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Yoshida plays down lackluster Vita sales in Japan with PSP sales
President of worldwide studios for Sony Computer Entertainment Shuhei Yoshida recognizes that the Vita hasn't sold very well in Japan, but he thinks it will do better in the US. Why? Because Sony's previous handheld venture, the PSP, is still "very popular" in Japan. Or something like that."So, the Japanese launch, you saw the sell-through numbers, you notice that we haven't been able to sell out the units that we sold in," Yoshida told VentureBeat, responding to a prompt about lessons learned for the US launch from Japanese Vita sales. "But looking very objectively at the market situation there in Japan, especially on the portable, PSP is still very popular."Yoshida said Sony needs to communicate the Vita as a brand, not just another portable device, to potential players. Part of that is visible in Sony's marketing campaign, which includes $50 million of commercials, billboards, online banner ads, retail deals and hashtags."We are still seeing good sales through PSP, and we are advertising on TV, a dedicated PSP TV campaign, at the same time we are introducing Vita," Yoshida said, continuing to discuss the merits of the PSP as a children's entertainment system. He did mention one plan directly for the Vita: "At the same time, we are trying to communicate the value and new, exciting features of PS Vita to an older, mature, core gamer audience."
Little Deviants review: Little interest
Most new consoles tend to launch with something designed to showcase the hardware's abilities. Such games are generally designed to wow new adopters with all the snazzy tricks their new toy can do. The best of these combine plenty of graphical bells and whistles with innovative gameplay mechanics that aren't possible elsewhere -- something like, oh, let's say Super Mario 64.Others in the "launch showcase" genre might leverage the abilities of new hardware, but they do it in a more disconnected way. I'm talking, of course, about the mini-game collection. If you're lucky, you might get a batch of diversions that not only show off a console's capabilities but are also genuinely entertaining. Other times, you get a conglomeration of disparate, perfunctory experiences that never coalesce into a cohesive product.In other words, sometimes you get Little Deviants.%Gallery-147128%
First-party Vita games now available at GameStop
Not only can you download Vita games early, you can buy boxed copies of first-party titles early as well. GameStop currently has copies of Little Deviants, Uncharted, Hot Shots, Wipeout 2048, and ModNation Racers in stock online right now. They ship within 24 hours, the site notes, or you can use the site to check for stock at your local store.The Vita hardware will officially be available February 15 in the First Edition bundle, but it's possible you already have a Japanese unit, in which case you should be able to play these cartridges.
Playable Vita demo units now at Gamestop
If you're just dying to get your hot little hands on a PlayStation Vita, you may want to hit up your local GameStop. Keep in mind that said unit will be securely bolted down, because its a demo unit, of course!The retailer has announced that it now has demo units at over 3,300 of it's locations, allowing customers to try out several games, including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Little Deviants, Modnation Racers: Road Trip, WipeOut: 2048 and more.Just remember: Wash your hands. It's flu season, after all.
Report: Sony closing BigBig Studio, linking Cambridge with Guerrilla
Sony is closing the UK's BigBig Studio right after it finished work on Vita launch title Little Deviants, following a regular review of SCE Worldwide Studios, Develop reports. The review also led to a restructuring of Sony's Cambridge studio, which will now work closely with Guerrilla Games to release a Killzone title on Vita. Sony issued a statement to GamesIndustry about the closure: "It has also been proposed that BigBig Studio should be closed. BigBig have been an important part of SCE Worldwide Studios since joining in 2007. However, it was felt that by focusing on other Studios that are currently working on exciting new projects, we would be in a stronger position to offer the best possible content for our consumers." The number of people affected by BigBig's closure or the restructuring of Cambridge is unknown, but we hope it's tiny(tiny).
Get in touch with Vita launch titles with ten new trailers
Sony sent out a bunch of trailers for first-party launch Vita games, focusing on the Vita-specific features each game uses. The good news: we see clever combinations of controls here, like Escape Plan's "pinch" of both the front and back touch panels. And Gravity Rush looks really neat regardless of how it's controlled. The bad news: we're not nearly mature enough to see ten references to "front touch" and "rear touch" without giggling. If that's how Sony is going to refer to those features permanently, we're going to have a problem at press events.
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: gaming
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! We're well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties surrounding the seasonal shopping experience, so we're here to help you sort out this year's tech treasures. Below is today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. Ah, the holiday season. That special time of year when we give our loved ones the new hotness of the video game world, and then promptly exploit their over-excited reactions to propel them into unwanted YouTube fame. Even if your familial relations don't have the stuff to become this generation's "N64 kid," you can still kick a few rad toys their way just for the love of it. And if you're having trouble finding the perfect gift for the gamer in your life, we're here to help. Head past the break to take a peek at Engadget's 2011 Holiday Gift Guide for video games. Not finding what you're looking for? Skip on back to our 2011 Back to School Guide for bonus gift ideas.
PlayStation Vita First Edition Bundle: be an earlier adopter on Feb. 15
Uh oh, Sony's smart idea technicians have figured it out. The number one reason to purchase new gaming hardware, in its most expensive and least supported state, is to flaunt it in front of friends with fewer pixels. Pre-ordering the PlayStation Vita First Edition Bundle -- starting at "select" retailers today -- will not only grant you a few extra goodies, but access to the system one week before its proper launch. In North America, the PlayStation Vita First Edition Bundle includes a 3G + Wi-Fi variant of the hardware, a system case, a 4GB PS Vita memory card, and a copy of Little Deviants, a wacky minigame showcase of the Vita's abilities. That'll be $350, or $50 over the 3G Vita's suggested retail price. Meanwhile, the Wi-Fi only Vita will get a First Edition Bundle in Canada for $300. Of course, the biggest value here is that you can pick the bundle up on February 15, 2012. Yes, we know we're being petty and materialistic, but just look at the screen on this thing. Oh, no, it's not available to the masses yet, friend. This right here, this is the power button. Oh, you wanted to see Uncharted? Well ... how about, um, Little Deviants? That's a game that ... nobody else has, you know.
Feast your eyes on a menagerie of new NGP game images
We may not know much about Sony's NGP (or is it PlayStation Vita?) just yet, but we do have a whole mess of new images from its game lineup. After the break, you'll find eight (eight!) galleries of brand new screens, pulled from Uncharted, Wipeout, Little Deviants, and many more.
Video from Sony's NGP panel: Uncharted Portable, Little Deviants, and augmented dino-reality
In order to show developers precisely what NGP is capable of – and to break up the fifty plus slides used in the one hour presentation! – Sony shared three live demos of NGP software and we dutifully recorded them. Apologies for the poor quality of the NGP screen – the combination of the bright OLED screen being captured on video, piped to a conference center projector, and then in turn captured by our camera has resulted in some ... less than stellar video quality. But you will be able to glean the input mechanics and the style of gameplay (or in the case of the augmented reality demo, dinosaurplay). Check out videos of Little Deviants, Uncharted Portable, and augmented reality after the break. %Gallery-118245%
Video: 'Little Deviants' shows unique use of NGP's rear touchpad
It turns out that the NGP game Little Deviants doesn't just have the most amusing and cute name in the handheld's known lineup -- it also has the most interesting use of that inexplicable rear touchpad thing. As shown on stage at last night's PlayStation Meeting, players manipulate said deviants by moving their fingers along the touch panel, which raises the ground on screen, causing them to roll. It's as if you're putting your finger through the system to gouge the game world!
Uncharted, Killzone, Resistance, LBP ... and Little Deviants among 'NGP' games in development
Sony's bringing out its biggest guns for its new little game machine, the device currently known as "NGP." A slide revealed franchises currently in development for the newly announced handheld, including familiar names like Hot Shots Golf, LittleBigPlanet, WipEout, Killzone, Resistance, and PS3 showpiece Uncharted. Sony's Shuhei Yoshida showed off the Uncharted game, and revealed some controls new to the series: you can touch the screen (or press X) to jump, swing the NGP back and forth to swing on vines, and climb using the device's rear touch panel "as if you're climbing a vine with both hands."The new IPs sound a bit more, um, eclectic: Gravity Daze, Reality Fighters (an augmented reality title), Smart As, Broken, and the delightful-sounding Little Deviants. Update: PlayStation Blog confirms the complete list of game franchises noted at PlayStation Meeting 2011 with NGP iterations in development: Call of Duty Broken Gravity Daze Hot Shots Golf Hustle Kings Killzone LittleBigPlanet Little Deviants Reality Fighters Resistance Smart As Uncharted WipEout
