Last call for PS Vita as production ends in Japan
After seven long years, Sony is finally ending production of the PlayStation Vita in its native Japan.
For me, it still stands as one of my favourite handheld systems of all time. Despite it’s numerous flaws, it still had a great library of quirky and unique games. The sort of thing you don’t see too much of today on more mainstream platforms. I have a lot of great memories playing games like Gravity Rush, Mutant Blob, and Uncharted on the system. Whether it be on long road trips or lazy summer nights up at the cottage.
That said, it’s not hard to see why it failed. The Vita was simply the right system that came at the wrong time. A time when smartphone gaming was poised to be the next big thing, before it turned into the cesspool it is now. Back then, it was an unstoppable juggernaut with endless potential, and that’s what gamers and studios were jumping for their portable fix.
As soon as sales of the handheld started to falter, Sony was quick to dump it at the side of the road like an abandoned pet. Support from major studios was dropped soon after that, putting owners on a slow diet of obscure JRPGs and indie titles. The system never got a “killer app” to really entice players back to the PlayStation Portable ecosystem. Meanwhile, its expensive proprietary memory cards continued to discourage digital sales, even after stores stopped carrying physical cartridges.
The Vita never did live up to its promise of PS3 quality games, but it did move us a step closer to the holy grail of console quality games on the go. Something that would be fully realized a few short years later with the Nintendo Switch. A system, which for me is a true spiritual successor to the Vita.
It’s just a shame that Sony’s second handheld wasn’t allowed to reach its full potential. However, at 16 million units sold, you can’t really call it a failure. It did far better than most other non-Nintendo handhelds aside from its direct predecessor. It was a great and powerful system for its time, just poorly executed, but I still love it none the less.
Press F to pay respects.
