Sony recently held its Consumer Electronics Show (CES) press conference, revealing a slew of important sales data, PS Vita features and smartphone launches. The show itself is not especially renowned for its focus on video games, but there was still plenty to take out of Sony's showing at the event. Here's what came out of it.
PlayStation Sales
More details: PS Vita up-to-date sales figures
What happened?
Sony president Kaz Hirai revealed new sales figures for the company's latest gaming device, the portable PlayStation Vita, which launched in Japan on December 17. Despite numerous doomsday reports suggesting poor post-launch sales for the device, Hirai painted a positive picture for the handheld, putting its sales figures up alongside total PlayStation sales for the holiday season.
The powerful handheld has reached 500,000 total units sold, meaning an average of 25,000 units have been sold every day over the handheld's 20 days of availability up to the press conference. That helped bring the total number of PlayStation products sold over the Christmas period to 6.5 million sales worldwide.
What does it mean?
Interestingly, Vita's predecessor in the PSP is still selling incredibly well, having comfortably beaten out Vita in the two weeks after its launch weekend. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, seeing as though there are a number of PSP games available for sale on the Vita PlayStation Store. With an imminent Western launch, Sony is surely expecting better results in Europe and North America, two places where the PSP doesn't have quite as strong a market presence anymore. With PSP support still relatively strong in Japan in comparison, it might not be time to panic, seeing as though Vita is competing directly with its predecessor there, while in the West it's less likely to be beaten out by it.
Netflix on PS Vita
More information: PS Vita becomes portable cinemas as Netflix jumps in
What happened?
North American gamers will be able to use their new PS Vita's as portable cinemas as Sony revealed a new partnership with movie-streaming service Netflix. The service will be available from the day the handheld goes on sale in late February, adding to an already robust level of digital functionality alongside the PlayStation Store.
What does it mean?
For North American gamers, it means they'll have just as much media functionality at launch as they did with the PSP. Vita's predecessor had a very solid launch lineup of UMD movies, although we all know how quickly that format died out after a respectable start. Unsurprisingly, UMD movies are still readily available in Japan and across the rest of Asia. As for Australian gamers, a movie service might come later down the track. We didn't get a movie rental service on the PlayStation Store until well after our American allies did, just as we had to wait on Xbox Live for the respectable but shallow "Zune" movies service. However, if there is already a service on PS3, it wouldn't make sense for it to not come to Vita in Australia, so hopefully it happens sooner rather than later.
PlayMemories Online
What happened?
Sony announced PlayMemories Online, a cloud-based storage system for photos and movies, turning your PS3 into functioning home movie editor and photo viewer.
What does it mean?
This is a really exciting prospect for those of us with a camera addiction. You'll be able to access your images using cloud-based storage from your PS3, PS Vita, as well as computers, televisions and smart phones (pending compatibility). Tweaking your photos and videos for easy posting on the likes of YouTube, while also being able to carry around your memories on your Vita without actually using any of its storage is an exciting prospect.
Sony Mobile Communications
What happened?
Sony's recently acquired Sony Ericsson is set to be renamed Sony Mobile Communications, with a new Bravia-powered smartphone called the Xperia S the first new product.
What does it mean?
This Sony smartphone, like the ones before it, will be 'PlayStation Certified', meaning you'll be able to play all of the best PS1 games on it. It'll have Android 2.3 out of the gate, expanding its functionality extensively beyond its PlayStation use. It's due out in Australia some time around Easter. North American users will be able to get it exclusively from AT&T sometime in Spring.
By Gaetano Prestia