PS Vita Has Already Sold 600,000 Units in Western Markets
Over 600,000 PlayStation Vita units have sold in the west since its debut last week.
On Tuesday, Sony Computer Entertainment said that over 1.2 million PlayStation Vita units have been sold as of Sunday, February 26, 2012. The device made its debut in Japan back on December 17, 2011, and saw a quick drop in units sold after the first week. Sony then launched the Vita in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea shortly thereafter, and then packed its bags and finally headed west on February 22, 2012, landing in North and Latin America, Europe and PAL territories.
As of February 19, only 578,812 PlayStation Vita units had been sold in Japan -- only 12,309 units were sold in the current week and 13,939 units in the previous week. Yet if the overall number of units surpassed 1.2 million, then around 600,000 units have flown across retail shelves in the other territories in less than a week. While that may look like good news for Sony, the company also saw a huge surge of movement in the first week of Vita's lifespan in Japan before sales took a plunge.
Yet compared to the Nintendo 3DS launch here in the west, the PlayStation Vita seems to be doing slightly better in sales. Last year Nintendo sold around 400,000 units here in the U.S., 113,000 units in the UK, and 31,000 units in Australia, equaling a total of 544,000 units in the first week. Even more, the 3DS sold for its original price of $249.99 before Nintendo was forced to knock $80 off the pricetag months later to move the product off store shelves.
That said, it seems that consumers see more value in the PlayStation Vita's $249.99/$299.99 price tag. While lacking the 3D component offered by Nintendo's product, the PlayStation Vita seemingly does everything a mobile gamer could ever want save for making actual voice calls. Sony also played it smart and established a solid "social" network that provides music, video, gaming and more -- Nintendo has yet to launch anything comparable.
"PS Vita was designed to deliver the ultimate portable entertainment experience, and we couldn't be more thrilled with the reaction we're seeing from consumers and the pace at which PS Vita is selling," said Andrew House, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "The market has responded and there is clear demand for a mobile device capable of providing a revolutionary combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real world context. To sustain momentum, we're working closely with 3rd party developers and publishers to ensure the best games and franchises possible will be available on PS Vita, and our software line up for the remainder of 2012 will have something for everyone across the globe."
So far there are more than 25 titles available for the PlayStation Vita including EA Sports FIFA Football, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 from Capcom, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, WipEout 2048 and Escape Plan from SCE Worldwide Studios. More than 70 titles are currently in development.
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"As of February 19, only 578,812 PlayStation Vita units had been sold in Japan -- only 12,309 units were sold in the current week and 13,939 units in the previous week. Yet if the overall number of units surpassed 1.2 million, then around 600,000 units have flown across retail shelves in the other territories in less than a week."
... aren't you forgetting about Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea? You mentioned in just the previous paragraph that it launched in those areas shortly after Japan.
I will definitely pick this up... as long as it has something akin to an Acekard 2i
:3
cant wait for a price drop. comon sony!
It felt really cheap when I tried the demo at the store. I wasn't impressed by the graphics, when Uncharted was full of jaggies. I guess it doesn't do anti-aliasing. Too bad... But I might get it once the prices go down to $100.
Good start Sony - keep it up.
Now when a JRPG or two arrives, I'll make the jump.
yeah i was messing with it at best buy the other day and i really don't see how some people are saying this is very close to ps3 graphics when it isn't, more like slighty better ps2 graphics. Uncharted didn't look anything close to what it looks like on the ps3. Everything round was really jagged.
The 1.2 million sales figure (600,000 in Western markets) is impressive, given the barrage of negative press (most of it Stateside) in the run-up to launch. Much of this press centered around the idea that a handheld console could not survive in a smartphone gaming world, placing doubts in prospective buyers about future product support. Yet, with just 25 game titles, fewer at the Japanese launch, 1.2 million consumers have shown that they still want physical controls (joysticks, keypads), a huge touchscreen, and console gaming quality. Just think what will happen when PS Vita's software library approaches anything close to PSP's (around 700 titles). When Sony cuts the price strategically, something it'll be able to do after collecting royalties from Vita games, the thing will fly off shelves. Yeah, people don't need it like they need a phone, but that's not the market Sony's after. Heck, few people really need a tablet when they have a laptop and a phone, yet people still buy tablets (even Android ones). And unlike tablets, the Vita doesn't really have any competitors.
i love how the launch lineup for the psv and the 3ds is completely disguarded like that wasn't the reason it sold like crap when the 3ds launched.
vita, several big hitting titles at launch... if you like the genres and 1 system seller.
3ds... 1 barely worth it fighting game that was out for 2 years on the 360 and ps3, a 4-6 month wait for 1 system selling game, and along the way to the system selling game... absolutely nothing of value.
i mean seriously, do you just dis reguard games as mattering at all when you say all of this?
The 1.2 million sales figure (600,000 in Western markets) is impressive, given the barrage of negative press (most of it Stateside) in the run-up to launch. Much of this press centered around the idea that a handheld console could not survive in a smartphone gaming world, placing doubts in prospective buyers about future product support. Yet, with just 25 game titles, fewer at the Japanese launch, 1.2 million consumers have shown that they still want physical controls (joysticks, keypads), a huge touchscreen, and console gaming quality. Just think what will happen when PS Vita's software library approaches anything close to PSP's (around 700 titles). When Sony cuts the price strategically, something it'll be able to do after collecting royalties from Vita games, the thing will fly off shelves. Yeah, people don't need it like they need a phone, but that's not the market Sony's after. Heck, few people really need a tablet when they have a laptop and a phone, yet people still buy tablets (even Android ones). And unlike tablets, the Vita doesn't really have any competitors.
If they want to sell gangbusters then they need to develop a first/third person shooter for the platform which plays to the advantage of a dual stick that other handhelds lack.
It felt really cheap when I tried the demo at the store. I wasn't impressed by the graphics, when Uncharted was full of jaggies. I guess it doesn't do anti-aliasing. Too bad... But I might get it once the prices go down to $100.
Are you just unfamiliar with mobile graphics? Because that's just about as good as it gets right now.
I tried out kingdom hearts on the vita they had at best buys and the loading times were horrible. Every zone change took a minute of loading. But the graphics are pretty nice. Also the dual joysticks seems too slip from my thumbs when moving quickly.
Oh nice, a phone that doesn't make phone calls.
hhhmmm galaxy s3 will be faster than this thing!
News flash, next week will read Vita sales fall flat, all the tools have already bought one.
I was interested until I heard there was no video-out.
Also the battery can't be removed, WTF!
600K in the western markets means it's the lowest selling handheld console launch since the Nokia N-Gage.
Japan is in a stagnant economy and life is really hard for the young people that this console targets, hence the lower than expected sales after the second week. Young people are comparatively better off in North America and Europe it seems (at least from perception) and so I think Sony is pinning its hope on the world market.
Thats sucky news. Now Sony and retailers won't rush to slash the price like in Japan
Let the firmware hacking begin!!!!!
i love how the launch lineup for the psv and the 3ds is completely disguarded like that wasn't the reason it sold like crap when the 3ds launched. vita, several big hitting titles at launch... if you like the genres and 1 system seller.3ds... 1 barely worth it fighting game that was out for 2 years on the 360 and ps3, a 4-6 month wait for 1 system selling game, and along the way to the system selling game... absolutely nothing of value. i mean seriously, do you just dis reguard games as mattering at all when you say all of this?
I actually think alot of the launch games are very solid. the main problem with the 3DS launch wasnt really that there werent many games, it was that most of the games felt like shovelware. and the list of games launching in March is amazing. I think the PSV will continue to sell well in the next month precisely because all the good games coming out in the end of march. 600k s actually very good because its way more than what Sony anticipated.
will wait till the price goes down due to slow sales
stop being cheap and just buy it.
dude its not called "being cheap" its called being smart...250-300 is ALOT of money for something that very well could see a price just in a little while just like the 3ds...tools -_- (p.s. i LOVEEEEE sony and my ps3 is to me what a rifle is to a soldier lol...psp is the handgun...vita....well only time will tell)