“It’s a very hi-spec machine, but I don’t see the combination of software and hardware that makes a strong product” — that’s Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto on PlayStation Vita, channeling the cries of the handheld’s owners.
The quote comes from a recent chat Miyamoto had with Edge in Paris, as he was promoting the Louvre museum’s 3DS-powered visitor’s guide.
He’s one to talk, of course, with the 3DS having gone through a similar dry spell following its launch early last year. “When we launched the 3DS hardware we didn’t have Super Mario 3D Land, we didn’t have Mario Kart 7, we didn’t have Kid Icarus: Uprising. We were striving to have all of these ready for the launch, but we weren’t able to deliver them at that time,” he admitted.
“We were kind of hoping that people would, nevertheless, buy into the product, find 3DS hardware promising, but looking back we have to say we realise the key software was missing when we launched the hardware.”
Not as much of a jab then as it is an acknowledgement of past mistakes that Sony’s went and repeated. With Gravity Rush out in the summer, hopefully things will start improving shorty. Fingers crossed for some stellar Vita-related E3 announcements, too.
