Ignition is right about the Vita being a commercial failure, as far as sales and such go.
That being said, I do think the Vita is a good system, and I think it'd certainly be wrong to say or imply it's a trash handheld. It has a lot of games that are worth picking up a system for: Persona 4 Golden, Danganronpa 2, The Walking Dead S1/2, Freedom Wars, the VLR series, and Sorcery Saga (it's CUTe oK) among them. The issue (one that keeps me from buying many games for it) is that most of these games are now available on console or PC, if they weren't already. Disgaea 3 is great to have on a handheld... but when it's available on a home console, is it really worth shelling out the extra (even if you consider that you already have the Vita) for the Vita version? Or would you rather play Borderlands 2/The Walking Dead on a handheld, when a console version will look (and possibly play) better?
It's not that I obsess over graphics, but look at something like Hyrule Warriors vs. Hyrule Legends... sometimes certain things are lost in the port from console to handheld/mobile which are formative to the game's feel/experience.
Xcom is another great example. I bought the game two or three times, including once to take around on my Vita. Its
good on the Vita, but is a much better experience on a console or PC as far as graphics and functionality go. What is lost in no way ruins the game, but when there's a higher-quality version out there for the same or less money, it sort of ruins any reason to buy the handheld version.
That being said, I know it's not all about graphics, and part of the reason others (like myself, I'm sure) buy a handheld game is because it just makes it easier to actually get more playtime in when you're traveling, or even just preferring to be able to play it somewhere in the house besides in front of a TV (I probably would have have a much harder time finishing console versions of P3/P4). But every time I look at Strangers of Sword City or Earth Defense Force on the Vita, I think "yeah, but I could buy a better looking version for my PC/PS console" and sort of just ignore it.
I know this isn't a very thoughtful post, but that's most of my argument in a nutshell. It's a nifty little system, and deserves some love, as it's got heart... it just didn't get the support it needed. And again, most of it's games are available on consoles, so that kind of kills some of it's purpose for me.
The real loser here is the PSTV. Now THERE'S something you can take a dump on lol.