I am a huge fan of handheld consoles. It’s by no mean an exaggeration to say that I’ve logged more hours cramped over a tiny screen than I have with full-fledged console titles. Ever since my very first Game Boy, I’ve been captivated with the ability to play videogames in any position and place that I want. I’ve owned most handheld releases that have released since my childhood, and I was naturally excited for the upcoming Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. However, as handheld technology grew more and more, it seemed like the newest handheld consoles were reaching a level I could no longer comfortably afford.
Aside from a very poor launch lineup, the 3DS’s $250 launch price kept me away from an early purchase. This was the same price I had paid for my Wii at launch over 4 years ago, and $100 more than I has paid for a used Playstation 3 console. The $35-40 price point for new games was also a turnoff. It wasn’t enough to push me completely away from the thought of owning the system, but as a poor college student, I simply couldn’t afford it. I was lucky enough to receive my 3DS as a gift a few months later, and less than a month after that Nintendo cut the system’s cost a massive $90. I currently own five games for my 3DS, and only one of them was a game that I paid out of my own pocket for. If 3DS games were still at the same $30 price point as regular DS games, I’d likely be a little more indulgent.
With Playstation’s Vita ready for launch in the United States this February, I’m stuck in the same conundrum. Is it really worth buying the console new, or should I just wait and look for a price cut? Because I really would like to remain topical and knowledgeable as a videogame journalist, I attempted to wrap the total cost around in my head. $250 for the system. $20-100 for a memory card (shame on PlayStation for a lack of SD functionality). Another $20 if I wanted some kind of case for it. Finally closing in at $300+ to simply start with the system in my hands, I also realized I was going to need to see which actual games I wanted to play for my new system. The only game out of the system’s nearly 20-game launch lineup that intrigued me was Uncharted: Golden Abyss. It wasn’t for another few days that I found the title’s demo box staring at me from a GameStop display: for the ripe price of $50.
I want it, I just don't think I can afford it.
“Fifty dollars?” I exclaimed to my girlfriend. As someone who plays games as often as I can on a budget, I rarely spend $50 on a console game. Even when I do decide that I truly need to buy a game new, I’m paying just $10 more for a full console release. Even if most of the Vita’s launch titles are $10-20 away from “the big five-o”, you’d be kidding yourself if you didn’t see Uncharted as the PS Vita’s strongest release. Putting the cost of owning the Vita and just one game at a starting point of $350, and it’s getting really hard to justify a purchase.
It’s not just the Vita that’s tried this either. Capcom’s heavily hyped 3DS title Resident Evil: Revelations (also releasing in February) was slated at a $50 release price for months. Just a few days ago, Capcom seemed to have changed their mind, setting the title back to the standard $40 release. Capcom’s actions, while making the company look bad in the process, mimic my own sentiments. I honestly do not believe that a handheld title can sell for $50.
This is too big a game to be $40, let's make it $50. Just kidding, $40 sound pretty good, actually.
My first problem is simply what the handheld experience offers in comparison to the console release. As someone who enjoys handheld titles much more than the average gamer, even I know that the console can offer a substantially bigger and more immersive product. I play the 3DS on a 3.5” and 3” displays. The PS Vita will be offering a 5” screen. My PlayStation 3 offers titles that display clear HD across every inch of my medium-sized 32” HDTV. You simply cannot reach the levels of graphical detail and sound quality of a console with a handheld system. The entire point of a handheld is to acknowledge your system’s limits and find ways to offer your limited experience in a package that keeps your game desirable. One of the many aspects of creating a desirable handheld package is a fair and comparable price to consoles.
To put two similar games into perspective, I finished Super Mario 3D Land over Winter break, and am currently playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 (both titles are currently $40 new). Super Mario Galaxy 2 blows its handheld equivalent out of the water: it’s simply a much larger, more detailed, more involving, and better sounding game. To put things in a Sony perspective, I can buy both Uncharted and Uncharted 2 in a new combo pack for $40, a full $10 cheaper than a new handheld title that will restrict one of the most beautiful titles in gaming’s existence to a 5” screen. I’m not saying that a cinematic experience can’t be had on a handheld console, but to believe that it will accomplish anything close to experiencing an HD title on a full television is a little misguided.
My other problem with the $50 price tag is simply handheld’s true competitor right now: iOS. While most people think of the traditional “app” game as something like Angry Birds, the reality is that iOS games are rapidly developing into full-fledged titles that give the traditional handheld market a serious run for their money. Both Infinity Blade and its sequel Infinity Blade 2 feature gorgeous visuals that come frighteningly close to what current-gen consoles can offer. Both games are available for a combined price of under $15, without any special sales. Incredibly deep games are available for iOS as well, with a complete remake of PS2 title Grand Theft Auto 3 available for just $5 (I got mine on sale for $3). On top of all this, the iPad has double the diagonal display length of the Vita at 10”, making for much less strain on the eyes. I counted every iPad title in my library that I had paid for and the price I had paid, and ended up with 17 titles for $35. That also doesn’t include the dozens of free apps that I’ve downloaded, including huge time sinks like Shadow Era and Temple Run.
The iPad offers gorgeous graphics across a screen twice the size. At one tenth the price.
I’m one of the biggest fanboys for handheld gaming their is, and my perception of what it means to be a handheld game was shattered as soon as I got my iPad. Coming from someone who has frequently scoffed at the unbelievably high price of an oversized iPod for years, I can honestly say that the iPad is a legitimate and fantastic portable gaming machine. You can currently get a refurbished iPad 2 with my 17 paid apps and you’d close to match the cost of a new PS Vita with a memory stick and 3 games. The fact that my entire 17-game library still doesn’t eclipse the cost of the Vita’s Uncharted worries me for the future of the handheld markets for Nintendo and Sony. With the increasing quality of both independent and major releases for iOS, I don’t think a $50 handheld title is a step in the right direction.
I haven’t played the game yet, but I can’t imagine a single concentrated handheld experience offering me the same amount of entertainment value as my full app library for $50. I also can’t imagine Golden Abyss delivering the same experience as the first and second Uncharted titles combined on the PS3. No matter which way I look at it, I can’t see such an expensive handheld game as an affordable package for the money it requests. I really want to enjoy the PS Vita. While I might someday be lucky enough to catch my big break and receive review copies of new titles, right now I simply don’t see myself affording it.
-Josh
