Sony aims to promote PS Vita more effectively

Sony is hoping to improve the way it markets and promotes the PlayStation Vita.

The handheld has had a rough time during its short life span, with sales well behind that of its competitor, the Nintendo 3DS.

Sony EVP and chief financial officer, Masaru Kato, said the key to making the Vita an attractive purchase is new games.

"Now one thing clear for us is that in terms of profitability, we have to do a better job in promoting the PlayStation Vita mobile product," he told analysts.

"How do we do that? Well, gaming business software is the name of the game. So as a fundamental measure, we are putting all - a lot of resources, not just first party, but also asking third parties to put out more attractive software."

One such new game is the upcoming Killzone: Mercenary, which boasts impressive graphics for a handheld title.

But Kato also said that the pricing of the Vita has a big part to play.

"The other thing, well, marketing, pricing of the product, et cetera, I cannot talk about pricing of this platform, but those are the things that we are looking into to improve our profitability in the mobile handheld gaming business."