I always love it when competitors comment on why the other isn't doing so well. Sometimes it's hilarious, and other times they leave a "Do you know what the fuck you're talking about?" feeling in their wake. This time around, it's Shigeru Miyamoto stepping up to the plate to discuss his thoughts on why Sony's PlayStation Vita isn't doing so well. Stupidly, I expected some mind-blowing revelation or something completely childish and hilarious. Instead, he went for the most obvious.
In and interview with Edge magazine, Miyamoto said that the Vita doesn't have the games to support it. I'll give you all a moment to recover from the unshock.
Ready? Then let's get into some quotes where he compares the Vita's launch with the lackluster launch of the 3DS. At least here, he has some really good insights.
More specifically, Miyamoto says that the Vita launch software doesn't match the capabilities of the Vita hardware. "It's obviously a very hi-spec machine, and you can do lots of things with it," he said. "But I don't really see the combination of software and hardware that really makes a very strong product.
"When we launched the 3DS hardware, we didn't have Super Mario 3D Land, we didn't have Mario Kart 7, and we didn't have Kid Icarus: Uprising," he continued. "WE were striving to have all of these ready for the launch, but we weren't able to deliver them at that time. We were kind of hoping that people would, nevertheless, but into the product, find 3DS hardware promising, but looking back we have to say we realize the key software was missing when we launched the hardware."
I kind of agree with Miyamoto in terms of why the Vita has not done well in Japan. Over in the States, though, we had a fairly nice launch lineup with Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Touch My Katamari, and PSN games like Escape Plan. Just a month later, Unit 13 released, and now we have Resistance: Burning Skies to look forward to. All we need now in the US is a strong Fall release schedule.
Japan needs just something that will appeal to their gaming preferences. A Monster Hunter game, a Pokemon game, a Persona (coming this Fall!)…or all three.
