Today on Headline
RePLAY: Sony
wants to sell half a million PS Vitas, Blizzard is pondering F2P for a new game
and Kojima Productions heads West.
Skepticism is running
rampant about the handheld market, but like its Nintendo counterpart Sony refuses
to believe the market doesn’t have room for the PS Vita. Despite predictions by
analysts, Sony is reaching for half a million PS Vitas sales in the next three
weeks.
Jack Tretton, U.S.
PlayStation CEO, told Reuters that he would “be very pleased” to sell half a
million in the U.S. within the next three weeks. “The target consumer is a PS3
owner, and there’s 60 million of those out there. He’s also male and his early
20s.”
Tretton went on to say
that gamers will be attracted to the interchangeability between a PlayStation 3
and the PS Vita and noted how that could not be done on a smartphone. “On a
tablet or smartphone, you notice the limits right away with the controls or
lack of depth in a game,” Tretton added.
Analysts are not
convinced of the PS Vita’s viability. “It’s going to be challenging for devices
like the Vita to survive on their own,” said Steve Perlman, founder of OnLive.
He cited the advent of the Long Term Evolution high-speed mobile network and
higher-performance gadgets as issues for the handheld.
“It almost feels like
Sony designed a product for a world where smartphones and tablets don’t exist,”
said Michael Gartenberg, director of Gartner Research. “You have to wonder how
big of a misstep this may be for Sony, and does this mark the last of these types
of devices.”
*Source: Reuters
2011 was the year
where developers like Sony Online Entertainment and Valve embraced the free-to-play
revolution— and it looks like Blizzard wants in on the action. An unnamed source told
Develop that Blizzard will be implementing a F2P model for an upcoming,
unannounced title.
Blizzard has both
experimented and referenced the F2P model before: first by letting new World of Warcraft players play free up
to level 20 and secondly by discussing it during BlizzCon 2011.
“It certainly is
possible, if we find ourselves in that circumstance, or if we come up with a
game where we think that’s the right business model, the most appropriate for
players to experience it,” said Blizzard COO Paul Sams.
“We don’t have any
opposition to the concept [F2P], it’s just that at this point we haven’t
decided to make a game where that is the model. But that doesn’t mean that we
won’t.”
*Source: Develop
Kojima Productions is
moving West, a senior producer confirmed after Konami released a job listing
for the latest Metal Gear Solid title
advertising for both Japan and California locales.
“Yes, we plan to open
a studio in CA,” said Kenichiro Imaizumi, Kojima Productions’ senior producer. “IF
we can find the right people.”
Konami will be at GDC
next month with its own booth (#1914) to speak with people that are interested
in the open positions.
*Source: Develop
