On Tuesday, Sony Computer Entertainment said that over 1.2 million PlayStation Vita units have been sold as of Sunday, February 26, 2012. The device made its debut in Japan back on December 17, 2011, and saw a quick drop in units sold after the first week. Sony then launched the Vita in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea shortly thereafter, and then packed its bags and finally headed west on February 22, 2012, landing in North and Latin America, Europe and PAL territories.
As of February 19, only 578,812 PlayStation Vita units had been sold in Japan -- only 12,309 units were sold in the current week and 13,939 units in the previous week. Yet if the overall number of units surpassed 1.2 million, then around 600,000 units have flown across retail shelves in the other territories in less than a week. While that may look like good news for Sony, the company also saw a huge surge of movement in the first week of Vita's lifespan in Japan before sales took a plunge.
Yet compared to the Nintendo 3DS launch here in the west, the PlayStation Vita seems to be doing slightly better in sales. Last year Nintendo sold around 400,000 units here in the U.S., 113,000 units in the UK, and 31,000 units in Australia, equaling a total of 544,000 units in the first week. Even more, the 3DS sold for its original price of $249.99 before Nintendo was forced to knock $80 off the pricetag months later to move the product off store shelves.
That said, it seems that consumers see more value in the PlayStation Vita's $249.99/$299.99 price tag. While lacking the 3D component offered by Nintendo's product, the PlayStation Vita seemingly does everything a mobile gamer could ever want save for making actual voice calls. Sony also played it smart and established a solid "social" network that provides music, video, gaming and more -- Nintendo has yet to launch anything comparable.
"PS Vita was designed to deliver the ultimate portable entertainment experience, and we couldn't be more thrilled with the reaction we're seeing from consumers and the pace at which PS Vita is selling," said Andrew House, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "The market has responded and there is clear demand for a mobile device capable of providing a revolutionary combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real world context. To sustain momentum, we're working closely with 3rd party developers and publishers to ensure the best games and franchises possible will be available on PS Vita, and our software line up for the remainder of 2012 will have something for everyone across the globe."
So far there are more than 25 titles available for the PlayStation Vita including EA Sports FIFA Football, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 from Capcom, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, WipEout 2048 and Escape Plan from SCE Worldwide Studios. More than 70 titles are currently in development.
