KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
With the launch of the Nintendo Switch, we are starting to see a resurgence of interest in handheld gaming. This has given hope to some of Sony's dedicated Vita fans but unfortunately, it doesn't seem like Sony is planning on getting back into the handheld arena any time soon.
At one point in time, Sony was huge in the handheld space with the PSP but as Sony Interactive Entertainment America head, Shawn Layden, puts it, the Vita didn't just didn't ever reach “critical mass”. Due to this, the Vita quickly dropped on Sony's list of priorities and while a lot of people still use it as a dedicated indie game or remote play system, the focus right now is purely on home console gaming.
Here is what Shawn Layden had to say during an interview with TIME: “To be honest, the Vita just didn't reach critical mass in the US or Western Europe. I don't know if it was that it was more technology people had to carry around, or more things to charge, or whether their phone or tablet were taking care of that. But once the content slowed in that pipeline, it became hard to keep the Vita as a going concern.”
“It's definitely what that Nintendo fanbase has been waiting for. When you look at our numbers, I think it shows that a lot of gamers are a two-console family. And quite often those two consoles are PlayStation and Nintendo sitting side-by-side.”
KitGuru Says: Most of my younger years were spent primarily gaming on handhelds so I think I'll always have a soft spot for them. It would be nice to see a powerful, well supported PS Vita successor but it doesn't sound like that is ever going to happen. Did any of you own a PSP or a Vita? Do you think Sony gave up on handhelds too soon?
I had an original PSP-1000 and still have a limited edition PSP Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core edition which i’m hoping is some day going to pay for my retirement, it’s got FF7&8 on it too. I also had a Vita but it just didn’t grip me the same way although that OLED screen was a beauty. I always felt Sony wasn’t fully behind it and eventually traded it in for Steam vouchers.
The trouble with Sony, and i have both vitas, ps4, pro etc….if it’s not at the top, it’s a failure, so just quietly forget about it. If it didn’t win over Nintendo, just give up on it.. That’s why I’m hesitant on jumping in new tech, they did it again with sony TV, ps now, on tvs… Tell you one minute it’s amazing, then it ends,or changes for the worst..look at the vita store on th handheld, doesn’t look like they’ve spent a penny on it from the start, just left, I’m just waiting one day, it’s shut….its reminds me of young children,, they loose interest in things very easy and move onto new things, never really trying the thing before.
The Playstation TV would’ve been far better if it could play every single Vita title, considering the controller can already emulate touch controls even if it’s not ideal I’d still like the choice to play something like Golden Abyss on my TV as opposed to the Vita only