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Sony Unveils the PS Vita TV and Slimmer Vita Handheld

Posted by Unknown on from the but-does-it-run-xbmc dept.

Dave Knott writes "Sony today announced the PS Vita TV box. Measuring 6.5cm by 10.5cm, it can play Vita games on your television, stream content via HDMI or wirelessly, and play all the existing PlayStation Network content available on the standard Vita platform. This is seen by some analysts as an attempt by Sony to compete with such devices as the Ouya and Apple TV. The PS Vita TV is so far announced for a Japan-only release in early 2014 at a price of approximately $100 US. In related news, Sony also announced a lighter, slimmer, more colorful iteration of the standard Vita handheld console." The $100 model does not come with a controller; a $150 model was also announced that will include a Dualshock 3 and an 8G memory card.

21 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. multiple account support! by neuro88 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think this is a great idea if they can finally start allowing your vita to have multiple accounts at once. Currently, the only way to switch accounts is to reset the thing to factory defaults (which involves watching an annoying video when it starts for the "first" time), as well as format your memory card. This is pretty inconvenient on a portable, but would be flat out ridiculous on more of a home console type system.

    1. Re:multiple account support! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      This is Sony: everything they know about 'sharing' they learned from RIAA fishing expeditions...

    2. Re:multiple account support! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Try to adopt a historical perspective:

      The last time we were peasants who paid our feudal masters for the right to toil on his lands for a pittance and own next to nothing, we had bubonic plague and didn't have cable TV. Truly, a triumph of the human spirit!

  2. Re:Vita? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Its Vita signs are weak; but it isn't dead yet.

  3. Re:What about the third dimension? by glavenoid · · Score: 2

    It doesn't even *have* a 3rd dimension, you insensitive clod.

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  4. Japanese release, eh? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

    I'd be curious to know how (though probably never will) regional price sensitivities will factor in to the decision to launch or not launch a device such as this in various areas:

    Especially now that 'current-gen handheld' is dangerously close to 'surprisingly endurable even on a large TV, if TV-out exists, and probably shares many components with common cellphones', the notion of shoving a cost-optimized version of one into a box along with a component video cable and calling it a console in markets too price sensitive to be good sellers for your 'serious' console might actually work pretty well. However, outside of the hardcore, it might work a little too well even among people who could afford your 'real' console; but really just want to putz around on something so why pay more?

    I wonder if that will factor into Sony's regional release strategy: a screenless, battery-less, not wildly powerful Cortex-A9/SGX543 ARM SoC board isn't likely to be getting more expensive as time passes, and online sales from the back catalog are likely to be either pure profit or pure cost recovery of a game that flopped long ago; but having such a potentially-aggressively-priced option on the market might not help move newer products...

  5. Dying handhelds by TJamieson · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This seems to be Sony's hedging of their bets that maybe handheld gaming devices are in their dying days. They get to turn the Vita into a pseudo-console/PS4 accessory and keep developers on the Vita platform in general. Maybe this is what Nintendo should be doing instead of a 2DS?

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    1. Re:Dying handhelds by luther349 · · Score: 2

      vita did shitty due to its like 3 good games and overpriced memory. Nintendo is kinda in the opposite hear there 3ds is doing awesome the wii-u is collecting dust.

    2. Re:Dying handhelds by maccodemonkey · · Score: 2

      This seems to be Sony's hedging of their bets that maybe handheld gaming devices are in their dying days. They get to turn the Vita into a pseudo-console/PS4 accessory and keep developers on the Vita platform in general. Maybe this is what Nintendo should be doing instead of a 2DS?

      Nintendo's problem is really that the Wii U doesn't have any games. 3DS games are designed for dual screen and touch, so you can't put those on a TV, and a Wii U accessory to stream the games that don't exist for the Wii U solves nothing.

      The approach they are taking is probably the best course of action: Fix the lack of games on the Wii U.

    3. Re:Dying handhelds by aiadot · · Score: 3, Informative

      Dying handhelds are a thing of the NA and EU (I don't like the "west" generalization). In Japan, handhelds are the main platforms. The thing is that for a global company like sony to release a region exclusive console simply doesn't make sense in the big picture(specially now under the "One Sony" plan). That is why in my opinion the VitaTV can potentially be a stroke of genius.

      1) In Japan there are these popular PS3 accessories called Nasne and Torne which help integrate the PS3 and the TV more allowing TV show recording alongside a few other minor features. The vita TV seems to be the PS4 version of these devices.

      2) In the US and EU, handheld is not as popular anymore and, as a result, many devs don't have that much of interest in them either. On the other hand, smartTV boxes are a hot topic and there is no killer product in the market yet. A playstation smartTV could be the killer device in this still underexploited market as it is the only one the fuses a huge variety of game genres, media consumption and affordable price. If it succeeds it could attract devs to the vita platform even if they are not directly targeting the vita handheld. Japanese devs would be more likely to bring their games overseas (the Vita has a very good library in Japan), American and European devs their own Vita exclusives games.

      3) Developing countries. The PS4 and the Vita are just too expensive for the average citizen of countries like China/Brazil/India/Russia/etc(for many reasons including local politics). A cheap PS2 level home console that could still play newly released games could help sony get a huge share in these regions.

      If wasn't for the proprietary memory, the vita ecosystem could easily dominate the market.

    4. Re:Dying handhelds by Osgeld · · Score: 2

      funny psp was shitty due to its like 3 good games, overpriced memory, and a new model every freaking year with all new accessories

      seems they did not learn much from psp

  6. awesome! by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2, Insightful

    it's like buying a half-assed PS3 with equally half-assed games! games designed for a small screen are not going to translate well to a large screen. i'll stick to my PS3 and (soon) PS4.

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    1. Re:awesome! by 10101001+10101001 · · Score: 2

      it's like buying a half-assed PS3 with equally half-assed games!

      I'd say it's more like the GB Player all over again, but as you note without the massive good collection of games.

      games designed for a small screen are not going to translate well to a large screen. i'll stick to my PS3 and (soon) PS4.

      See, the former is not the issue in theory*. The latter is more the issue. If you're likely to have to buy a bunch of games anyways to enjoy the system, you might as well get a full console. The catch, of course, is if the games are cheap enough (that's Ouya's approach, anyways) then you can get away with getting a lot of potentially casual gamers to plunk down some relatively cheap cash (a $100 unit) to play some casual games. Somehow, I doubt Sony will do that because it's liable to enrage the small fan base it already has who will feel cheated either in having to repurchase games or that their library has effectively depreciated in value by 90% or something.

      *Well, that's the rub. PSP came out as being a very high-end handheld. As a result, it was a sucky battery-life handheld. But at the same time, its move towards a console makes it a sucky console-power platform. Really, Sony just doesn't seem to get the whole point that the PSP is just too much of a middle-ground to be any sort of major success. It doesn't help that Android has heavily invaded their high-end handheld position or that the Ouya is basically the same concept. Really, the only reason the GB Player didn't have the same sort of blow-back as I see this having is the GB player (1) finally allowed people with adult hands to, for long hours, play GBA games, (2) there were a lot of decent GBA games, (3) there was never an expectation that the GBA was some sort of new-age, wow graphical experience (it was in many ways the answer to people's desire for a portable SNES), and (4) the GB Player was a relatively cheap add-on to a system which basically went hand-in-hand with having a GBA in the first place--ie, already being a somewhat devote fan towards the company--(and I'd argue the biggest flaw with the GB Player was more to do with not supporting multiple games simultaneous, split screen, on-screen link-up, or having a decent long link cable).

      So, yea, a very wordy way of say I mostly agree though I think there's room to quibble over some of the details.

      --
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    2. Re:awesome! by Sockatume · · Score: 2

      You are not the target audience. Sony already has your money. The untold millions who might buy a $100 Android phone or tablet over a Vita or PS4 are the real audience.

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      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  7. Sony does surprisingly well by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    they don't sell a lot at once, but they sell consistently for years and years. Plus with a smaller base of software they can count on what they do put out selling nearly 1 to 1 with the console. Basically, it's the same model Nintendo had going with the Gamecube.

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  8. I already have one by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

    It streams video to my TV from Sony's video delivery platform, plays Sony games on the TV, does Netflix, etc., etc., etc..

    For some reason they call it a Playstation 3 though...

  9. Lack of touchscreen is not a problem. by goruka · · Score: 2

    If using the DualShock 3 poses the problem of lack of touchscreen for some games, I'm sure Sony will allow using a PSVita as controller, so you can actually.. oh, wait..

  10. Theres the winning strategy by Osgeld · · Score: 2

    That made so many people just shit rainbows with their psp! Wasteland of shovelware, half the features are broke or useless and what does Sony do? release a slim model, that doesnt work with any of the shit you already have.

    Good job guys, thats how you dominate the handheld market, not that pussy shit like Nintendo did ... backwards compatibility for damn near 30 years and a great library of games, no sir! its fucking usb cables and controller sales!

  11. Re:Now all they need.... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 2

    Then it's a good thing that the Vita TV will also play PSP and PSOne games.

    Only selected PSOne games. And you'll have to buy them again. Got a PSOne game on CD? Got a PSP game on UMD? Vita don't play that. Here, buy it all over again to get the download.

  12. Re:Now all they need.... by CronoCloud · · Score: 2

    True, but once you do, you can have it on multiple devices at once.

  13. A lot of people are missing the best feature by brunes69 · · Score: 4, Informative

    A lot of people are harping on about how lame this is without noticing the most important feature of this device.

    This device can do anything a Vita can do, *INCLUDING PS4 REMOTE PLAY*. IE, with this device you can play your PS4 on your bedroom TV while the PS4 is in the basement. This is a huge feature because it basically makes you able to extend your PS4 to any room in the house for $100.

    Furthermore, this works over the internet, just like the Vita. So you can bring this tiny little box on trips and hook it up to the hotel TV to play your PS4 games on the road.

    It is a HUGE product. I think Sony is not marketing it properly because no one is understanding all the features.