Experts question Vita
Wednesday, Wednesday, February 22, 2012 6:00 PM
Sony's latest PlayStation effort, the Vita, only launched in Europe and the US today (February 22nd), but it has already come under fire from industry analysts.
The handheld console retails at between £200 and £300 depending on the model and the games package - a pricing point that is just one of its flaws, according to Gartner Research Director Michael Gartenberg.
He told Reuters that this makes it more expensive than most mobile phones, which are threatening to kill off handheld consoles, and around the same price as a more powerful home console.
"It is hard to say who is the market for this," he said.
"It almost feels like Sony designed a product for a world where smartphones and tablets don't exist."
Its performance in Japan has been underwhelming, where it has been outclassed by rival Nintendo's 3DS, but Sony is still confident of good sales elsewhere.
Jack Tretton, the US chief executive office of PlayStation, told Reuters: "The target consumer is a PS3 owner, and there's 60 million of those out there."