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Apparently, Sony makes a modest profit on the few Vita consoles it sells in America, and the few more it sells across Europe and quirky markets like Brazil. While it still making decent sales in Japan, everyone is now resigned to perhaps 20-25 million lifetime units, compared to the PSP's 80 million.
Yet, at a tactical level, it will make sense for Sony to cut the price at some point. If you've been following on Twitter, you'll have seen how Vita prices actually rose around Black Friday, Cyber Monday and haven't come down since.
That suggests to me that Sony are milking every cent, penny and yen they can from the handheld, while slashing the PS TV price to get rid of it as quickly as possible. That leaves two options in 2016.
No change at all, which is possible as Sony focuses on PS4 and VR. If Sony is happy taking a little cash, why bother rocking the boat? Or, maybe, a price cut in the spring. That would come after having shaken out the Christmas present market for another year, and is about the only thing Sony could do spark to spark some interest.
Such a cut could perhaps come with a further budget model popping up (cheaper screen, more plasticky, simpler casing and revised electronics etc).
If linked to some marketing effort around digital bundles of indie games and Japanese titles, plus the few studio releases (Phineas and Ferb, Lego titles, Telltale Games and Vita classics), there could be a little more interest to drag western Vita sales into 2017, surely its last year on the retail market outside Japan.
After that, well, I'd keep a spare Vita tucked away for the years to come, when it becomes the next Dreamcast, which is no bad fate for a gaming device.
Yet, at a tactical level, it will make sense for Sony to cut the price at some point. If you've been following on Twitter, you'll have seen how Vita prices actually rose around Black Friday, Cyber Monday and haven't come down since.
That suggests to me that Sony are milking every cent, penny and yen they can from the handheld, while slashing the PS TV price to get rid of it as quickly as possible. That leaves two options in 2016.
Such a cut could perhaps come with a further budget model popping up (cheaper screen, more plasticky, simpler casing and revised electronics etc).
If linked to some marketing effort around digital bundles of indie games and Japanese titles, plus the few studio releases (Phineas and Ferb, Lego titles, Telltale Games and Vita classics), there could be a little more interest to drag western Vita sales into 2017, surely its last year on the retail market outside Japan.
After that, well, I'd keep a spare Vita tucked away for the years to come, when it becomes the next Dreamcast, which is no bad fate for a gaming device.
Currently playing on my Vita/PS4/PS5
