Yoshida: Sony surprised and disappointed by third party support for Vita

Two Sony figureheads have spoken out on the success of the company's handheld this week. Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida has shared his disappointment in the support publishers had shown for the PlayStation Vita.

"One thing that was surprising and disappointing to us was the [lower] number of third parties to come out [in support] after launch," he told Gamasutra.

"In retrospect, there are so many options for publishers now that we cannot take it for granted that our new platform would be supported by third parties, like [it would've been] many years ago."

He suggested that part of the blame lay with the boom in mobile devices that are now competing with handhelds for publisher's development dollars.

"There are limited resources that third party publishers have, and they have to diversify into new areas constantly; that's a challenge to get the support that we want. We've been working harder with our third party relations department to secure more content for PS Vita, we are confident that we have the right hardware platform that we have with PS Vita."

Meanwhile SCE UK boss Fergal Gara spoke about UK sales and hinted at a price cut in 2013.

"I'd say it's done reasonably well, but I'm a sales guy and motivated by selling, so I'm never going to say we've done well enough," he told Eurogamer.

"What's important is we've got great software now as we face into peak. We've seen it time and time again on Sony platforms and others' platforms: when you've got great software you can give it a great push."

When asked about the Vita price tag he added that the company "always aim to establish price cuts" and "the question is not so much if, but when." He did confirm it wouldn't be in time for Christmas.

It seems that this Christmas the Sony will be keeping its eye on another console, the Wii U, but Gara added that he doesn't see it as an immediate threat.

"We feel very confident that in the PlayStation and we won't be going after the same niche early adopter market they'll be going after this Christmas. I think we're sitting in separate camps at this stage, so it won't be head to head," he explained.

"If they gain real traction next year it becomes a more important factor in the mix. They've been a very key player in the market overall as you well know in recent years. So we have to respect that, watch that and do our best to compete with that."

Gara also addressed Sony's stance toward 3D gaming, which was a significant push for the company but has not been a focus of its marketing efforts of late. Despite Sony's efforts, Gara conceded that 3D entertainment in the home just hasn't caught on.

"Consumers decide how relevant it is," Gara said. "It's fair to say consumers have decided it's not hugely important at this time. It's a capability we've got. It may have a bigger life a little further down the line."