SCE President: PS Vita a "Legacy Platform"

[Claytone]

http://bitparade.co.uk/article.php?id=3718

Thoughts? I know a lot of us here are Vita owners and have enjoyed them. What do you make of this decision? Do you think this will be Sony's last handheld?

[VictorViper]

This was essentially announced last year, but I'm glad to see it's official - not as a Vita owner and fan, but as someone who wants to see Sony stick around in general. Anyway, I don't expect this will impact me personally, since I've basically been using it as a "legacy" device since I got it.

Oh, and yes, this will absolutely be their last handheld gaming device.

[Kong Wen]

Anyway, I don't expect this will impact me personally, since I've basically been using it as a "legacy" device since I got it.

Ditto, although it's still been getting a lot of niche support, which I also appreciate. Remote play with PS4 remains an underrated feature.

[Jordan]

If I recall correctly, Sony later backpedaled on this and stated that they were referring to the Vita 1000.

However, I think that's nonsense of course. Sony's declaration that the Vita is a "legacy platform" was a slip of the truth. I do believe that Sony shifted their focus away from the Vita in the West long ago. The Vita never caught on here. I'm not sure what made it flop so hard, but I feel that it basically got stuck in an endless cycle of confirmation bias. After a slow start, it was never able to recover because developers looked at the lack of popularity of the system and decided, "Screw it, we're not taking any risks on this thing. We're out." The result was that with hardly any developer support, the system could not regain momentum. This happened even though many improvements were made to the system over time. The Vita was sort of dead at launch, but the nail in the coffin came because Square-Enix and other big developers decided to completely abandon it.

I actually bought a Vita long after it came out because it seemed like a pretty good system to me. It fixed PSP's abysmal issues with wifi connectivity, the system was designed well, the system was very cheap and it had several games I wanted. Additionally, the Vita lacked the blatant piracy that plagued the PSP. Overall, I honestly think that the Vita is superior to the 3DS in nearly every way from a technical standpoint. Moreover, it fixes every problem that the PSP possessed. Unfortunately, this has not resulted in a good or well-rounded game library. That's why the Vita is basically dead now. I'm neither surprised nor disappointed that Sony has decided to focus their attention on the PS4 instead. That's the best decision that Sony can make given how successful their marketing for that console was.

I think Sony's done with the handheld market as well. Both of their portables kind of failed for a variety of reasons. Nintendo remains king of the market, though now has to compete increasingly with mobage (especially in Japan).

[Claytone]

Yeah, I think the Vita is really a fantastic device. It's hard to argue otherwise. And when it's said and done, it will have more than enough games in its library to have qualified for its $200 asking price (at least that's what I got it for).

Hell, Persona 4 affected me enough to have taken care of any buyer's remorse I may have had. What a delight. And I still haven't gotten around to trying Freedom Wars or a couple others on my list.

And now a silly rhythm game is coming out based on Persona 4. What more could I ask for?

[Jordan]

I got the Vita for the same price. Like you, I also felt that Persona 4: Golden alone was worthwhile. I sunk over 150 hours into that game over the course of several playthroughs.

There are several other games I enjoy for the system though, and still more to come. Persona 4 DAN is a must for me since I like both rhythm games and Persona 4. Otherwise the future looks a bit bleak, but only on paper. I somewhat wonder whether this statement by the SCE President means anything at all. To me it seems more like a confirmation of current Sony policy than any dramatic shift in direction. I'm hoping that the Vita will continue to see occasional third party RPGs, rhythm games, etc. get localized. For the time being I'm playing YS Celceta and Project Diva F 2nd. I might come back to Toukiden: Kiwami at some point as well.

[VictorViper]

For me, the Vita's biggest value has come from PSN titles that are just better portably. I'm unusual in that certain game types will collect dust on a home console, but on a handheld I can't get enough. Particular titles that have made the Vita an absolute treasure to me:

- La Mulana EX
- TxK
- Luftrausers
- Hotline Miami
- Guacamelee (I fell so hard for this one that I ended up getting STCE on PS4 for another run and platinum)
- Toukiden (good times with Kong, even though I had my fill by the credits)
- The Pinball Arcade
- PSone and PSP classics (imports! Einhänder!!!)

Honestly, having my pins and TxK are all I need. But there's been so much gravy slathered on top, it's impossible for me to see the Vita as anything short of my favourite portable gaming device. Sorry GB Micro, you've been dethroned.

[link64]

I still can't believe how expensive the Vita's memory cards are, £40 for 32GB, when you can get an SD card for£10.

[VictorViper]

That much I'll concede. Out and out gouging.

[Claytone]

Oof, yeah. I'm still stuck on my 4GB that my Vita came with because I just can't bring myself to buy another one. Means I have to rotate what's on the card a lot, which is a pain.

For me, the Vita's biggest value has come from PSN titles that are just better portably. I'm unusual in that certain game types will collect dust on a home console, but on a handheld I can't get enough. Particular titles that have made the Vita an absolute treasure to me:

- La Mulana EX
- TxK
- Luftrausers
- Hotline Miami
- Guacamelee (I fell so hard for this one that I ended up getting STCE on PS4 for another run and platinum)
- Toukiden (good times with Kong, even though I had my fill by the credits)
- The Pinball Arcade
- PSone and PSP classics (imports! Einhänder!!!)

Honestly, having my pins and TxK are all I need. But there's been so much gravy slathered on top, it's impossible for me to see the Vita as anything short of my favourite portable gaming device. Sorry GB Micro, you've been dethroned.

Thanks for reminding me to buy TxK. Doing that right now!

Interestingly, I actually originally bought the Vita because I thought it would be great for portable PS1 games and PSN games. Turns out I prefer to play most of them on PS3, which I got a couple months after I got a Vita (OlliOlli is an exception. That game feels so good on Vita's sticks.) Oh well!