Sony failed to do right by the PlayStation Vita

The Blade's Will Harrison: The Vita’s predecessor, the PSP, was a global success. The device captured the imagination of Japanese and western consumers on its way to selling a staggering 82 million units, outselling Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance and DS.

Sony couldn’t have had a bigger or easier home run on its hands. Yet, the Vita is now officially dead, with Sony confirming last August that it would stop development of first-party titles. The handheld managed a paltry 13.9 million units sold worldwide, compared with the Nintendo 3DS — the Vita’s most direct competitor — which sold almost 60 million units.

How did things go so wrong?

[WickedLester]

The market spoke and it didn't want Vita. End of story! Sony tried very hard in the beginning to support this platform with some really good games and nobody bought them. Yet still the handheld has managed to stick around for 5 years and has seen a lot of great indie support the last couple of years. You can't fault Sony for not wanting to devote time and resources to a dying platform.

The biggest mistake Sony made was with the ridiculously overpriced proprietary memory cards. They should've used universal flash cards.

[Movefasta1993]

oh stop it.It's all sony's fault. Where was Gran turismo? A naughty DOg developed game? WHy didn;t they secure monster hunter,knowing how huge it was on psp? God of War? It needed exclusives, more platformers and GOOD ones like Size matters Daxter, and big rpgs likecrisis core.It needed a rockstar game because liberty city stories was the game that made evryone want to buy a psp.It's all sony's fault,anybody who can't see it are blind.
And that stupid logic,which a lot of people who use,the ones that say if they released those games it wouldn't have sold well.Actually,it needed those games to sell well.

@ Ashlen I CLEARLY said a naughty dog Developed game.

[vladstad]

you forgot the sky high price of memory cards.

[himdeel]

Sony is completely at fault. They operated arrogantly under their old logic, if we build an awesome piece of tech people will make games for it and we dont have to. Sending the device out with horribly pricey proprietary storage and no good advertising was Sonys fault. Then the games people wanted never came despite the promise.

The Vita is the best handheld ever.

[Ashlen]

There is a Naughty Dog Vita game it's called Uncharted: Golden Abyss. There is also a God of War collection on Vita. And there are tons of JRPG's on the system, it's probably the most common style of game. Also it's rumored there is a Gran Turismo Vita game being made.

And as for things like a Rockstar game. That's 3'rd party it's up to those companies to decide if they want to make a game, it's not Sony's choice.

[donwel]

@Ashlen Golden Abyss was't developed by Naughty Dog, it was developed by Bend studio, who did a fantastic job on the game by the way.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

It needed those games, but developers didn't want to make them.

- Rockstar never talked about another GTA on Vita. They were busy with GTA V
- Naughty Dog does not make games for other devices than consoles. THEY NEVER MADE A GAME FOR PSP, NEITHER WILL THEY MAKE SOMETHING FOR MORPHEUS. The last thing they can do is produce them and nothing more like they did Golden Abyss
- Santa Monica was busy with God of War Ascencion in that time
- So was Polyphony with GT6
- So was RaD with The Order.
You see where this goes?

Blame sony yes, but blame developers too. The Vita came in the wrong time where the PS4 was around the corner. After those devs finishes their Vita projects, they moved on to PS4

You see, there's more to the failure of Vita than Sony's lack of support. The Vita saw a bunch of games in te first 2 years before the PS4 came. Nothing else ever since...

[gangsta_red]

I agree with WickedLester, the mobile market had no need for a portable dedicated handheld device. Sony tried their best to support the Vita with games as did other developers but if the device and games aren't selling why should Sony and 3rd party developers waste time and resources releasing games for it?

[hulk_bash1987]

I love my Vita, but Sony didnt do right by the system. They should have supported and marketed alot more than they did.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@Vlad- Agreed.

@gangsta_red- 100% agree. I don't see a reason to waste such funds and focus on a lessor install base. They tried and I see no reason to go down with the ship. Makes no sense.

[KOIMOJO]

None of those things would have helped. They screwed up as soon as they made a handheld that promised console like experiences. All of the games they made that are under that category felt terrible in comparison to actual console games. The screen size/sticks/button layout all make playing games like Uncharted or Gravity rush super cumbersome. I prayed that they would put the next Gravity Rush on ps4 and they are because it makes sense. There is a reason most 3ds games use simplified character models and control schemes that rarely require the use of shoulder buttons or the stick. Handheld games need to be designed for a handheld. That's what they are now doing.
Square is finally on board making games that will play well on vita and the facts are that most of the mainstream US aren't interested in the type of games that work well and they are now doubling down on in Japan. For those of us that love the 3DS as well and like playing jrpgs, they are still bringing those things over to us, they just don't really need to market them. Us vita fans know what's up.

[HarrisonBlade]

Actually, I can fault Sony. I did. For 700 words, even. The market didn't speak, Sony provided a device and was apparently shocked that fans didn't want half-baked versions of games they loved and titles that basically amounted to tech demos for questionable touch controls.

It was the equivalent of a bakery trying to sell half-eaten bread, not selling any, then deciding to get out of the bread market because their one plan didn't work.

I can also heavily fault Sony for poor hardware decisions, including placing sub-par wireless technology in their devices. It's part of why Remote Play never worked as intended: The PS4 and Vita both have iffy-at-best wireless hardware and their services are complete garbage.

Remote Play should have been easy. If Nintendo, a company who rarely gets hardware specifics right, can do remote play, Sony could have.

This isn't a "Capitalism spoke and found the Vita wanting" situation. Sony threw a device out there and shrugged their shoulders when consumers reacted tepidly to the bare minimum of effort on the part of the company.

[danny818]

i completely dissagree. Sony abandoned it. End of story. They made promise after promise. Even had kevin levine promise a Bioshock on stage! They tried in the beginning but pulled all resources to ps4. Which is great but people who bought vita got jipped.

[TheFirstClassic]

If Sony had started the Vita with Monster Hunter and call of duty it could have been much different. Cod declassified was a cash in, a 5 month dev cycle to make a terrible game. That one game helped kill the vita.

[Shubhendu_Singh]

Sony is not even pretending that they care about PSVita now. Just look at this years E3.

I know VR is a huge push, and everybody wants PSVR to succeed, but you can't blame me for not having this seed of doubt in back of my mind about PSVR too. Who could have thought Vita would be like this after coming hot off from PSP ??

[joeorc]

Who could have thought Vota would be like this after coming hot off from the PSP?

Like yes, what about the
PSPGo..not even 2 full year's on market , than pulled.

How about xperia play..licences by Sony Ericsson, to be a gaming Phone..not made by Sony by still blamed on Sony for no Support by Sony.

Than we have the PSVita..
The well the PSP did so well, yes so well that UMD dumps pretty much killed any real chance for software sales so much rockstar games decided no more..

Think about it Rockstar games make GTA san Andreas for iOS & Android..but not Nintendo 3DS or PSVita?

There is no money in it for the work..required for dedicated game handhelds..for the cost to make a AAA game for the.PSVita on return!

The team size and cost to make it was or would be d@mn near the cost to make a PS3 Game.

That's why its being left to get online distribution games. And by 2nd and 3rd party Game handheld Exclusives. That many in the west say are meh, or not that great anyway.

So be out was the attitude of the gamer in the west, Sony decided its resources were beat served to.support the PSVita in the East. Where its selling.

[Vipre77]

This year? Yes. And at least the last 2 years before that, too.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Agreed.

I don't really disagree with removing support from something that isn't working out. They'd rather save their money and focus on PS4 and 40 million plus gamers can't really disagree with such a move.

@Move- it is Sony's fault in regards to how they released it and its hardware ie memory cards etc.

In terms of games? Not really. Statistically speaking, MOST don't buy hardware for first party titles. If it wasn't working out, I can't really blame them for shifting support, this is after all a business.

Mind you, a Naughty Dog game or God Of War game would not have just moved MILLIONS of PS Vita units, that is extremely unlikely. Why? Well titles like Call Of Duty, Assassins Creed, Final Fantasy etc move MORE UNITS then actual exclusives do and they have a COD, AC game and a FF games coming to Vita.

I don't see Vita moving HUGE units for those, thus unlikely those titles would make any differences. You can't force someone like "Rockstar games" to make a game on a device that is failing. If Sony failed to create that install base, its on them, not other developers.

That is like saying if you make Ice cream to start selling you're ice cream at a failed retailer...

Why waste product with such a company? What if they had a busted freezer? So still do business with them?

THAT is how you need to seriously look at this.

It is Sony's fault, 100%, but I don't actually see the moves you talking about changing much. PSP did sell really well, but that was also 2004 bud.......

The handheld market its NOT the same as it once was.

Look at 3DS. It only has a fraction of DS's sales and I feel Nintendo did a great job with software on it, but you can put Smash, Mario Kart, Resident Evil etc on it, doesn't mean it will get DS sales.

Same for PS Vita. JUST because they have those titles, doesn't mean they will get PSP sales. PSP also released again in 2004.

[Dirtnapstor]

I believe the high priced memory cards were the real hang up. I remember why Sony said no to the standard ones on the market, but still, they should not have charged 75% of the cost of the Vita itself for the decent memory needed to play the games. Yes I could have downloaded them to my PS3 and transferred as needed, but who wanted to haggle with that?

[GamingIVfun]

The PS Vita is still supported, games come out for it every week. Sony made big games for the Vita, probably didn't make enough money to justify the cost, on the other hand digital only games do very well on Vita and their is a lot of them to choose from, many are cross buy with PS3 and PS4, also Japanese games do very well on PS Vita. Cell phones are the biggest reason the PS Vita hasn't sold better, same reason sales went down for Nintendo's handhelds, plus their is no really huge budget games on the 3DS, nothing like a Naughty Dog budget game.

Many people that say it failed wouldn't buy a Sony gaming devise anyway. if you owned one you would know it's a pretty good device and has a pretty big and diverse game library. Go to Playstation store and check out the Ps Vita section.

[KentBenMei]

Not true, Sony failed the Vita plus circumstances screwed it (such as a heavy 3DS price drop and the rise of Mobile). A perfect storm hit the thing and it needs a successor sooner rather than later (we will get one eventually but I don't want to wait).

[Fin_The_Human]

TBF the Vita has lots of games and I am enjoying a lot them at the moment.

The problem is that most of those games cater to the Asian market and don't include house hold brands like Pokémon and Monster Hunter - also the Vita does not have a staple game like Mario....Gravity Rush is awesome but no where the brand recognition as Mario or Zelda.

All I ever wanted on the Vita was a good Monster Hunter, GTA and Street Fighter game.

[HarrisonBlade]

To be fair, there are a few very good SF games available for Vita:

Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX is the best version of SFA3, even compared to the arcade original. Street Fighter x Tekken is THE optimal version of that game on Vita (and I will never hear otherwise.), Ultimate MvC 3 was also great on the Vita.

I get what you mean though; new titles. I'm shocked they never ported SSFIV over, even the version that was on the 3DS. Alas.

[Exari]

Vita owners must get a game called Severed,
imo this is the best vita game ever

[Elda]

They did not,my Vita sits & collects dust.

[blackblades]

Played mine last night, actually I play it all the time.

[Elda]

It's evident you're playing something that interest you,there hasn't been anything interesting to me on the Vita for the past 2 years.Sony only supported the system for 2 years with first party titles so my Vita just collects dust.

[blackblades]

There's plenty of games on it, don't see how you can't find a game to play on it after 2 years.

[Elda]

There's nothing of interest for me to play on the Vita the last good thing was the last Killzone game.

[moegooner88]

PSP sold that well because of piracy mainly. It was quite easy to mod the device. None of the software titles on psp sold that well outside of Japan.

[HarrisonBlade]

There's no evidence at all to support that claim, and you're also wrong about sales numbers.
http://www.vgchartz.com/pla...

6 of the top 10 selling PSP games were developed outside of Japan, with the GTA games selling LARGE quantities.

[moegooner88]

Did you just use VG Chartz? Wow Official data puts Monster Hunter titles as the best selling ones. Sony itself said that piracy is so widespread and sickening that it is killing the software market, that's how much it was evident. Google it.

[Fin_The_Human]

Dude not saying that you aren't right but never use Vchartz with a Z to prove a point.

That's like someone saying hey Fox news says its true so i believe them.

[WhoCaresWhatMyNameIs]

@moegooner88

Though everyone uses VG Chartz on PS4 and Xbox One sales lmao

[joeorc]

And most of those large expensive games got UMD dumped!

Many developers refused to heavy invest large AAA investment resources..after the UMD dumps were more downloads than actual sales of retail copies😂

Why do you think Sony used the current memory card it has..no cars readers for easy read , easy dump.
Better Encryption.

Problem for Sony was no one wanted to pay the price it requested, thus developers did not want to
Ake games for a system in the Wes with few people that purchased it with a large publisher and developer pool and resources needed to make the game.

Instead we get smaller games and lower cost investment and online market distribution for its games.

Just take note, no more dedicated handhelds from Sony for conse market mist likely and all those resources instead going to the PS4 instead.

[donwel]

Which is why Sony went for the stupidly priced proprietary memory cards for Vita. I remember seeing somewhere that there were more than twice the number of people at one point playing online on Resistance on PSP than the number of sales, which is an absolutely ridiculous statistic and is why I don't believe a word anyone says when they talk about hacking for "homebrew".

[joeorc]

@donwel
Exactly!
More UMD🚚 copies of games were being used than actual physical sold copies..😏

Why would people not expect a company to try not to make that hard as possible on the next release of the replacement to the PSP Menory cards were not proprietary, because Kingston, SanDisk all made them also which means card readers could read them!

Like SD cards PC card readers allow easy access to the data on the card.

No such easy card reader for the PSVita's blank media format.

[DragoonsScaleLegends]

There is piracy on the Vita, their horrible memory cards didn't stop that.

[raWfodog]

I still play with mine everyday. I do wish they never screwed up their deal with Capcom though. I would love to play some Monster Hunters after Freedom Unite. I plan to get a 3DS this summer though to play Generations (and other games like the Bravely series and the Fire Emblem series).

[Unchartedshark]

I still use mine for remote play! i'd say money well spent on a portable Playstation.

[Fist4achin]

I do love playing my Vita and it does have some really cool niche titles. Im glad I picked one up. However, the memory card thing totally sucks and I feel like it is still missing some larger titles that would have definitely driven more sales here stateside. vita Japan has a much larger and better game library than what is available elsewhere. Business wise, I know Sony isn't going to give it much love, but it really isn't fair since they dropped the ball.

[Soldierone]

3DS vs Vita is a good comparison. Nintendo doesn't get third party support, so what do they do? They make their own games! Sony threw out a bunch of tech demos and half arsed attempts, then let Vita die. Good quality games like Killzone or Gravity Rush sold fine, but crap like Resistance didn't.... It wasn't Vita's fault, it was the half arsed crap.

It was also filled with failed promises. Like COD. We expected the same game, take it on the road with less visuals....nope, instead it was a "spin-off" title and just as sucky as Resistance....

I sold my Vita to get a 3DS, it was an awesome decision. I haven't ran out of things to play since.

[tigertron]

The Vita is a fantastic device, but it's Sony's fault that it failed. They just didn't bother to support it. Look at this year's E3. No mention of it at all. It'll definitely make me think twice before buying another Playstation handheld although it's doubtful they'll release another. Memory card prices also hurt the Vita.

[blackblades]

Wish they did another handheld, but with VR and neo they got there hands full. It'll be hard to support so many things. Still though as long as 3rd party support it should be good. Considering I play more 3rd party then 1st party

[EddieNX]

The GBA sold 80M and the DS 150M so no the psp did not outsell them.

As for Vita, outside of Japan it is useless...

[JamesBroski]

If only we could be able to play PS2 games on the Vita it would be one of the best handled console ever.

[REDDURT]

Drop the price at least

[rlow1]

In the past Sony has tried to promote their handheld and yes they could of done a lot more. But they thought with superior hardware they could take on Nintendo and simply lost. Nintendo had to many excellent games and their handheld was cheaper. Then when cellphones turned into smart phones, it hurt them as well. Heck, even Nintendo is feeling the heat from smartphones, but I still play my 3DS.

[zombiewombie]

Yep, time to pack up my vita and sell it off. :'(

[Junebug]

Good for you! Nobody cares. :-)

[DragoonsScaleLegends]

The prices just dropped on them, you would be lucky to get $99 for the system itself.

[zombiewombie]

thats 99$ i can use towards hookers and cheese burgers!

[Junebug]

Again, nobody cares buddy. ;)

[zombiewombie]

apparently you do if you keep replying. Do you want in on the hookers and cheeseburgers? all you gotta do is ask, buddy. ;)

[Junebug]

Nice deflection bro, stay salty. ;)

[Spikeantestor]

Wait...didn't the DS sell something like 150 million units?

[joeorc]

How many freaking times are we going to have this very same d@nm subject come from one again the American or UK media?
It's freaking dead, because hardly anyone in the west purchased it because the Smartphone's have essentially replaced the dedicated handheld consoles..remember. The PDA?👈

Smartphone. Technology disrupted the market than in the late 90's and it did it to game handhelds..Nintendo. Also has not sold as many 3DS's also in its market like they did the DS. Also aside from Nintendo & Sony who else or other handheld game console has sold like their systems..what about the nvidia shield? wikipad?
Yeah that's what I thought.

The PSVita is being sold in Japan & Asia , you know where its.still selling rather well. The PSVita is still getting games released not just once In a great while but many over the year.

Sony put 1st party investment into it right out the gate..what did we see here with people posting in thread after thread, that is just a watered down PS3 game, I would rather play that on my PS4 instead when It releases.

It's being sold and supported in a main market that consumers just so happen to support the d@mn system.
And any company would have been smart to shift resources to that effect to Quote by the many gamers and media in the west to be a "Dead platform" anyway

Sometimes the gamer is his own worst enemy 😜

Crying out it after many in the west over and over calling It a dead platform is not going.to change a thing.

[Junebug]

They are Nintendo 3DS fanboys that want to gang up on a failed system, sad. :')

[Junebug]

Wow, a clickbait troll article? Aren't you tired of hearing yourself article maker? :)

[Lukejrl]

huge cost for memory cards- they needed PS2 downloadable games. also they launched the ps1 stuff almost a year after the system launched. They did not release the psp backwards compatibility card in N.A. The games that came out had to use the motion controls. NO METAL GEAR. Peace walker psp wasnt backwards compatible had to get the hd version- which the controls were better. Limited. Just a myriad of decisions that amounted to nickel and diming people

[FallenAngel1984]

PSP outsold DS? Lmao instafail! DS is the second biggest selling gaming platform behind only the PS2.

As for Vita, there's not really much Sony can do to improve its fortunes. Even if they threw heavy first party support at it, sales wouldn't dramatically increase from what they are now. The platform exclusively thrives on third party support now. It'll always be a niche device.

What I find interesting and somewhat laughable is that even with all it has against it, Vita has still managed to sell more units than Wii U.

[Junebug]

Exactly!

[adamcloud]

got my vita this past XMAS 2015. I use it everyday. every vita owner knows that the system has been in pain. I'm a long way from putting it down and on the shelf by a long shot. I also don't mind that the memory cards cost a lot. if you cram enough stuff onto say a 64gb card, you're pretty much going to have everything game, music, movie, etc available at any time which is pretty awesome. I hope there's a little more steam in the Vita before nobody produces anything at all ever again.

[DragoonsScaleLegends]

64GB is too small for a portable in my opinion. I know I maxed out my 8GB card within the hour I put it in and I don't have any music or videos on it. There are a lot of other games I would like to buy digitally but I don't have any space. Also the wifi chip in the Vita is horrible, on a 100 mbps connection the Vita pulls in around 10-20 mbps. My cheap Tracfone pulls in around 60 mbps.

[tanukisuit]

I just wish Sony would drop the price on memory cards - come on!!!
Just drop the 4, 8, 16GB cards and focus on the 32, 64GB ones (with better prices).

[windblowsagain]

Ok my thoughts are this.

The PSVITA should have been a nextgen phone that had proper controls like the vita, but uses android etc.

I know u can add a joypad to your phone. But I would have preferred an all in one unit.

[DeadManMMX]

Like a lot of people I agree the memory card thing hurt the system in this digital age. It was much less of a thing on PSP when they were using memory sticks. Most games were played off UMD's unless you modded it. The Vita is easily my favorite hand held of all time. It is quality personified with a huge library spanning 3 generations. If your on the fence grab one and 4.99 grip from ebay. You won't regret it. It's perfect for games like shovel knight and super meat boy but also has its own big games. Tons of JRPG's and platformers, Danganronpa and Zero Escape, Persona 1-4. My only complaint is Sony needs to make some of the hold outs on PS1 and PSP available digitally.

[Rebel_Scum]

Its a great handheld if you like indies, jrpg's, PS1/PSP classics and bizarre japanese games / visual novels.

I don't mind it, I play my 3ds more atm but I have a mad backlog on the Vita also.

[TwilightSparkle]

The problem is the ps4. If ps4 came out later sony and other devs would have had more time to make games on the vita. But when they released the ps4 the attention shifted. Especially when the ps4 was an instant hit. They started making more games for it. That hurt the vita alot. When the vita was firsts came out it was getting very good games. Know we have to wait till jrpgs get localized to get games. Psp had every kinda if games. God of war. Crash. Silent hills, metal gear. The list goes on. The ps4 came outto quick. Ps4 killed The vita

[KentBenMei]

Sony seemingly sabotaged the Vita, but at the very least were totally incompetent with it. It isn't entirely their fault, though, since the Mobile market plus 3DS' price drop heavily affected it, as well as several other factors outside their control. They didn't bother attempting any damage control, however, and that is unacceptable.

At the very least release a Vita 3000 before killing it, or an official attachment which adds L2/R2 and L3/R3 somehow.

[Protagonist]

Not gonna happen... mobile is the future, and as you said Sony sabotaged the Vita, so It does not really make sense for them to make another Vita. But then again who knows, stranger things has happened.

[KentBenMei]

There's some indication of a possible successor in the future, but they'll definitely do something even if it is a PlayStation Phone.

[feraldrgn]

There are still games coming in 2017, sooo...
It might not have sold well hardware wise, but it's not like it doesn't have a decent library.

[jessionpc]

Handhelds are epic ideas. Phones are absolute shit when it comes to mobile gaming. Just carrying my new phone around I WISH it was better at games... It's REALLY too bad they can't make these things gamer friendly?...

I think the best bet is Sony/Nintendo release a handheld that also works well as a phone, and treat it as a first party device, get all the great games for it, ALL THE WHILE it being able to function as a phone, android device, tablet etc etc etc. That way the whole, "I'm only choosing 1 device to carry around", argument can die for good.

Phones are taking over the world, literally everyone fkn has one. People are zombified by their phones. Looking down while getting talked to, "hurry up", while waiting in line at subway like a retard who just discovered a penny.

There is a reality to face... And that is, if these, "gaming", handhelds don't evolve and acommondate 2016 and beyond, they ARE going to fall into history... It's scary to leave that into the fate of Nintendo... Considering they are on the historical doorstep as well...

[Protagonist]

Sony did wrong, they sabotaged their own product, with shit talk like "legacy platform" not explaining it was the 1000 model and then afterwards going out saying they wouldn`t make anymore triple A games, again not explaining that they actually were going to continue to make first party games, just not high-end budget games for the Vita. Yup Sony fucked up!

[KentBenMei]

Exactly.

[Protagonist]

Also a shame Shahid Ahmad left Playstation, as he was one of the few, who actually promoted the Vita and got games for it. Not all bore fruit, but he was not to be blamed.

[Protagonist]

"We´ve got more veggies!" Heh, I´m actually on my second turn through P4G, and I just unlocked Marie´s secret dungeon. This game just keeps giving ;)