Sony:PS Vita Can Still Be Healthy Business,If Not Big

In the context of the official PS Vita Slim announcement for the UK, Sony‘s Managing Director Fergal Gara spoke with Eurogamer about the future of the latest portable console produced by Sony. Much like Koller a few days earlier, he acknowledged while PS Vita won’t be able to sell monstrously well as the PlayStation Portable did, it can still be a healthy PlayStation product:

The landscape changed over the development cycle, and by the time it landed the world had moved on a fair bit, and expectations had to be adjusted a bit. But there was a big vision for the device, and the PlayStation 4 was known and the plans for that were coming together so we could see a road map. We’re still proud to support it, we still believe it has a role. We know it might not be enormous, but it still can be a healthy business and a very nice PlayStation product. It may not be everybody who’s got one, but show me someone who has one and is disappointed. I’ve yet to meet that person.

It is true that there is much stronger competition for handhelds with Android/iOS gaming on the rise, but on the other hand Nintendo is still doing great with their 3DS. Still, I agree with their assessment about PS Vita turning into a healthy platform, especially if it can keep riding that PlayStation 4 momentum.

For the record, the PS Vita Slim, a lighter and thinner version of the console with increased battery life and an LCD screen replacing the standard OLED, will be available in UK stores at the initial RRP of £180. This is admittedly very high, as some stores regularly sell the standard model at £14o including games and a memory card, but Sony expects prices to settle down after some time around £140.