âWe want more people to play with the PS Vitaâ said Hiroshi Kawano, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. In an interview with Weekly Famitsu, Kawano talked about the reasons behind as well as the timing of the recent decision to not only drop the price of the PS Vita, but to make both the 3G and Wi-Fi models the same price.
https://lastchance.cc/the-ps-vita-gets-a-price-cut-in-japan-update-5984959%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
While everyone is getting their rocks on about the PS4 news, letâs take a step back to last week when Sony announced that Japan is getting a price drop on the PS Vita (but not the US (at this time)). Starting next week, on February 28th, both the Wi-Fi and 3G version of the PS Vita will be priced at „19,980 (US$214). In his interview, Kawano talked about Sonyâs consumer research on the Vita. âAccording to our companyâs research, there are mainly 2 reasons for people who âwant to by a PS Vita, but have not yet.'â Kawano explained. âOne is that they are waiting for a game they want to play. The second is that the price tag is a little too high.â
https://lastchance.cc/sony-announces-the-playstation-4-coming-this-holiday-s-5985759%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
As to Sonyâs timing on the price drop, with heavily hyped titles like Phantasy Star Online 2 and Soul Sacrifice just around the corner, the decision to initiate the price change now was done to hopefully encourage people to go out and try these new games. While both games have gained a significant amount of attention, whether theyâll be the savior of the Vita or not is still uncertain. When the interviewer pointed out that some have expressed concern at the lack of killer titles on the Vita, Kawano replied that, while Sony appreciates and treasures each and every title developed and released on the Vita, whatâs more important than simple sales numbers is how to capture the hearts of users. âWeâd like to work with developers on trying new challenges [like the free-to-play model] on the Vita. Without such challenges, the gaming world itself canât expandâ Kawano explained. âIf such challenges lead to a new million seller and a killer title is born from the PS Vita, well, I couldnât ask for anything more.â
The PS Vita is a little over a year old and over the past year even Sony admits it has not performed as well as they would have hoped. Overall, the reasons behind the decision to drop and unify the price of the Vita sound reasonable. Soul Sacrifice comes out in the US on April 30th. Considering their reasoning for the timing in Japan, maybe theyâll have a Western price drop around then.
Maybe⊠HopefullyâŠ
Please?
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