PS Vita, Expensive Gamer or Cheap Android Tablet?

The follow-up to the somewhat succesefull but increasingly less relevant PSP is slated to hit American store shelves on the last day of 2011. The device, which has been (unfortunately) named the PS VITA boasts an impressive spec sheet... including quad-core graphics, quad-core cpu, and an OLED screen. but the question remains, does a market still exist for handheld gaming machines?

It is hard to believe that the iPhone is only 4 years old. But those have been an uncomfortable 4 years for Sony and Nintendo as a Goliath of a competitor emerged that neither of them saw coming... Apple. The iPhone and subsequently the iPod touch have been overtaking the leaders in gaming... not so much because of hardware, but instead due to a massive library of games that sell for a fraction of what a PSP or DS title will set you back. But ultimately it may be the one-device convenience factor that tightens the clamps around the titans of gaming. In the same way that video capable point and shoots took down consumer camcorders, smart phones may end up taking over for almost all other handheld devices including laptops. But there may be one element that will push PS Vita sales in to the stratosphere, something that Sony will not like... Android.

Sony has gone out of their way to implement android game porting on the Vita, obviously they see the Android market place as a serious enough competitor to the Vita to warrant possibly upsetting longtime game partners. This begs the question, with android apps able to be ported to the Vita so easily, how long will it be before Vita gets a full taste of Ice Cream Sandwich or Honycomb... mmm tasty! After all the hardware is really not that different than an android tablet or phone. The Vita is sounding a little more interesting now isn't it? A 5-inch OLED multi-touch tablet with a 4-core Cortex-A9 CPU, Bluetooth, WIFI, GPS and 3G data access... all for $300. To be fair the ram on the device is a tad lacking at 512mb, but otherwise its a winning combo... in fact there is no physical reason it could not make phone calls, the original Samsung Galaxy Tab was modded to make calls, so it is possible.

Of course after the massive amount of piracy on the PSP, I am sure the security on the Vita will be formidable. Sony's console the PS3 has stood as a Goliath of security for almost 5 years with only a tiny crack having surfaced in the fortress, which was quickly patched. In fact in the spec sheet for the Vita, Sony mentions that only 3 of the 4 cpu cores are available for apps... I would assume that the 4th core, similar the the PS3, is dedicated entirely to security. But no security is foolproof.

Sony has traditionally stood by the mantra that they can sell their stuff for a lot of money because it is better, and while this may have been true in the past, the originally sluggish sales of the PS3 (which cost a whopping $600 at launch) coupled with the $180 iPod touch may have changed that price dynamic. Nintendo learned that price matters... the Wii has seen brisk sales even after its competitors copied the motion interface. Microsoft has kept the Xbox 360 at the #1 spot through drastic price cuts. Sony Themselves have seen a surge in PS3 sales since the price was cut to $249. The one gaming device to have launched recently that did not follow the iPod touch pricing structure, the Nintendo 3DS, met with very slow sales followed by a drastic price cut from $249.99 to $169.99.

Now, don't get me wrong, Sony is not gouging with the Vita's $250 and $300 price tags. If an iPad costs about $300 in materials to make, it is reasonable to assume that the Vita build cost is the same or even more. Sony is most likely losing money on the initial launch units, OLED screens and quad-core mobile processors are not cheap! But that is not the consumers concern. When faced with the choice of an iPod, Vita, 3DS or the phone that is already in there pocket, it will be a tough call... Unless the PS Vita can do all of the above with Android!

P.S. Whats with the name... Vita, seriously! How much sake had the Sony execs had when they came up with that gem. It sounds like a sleeping medication or a cheap wine... Please Sony, for your own good at least change the name to PS-V!