But Sly Cooper and Playstation All-Star Battle Royale are, however, interesting in another way, as they will tie PS Vita closer with Playstation 3.

So what does the PS Vita need in addition to this? Well, calling for Gran Turismo and God of War seems natural, and we're likely to see those announced within a not too distant future.

Better integration

When we first saw the PS Vita, a game called Ruin was shown that featured cross platform save games between Vita and Playstation 3. And while there are some PSN/PS3 titles, and even retail titles (Sly Cooper and Playstation All-Stars), the more Sony can integrate PS3 and PS Vita functionality the better it is for Playstation fans. Independent developers should be encouraged to release their games on PSN and PS Vita simultaneously and Sony should do everything in their power to make cross platform development as smooth as possible.

While it's still not public knowledge how Sony plan on bundling Sly Cooper and Playstation All-Stars for those wishing to own both versions, we do know that games such as Sound Scapes will be sold as one game, playable on both platforms without extra cost. Giving faithful Playstation 3 players extra incentive to get a PS Vita is definitely something Sony needs to get better at. Extending PSN Plus to PS Vita is another thing that would add incentive, and while this is not bringing in a new audience, at least these sales would help bring more of a positive buzz to PS Vita, that in turn will help sales.

Continue to page two for our views on a possible redesign, new price point, and the a possible wild card.

Redesign

A drastical option this early on in the game, but Nintendo have shown that sometimes you just have to redesign a handheld to breathe new life into it. While there's nothing really wrong with today's PS Vita, it does look a lot like PSP, making it hard for casual observers to know the difference - and a slimer, lighter version is always a good way of bringing the price back up a notch after inevitable discounts.

Is it too soon for a redesigned PS Vita? Yes, most likely. It's highly unlikely that enough meaningful change could be brought with a redesign today, but it wouldn't be surprising if we saw it at E3 2013. Another option would be to completely remove the cartridge slot and make it smaller á la PSP Go, but Sony are likely still licking their wounds after that fiasco - but who knows, maybe the marketplace is ready for that now? I doubt any significant percentage of PS Vita game sales comes from actual physical cards these days, and that number is destined to drop throughout its lifespan.

The opposite direction would obviously be to make it bigger and compete with tablets. It would open more potential for videos, and perhaps it would lead to some of the popular tablet games making it across, but it's doubtful that head on competition with the iPad and other tablets would do Sony any good.

Price

The price of PS Vita has come down a bit since its launch, and there is potential for attractive bundles as Assassin's Creed III: Liberation and Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified launch this autumn. The danger of cutting down the price too rapidly is that consumer may not appreciate the value they're getting, and in reducing the price Sony would put the Vita as comparable to Nintendo 3DS - a device that if we ignore the 3D screen, is far behind the Vita in terms of performance.

A cheap way for Sony to add value to the proposition would be vouchers for the Playstation Store. Anything sold digitally is way cheaper to give away for Sony, especially if it's first party.

Would PS Vita get a boost from being sold starting at £150. Most definitely. But if such an aggressive move is made it needs to be supported with a major batch of strong software, or less it could all be in vain. Our prediction is that it's too soon for a major drop in price, but hopefully Sony will add some incentives, such as vouchers, to sweeten the deal.

Wild cards

There are many examples in the past of wild cards changing the destiny of platforms. What really sent Nintendo DS numbers flying, after what was also a slow start, was the Brain Training games. Could there be something similarly off-beat planned for PS Vita? Who knows...

Historically Sony has been great at bringing different concepts to their platforms - and sometimes it has been very successful, such as it was with Singstar and Buzz - but most often these ideas have not been very successful and perhaps it has been a lack of marketing and/or design (where Nintendo often shines) that is to blame. It's easy to look at some of the recent successes on tablets and smartphones and realise that you don't have to invent something completely outrageously new to be extremely successful (Draw Something and Wordfeud I'm looking at you). The question is whether an idea like that would fly on PS Vita and better its sales or whether it would just fall flat on the ground without anyone noticing its potential.

Overall, Sony needs to do everything in their power to create noise and attention for PS Vita. The recent months have been all too quiet, and even if E3 may not be the ideal place to launch new ideas, we need to start seeing a bit of movement and have some beacons of shining hope to look forward to. There's life in PS Vita yet, everyone who owns one can attest to its virtues, but now it's all about making sure its not overlooked in a highly competitive space.