The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2013–2016
PS Vita TV: Sony's micro-console that never caught on
Sony's $100 micro-console for playing Vita games on a TV sold 42k in its debut week, ~185k lifetime in Japan — discontinued in 2016 after poor sales.
Sony Interactive Entertainment · 2016-02-29
What happened
On November 14 2013 Sony released the PlayStation Vita TV in Japan: a matchbook-sized microconsole that plugged into a TV via HDMI and played many PlayStation Vita games without the handheld, plus PS4 Remote Play and streaming titles. Priced around ¥9,480 (about $100), it was pitched as a cheap way to play Vita games on the big screen.
The catch was compatibility. Only roughly 140 Vita games worked, and major titles — Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, Tearaway, Borderlands 2 — did not, because they relied on the Vita's touchscreen, gyroscope, microphone or camera. A machine that could play only part of a hot catalog was a hard sell to owners and a non-starter for new ones.
Sales collapsed after a 42,172-unit debut week in Japan. Sony cut the price 40% to €59.99 in Europe, then ended shipments in the US and Europe during 2015 and in Japan on February 29 2016, formally citing 'poor platform sales.' Media Create's lifetime tally for the device in Japan stood at about 185,452 units.
Why it happened
- Sony shipped a Vita games machine that could not play most Vita games, so the core promise — your Vita library on a TV — was only partly true at launch.
- The microconsole asked owners to buy again for a subset of titles they already owned, with no new exclusive reason to own it, so it never reached beyond a niche.
- Sony positioned it as a cheap companion but supported it as an afterthought, then discontinued it before the game library could catch up.
The lesson
A platform that plays only part of its own library is a promise, not a product. Sony's Vita TV asked people to buy a box for the games it could not run.
Aftermath
Sony discontinued the PlayStation TV in the US and Europe in 2015 and in Japan on February 29 2016. It was never replaced, and the Vita platform itself was wound down in the years that followed.
Sources
- Wikipedia — PlayStation TV
- Neoseeker — PS Vita TV discontinued in Japan following poor sales (Feb 2016)
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