The main difference being that Sony doesn't seem to care about their handheld systems.

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Because they don't spend obscene amounts of money on this magical TV advertising thing that turns struggling products into market superstars?

Bit of marketing teachings for you: TV advertising is a very expensive and highly inefficient form of marketing that simply does not work for a wide range of products and services. I would argue a niche product like a PlayStation Vita, which has been designed purely for gamers who are already aware of the product's existence, is one example of a product that doesn't need a TV ad.

What do TV ads provide? They give a (very small) percentage of the population that watch the ad some name branding that, the next time a person sees the name in a store, they're more likely to buy it over its competition, because they recognise the name. The Vita has a lot of problems when it comes to marketing, but standing out against its peers (which simply don't exist, the Vita is all by itself out there being positioned as a hardcore gaming handheld console, is not one of those.

I know a lot of gamers like to see TV adverts because in a weird way it validates their purchases and claim to mainstream culture, but don't mistake a lack of TV advertising for a lack of investment in marketing.

The GBA is still doing really well apparently! The 3DS has already outsold the PSP by a little bit and the Vita is trailing behind terribly.

@Waltz I agree with you on TV adverts, I don't think we use the TV as much as we used to now a days and we all prefer skipping the adverts so that we can get back to the main program rather than dealing with the same wishy washy crap that companies want us to buy. TV advertising has been and gone and now we're seeing it on the internet more than ever, but I haven't seen a single advert for the Vita anywhere. Sony don't seem to be pushing it into the mainstream and showing off the machine to those people who don't follow sites such as this, meaning they're missing out on a big market... again.

The 3DS gets a lot more coverage on the TV, internet, newspapers, non-gaming magazines and word of mouth. The Vita might have been slow out of the gates, but even the 3DS didn't start this badly... I'll take that back, the 3DS had probably one of the worst releases I've seen in my life.

Sony is marketing the Vita quite heavily towards PlayStation gamers. It sponsored the IGN app, it runs plenty of ads in the official PlayStation magazine, it has its bloggers covering the Vita quite extensively on the PlayStation Blog.

Realistically Sony knows the Vita won't outsell the iPad or even the 3DS - Those consoles have far a far broader audience base. The Vita has been designed as a console for hardcore gamers, and Sony's focusing the marketing energy in that. There's no point in going for a broader marketing campaign, as the customer acquisition won't compensate for the additional expense.

Gamers are always so quick to claim "well if they advertised more, it would sell better." Possibly, although they couldn't possibly know this for sure, and the assumption that advertising directly leads to sales is a misunderstanding on the purpose of advertising. The real question, though, whether the additional expense to "advertise more" (significant, if you're talking about mainstream newspapers/ TV/ billboards) would result in a justifiably large uptick in customer acquisition. Unlikely, since Apple owns the mass market for consumer electronics, and Nintendo has already taken up the majority of room for the competition.

Sony's marketing effort behind the Vita has been as large as you could expect for a console it knows is going to be a niche 3rd place for handheld gaming customers. It's just that the company has spent that marketing money on its most likely customer base (PlayStation owners), and likely put extra money into partner engagement (marketing to third party developers and publishers is still a marketing expense). The Vita did have a very strong launch lineup, after all. That would not have been cheap to encourage.

@OlympicCho Is it a good thing that they're only marketing towards other Playstation owners though? Portable gaming is a much smaller space these days thanks to mobile gaming drastically improving over the course of a few years. If all they do to reach those current owners is show them a bunch of games that are direct ports on a system they already own, or games that are very similar to what they already own, will they drop the $250+ to get the system, memory card, and game? Clearly the sales show that they just aren't interested.

Also, Sony's been having trouble getting 3rd parties to make games for the Vita, which is only going to get worse if the sales lag behind like this. Will publishers put games out a system with a 3 million install base or a 20 million install base? If Sony's already done all they have, then they clearly need to do something drastically different with the system, because those sales are pretty horrible, and the drought that's been happening with the system looks like its going to go on for a while if Sony doesn't do something to improve the install base.

@Waltz I don't keep many tabs on Sony so I wouldn't know... Sony might well be promoting the Vita towards the hardcore market and the Playstation fans but that market doesn't seem to be all that big if we look at those sales figures.

The Vita easily has some of the best tech for a handheld this generation... and I'm not counting iDevices into this as they're not dedicated games consoles. It may have all that tech but there aren't many games that interest a very broad market but rather the hardcore gamers, this is where they're slowly leaving those gamers who don't play games much (but want to stay up to date) thinking the Vita isn't for them and move to the 3DS instead... especially when the price is more reasonable.

I'm pretty sure the Vita is more powerful than the latest iPad.

Yeah. iPads are overrated.

So, Sony sold me on a Vita recently with Tearaway and Cross Buy, not to mention all the other wonderful things it already has and has coming. Right now the only thing holding me back is the price (especially considering the cost of memory cards), so I'm content to wait until next summer for a price drop.

Ok, think about it this way - what on earth could Sony possibly do to convince enough of the mass market to pick the Vita over a 3DS or especially an iPad to justify an expensive mass-market advertising campaign?

They can't. Sony has picked the best marketing campaign available to it, and it is likely taking a long-term view to the Vita. Eventually, like the PS3, the Vita will become a popular console amongst the Sony faithful. It's never going to compete with the other handheld devices so it's pointless trying.

And note - this isn't to say it's a product doomed to failure. I believe that Sony over the next few years will build the Vita into an essential console for serious gamers. It's just a matter of building up the feature set, and incrementally increasing the userbase so that third parties start paying it more attention.

@OlympicCho I'd agree with you, but Sony doesn't seem to be treating their Vita library very well. What makes me say this?
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/21/vitas-hot-shots-golf-g...
Yep. Only Sony could do something like this.

Yeah, there's other stuff I could say, like giving Resistance: Burning Skies to Nihilistic while shutting down Zipper after giving Vita owners Unit 13, or by having their Vita exclusives not be as good or different enough from their console brethren, or how they refuse to lower the rediculous memory card prices amid universal outcry, but I feel the above news sums up how Sony is going to treat the system, at least in Japan.

Seriously though, for people that don't own a Vita, this basically says "yeah, you know all of the games you want that are on a Vita? Those are all going to come to the PS3 soon after they release, a system you already own!" What the heck are they thinking?

I don't disagree with you. Sony has some way to go before it has a product strategy I agree with.

That's got nothing to do with the marketing strategy though, and I maintain that anyone who claims a lack of TV advertising for the Vtia is "a problem" simply doesn't understand the purpose of TV advertising.

@OlympicCho I get what you mean. I just don't get what they're trying to do. If they're going to try to get a good library of games for the Vita almost single-handedly, then putting their most popular Vita game in Japan onto the PS3 within less then a year is not a good idea. For a lot of people this is going to be a deal-breaker, and for even more this signals that Sony just flat-out doesn't care about how well it does, even right after Gamescom. It won't matter how many great Vita exclusives there are if those exact same games get ported onto a system they already own.

Did you miss this bit?: and I'm not counting iDevices into this

I was talking about the Vita having better tech this generation compared to the 3DS, NOT the iPad...

So, what is everyone's favourite Vita games so far?

I already have a top 10 list, and these games alone have justified the purchase for me:

1. Disgaea 3
2. Gravity Rush
3. Sound Shapes
4. Dynasty Warriors Next
5. Blazblue
6. Rayman Origins
7. Motorstorm RC
8. Ninja Gaiden
9. Shinobido: Revenge of Zen
10. Pure Chess

noob. He was saying that because you suggested that iDevices were more powerful so they don't count. He was agreeing with the point you were trying to make, if you couldn't tell.

I thought he meant something else. :S I didn't put iDevices in because they're not dedicated handheld consoles like what the 3DS and Vita are, I never suggested that iDevices were more powerful... the Vita may well be more powerful than the latest iPad but that isn't the point I was suggesting when I didn't count them in.

Also, I couldn't tell he was agreeing with me, it sounded more like he didn't agree with my comment "The Vita easily has some of the best tech for a handheld this generation" meaning between Vita and 3DS.

I'm sure he thinks the 3DS is much more powerful. Doesn't everyone?

I mean, THREE DEEE!

The only Vita game I have so far is Super Stardust Delta so I guess that would have to be my favourite

I'm not sure if this post was pointed at me or not...