...because I was replying to someone talking about PSV software sales...? Also, Mirai was an example in a wider post. It wasn't a "Diva vs. Mirai final match", but just an example to show that 3DS can sell third party games, even if they typically belongs to Sony platforms (Miku was the case in point).
Sorry if I was unclear. I was less talking about the Vita specifically(though I was to the extent of my observation that the 3DS' advantage tended to shrink into insignificance the further down ultimate sales expectations went) and more about why Square's action make sense in not focusing all of their primary series or at least most of them on the 3DS. One of those reasons was the above point that it is not a guarantee of greater sales for mid-level titles generally. It is for certain mid-level titles, bit not for all.
My other point is that it is an all or nothing choice. Take Final Fantasy XHD. Would a Final Fantasy X port, a la Dragon Quest VIII likely have sold better on the 3DS than on the Vita alone. Probably. But the Vita is a fairly easy system to port from the PS3 and even PS4, and FFX Vita basically involved some resolution reductions and was done. Whereas a 3DS version, as DQVIII pretty much shows, would have had to be a much more extensive re-imagining akin to a full remake, especially in the pre-N3DS era. Now while it is speculation, I find it hard to believe that such a product would not have been far more expensive than the Vita version, and potentially far more expensive than the PS3/Vita/PS4 versions combined.
And this is where the sales comparison comes in. Would it have sold sufficiently better on the 3DS to justify either that budget, or not doing a PS3/Vita/PS4 version at all?
I think DQ has a stronger argument for the 3DS. The only reason I thought it had the slightest chance of ever coming on Vita was because of the Android port, since I assumed if it was easy/cheap to port Android game like Rise of Mana/Chaos Rings a poorly optimized Vita version looked like an easy cash-in. But in this case Square evidently decided they would in fact make more money with more effort.
I am skeptical though if the same applies as strongly to DQXI. The issue there is again options. Developing for 3DS locks you into a single piece of aged hardware, with no guarantee of backwards compatibility, especially for digital games, and limited porting options that don't involve a full remake. By contrast, targeting the PS4 allows for NX/PC ports in the future, and if the NX is a handheld system, there is your Japanese market. I think the decision is sensible, and doesn't require an overly optimistic view of the PS4's situation. It will do well enough that the PS4 version will likely pay for itself, but the real reason to do it is for future proofing and enabling ports to NX/PC in the future.
