Why The Playstation Vita Failed: 7 Reasons
Why did the vita fail despite all the hype and awesome features? We outline the possible features.
We all remember when the Playstation Vita was released in japan in 2011. It was really a promising device, As it had unique specs and rather surprising features. Some never before seen in a handheld device. For example, it boasted a nice combination of dual analog sticks(The primary competitor, the Nintendo 3DS had only one) Also a mighty OLED screen, A responsive touch screen and rear touch pad coupled with a six-axis motion sensor. We can safely say that this device was built to be the ultimate gaming handheld device. But as good as it may seem the device actually had it's flaws which would consequently play into the bigger picture.
The vita might have a little but loyal fan base, with support from third party japanese developers, but the thing is, Sony has no plans to continue support for the ps vita. Currently it seems Sony will delist the Vita's games from it's website. You might be a playstation fan( Like me) but the truth is, picking one up is a matter of loyalty as it is sadly just a big failure kept afloat by indie titles. In 2018, you might just be better getting a Nintendo switch or just play pokemon Go on your mobile phone.
So how did a really solid and potential competitor in the gaming market fail to make a difference and possibly exceed the fame of the playstation portable? Let's jump into the possible reasons and draw our conclusion.
1. The mobile gaming market:
One of the major reasons for the downfall of the Vita might be the shift by the gaming audience to mobile gaming rather than dedicated hand held devices. Sony has even acknowledged this as the president of Sony Computer Entertainment studios, Shuhei Yoshida said some years back when asked if Sony would release a Ps Vita successor, claiming that “the climate is not healthy for now because of the huge dominance of mobile gaming.” Although we have our reasons to doubt this, as the Nintendo 3DS also got hit by the mobile storm and was still doing pretty well for itself. Also the Vita had significant mobile features such as Wifi and 3g support coupled with browsing capabilities and multi-media functions. Although this could'nt replace a smartphone it is still worth noting that a dedicated gaming hand held would be more efficient than a mobile phone.
But sadly that's not the case with the vita. As growing consumer demands are starting to push developers, There is no need for a gaming handheld as Mobile phones can now serve that function. Physical keys and buttons have been replaced by Bluetooth controllers. Keeping a handheld such as the Vita might be for the Wow factor or showing off which is not worth it as the expense beats the gain. I rather show off with my Oneplus 6.
2. Expensive memory cards:
As if the initial pocket draining price of the vita wasn't enough, Sony slapped a ridiculous price tag on the expandable storage card on the Vita. Sony practically forced consumers to buy their proprietery memory cards. Strengthened by the fact the Vita had no internal memory and no space for an adapter which was used during the PSP's time.
A price tag of about 100$ for a memory card of 32Gb compared to the price of a Vita which was about 300$. This factor would deter buyers from getting one. Apparently Nintendo made a wise decision by allowing us to use micro Sd cards on the switch.
3.Poor backwards compatibility implementation:
Like said previously, the Vita boasts of a large number of unique features and specs. It definitely was a really great experience to be able to play PSP and Ps1 games, all in one package. As sony already has a large library, the reasonable decision to make was to make these classics compatible on the Vita.This was a really good feature but we wish we could end that statement there, as the implementation was poor to the fact that to play these classics would require much effort both official and non-official, to play on the device.
Worst off is the fact that these titles had to be bought from the playstation store. Yes..If you had your back ups from your former PSP get ready to go through an unofficial means or just buy these games from sony. The Nintendo 3DS had support for the Nintendo DS games albeit flawlessly. Even worse was......
4. No Support for Ps2 games:
The Playstation 2 was the best selling video game console of all time and had a really large library of games. People would like to be able to feel the nostalgia from playing these unforgettable games. The ps-vita would have been a really nice choice as the thought of playing Ps2 games on the Go would have made a lot of sense. There were rumours that the vita might be able to play Ps2 games back then the Vita was released.
This would not be the case, as the vita wasn't capable of running Ps2 games. It might have been though, But Sony wasn't willing to put the cash down to make it a reality. We all saw how God of war collections was on the Vita. Maybe Sony would have at least ported some of the Fan loved and popular titles.
5. Lack of Triple A Titles:
The main purpose of a console is to be able to play some games. Not just any game, some AAA games like Uncharted, Just cause, Fallout and Elder scrolls. Especially playing these awesome titles on the Go. In fact, this was a major selling point of the Vita, to be able to play AAA games on the Go.This would tip the scales agaisnt the 3DS, which had inferior power and graphics capability to the Ps Vita.Now, the Vita at times proved capable of playing these games as shown in Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Mortal Kombat, These games indeed felt like Ps3 games but at the palm of your hands.
That would have been a dream come true, but there was a drought of titles for the Vita. We all remember call of duty black ops declassified, and how it was thought that First person shooters could not work on the Vita. Thankfully Killzone Mercenary set the record straight. The titles weren't just coming, as the developers would just channel their resources into the Ps4 instead. That brings us to...
6. The PS4 Factor:
The Vita seemed to have a hard start early on, Then Sony tried to sync the Vita to a more advanced and successful platform, the Ps4. What this means, is that the Ps Vita could be a neat companion to your Ps4 in a unique way, through Remote play.
Using remote play, the Vita can be synced with a PS4 over Wi-Fi and used to operate the system, which is a useful feature if you don’t have access to your television or are looking to play your PS4 on the go (which in reality is rather difficult given that you need a very strong Wi-Fi signal for it to function properly).
We all remember when the Playstation Vita was released in japan in 2011. It was really a promising device, As it had unique specs and rather surprising features. Some never before seen in a handheld device. For example, it boasted a nice combination of dual analog sticks(The primary competitor, the Nintendo 3DS had only one) Also a mighty OLED screen, A responsive touch screen and rear touch pad coupled with a six-axis motion sensor. We can safely say that this device was built to be the ultimate gaming handheld device. But as good as it may seem the device actually had it's flaws which would consequently play into the bigger picture.
The vita might have a little but loyal fan base, with support from third party japanese developers, but the thing is, Sony has no plans to continue support for the ps vita. Currently it seems Sony will delist the Vita's games from it's website. You might be a playstation fan( Like me) but the truth is, picking one up is a matter of loyalty as it is sadly just a big failure kept afloat by indie titles. In 2018, you might just be better getting a Nintendo switch or just play pokemon Go on your mobile phone.
So how did a really solid and potential competitor in the gaming market fail to make a difference and possibly exceed the fame of the playstation portable? Let's jump into the possible reasons and draw our conclusion.
1. The mobile gaming market:
One of the major reasons for the downfall of the Vita might be the shift by the gaming audience to mobile gaming rather than dedicated hand held devices. Sony has even acknowledged this as the president of Sony Computer Entertainment studios, Shuhei Yoshida said some years back when asked if Sony would release a Ps Vita successor, claiming that “the climate is not healthy for now because of the huge dominance of mobile gaming.” Although we have our reasons to doubt this, as the Nintendo 3DS also got hit by the mobile storm and was still doing pretty well for itself. Also the Vita had significant mobile features such as Wifi and 3g support coupled with browsing capabilities and multi-media functions. Although this could'nt replace a smartphone it is still worth noting that a dedicated gaming hand held would be more efficient than a mobile phone.
But sadly that's not the case with the vita. As growing consumer demands are starting to push developers, There is no need for a gaming handheld as Mobile phones can now serve that function. Physical keys and buttons have been replaced by Bluetooth controllers. Keeping a handheld such as the Vita might be for the Wow factor or showing off which is not worth it as the expense beats the gain. I rather show off with my Oneplus 6.
2. Expensive memory cards:
As if the initial pocket draining price of the vita wasn't enough, Sony slapped a ridiculous price tag on the expandable storage card on the Vita. Sony practically forced consumers to buy their proprietery memory cards. Strengthened by the fact the Vita had no internal memory and no space for an adapter which was used during the PSP's time.
A price tag of about 100$ for a memory card of 32Gb compared to the price of a Vita which was about 300$. This factor would deter buyers from getting one. Apparently Nintendo made a wise decision by allowing us to use micro Sd cards on the switch.
3.Poor backwards compatibility implementation:
Like said previously, the Vita boasts of a large number of unique features and specs. It definitely was a really great experience to be able to play PSP and Ps1 games, all in one package. As sony already has a large library, the reasonable decision to make was to make these classics compatible on the Vita.This was a really good feature but we wish we could end that statement there, as the implementation was poor to the fact that to play these classics would require much effort both official and non-official, to play on the device.
Worst off is the fact that these titles had to be bought from the playstation store. Yes..If you had your back ups from your former PSP get ready to go through an unofficial means or just buy these games from sony. The Nintendo 3DS had support for the Nintendo DS games albeit flawlessly. Even worse was......
4. No Support for Ps2 games:
The Playstation 2 was the best selling video game console of all time and had a really large library of games. People would like to be able to feel the nostalgia from playing these unforgettable games. The ps-vita would have been a really nice choice as the thought of playing Ps2 games on the Go would have made a lot of sense. There were rumours that the vita might be able to play Ps2 games back then the Vita was released.
This would not be the case, as the vita wasn't capable of running Ps2 games. It might have been though, But Sony wasn't willing to put the cash down to make it a reality. We all saw how God of war collections was on the Vita. Maybe Sony would have at least ported some of the Fan loved and popular titles.
5. Lack of Triple A Titles:
The main purpose of a console is to be able to play some games. Not just any game, some AAA games like Uncharted, Just cause, Fallout and Elder scrolls. Especially playing these awesome titles on the Go. In fact, this was a major selling point of the Vita, to be able to play AAA games on the Go.This would tip the scales agaisnt the 3DS, which had inferior power and graphics capability to the Ps Vita.Now, the Vita at times proved capable of playing these games as shown in Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Mortal Kombat, These games indeed felt like Ps3 games but at the palm of your hands.
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| Playing Killzone on the Vita was a really great experience |
That would have been a dream come true, but there was a drought of titles for the Vita. We all remember call of duty black ops declassified, and how it was thought that First person shooters could not work on the Vita. Thankfully Killzone Mercenary set the record straight. The titles weren't just coming, as the developers would just channel their resources into the Ps4 instead. That brings us to...
6. The PS4 Factor:
The Vita seemed to have a hard start early on, Then Sony tried to sync the Vita to a more advanced and successful platform, the Ps4. What this means, is that the Ps Vita could be a neat companion to your Ps4 in a unique way, through Remote play.
Using remote play, the Vita can be synced with a PS4 over Wi-Fi and used to operate the system, which is a useful feature if you don’t have access to your television or are looking to play your PS4 on the go (which in reality is rather difficult given that you need a very strong Wi-Fi signal for it to function properly).
The feature was really neat though, as it was a really cool way to play High quality games like Call of duty on another platform than your TV. But this is more of a novelty than a killer feature. Who would want to buy a system so you could play somewhere other than your TV?.
7. The Vita Was Expensive:
The obvious reason for the fall of the vita was the fact it was expensive. When the vita was launched in North America in 2012, It was priced at 250$ for the Wi-fi version and about 300$ for the 3g enabled model. Now, this might be justified by the fact that the Vita was a solid handheld, But when compared to the 3DS priced at roughly 200$ and also new mobile phones, it doesn't seem that much of a good buy. Even about 50$ more could get you a Ps3 which was a fine console at that time. The Vita was a great device, Yes but it was too much for people to pay.
That's it for our reasons the Vita failed. Do you think the Vita lived to it's hype? Let us know what you think in the comment section.
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