Playstation Vita thread

[darsparx]

Someone posted it awhile back but darn if I could find it again...I just wish the vita section in stores was much bigger than it is right now. Given any store I can walk into they have a very small collection of vita games to look at(bar gamestop which definitely has the upperhand there but sucks at pricing sometimes)

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I'm still not certain whether or not I want to go all digital on my Vita.

Anybody here do it and if so how does it treat you? 32gb card enough?

[ZenErik]

Nope. Sorry. No legitimate info. Don't post garbage. We've known for a while that Sony is no longer trying to make 'blockbuster' console style games for the Vita, if that's what you mean. But otherwise the Vita is thriving. Generally getting a lot more game releases than the 3DS in 2014. Just check the lists each week. Sure, plenty of these are ports and remakes and not exclusive, but many of them are very high quality games. It's quite nice being able to take something like Rogue Legacy on the go, for example.

@RyaN. My library is all digital with the exception of import games. Love it. Using a 64 GB card. 32 GB honestly isn't even enough. And in a year or two 64 GB is going to feel very cramped as well. 128 GB plz?

[retrosportsgamer]

Love that you're still in the game ZenErik. Enjoy your passion for the Vita.

[darsparx]

@zen still i want a good blockbuster game for it. One piece unlimited red is nice but I'd love to see Sony pull out all the stops and make a game that would prove the vita is the system to have. Or at least would make their own "mario" and "zelda" type franchises for the vita in some way :-\ So far the vita has been a digital(for the classics I missed the boat on originally and just haven't seen yet in the wild or attemepted to find on ebay and some mini's and freebies) and the few titles I do have physically right now. Once I make it through a good chunk of my handheld backlog I really want to start giving it more love if i can help it...(especially since i went through the trouble of getting that double vita and psp cord from gamestop when my cord broke )

[ZenErik]

I'm very happy with all the JRPGs, rhythm games, puzzle games, indies, etc. on the Vita. So it really depends on your tastes.

I would be very disappointed if the Vita were to die an early death. Not really because it's my preferred portable but because the only game in town would be Nintendo portables. It's nice having choices. Both the 3DS and Vita offer different experiences and have very different libraries.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

@zen still i want a good blockbuster game for it. One piece unlimited red is nice but I'd love to see Sony pull out all the stops and make a game that would prove the vita is the system to have. Or at least would make their own "mario" and "zelda" type franchises for the vita in some way :-\ So far the vita has been a digital(for the classics I missed the boat on originally and just haven't seen yet in the wild or attemepted to find on ebay and some mini's and freebies) and the few titles I do have physically right now. Once I make it through a good chunk of my handheld backlog I really want to start giving it more love if i can help it...(especially since i went through the trouble of getting that double vita and psp cord from gamestop when my cord broke )

The problem is Sony tried that and nobody cared. The Western market simply does not care about the Vita as a general rule. We had:

Uncharted Golden Abyss
Wipeout 2048
Gravity Rush
Little Big Planet Vita
Tearaway
Killzone Mercenary
Resistance Retribution

And just recently they tried giving us Borderlands 2 (yes, published by Sony) and that certainly wasn't enough either.

The Vita is a great system. They tried throwing out blockbusters for it and it simply didn't work. It didn't really work for the original PSP either.

The good news is, the Vita has a strong selection of indie and Japanese games and will probably continue to get more since its the second best selling gaming platform in Japan.

It will probably be ignored here in the United States as a general rule in the future sure. It will probably be treated as a PS4 accessory more than anything else with Remote Play and all that jazz. Still, it has become my favorite handheld platform and I'll be sad to see it go when that time comes.

@ZenErik

Yeah. That's what I feared. I think I'd fill up a 16gb card with my current selection of digital games which only totals about 6 or 7. I just wish the prices weren't so outrageous for the cards. Amazon does have the 64gb import listed for $99. Maybe I'll just go for it. Hmm.

[cha cha]

Glad that was settled. I was starting to feel really behind the times, in the fact that people were talking about the Vita's demise like it was common knowledge and I hadn't heard a peep about such things.

I am really looking forward to bulking up my Vita library this year.

@ Vita fans- What are people's thoughts on Akiba's Trip? Worth paying retail cover price?

[Stark]

@ Vita fans- What are people's thoughts on Akiba's Trip? Worth paying retail cover price?

I've heard the loading screens are kinda game breaking at the moment.

[Exhuminator]

Before you read any of my post, understand I own a Vita and love it. I only wish the best for this platform. But I do not live in a reality denial bubble about its future.

I see zero news of Vita support ending. Sounds like a bogus claim to me. No source? Then don't post such garbage.

Not sure who's "garbage" you're referring to. But I think I started this so let me back up my claims.

Sony's last western effort for the system will be Freedom Wars' release this year.

Reasons I said this include:

"Do you think the Vita then will be getting fewer first-party games, I asked.
'I would say, yes, that's correct,' Yoshida said." (source)

"I certainly think you’ll still see Vita as a triple-A machine in Japan where it has a different function with the console dynamic of the marketplace," he said. "That for me is a given. It’s hard to say in terms of the other markets." Sony Computer Entertainment president Andrew House

"The economics simply don't work with the traditional process," Mesa said. "We have to do something different to get AAA games on Vita. We accomplished it to a certain degree by making PS4 games work on Vita via remote play." Don Mesa, director of product planning and platform software innovation at SCEA

Also by "western effort", I meant a physically published and released game for the Vita in the USA by SCEA. I say that based on lists such as this and this. I see Freedom Wars as a SCEA physical release out of that, and nothing else non-digital afterwards. It's not opinion, it's fact based on what information I can find.

There will not be another Sony portable. Vita's the last, bet on it.

Do you guys remember the lack of Vita at the last E3? Here's a recap:

"To recap the conference, PS Vita had only two points of inclusion in the entirety of the show. One was during a Free2Play game reel that hinted at PS Vita versions. The other was a quick name drop of Tales of Hearts R, Child of Light, Tales from the Borderlands, and Minecraft. All fine in their own right, but mere ports and smartphone style games." source

"Not only was the PS Vita almost completely absent from Sony’s E3 showing, but now seems to be absent from major U.S. retailers as well. All of the Vita models and packages — even the recently released Borderlands 2 bundle that included the new model — are no longer available directly from Amazon, GameStop, Walmart or Target. At the moment, it’s unclear why stocks have diminished across the board; whether retailers are choosing to no longer stock the handhelds, have sold out, or if Sony has not been replenishing stocks." source <---I just checked this. Amazon still has the Borderlands bundle, but that's it. Walmart is only selling the PS TV device that plays the games, but not the Vita itself. Let me say that again; Walmart isn't selling Vitas online anymore. That's pretty telling folks.

"Being open and honest, I think we would have hoped for higher sales / The PSP and Vita landed into considerably different worlds / its new role with the PS4 has only just begun." Sony's UK Marketing Director Fergal Gara <---Translation: The Vita doesn't sell anywhere near as nice as the PSP did, but please buy it anyway and use it like a Wii U Gamepad for your PS4.

"In all honesty, higher sales would have been what we had hoped for," Sony UK managing director Fergal Gara told VG247. "The market Vita entered was more complicated than it was when the console was originally thought about and designed. Games on tablets and phones have changed the marketplace and people can't carry too many things around at one time." source

"We’ve taken a more holistic view with our platforms. With Remote Play, Vita has now essentially become an extender or an enhancer for the main platform (PS4) for other rooms in the house, or when someone else wants to use the main screen. As the lifecycle of the platform progresses, there’s an opportunity to position Vita for a younger audience as well with the appropriate franchises. And it’s becoming a very accessible and easy on-ramp for independent developers." Yeah, Vita's a wannabe Wii U Gamepad now, cartoon network video game franchise recipient, and an indie port player. And that's what Sony says, not me.

Based on the sources I posted, as well as plenty I didn't, the future of the Vita (in the West) is dim, and it's likely Sony's last handheld. The lack of available Vita stock combined with Sony's intent to ramp down support is wholly telling. It's not "garbage" for me to say that, it's common sense based on sourced evidence.