Nintendo’s Wii U may not eat Microsoft’s Xbox 360 alive (in sales terms) this holiday season, but it will likely gobble up the PlayStation 3. Even at $250, a 2009 slim PS3 model isn’t going to look quite as sexy when compared to Nintendo’s $300 Wii U with its weird touch screen controller and its Skylanders. It’s just too expensive. Consider this though: If the Wii U is a long term success, and Sony can continue to bring down the manufacturing costs of its current hardware, selling it for less and less in 2013 and beyond, the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita are going to look mighty attractive to third-party publishers. They will be cheap machines ready made for Wii U games.
Sony is well aware that Vita and PS3 can feasibly be used in the exact same ways as the Wii U controller. “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,” Sony’s John Koller told Engadget, “[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 going to be pick our spots, but that technology does certainly exist there.”
In fact, the Vita can do more. It can play the same games as its big console brother without relying on the hardware and it’s got multi-touch rather single-touch on its screen. Nintendo’s controller does have NFC tech in it, as well as clickable analog sticks, but they don’t exactly elevate it comparatively. The only question is: Will Sony position the Vita and PS3 together as a Wii U alternative? Why not bundle the two together, since games like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time are going to be bundled for both consoles already?
“As we look at the lineup, there are going to be some opportunities to do that. Whether we want to bundle the hardware together remains to be seen,” said Koller, “[Retail] asks for it all the time.”
The groundwork is laid already. “In the meantime, you look at the Vita consumer and a very high percentage—almost all of them—own a PS3. So you see that crossover works.”
For game publishers looking to maximize profits on Wii U game development going forward, that crossover could prove very profitable. Sony just needs to find a way to get more people to buy more PS3s and Vitas.
This is ridiculous! You can’t compare a Wii to a PS3! Having owned both, I have to say the PS3 takes the cake on everything! I mean visuals, playability, the ease of use, the better games, everything! I also own the PSVita, which looks way better than the Wii, has great games, and it’s portable! If you have the money for it, wouldn’t you just get the PSVita-PS3 bundle? But after all, it’s just an opinion.
I find comparing Vita-PS3 coupled together against Wii U as no comparison, just on a technical level alone. Wii U has 2 GB RAM, with 1GB of RAM dedicated to the streaming features and OS alone. All the RAM in PS3 and PS Vita combined still doesn’t even add up to 1 GB–let alone PS3′s CPU using 96MB of its 256 RAM (of the 512MB RAM total) for its OS handling. The streaming experience and bandwidth of the GamePad controller from the Wii U console is far more fluid and robust than anything a PS Vita and PS3 together can imitate. Not to mention in-game video chat and TV-to-GamePad gaming are better-tuned on Wii U than a “Vita-PS3 U.” In buying a PS3 and Vita together just to duplicate a Wii U-like experience, you’d be paying for more than what a Wii U cost, only to get more than half of the Wii U’s performance.
Nintendo WII U will be a HIT this holiday season i dont think old PS3 or XBOX 360 will come even close. People want something new and thats WII U. Plus Pre Orders already sold out.
to bundle em together would cost alot more than a 299$ WiiU, unless Sony wants to basically be giving away the included Vita for 50$, to match WiiU price, to charge anymore for old hardware (PS3) – even bundled with a Vita, wont generate much of a fight against WiiUs 299$ price for spanking new hardware
Nope.