Sony dismisses mobile threat to Vita

June 27th, 2011, 00:09 Posted By: wraggster

Sony has dismissed the threat of the likes of the iPad and iPhone, instead calling tablets and smartphones "an opportunity".

With the PS Vita Sony is launching a gaming handheld console at a time when most observers believe the future lies in cheap mobile gaming.

But Sony Computer Entertainment US boss Jack Tretton believes the likes of Apple fuel the Vita's potential audience.

"For every consumer you lose to a tablet or smart phone, there are three consumers that became interested in gaming in a simple form," he told Gamasutra.

"And those people might be able to be migrated into a sophisticated gamer. We look at that as being the opposite of a threat, but an opportunity."

Both Nintendo and Sony, with the Nintendo 3DS and Vita respectively, have worried some analysts with their mobile gaming strategies.

3DS games cost upwards of £30. Vita games are expected to go for a similar, if not more expensive, price.

For Tretton, though, reckons gamers will be willing to splash the cash if the games are great.

"If I open a movie theatre next door [to a theatre] and start charging 50 cents per ticket, but I'm showing you things I filmed with my camcorder, I don't think it's a threat to the theatre charging $13 per ticket," he said.

"It's about people having reasonable expectations. I don't think we're training people to pay $5 for games. ... The cream always rises to the top."

Vita is expected to launch later this year in some territories.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...threat-to-vita

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