Topic: Nintendo Charm Offensive pre-Vita Launch

With the launch of the Playstation Vita on the 17th (in Asia), I can really see the stratergy in the latest Ambassador release. Basically they have done very well in trying to address the balances between the two systems and I wouldnt be suprised to see Swapnote hitting the store with the next eShop update as well. Now with the latest firmware update,the recently increased amount of AA titles, the arrival of the GBA Ambassador games and Swapnote on the horizon not to mention flaws emerging about the Vita such as the innability to access the internet browser on the fly, something which I tend to do, Nintendo are looking to be in a good position this Christmas.
Why would the release of the GBA games make a difference you may think, well the Ambassadors were early adopters of the 3DS and would more and likely if planning on owning both systems or dissatisfied with the 3DS, would be among the early adopters of the Vita. This may delay their purchase of the Vita and give Nintendo the edge.
This is just speculation and opinion, but what do you guys think. I believe that Nintendo may have delayed some of the releases just to have a bigger impact against the launch of the Vita.

Sony's known to be gold-diggers and put blasphemous prices on their consoles at launch. Even if they did reduce the price of the Vita, it'd probably be expected after a year, which is perfectly normal without compensation to their consumers.

I doubt this is actually the case. I saw the turmoil that was brought up over the 3DS price reduction, but I'm still set on the Vita at launch. It really only depends on your individual perspective.

Edit: Plus, who needs internet on the fly on a handheld? Get a phone for your networking needs. 3G is just plain weird on a console.

The biggest hit is releasing Monster Hunter 3G a week before the Vita launch. That's like directly kicking Sony in the nads. xD

It just saves me time, I have gamefaqs, Nintendolife and facebook, blah, blah, blah... bookmarked and when playing some games #cough Zelda II cough# it is just easier pausing mid game check the FAQ and getting back into the game. Its not a deal breaker and im sure it will be sorted in a future firmware update just as Nintendo has had to do with the 3DS.

That is true, I remember the uproar from the Sony Fans camp when Tri was changed from being a PS3 exclusive and moved to the wii instead.

@Raptor78 - Ah, I see. I'm more one of those people who likes to sit down and browse on a handheld. Exactly, it's not a deal breaker, but hey, some people might find some use out of it. Still don't think it's a weapon against the 3DS though, and I doubt Nintendo'll look into it. There're a lot more ground-breaking features to come up with.

I know right?? lol.

Too bad the vita is already dead.

I didn't know Sony had any nads.

I think the GBA games are just a coincidence that it's coming out the day before. If you really wanted a Vita a bunch of free GBA games isn't going to change your mind. Especially because you had to buy a 3DS before the price drop to get them. Though the Monster Hunter thing will probably take a toll on Vita sales, as I'm willing to bet than Mon Hun is one of the most wanted Vita titles.

This topic desperately needs a Great Cave Offensive reference.

I'll give Vita this, it actually has a good launch unless something stupid happens. Can't say the same about any other system in the past decade.

I haven't seen this mentioned outside of the price cut, ambassador apology games now dropping(gba), and monster hunter the digital crack for asians, but what about the flaws and obvious points of stupidity Sony has pushed with Vita. Don't get me wrong, I loved that PSP I had more than DS at times due to the games it had, had some damn good times, but pirates killed the system with mass theft running off developers(so I sold it.)

Sony is asking $250 for the system. As pointed out, certain features that should work on the fly(browser) don't, but that can be addressed in one of many surely overkill often OS updates to come Sony is famous for. What about the games and their dependencies? One thing no one is saying here is that most of the HUGE key titles won't run with the system alone like Uncharted. They're REQUIRING you buy a very unique Sony only made memory card that they're not specing out the details to so SanDisk and others can undercut them. Unlike the PS1, PS2, PSP, they're not going to let many games run w/out the ability to save. The smallest card I think was like 4GB and they want $30 for the card, and up to 32GB they go and that one is like $130~ or something near that. So you'll buy a system ($250), at least one game ($40-50), and then have to buy a $30-130 memory card so they work. Now that's how you kick someone in the nuts. They're using memory cards with mass storage like the 3DS uses, they allow the possibility to save data to them, but they're requiring a memory card to get more cash out of people.

Also I think going by past performance, it's safe to say the smart person would wait around a year or slightly more, they will then do a bundle or a v2 system in a bundle for the same price as launch or lower ($200) with a small memory card(the $30 one most likely), a game, and probably a download game/movie voucher off PSN. That would be the time to strike.

Yup! It seems even with a few bad habits nintendo had for the past 3 years before 3DS was released, its always been easier on the pockets.

Ive read today that Sonys financial rating had been lowered from BBB to BBB-- which is barely a notch above non-investment and considered junk stock which suggests not only another bad year for Sony profit wise but also makes it harder and more expensive to raise collatral for future projects which in turn makes their hardware more expensive unless they are willing to make even more of a loss.
In other words Sony will not be able to afford to reduce the price of the Vita even if they wanted to unlike Nintendo who was in a much better position and was able to cut the price of the 3DS as much as they could.

I actually see the Vita as being quite successful long term. Since the hardware is more powerful it will contain both HD ports (Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3) and unique "quirky" titles (New Little King Story). Nintendo has their work cut out for them.

Burn!

Seriously though, the fact that the 3DS now has Monster Hunter exclusivity is pretty much the nail in the PS Vita's Japanese coffin (and let's not also forget Dragon Quest X Wii/Wii U exclusivity!). Nintendo definitely seem to have the Japanese market wrapped-up. The West though? That's obviously a different story, as it's quite clear that Nintendo's 'family friendly' image is a tougher sell in 'gun-cultures' such as the US (I don't mean to be offensive to my fellow American NL'ers!), where 'dudebro' brands such as Microsoft (and Sony, to a lesser extent) are currently thriving (in a cultural sense).

Frankly - as much as the big game companies like to dismiss them - devices such as the iPhone/iPad ARE changing the games industry; for better or worse. Still, that's not to say 3DS or Vita won't be successful; indeed, the growing audience due to Apple may actually be BENEFICIAL to the 'traditional' handheld consoles - as people who may not have been familiar with the DS/PSP brands may become enticed if they realise that they're just like their iOS apps - but 'better'.

The Vita's successes in relation to the 3DS though? Obviously, anything can happen, but if I had to predict, I would say the 3DS will outsell Sony's machine again - mainly due to brand recognition, price, and exclusive software - all of which are superior in the Nintendo camp IMHO.

However, one thing's for sure - rumours of the 3DS' death were greatly exaggerated...

Good observations, I'm really eager to see how the PS Vita will do.

That's funny, I heard quite the opposite. The social networking features are far beyond what the 3DS offers, plus you get party chat, PS3-level HD graphics, a beautiful OLED touch screen (making iPhone ports much easier), dual analog sticks (something many PSP owners were crying about for years), Wi-Fi, 3G, "Near" GPS-based social networking (like StreetPass, but much more advanced), etc. etc. The only thing holding the Vita back is the expensive mandatory memory cards (since the Vita has minimal built-in memory).

So Sony is on the verge of bankruptcy? The entire company, or just Sony Computer Entertainment?

I seriously believe that those stupid memory cards are going to become a huge detriment to the sales of the Vita. If it just used SD cards, or at the very least made its own memory cards the same price as SD cards, then it probably do very well. The downloadable market is really increasing right now, especially on handhelds. Not having space would be a problem, and that space will cost too much for a lot of people.

and once again, none of the reasons you listed are "I think Vita will have better games" so who cares?