UFC Trainer dev: PS Vita "a car wreck"
"People don't want it."
The PlayStation Vita launch will be "a car wreck", believes UFC Personal Trainer creator Heavy Iron Studios.
"If people aren't willing to pay $249 for a Nintendo 3DS why would they pay $299 for Vita?" Heavy Iron president Lyle Hall told GamesIndustry.biz.
"People don't want to carry more than one thing in their pocket, that's why Android and iPhone have done so well, they are the devices of choice, they offer multiple functions outside of gaming.
"People don't want it."
Industry veteran (2K Games, Microsoft Game Studios) and new Heavy Iron signing Matthew Seymour added: "With all due respects to Sony and Vita, it's a car wreck. And how about Xperia Play? I'd love to pull up the numbers on that."
Sony couldn't convince the world about its digital-only version of PSP, the PSPgo. And Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play - "the first PlayStation certified Android smartphone" - has had a muted arrival.
More recently, Nintendo has struggled to find an audience for 3DS - prompting a huge price cut that was brought into effect last Friday, 12th August.
"The consumer has spoken."
Lyle Hall, president, Heavy Iron Studios
The handheld market, according to Heavy Iron, has moved on.
"The technology is sweet," said Lyle Hall of the PS Vita. "I'm a huge fan of mobile technology. But I just don't know there's a market out there any more for the hardware. I can't see why you would want to put a device out that only does games.
"The consumer has spoken," he added. "We wanted to see that world exist - more players, more opportunities for us - but at the same time people don't want that.
"Unless there's a super technology paradigm shift it's not going to shift back."
The PlayStation Vita launches in Japan this year and in Europe and North America early 2012.