Freedom Wars and Value Perception

Look for Freedom Wars in 2014. Coming to the PSVita.

With loads of Indie games coming to the Vita- and upcoming integration with the PS4- it might be time to get one before prices start to rise on this awesome portable. That sounds dumb right? Check online- you could probably grab a new or used Vita for around $150. That's no joke. I expect that price to go up as more AAA games come to the device (slowly but surely), and since it has been rumored that the Vita will be able to stream/remote play most PS4 games. 

(Plus the device is region free. You just need a couple of memory cards, which are locked, for each region account. That makes importing games more bearable that the 3DS situation)

I'm interested to see if the Vita can grow into itself as a stable portable gaming platform. My guess is that it's fate will rely on its ability to work with the upcoming PS4 console. We don't know how much the new PS4 or Xbox will cost and that might be the final decision point on whether or not folks pay up for these expensive pieces of hardware. It just depends on what each company has to offer. Sony and Microsoft are about to enter the next generation and they could face similar problems seen at Nintendo. Someone at Nintendo recently mentioned why the Wii U wasn't doing so well (among other problems):

Value Perception. 

If you're going to ask consumers to pay X amount of dollars, they've gotta believe that the expense is worth it. For games consoles awesome tech and graphics are great, but if there isn't a library of games to back that up- then what's the point? If you don't have interesting games that will make consumers want to play, then the hardware will just gather dust or consumers will hold off making that purchase. 

Let's look at the past: When the PS3 launched it was priced at $600. There were many reasons for that price- cost of tech to make the hardware, internal chip production  Blu-ray, etc etc. But the high price kept it a money loser for Sony for a very long time. It wasn't until a price drop (three years later) that more consumers were able to make that justification for such an expensive piece of hardware. It helped that the PS3 was an affordable Blu-ray player, and that Sony was able to support the device with a large library of games from first and third party developers. Sony didn't make a profit on the PS3 until at least 2010.

Another example: 3DS. Priced at $270 and with a small selection of launch titles (during a recession), the system floundered until the price was dropped to a consumer reasonable $170. Economic factors may have played a factor in getting American consumers to buy a 3DS, but the lack of solid Nintendo titles fans expected was also a factor. Where was Mario? Where was Zelda? Nintendo vowed to never do that again...But they did! 3DS sales have picked up from a steady stream of interesting titles and eShop downloads. Nintendo turned it around for the 3DS, and whether they like it or not, it is now their flagship console. Maybe Nintendo should just stick to portable devices? 

Third example: The Vita launched with the largest library of launch games for any console: twenty six in total! But the prohibitive price of the console and the hidden cost of Memory Cards have kept consumers from buying it. The lack of software titles since launch has also kept the device a novelty item. Sony lowered the price in Japan, and sales have improved there. If Sony were to lower the price of the console and encourage more software development  the Vita could actually be awesome. Is Sony just waiting for PS4 to put all the puzzle pieces together? Maybe.

Last example: Nintendo's Wii U launch has been a nightmare because of the lack of games and getting consumers to understand it isn't a controller for the old Wii. Brand Confusion for reals. It's also hard to justify purchasing a Wii U for $300 when there are only two, maybe three games that I'd play on it? Even lowering the price of the Wii U in other regions hasn't really helped sell the device because there are no games for it. Not to mention slow loading times, and some updates that may have bricked a device or two (don't uplug it during an update!). It comes back to the idea of Value Perception: No one will buy it if they can't justify the expense. They should have named it something else too. 

Are game consoles in trouble? Hard to tell. Is the bad economy an influence in this generation's launch? Probably. I think every manufacturer has made critical mistakes in launching their consoles because they either don't learn from the past, don't have the library of games that interest consumers, or are unable to accurately convey the value in the product. Fix it.