Sony Talks Vita/PS3 Competition with Wii U

By Brian P Rubin | 21 September 2012 | 8 Comments

A post on Engadget from yesterday reports that John Koller, Sony America’s VP of Marketing, is boasting about the fact that the Vita and PlayStation 3 can easily do what the Wii U has as its main selling point—namely, touchscreen and analogue input control. According to Koller, nearly every PlayStation Vita owner also owns a PlayStation 3, meaning that implementing Wii U style functionality would be a snap for Sony:

“We tell our PlayStation fans all the time that what the Wii U is offering is something that Vita and PS3 can do quite easily. […] It’s dependent on the content. So we need to make sure the content isn’t force fed. And, to us, making sure that the gamer receives the right type of experience is what’s most important. So we’re gonna pick our spots, but that technology does certainly exist here.”

Well, gee. If it’s so easy, why can I still not browse my PS3 with the Vita? I can stream the PS3 to the Vita…but the TV goes dark when I do that. If it’s so easy, why haven’t you done it?

Here’s the thing—saying, “oh, I can do that, I just don’t want to,” sounds totally stupid. The Wii U will give you what Sony says it can do right out of the box for two-thirds the price. Nintendo’s basic console will cost $300. Buying a PS3 console and a Vita console will run, at minimum, $500. So if you can do it, why don’t you just freakin’ do it?

Am I way off base here? Is controlling the PS3—doing more than just playing a handful of games with the Vita, but also just browsing the console’s UI, controlling movie and media playback, things like that—something you want out of your Vita? I think that would be totally cool! And hearing Koller talk about how easy it would be to do—but that they just, like, don’t want to right now, man—really gets my goat. What do you think?

Via Engadget

8 Comments

Posted by dorkgeniuz21 on 21 September 12 at 11:47am

All they need to do is enable cross-controller with the ps3 itself.We just need someone to pass the word to sony..
- Posted by Brian P Rubin on 21 September 12 at 12:21pm
  
  I think it would be a seriously fun and awesome and–apparently–easy thing do do. And I’ve been doing my part! Every time something like this comes up, I post and post and post about it. I want it!
  - Posted by Mugenite on 21 September 12 at 2:52pm
    
    This would certainly drop Sony into the gamepad world Nintendo is trying to push. Though, spending 250+ for a controller doesn’t seem reasonable for some. They would need to make a serious incentive in new title releases for those who own a Vita.
    - Posted by Mark on 21 September 12 at 6:28pm
      
      While the cost seems very high, it has a certain appeal considering the vast majority of people that have any interest on this already have a PS3, so we’re talking about getting a PS Vita only and not the entire package.
      
      Sure it will attract new customers but I think the idea would be more of “All that tech? yeah, we can do that too, and with crap laying around” or some other sort of face slap.
      
      But with that said, talk is cheap.
Posted by John lane on 21 September 12 at 3:33pm

Sony you are a bunch of chickens lol. I don’t believe you can intergrate your hand held vita with the PS3. Haha suckers haha. So please prove me wrong. I’m just saying lol. Wow. Nintendo 4 life. Bitttches. Haha
Posted by uberness3725 on 22 September 12 at 12:37am

yeah i really want to use my vita as a controller i have no idea why they wouldn’t want to implement this asap. Also if the vita ever gets a price drop it could compete w/ the wii u’s price range $150 ps3 $200 ps vita and maybe discounts on the bundle just a thought..
- Posted by dorkgeniuz21 on 22 September 12 at 1:21pm
  
  I predict that the vita will get a price drop once more vita bundles,colors & high profile games drop because for some, many are waiting on certain games like cod,assassins creed,bioshock, or even an unannounced kingdom hearts etc.Either that or we will see a redesigned vita with a few extra features already added internally like the ability to hook up vita to a tv,3d capabilities etc.
Posted by Jake on 23 September 12 at 8:20am

I think Sony are just spewing crap, which is understandable as they’re not ever going to admit their own product is inferior, that’s business suicide.

The difference between the Wii U and the PS3 is that the Wii U’s primarily control peripheral has the touch screen. This comes with the console, and every game, in one way or another, is going to be built around the functionality of this controller.

As a primarily control peripheral the Vita cannot compete. Without going down the road of the buttons aren’t going to be as a comfortable as a real controller – it’s expensive, it’s a multimedia center, it’s a standalone handheld gaming device and it’s not a PS3 accessory, it requires a second money commitment. Sure, if you have both that’s awesome and if they decide to build functionality for that into games that’s cool, but it is just not the same thing at all.

Until their mission statement with their console states they want this touch screen stuff and they show it by putting it primarily in their controller their product and service – as far as support for a touch screen control devices goes – will not be able to compete with the Wii U.

This is the second time in recent years that Nintendo have taken a ballsy risk, but within that ballsy risk have been fully committed to the idea unlike their competitors whose offerings to that particular area of the market are largely afterthoughts.

Sony should just stick to the hardcore gaming parts of their machine and quit trying to make excuses for the other parts of it sucking in comparison to Nintendo – who have shown us in recent years that they are more into innovative game play experiences than more polygons and because of this will naturally exceed in those areas in comparison.