Topic: Vita's sales figures revealed

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PlayStation Vita was released in Japan this past Saturday, December 17th. In anticipation of this date, Sony was rumored to have shipped 700,000 units to retailers. Yet, if numbers reported by Famitsu (and translated by Andriasang) are to be believed, Vita didn't manage to sell even half of that number during its first 48 hours on the Japanese market.

Andriasang reported on Famitsu's numbers from Enterbrain. Enterbrain states that 321,407 PlayStation Vitas were sold on December 17th and 18th. These numbers are respectable, to be sure, but still fall short of Nintendo 3DS' first two days on the Japanese market in February, when Nintendo's handheld sold 371,326 units to consumers.

Andriasang also notes PSP's first day sales from December of 2004, when it pushed 166,074 units. Multiplying that by two gives you a sum of 332,148, above Vita's numbers for its first two days.

Could Vita's relatively weak sales be attributed to rumored issues with Vita, which Sony has already commented on? It remains to be seen, though long-haul sales figures are what are most important with PlayStation Vita, especially as a follow-up to PlayStation Portable, a wildly-successful handheld that has sold well over 70 million units worldwide.

I'm glad to see it improved over the PSP's sales. Unfortunately it didn't meet Sony's expectation at all. Maybe Sony will have an ambassadors program in say... 6 months?

Thoughts?

I think Sony set the bar too high if it sold almost as much as the DS' first two days and still calls it crap. I mean hell, it sold double what the PSP managed on it's first two days.

I think that the sales would have been a bit higher if Japan wasn't still in the early rebuilding process of the massive earthquake they endured. It's no longer in the news and people forget to realize that their economy is still recovering - also, making it interesting that Sony decided to go ahead with releasing it their first too.

The real kicker is that so many people don't understand the differences in the PSP in Japan's world and outside of it. In Japan, the PSP is a status symbol, it's a cool thing to own one and that's why they wear them on chains and constantly display them in public. The PSP fell off outside of Japan quite quickly, but it's adored by the Japanese folk. I really expected it to sell off the shelves completely, but I really think that the 3DS Ambassador program and Monster Hunter is what kept it from happening.

He said/She said and all that crap...in truth, I'm just glad it's finally out and we can again have two awesome gaming dedicated handheld's on the market!

Exactly. With the upcoming software, I can see the Vita really going somewhere. _{And with the inevitable Monster Hunter, lol.}

@Viewtiful_Joe The chances of Vita not going anywhere are about the same as seeing a new SEGA Game Gear 2 release next year!

Considering it's a portable system, it's literally made to go places, isn't it? :3

Ah, so the Vita sells less than the 3DS during its first week and its fine, but the 3DS sells more than the DS and PSP and Vita at launch and Nintendo is doomed. I would definitely buy a Vita if it wasn't nearly the price of a PS3.

If the Vita is going to be $250 without Wifi and $300 with it, then the Vita will be just as much if not more than the PS3.

So the only thing stopping you is the fact that a BRAND NEW system is more expensive than a 5 year old system?

Sorry, I must be a Sony fanboy and didn't know it! Must be why I paid $249 for my 3DS on release day huh?

Vita has some major competition now and quite a few things against it at launch - just like the 3DS did with it's issues - but both of them will sell great and turn into great systems worth owning. I went through 4 PSP's (2 on launch day) and I still like the system to this day!

Well, that is the same reason Nintendo-haters gave for not picking up a 3DS right away. I don't want to hear the 'no games' argument either, that holds no weight. If people gave a damn about games early in a system's life the Wii never would've sold the way it did in the launch window.

Anyway, I think people outside Japan just don't want to give Sony the credit it deserves in the handheld market. PSP is a damn good machine for both gaming and its other multimedia functions. PSV looks to be great as well hopefully it'll catch on in all the markets, we'll see in a few months.

The Wii Sold on a gimmick

I guess you didn't the PS3 has no game meme.

I saw the PS3 has no game stuff. That didn't really have much to do with it. PS2 had salamander day one games as well yet still managed to sell great right away. The price is what hurt sales of the PS3. If it was $400 day one, I'm willing to bet it would be closing in on the Wii's sales numbers by now. Excitement for that system was at an all-time high going into E3 2006 then 'five hundred and ninety-nine U.S. dollars' happened.

I think that's damn good. That's more than I expected from the initial sales of the system. I was thinking more in the 250,000 range for day one. Wow.

Little known fact. Most early PS2 sales were due to being a DVD player and not a game system.

@shingi_70

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/214692187_Ld3b2-L-2.jpg (Warning: Mild profanity)

Nah, the only thing stopping me is that I am flat broke. I was able to trade in a crapload of games, and I mean a TON, to get a 3DS after the price drop. I no longer have games to trade in, and I do not have any source of income. Therefore, the price of the console is not helping the chances my potential purchase of it.

Not a dig directed at you at all, I was just pointing out the subtle hypocrisy of the whole deal. I didn't think I would have to, this being a Nintendo fan boy breeding ground, but I did. Like I said, I would love to own a Vita. Especially if there were a few exclusives that I really wanted. But no money=no VIta.

So Good.

Honestly. you are so right about that, I can't even explain. It makes no sense how people say the 3DS is doomed to fail because of slow sales, even though it's selling way better than the very successful DS did at this point in its life (and it has been doing better than the DS consistently since the launch) but the Vita is going to make it just fine, even though it's not doing as well.

Just wanted to add that software sales seem to be pretty disappointing; only four games in Media Creates Top 20:
Hot Shots Golf: 61, 412
Uncharted: 48, 224
Dynasty Warriors Next: 29, 181
Lord of Apocalypse: 28, 742

Probably a combination of high price on the system, expensive proprietary memory cards and possibly too many games released at once.