Sony's big PlayStation 4 announcement is grabbing all the headlines, but the company doesn't want you to forget about its handheld PlayStation Vita just yet.
It's true that many customers have already discounted the PS Vita due to its high price and lack of support (something the original PSP suffered from as well), but Sony claims it's working to make the handheld more appealing, and contends that 2013 will be a big year for the system.
Speaking to the Japanese magazine Famitsu (and reported by Polygon), Sony Computer Entertainment Japan president Hiroshi Kawano admitted the Vita's sales are disappointing.
"Certainly, at the present time, maybe we're a little behind the numbers we originally pictured," he said. "I feel we have a ways to go in terms of getting across the good traits of the PS Vita ... I want to keep pushing for more games that people want to play, since like our research showed, that's one thing blocking customers curious about the Vita from making a purchase."
The lack of a steady flow of titles has dogged the Vita since its launch, which only makes the system's high price seem even steeper. After all, why pay a premium price for a gaming system if there aren't any games you want to play on it? Kawano made sure to mention there are over 100 titles on the system, but clearly there needs to be more unique content.
While Sony addresses the game line-up, which will admittedly take time, the company is trying to build some goodwill by dropping the system's price. Sony has already dropped the PS Vita's price in Japan, but it's made no mention of doing the same in Western markets such as the United States. Considering the research that Kawano cites, though, it seems likely the Vita will see a price cut overseas as well.
"The biggest reason [for the price drop] is that we simply want to have more people playing the PS Vita," he told Famitsu. "Based on our research, there are two broad reasons why people who may want to try the Vita aren't purchasing it. One, they want to wait until there's a game they want to play on it. Two, the price is a little out of reach for them. We found that the price was too big an initial hurdle for this, and this sparked a long internal debate within SCE."
"We have the new price down; now it's time for software," he added.
It's hard to imagine Sony looking at this research and being satisfied with a price cut in Japan only, so look for an announcement concerning the States in the coming months.
