3DS currently outselling Vita by 46 to 1 in Japan

I heard Monster Hunter is quite popular over there...

I'm soooo glad I bought a Vita (that's sarcasm folks). Screw you Sony, for completely dropping the ball on what SHOULD BE an amazing handheld. I'm no marketing genius but umm, perhaps a friggin price drop is due? The system will never do well sitting at $250 with an absolutely abysmal game library, and the library will continue to suck since devs have no faith in the (overpriced) Vita ever selling well. DO SOMETHING SONY!

I would absolutely love to own a vita, but at this point in time, I see no reason why I should run out and drop $250 on the system alone when it has next to nothing to back it up. Add some decent games and I'll be on in a heartbeat.

It has a great library if you look at it in isolation. LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted, Everybody's Golf, Gravity Rush, Virtua Tennis, Metal Gear HD Collection, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, FIFA, Rayman, Need For Speed, Wipeout (and the amazing ports of HD and Fury), MotorStorm RC, BlazBlue, Pure Chess, Ridge Racer, Lumines, Tales From Space, Super Stardust... there's loads there really. Nothing mind-blowingly awesome, perhaps, but that's not a bad line-up, especially compared to 3DS at that point in its life.

But how many of these are Vita exclusives, and how many are simply ports from other platforms? Or to put it another way, if Amimal Crossing is platform exclusive system seller for the 3DS. Where is the Vita's equivalent?

There is no reason this should be happening, I blame Nihilistic software. They ruined what was going to be two of the most prominent vita games (Resistance and now COD), but they failed horribly in its development.

Gravity Rush is the best!

The Vita isn't overpriced. Get it in a bundle, and the price is more than justified. I got the AC3 Liberation Vita just this week, and it's an amazing handheld. (The game is good too, though it needs more than a few bugfix patches.) Vita memory cards, though...that's a different story. Those things are SEVERELY overpriced. $100 for a 32 GB card? Yeah, no.

Is the Vita overpriced?? Maybe you're right and it isn't. I bought a 3DS day one and I didn't think it was overpriced either, but apparently most people did. While you may be technically correct (the best kind of correct) that wont save the Vita from floundering and dying. It needs some huge blockbusters now and/or a substantive price cut. Otherwise this little system that could, never will.

I really want to love the Vita, but I just can't justify buying one for 3 reasons: * No internal storage (what were you thinking Sony?!?!?) * Not enough apps (I want an all-in-one-tablet-like device that's mainly for gaming). Vita's app support is still not up to snuff. * Not enough sales. This sounds weird, but as a late adopter, I want the system to be selling a lot of units so that I know more stuff is going to be made for it down the road. I could probably overlook all of these if it had internal storage...

I got my Vita for $200 with a 4G memory stick and AC 3: Liberation. I don't think it's the price at this point. PS+ is offering 5 games next Monday. It comes down to 2 big things: 1) Ridiculous cost for memory sticks and 2) Most importantly a mediocre lineup of games with nothing looming on the horizon.

LOL sony need to give up their dream... they lost the handheld war before it started

I'm still mystified as to how this has happened. The 3DS is a novelty at best, whereas the Vita is practically a fully-blown console you can take around with you. I guess the Nintendo fans seriously love them some Mario. Oh and the actual 3D on the 3DS is awful, and gave me a headache after only a couple of minutes of playing.

i know this is a stereotype justin but i was wondering what artists you listen to as men with longer hair are more likely to be listening to heavy music. thanks

This has happened for several reasons. 1. The 3DS has more killer apps. Since launch in Japan, it has had a 3D Mario, a 2D Mario, Mario Kart, a Monster Hunter, and now Animal Crossing. The Vita, in contrast, does not have any huge games yet in Japan. 2. Moderate hits. The 3DS has had a surprising number of games that, although not huge, have been moderate successes, to fill out the library enough for the hardcore. Nintendogs, Mario Tennis, Kid Icarus, Fire Emblem, Pokemon Rumble Blast, and Ocarina of Time 3D fall into this category, but so does Dragon Quest Monsters 3, Inazuma Eleven, Professor Layton, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil: Revelations, Bravely Default, Samurai Warriors, and Harvest Moon. The only Vita games of this calibre so far have been Hatsune Miku and Persona 4. 3. The 3DS is cheaper. Factoring in the cost of a small memory card, the Vita costs about $100 more than the 3DS. 4. Sony's first party offerings to the Japanese public, like Uncharted, are simply not that popular in Japan. The only REALLY popular IP Sony has in Japan is Gran Turismo, which we haven't even heard rumors of coming to the Vita yet. 5. The 3DS XL is a popular option among a lot of people, simply because it has a better battery life than any other 8th gen portable. 6. PSP migration. Developing games for the Vita is significantly more expensive than making PSP games. The 3DS, however, has similar development costs as the PSP. Therefore, you have companies that abandoned the PlayStation boat for the 3DS family, simply because they couldn't afford Vita development. This is most apparent with Monster Hunter 4, but is also possibly why Kingdom Hearts 3D, Resident Evil: Revelations, and Dead or Alive: Dimensions are 3DS games instead of Vita ones. Sure, maybe they would sell better on the Vita. Maybe. But they'd have to spend more to even make those games. 7. Future. Currently, the 3DS has a bright future ahead. Major games of 2013 include Monster Hunter 4, Dragon Quest 7, Ace Attorney 5, Luigi's Mansion, and probably Pokemon too. The Vita has the unproven Soul Sacrifice and... possibly Final Fantasy X HD, if it hasn't been cancelled. 8. 3D. Despite your problems with 3D, people honestly do appreciate and enjoy it. In retrospect, the real question isn't "Why is the 3DS crushing the Vita?" It's "Why shouldn't the 3DS be crushing the Vita?"

That is a massive stereotype! But yes, I play guitar and like heavy music. The WildHearts, Offspring, Hendrix, Animal Alpha, Audioslave... I like other stuff too (quite an eclectic taste, actually) but am sad to say my hair isn't actually very long right now. Fail.

Yeah I'm not really surprised...

If they put a new monster hunter (like full blown next entry rather than what's going on the DS/wii u) I would consider it more earnestly. But 250$ for that damn thing when the only games I'd be interested in are MH and AC is way too much. Right now you can get a psp and great games like the early MH's plus tons of others for under 100$. There just isn't enough reason for me yet.

i'm still playing my GBA SP... companies need to realize that having mindblowing console-quality graphics on a handheld isn't really what people want. sure it might be nice, but if the games still suck, then no go. having owned only an N64 and a gamecube the last 2 conosle generations, i got used to envying the games coming out on the PS1 and 2. not once have i felt envious of a single game coming out for the PSP or vita. how can that be? where's all the games?

Damn nihilistic, however I doubt they are responsible for the lack of sales in Japan because I doubt either of those games would have been big hits there.