Why does Sony hate the Vita so much? They've basically left it to die

[gf78]

As an early adopter (I had a dead pixel and a sticky "square" button) of the PSP, I thoroughly enjoyed the system and have played and/or owned around 100 different titles for it.  Even though it had it's rough patches and times where it seemed Sony didn't really know what to do with it, it always came back swinging with great 1st and 3rd party titles.  Against the Nintendo DS, it didn't do too bad for itself, selling a respectable 80+ million systems in it's lifetime. 

With my overall satisfaction with the PSP, I had high hopes for the PSVita and bought one within a week of it being released.  And it started out fantastic.  The system itself was an obvious step-up from the PSP.  Faster, more powerful, beautiful screen, feature-packed, dual-analog controls (finally!) and better WiFi were just a few of the things that made this little handheld so promising.  And the initial games were fantastic (my opinion, please don't shoot me if your opinion differs)!  Uncharted Golden Abyss looked stunning on a handheld.  WipEout was as great as any console version released.  Gravity Rush is a must-play.  ModNation Racers Roadtrip, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Ultimate, Little Deviants (fun for what it was, more a tech demo of the systems capabilities than anything) and Rayman Origins rounded out my initial purchases. 

But Sony never advertised the system.  Here was this great handheld with so much promise and it was just kinda put out there and not hyped whatsoever.  New releases began slowing to a trickle.  Street Fighter x Tekken, LittleBigPlanet Vita, TearAway, Soul Sacrifice and a few other decent/great games continued to trickle out at an increasingly slower pace.  But still, Sony didn't continue to court developers to put out titles and 1st party games slowed to a crawl. 

I thought the system was going to get it's second wind when Sony themselves worked on a conversion of Borderlands 2 and made a newer, lighter PSVita 2000 system.  It's gets released and....it's in limited quantities, sells out and a month goes by with no more systems on shelves.  Did Sony underestimate the demand?  Did they just not care?  As it's second year was winding to an end, the only game of note from Sony themselves was Freedom Wars which they basically just subtitled with no English language dub.

At the PlayStation Experience, Sony announced several new games.  Shovel Knight with Kratos and Mr. Yoshida as guest characters looks pretty fun and I've heard nothing but good things from Wii U owners who have played it.  The Grim Fandango and Day of the Tantacle stuff sounds good.  But it brings up a few serious problems I have.

First, these games aren't "graphically intense" or modern, but more retro and in the case of Shovel Knight, 8-bit graphic style.  Where are the visual stunners that get people to notice?  Why haven't Sony courted publishers like Namco and Capcom to release a Monster Hunter, Tekken, Soul Calibur or Street Fighter game for the system?

The second issue, the system and what games it does have basically has no retail presence.  Go to Walmart and you might see a few jammed on the side of the PS4 and PS3 systems.  Target has relegated PSVita games to a tiny endcap with less than a half dozen titles.  Gamestop has the best "display" for the Vita with a small shelf with some cardboard props, a decent selection of games and the PS4 kiosk has a Vita attached to it.

This little handheld has so much promise, but Sony has basically just put it out there and seems not to care.  Sure, remote play is a cool feature, but again Sony doesn't advertise it.  Upcoming PlayStation Now support could really bolster the systems reputation, but I don't forsee Sony advertising it. 

It's just a shame that Vita languishes when with a little advertising and a little prodding, Sony could pump out some in-house RETAIL titles and convince 3rd parties to do the same.  Even if it's just ports of Tekken Tag 2, a Tekken game would draw attention to it.  I really love the system, but I'm not heavy into Japanese RPG's like Akiba's Trip, Neptunia, One Piece Red and the other games like that and it seems to be all that gets a retail release.  I find myself charging up and playing my PSP more than I touch the Vita. 

What do you guys & gals think? 

[fighterpilot562]

Every time I look at the Vita and check out its game line up, I just can't see myself buying it, I am a fan of sony, but every time I even think about maybe buying a Vita, I just remember it seriously doesnt have a single game I even want. It is sad really.

[burningdoom]

Yeah, I'd rather have a PSP than a Vita. Vita's library just doesn't justify it's price-tag.

[devancowan]

After buying a Vita a few months ago I sort of feel the same way. Aside from a few games (Persona 4 Golden & Tales of Hearts R) theres just nothing else that seems to interest me either. It is a great value for the specs your getting on the system at 199.99 which is comparable to the 3DSxl, which it highly out ranks. However I still spend way more time playing my 3ds.
I don't understand why they don't port some of the great games to the Vita? Is it because you can buy most of them on the PSN? Myself, I would love to see Ni No Kuni or The Last of Us come to the vita. Just thoughts.

[gf78]

I can't say that I haven't gotten my money's worth from it.  I've bought 20 retail titles and love them all or at least, enjoyed them.  And Sony gives me 2-3 games a month free for it with PSPlus.  And some of those downloads have been pretty good, but most are "retro" style games that I don't care too much for.  It also doesn't help that I'm not a fan of download-only titles.  If they weren't free, I probably would never have paid for them. 

It's just so disheartening to see a system with so much potential languishing like it has.

[disgaeniac]

If, like me, you mainly play rpgs - the way to go is a Vita/PSTV - it's compatible w/ a lot of its rpg's, you can play it on your tv - using a regular controller - and it's even cheaper...

...except for the memory cards

[gf78]

After buying a Vita a few months ago I sort of feel the same way. Aside from a few games (Persona 4 Golden & Tales of Hearts R) theres just nothing else that seems to interest me either. It is a great value for the specs your getting on the system at 199.99 which is comparable to the 3DSxl, which it highly out ranks. However I still spend way more time playing my 3ds.
I don't understand why they don't port some of the great games to the Vita? Is it because you can buy most of them on the PSN? Myself, I would love to see Ni No Kuni or The Last of Us come to the vita. Just thoughts.

I think Sony's whole focus right now is on PS4 and they feel like if you want to play Last of Us (or something similar), you can just Remote Play it.  But porting titles is exactly what I think would help it.  Square-Enix has shown they will whore-out....errr...port just about any game in their catalog to multiple systems.  Why can't Vita owners get Chrono Trigger like the DS?  From Sony themselves, how about porting or releasing a MotorStorm?

[argyle]

I read an interesting article a few months ago that brought up some points I had never considered. Basically, with the Vita being HD it's MUCH more expensive to make games for than the 3DS.  So Sony had a harder time getting companies to develop for it than Nintendo did the 3DS, especially early on, and then once the 3DS had built a decent library & started selling well that hurt the Vita even further. That's why now you get so many indies on the Vita, because they're so much cheaper to make.

I like the Vita a lot, but there's no contest between its library & the 3DS'.

[gartcat]

It's been the same story over and over again since the Gameboy, someone tries to out-muscle Nintendo on a handheld & end up in 2nd, even if almost every competitor has had a technically superior machine.  I think the Vita might have a limited audience of technophile/niche gamers that is causing some of the trouble as far as sales go. 

[kashell]

I am having a love affair with my Vita. Ys, Tales of Hearts, Sorcery Saga, Hatsune Miku, Neptunia(s), etc. I like it more than the 3DS by a landslide...

...that said, I know that the 3DS is far -FAR- more popular and regarded.

[abe]

I looooooove my Vita. I play it way more often than I play my 3DS and it's got tons of the kinds of games I love.

I agree on the lack of shelf space in-store that the Vita gets. I've purchased nearly all of my Vita games online because I often just can't find them in stores, or in stock for a decent price.

Also f*** the price of those memory cards. The Vita could've easily used microSD cards instead. The way content on the memory cards is managed is also way less user friendly than the PSP was as well. You didn't need some program on your computer for your PSP like you do with the Vita to transfer things between your PC and Vita.

[devancowan]

I read an interesting article a few months ago that brought up some points I had never considered. Basically, with the Vita being HD it's MUCH more expensive to make games for than the 3DS.  So Sony had a harder time getting companies to develop for it than Nintendo did the 3DS, especially early on, and then once the 3DS had built a decent library & started selling well that hurt the Vita even further. That's why now you get so many indies on the Vita, because they're so much cheaper to make.

I like the Vita a lot, but there's no contest between its library & the 3DS'.

That makes sense actually and I never really thought about that. Sony has to do something if they want to compete with the 3DS.

[gf78]

I read an interesting article a few months ago that brought up some points I had never considered. Basically, with the Vita being HD it's MUCH more expensive to make games for than the 3DS.  So Sony had a harder time getting companies to develop for it than Nintendo did the 3DS, especially early on, and then once the 3DS had built a decent library & started selling well that hurt the Vita even further. That's why now you get so many indies on the Vita, because they're so much cheaper to make.

I like the Vita a lot, but there's no contest between its library & the 3DS'.

That makes sense actually and I never really thought about that. Sony has to do something if they want to compete with the 3DS.

Sadly at this point, I don't think they give a $hit.  They seem to focus (barely) on remote play and upcoming PlayStation Now. 

The system and games have barely any retail presence and I think it goes without saying that if you aren't going to give stores games to sell, they aren't going to really give two $shits about selling your hardware. 

It's really a shame because out of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, I think Sony listens to what their fans want more than the other two.  Maybe we should start petitioning them to give a crap about the Vita and treat it like the AAA device that it is.

[fauxshot]

It's sad that the Vita hasn't gotten more development. There are definitely worthwhile games out there (the Danganronpa series and P4G alone justified my purchase pretty well), but as you said, what games are available (unless you go online) is basically a roll of the dice, depending on where you go. For example, I had no idea Sorcery Saga even existed. An amazing title? No. A worthwhile one? I think so. But unless you just happen to see it or find it online, you wouldn't know about it.

I have both a 3DS and PS Vita, and honestly, I'm not too infatuated with either one. There are certain games that make the purchase worth it for me on both systems, but I've just found it difficult to find games that I really enjoy on either system, in a broad sense. Then again, my library for each system is probably only 6-8 games each.

Perhaps part of Nintendo's proverbial 1up on the competition is the guarantee of quality, first-party IPs and games on the handhelds. When you buy a Nintendo handheld, you know you're going to get some Metroid, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, and Mario. If you like first-party IPs, you know you'll enjoy the handheld. But I feel that Sony doesn't have that same advantage. You might like Uncharted, but you won't necessary like Golden Abyss. You may enjoy Resistance, but Burning Skies is pretty much a dud. It doesn't feel like you know what to 'expect' from a Sony handheld, whereas you do know what to expect with a Nintendo handheld, to a certain extent.

Both systems' game libraries, for me, just don't feel diverse enough. It's hard to explain, and maybe it's just nostalgia, but handheld gaming nowadays seems to be missing something... maybe having such a wide library of PS3 and 360 games to choose from in a store just spoils a person. 

[gf78]

It's sad that the Vita hasn't gotten more development. There are definitely worthwhile games out there (the Danganronpa series and P4G alone justified my purchase pretty well), but as you said, what games are available (unless you go online) is basically a roll of the dice, depending on where you go. For example, I had no idea Sorcery Saga even existed. An amazing title? No. A worthwhile one? I think so. But unless you just happen to see it or find it online, you wouldn't know about it.

I have both a 3DS and PS Vita, and honestly, I'm not too infatuated with either one. There are certain games that make the purchase worth it for me on both systems, but I've just found it difficult to find games that I really enjoy on either system, in a broad sense. Then again, my library for each system is probably only 6-8 games each.

Perhaps part of Nintendo's proverbial 1up on the competition is the guarantee of quality, first-party IPs and games on the handhelds. When you buy a Nintendo handheld, you know you're going to get some Metroid, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, and Mario. If you like first-party IPs, you know you'll enjoy the handheld. But I feel that Sony doesn't have that same advantage. You might like Uncharted, but you won't necessary like Golden Abyss. You may enjoy Resistance, but Burning Skies is pretty much a dud. It doesn't feel like you know what to 'expect' from a Sony handheld, whereas you do know what to expect with a Nintendo handheld, to a certain extent.

Both systems' game libraries, for me, just don't feel diverse enough. It's hard to explain, and maybe it's just nostalgia, but handheld gaming nowadays seems to be missing something... maybe having such a wide library of PS3 and 360 games to choose from in a store just spoils a person. 

Burning Skies was pretty meh.  I got it, played through it and it held my attention enough that I didn't hate it, but it was pretty forgettable.  If you actually look at the sheer amount of games available for the Vita, I believe there is close to a thousand total.  But only about 10% are physical copies which is what I purchase.  But if you are into really niche Japanese titles, NIS keeps pumping those out like crazy and you can pretty much expect some Aksys support as well.