The must-have accessory for the PlayStation Vita launch — and this is because you almost literally must have one — have been Sony’s proprietary memory cards. The 32GB versions in particular have been the most sought-after, selling out in Japan and being confirmed for the handheld’s US launch.
If you’re in Australia or Europe, though? Tough. You will not be getting 32GB cards when the Vita launches in February, a Sony representative on the PlayStation Blog saying “at this time we are not planning to launch with the 32GB PS Vita Memory Card”.
Bummer.
PlayStation Vita AR Cards Bundled Free At Launch [PlayStation]
Why? This was going to be an instant buy for me? I wonder if there's any reason why imported cards won't work...if i can find somewhere that isn't sold out.
I'm pretty sure that you can just import them.
Wow, seriously? I've already paid for my 3G Vita, and the 32GB was going to be a day one buy. Now I have to buy a smaller card just to buy a 32GB later down the track? That's a really shitty move.
You have got to be f'ing kidding me. Tge whole proprietry thing was bullshit to begin with, but to not sufficient supply?
Wow.
eh 1 month and china will have something on ebay. probs 64GB at half the RRP of the 32GB in Australia.
I'll be waiting for that.
this +1
Have fun with that, don't complain about the access times.
this +1
Once again, the land down under gets f'ed over
No, SCEE gets fucked over, and SCEE ALWAYS gets fucked over. Just look at the whole Payday on PS3 fuck up.
"Oh, no! I can't get the 32gb immediately, I have to settle for 16gb or, gasp!, refuse to buy the device at all."
16gb is still quite a lot for games. You saw what sizes the games were in downloadable form.
You seem to be missing the point that Sony have chosen not to launch the 32GB at the same time the Vita does with no reason for Europe and Australia. They're simply doing it so that people have to buy the 16GB and then buy the 32 later.
Well, if they can't guarantee supply then that's a reason to limit the territories they sell them in.
It is a bit shitty for us, but the alternative might be for them to launch with 32GB cards but not being able to find anywhere selling them.
No, that's not the reason, it's just being interpreted that way.
If you really want the 32gb card that badly, just import it. Holy shit, I just solved your problem. How difficult was that? Not very.
Actually, Pariah, I am sure that is the reason why Sony is doing this.
I have always said over the years that the Australian market is often used as a means for recouping development costs.
And Sony is acting no different. Rather than use common sense (which is getting less common every day) and have at least minimal stock avaliable for all launches they pull this trick.
In the end, this is only going to packfire on Sony. People will now just import and not pay the retail price.
I find that interesting to say that our market is used to recoup dev costs, OUR market? Our market of 20 million people, of which the target market is probably closer to 2 million at it's very maximum.
Hell I think the PSP only sold about 50,000 in it's first couple of weeks of sale, so our 50,000 strong launch window market is settling all those dev costs. Glad I'm one of those people keeping Sony in business.
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I for one will be getting a Vita locally, and I've always leant towards just getting a 4GB Card for game saves, I lasted with a 4GB card for the PSP for this whole time.
Initially the device will be for the games I purchase, got a walkman for music and I generally don't watch videos on a portable, so 4GB will be enough for me, later down the track when larger sizes come out I would have planned to update and some might say that I am playing into Sony's plans. If that's the case, then they got me, but I actually don't feel as though those prices are that bad considering prices in the past.
If you want a 32Gb card, then import, by the looks of it, you will be saving about $20-30, but I now think the reason why we aren't getting the 32Gb card is far simpler than we think, as the price of the card in most of Europe and here will push the card over that +$100 mental barrier, if they could guarantee that in EVERY market the 32Gb would be less than $100, then I think they would have.
Though if you can't import, and Really believe that to be the reason, then be smart; beat them at their own game and buy the 4gb card, use that until the 32gb one is available.
That is actually playing Sony's game, not beating it.
I'll be buying one ages after launch anyway, so it's no big deal.
Why do game companies always screw over Europe and AU/NZ ?
We always pay more for our games and consoles and now get left out.
This is bull Sony!!
I am pretty sure the UK and Australia regions are used to recoup development costs.
It's even worse here as competition is near non-existant. Australia is rife with monopolies (classic example is with the supermarkets but that's a worth a thread of its own).
But more people are turning to the Internet so maybe there will be some long over due change and retail will get the idea. Hopefully these bloated monopolies will fall at some point and at last competition will regulate the market into something acceptible.
Ah, Sony. You pull stunts like this and then wonder why hardly any sales are made in Australia.
It's quiet simple, Sony. Australians are not stupid and are more than adept at using the Internet to get their monies worth.
Really shows that in Sony's eyes, the PAL area is still the red-headed stepchild for them.
+1 internets to you. After all the issues with the Vita (One account, freezing issues, touch screen issues, no included storage) and now we won't get a 32GB memory card... The fact that we have to use a card built only for the Vita is bad enough let alone the revolting pricing. I was definitely getting a Vita day one but now I'm most likely going to give that a miss. I'll be quite happy with my 3DS for a while now.
Throw in a black, gay or religious slander comment to go with that... obviously the internet will respect you more for your asshattery.
Man I find Pariah's defense of anything related to this device just boring. You'd swear he worked for Sony.
I agree this isn't the worst thing ever. However, I don't see how you can just dismiss it on the basis of 16gb is enough. obviously its not enough if the larger card is selling out in other territories. Hell, I've exhausted 48gb on my phone.
I just find it odd how people will complain about EVERY. LITTLE. THING. that doesn't go how people want it to. Honestly, just be patient or buy the goods elsewhere. There's no real reason to sit here and bitch about something when nobody will fix it right up for you, much less Sony.
This is unacceptable, that is unacceptable, do it all yourself then.
I hope Sony pay you for all the white-knighting you do for the Vita...
Really not trying for a white-knight status :\
See, your attitude frustrates. You seem to think because these are minor issues to you, everyone is reacting ott. Whereas for me, they were enough to convince me not to buy the device.
I understand that they're issues to you, please, don't get me wrong.
Though, i'm curious about something. If you use that much space for files on your phone, what would you put on a Vita that suddenly makes that 48gb count for naught on your phone? Or do you only carry one storage device around at any one time?
Presumably games. If the first release of games are about a gb, that'll only get larger. I travel a lot, and the carts are why I replaced my ds with a smart phone - I can take all my games with me. Admittedly I'm a special case, though every other media is movibg in that direction.
If I sound extreme, thats an inadvertant consequence of seeing a very desirable machine undermined by the business.
Presumably games. If the first release of games are about a gb, that'll only get larger. I travel a lot, and the carts are why I replaced my ds with a smart phone - I can take all my games with me. Admittedly I'm a special case, though every other media is movibg in that direction.
If I sound extreme in my comments, thats an inadvertant consequence of seeing a very desirable machine undermined by the business.
I'm not getting a vita until I can get at least a 32gb card on it. It's nearly 2012, even 32gb feels too small. Stuff like this is unacceptable.
That is the single most entitled post I've seen on this site so far.
A PS Vita is a lucury item, why shouldn't it fit our specifications? I can understand it might seem silly if there simply WERE no 32GB cards, but there's 32GB cards that simply aren't being released here, and that's garbage.
Yeah, the guy is too entitled abput a luxury item. Puh-lease.
"Just import it!!"
Yeah, as If we hadn't already thought of that.
The problem right now is that its damn near impossible to import a 32gb card to Australia.
Amazon doesn't have them for sale yet, even though they have Vitas and games for pre-order, New Egg lists them but wont ship internationally, Play Asia uses a shipping company with a ridiculous policy of not shipping batteries or memory card.
As for 16gb being enough, says who?
If you plan to go digital only with VIta, 16gb isn't exactly huge.
Such a pain in the ass for something that should have been simple.
Agreed, given the poor condition of game retailers over here in WA I really have next to no real option for buying the good games when they come out as game stores still tend to the "children are the only ones who play games" mentality and fill the hand-held stock with movie tie in games in general.
There are tons of importers for the 32gb cards (if you are willing to pay 10-20 dollars over RRP). If you want to get the card a few dollars cheaper then there is near zero excess supply. In Australia though, you should be keeping an eye on all the retailers, one has undercut the others by a few dollars on memory cards already. I'm planning to buy the 16gb on release(with a price match), and a theoretical 64gb card a year or so from now.