Sony's John Koller says company is not concerned with handheld's performance, staggered postlaunch support key.
The PlayStation Vita posted big numbers upon its December 17 launch in Japan, with Media Create reporting that nearly 325,000 units made it to gamers in its first week of availability. However, that number fell off substantially into its second week, with the console selling about 72,500 units according to Media Create, and just under 43,000 units by week three.
On the surface, that downward trend doesn't appear to bode well for Sony's latest handheld device. However, speaking to GameSpot at CES 2012, Sony director of hardware marketing John Koller said that PS Vita sales in Japan aren't a concern for the company.
"If you look at the word-of-mouth factor, it's really strong because people are bringing it home and really enjoying it," he said. "That satisfaction rate is really high. But also in terms of when we funnel in additional hardware units, that'll dictate how many sales there are and how many sell through.
"We're still in the first couple weeks, and we're trying to get as many units into market as possible. We're going to give it some time, but overall those numbers have been to forecast," he continued.
Koller also addressed Sony's game plan for software releases on the PS Vita. Alluding to the 3DS's dearth of new games following its launch, Koller said that Sony plans to mete out big-name titles for the PS Vita on a consistent basis in the months ahead.
"What we really wanted to do, and I think we learned from past, most recent, handheld device launches, is that you don't want to launch strongly and then go dark for three or four months and have nothing…So in subsequent months for Vita, we have launch, then we have MLB, then we got Mortal Kombat, then Resistance, then Little Big Planet, then Call of Duty, and Assassin's Creed."
Check out the video below for GameSpot's full interview with Sony's John Koller.
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