Sony reaffirms that they do NOT plan to create a Vita successor

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With the Nintendo Switch taking the gaming market by storm, it seems like there's a perfect climate for Sony to step in and create a handheld to compete with Nintendo's hybrid, much like they've done in the past, with the PSP and PS Vita. However, Sony Interactive Entertainment's CEO, Andrew House, disagrees, and is quoted as saying the following during an interview with Bloomberg JP.

The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid device, thus it has a completely different strategy from the PlayStation. We are focusing our attention on products that can specifically be played from the living room. We do not see potential in the handheld market.

It seems PlayStation has been adamant about there not being a new PlayStation handheld, as House has been quoted as saying such multiple times. What do you think? Is the handheld market too saturated thanks to the rise of smartphones, or that after the DS and 3DS dominating the PSP and Vita, it's high time that Sony relent and focus on their flagship PS4? Or that Sony is missing out on a huge opportunity?

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RedBlueGreen

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I loved the Vita, but In a way I'm kind of glad they've decided against it. Assuming Sony had made a hybrid console similar to the switch, I just don't see two hybrid consoles making it in a pre-dominant smartphone gaming world. Glad to see that Sony is focusing its resources on the PS4 and Nintendo is starting to focus its resources on the switch.
There's a big difference between smartphone and handheld gaming though. There are very few mobile games that are the same quality as a console game.
 

simbin

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It's a shame really, as the Vita is mostly a nice piece of hardware. I'm not sure all the reasons it failed, but their ludicrous proprietary SD technology certainly didn't help. Once Sony abandoned it, everyone stopped making games except for some indie JRP studios.

With hacks, you can overcome the storage limitations and it makes for one amazing little emulation device.

There's a couple rare Vita (demo) units with HDMI out. Imagine how things could've been different if they kept HDMI and went for the hybrid approach - 4 years before the Switch. They deny their intent to offer hybrid functionality, but the PSTV and Remote Play were botched attempts.
 
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DinohScene

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If that was the case they wouldn't be pulling out of the market. Sony handhelds have always sold poorly compared to Nintendo's, and all the proprietary disc/memory stuff didn't help things.

They might have sold poorly but the games where just better.
Then again, it's not much of a fair competition and neither handheld received much of the same game.

I had more memorable moments and joy with games on the PSP/Vita then on DS/3DS.
 

tivu100

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I can see how Sony would be discouraged by the market's response to the Vita - it was as close to a perfect handheld as you could get. Top smartphone specs, great screen, 3G, WiFi and BT connectivity, dual analog sticks, the Vita was awesome. I still can't quite wrap my head around why it failed - its only shortcomings were superficial. It needed support, but it never really got much outside of Japan. Shame, a big shame.
Game library. Wrapping up UMD drive which they spent money to developed for PSP for another game reader, while DS -> 3DS game reader/ game cartridge is pretty much straight forward from Nintendo. When there ain't enough hit game for 3DS, people can just play their favorite DS games. 3DS homebrew came and boost the 3DS for the last couple years. On the other hand, I meant Sony hung the faithful PSP game buyers out to dry. Not too many great games to play for Vita while you can't just play your PSP collection UMD games without repurchasing digital copy. Good luck marketing PS Vita.

Then the whole memory card mess. Games take more space and Sony memory card is just silly expensive.

Vita used to have good spec when they first came out. However, with time, it's just overpriced piece of gaming hardware with not much to do with until recently when Henkaku being released. Nintendo handheld gradually improve DS-DSI-3DS-Switch. It doesn't let a huge gap with too many what if like Vita. With this Nintendo handhelds just do enough. On the other hand, PS Vita with all the potential didn't do anything to hold its ground and now being surpassed in hardware specs, it has not enough pull to create a scene.
 
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Xzi

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They might have sold poorly but the games where just better.
Meh, a lot of games were on both systems at the time (3DS/Vita, DS/PSP). It's not a very accurate way of measuring things, but I counted the number of games above an 80 score on Metacritic for both Vita and 3DS. Vita has 99 where 3DS has 91. In the end just about anybody should be able to find plenty of games to enjoy on either system. Again it was the insistence on proprietary memory cards that helped sink any chance for the Vita.
 

DinohScene

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Meh, a lot of games were on both systems at the time (3DS/Vita, DS/PSP). It's not a very accurate way of measuring things, but I counted the number of games above an 80 score on Metacritic for both Vita and 3DS. Vita has 99 where 3DS has 91. In the end just about anybody should be able to find plenty of games to enjoy on either system. Again it was the insistence on proprietary memory cards that helped sink any chance for the Vita.

Deffo.
It's unfortunate as playing games on OLED truly enhances the experience.
Fuck me, GTA VCS on OLED is better then a wet dream about a lumberjack.
 

rileysrjay

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There's a big difference between smartphone and handheld gaming though. There are very few mobile games that are the same quality as a console game.
I agree with that statement fully, console and handheld games are almost always better in quality than mobile phone games (not to say all mobile games are bad, I've played some pretty good games on mobile over the years). But that casual type audience that the DS and psp had that made them so successful has moved on to mobile devices, no doubt about it. It's part of the reason why the 3ds and Vita didn't do as well as their predecessors and why I don't see two hybrid consoles co-existing well with each other; there's just not a big enough market for it imo in a world where mobile phones predominate the mobile gaming market.
 
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kuwanger

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What killed the Vita for me is mostly that Sony did a pretty horrible job at marketing the Vita as something other than a long series of failures of the PSP line. Not that the PSP was a complete failure, but I'd put it in the same category of the Game Gear. Too much hardware requiring too much power for the time (relative to the Nintendo handheld of the same era). Once they ditched the UMD, the whole PSP Go line was a mess for previous owners (AFAIK). Add in, of course, the proprietary memory card costs (as everyone else has mentioned), and I think that's the key part that really killed it from gaining traction at that point--ignoring that even then, file sizes still heavily favor the Nintendo line until the 3DS era.

Of course, this is heavily based upon more of sideline watching than actual experience. The PSTV seemed like a joke, especially when it requires whitelisting of games. Thanks to Henkaku and dsmotion, though, things have changed heavily. Even still, there's way too many Japan exclusive games and/or ones that are ridiculously ecchi. I mean, there's the difference between targeting hardcore gamers and targeting otaku gamers. So, even there, I think the Vita failed (in a meaningful way).

*shrug*
 

tivu100

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I agree with that statement fully, console and handheld games are almost always better in quality than mobile phone games (not to say all mobile games are bad, I've played some pretty good games on mobile over the years). But that casual type audience that the DS and psp had that made them so successful has moved on to mobile devices, no doubt about it. It's part of the reason why the 3ds and Vita didn't do as well as their predecessors and why I don't see two hybrid consoles co-existing well with each other; there's just not a big enough market for it imo in a world where mobile phones predominate the mobile gaming market.
Sony didn't play their cards well enough. I meant Nintendo have their own trademark titles that they won't sell the license for mobile games: Mario, Pokemon (until Pokemon Go), Zelda, Samus... This means they will have certain amount of fans. Sony depends on independent game developers which with mess by taking a big cut in Vita hardware profit (read my previous post regarding game reader, memory card), it doesn't give off a reassuring platform as both developer & buyers ain't being well attracted. Also many titles for Vita were released for PS2/PS3/PS4, and they are better on home console than on Vita. Buying a console so you can just play it portably is not worth it. Nintendo home console & handheld may share some of the titles, but there are more exclusive titles (taken from their own trademark brand).

I don't buy into the " the handheld market is only this big" argument. People can't stop changing phone every year, despite the feature ain't getting ground breaking improvement annually. Look at 3DS. It's didn't do well couple years ago and for several reason, the New 3DS era did quite well for revision model. I meant if Sony decided to make a revision of Vita today with UMD reader, micro SD reader, OLED, and adding more games, it can be revived. Homebrew scene spike some life into it like CFW for 3DS couple years ago. It's up to Sony to do the right thing, which they refuse to.
 
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rileysrjay

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Sony didn't play their well enough. I meant Nintendo have their own trademark titles that they won't sell the license for mobile games: Mario, Pokemon (until Pokemon Go), Zelda, Samus... This means they will have certain amount of fans. Sony depends on independent game developers which with Sony messes up Vita the way they did (read my previous post regarding game reader, memory card), it doesn't give off a reassuring platform as both developer & buyers ain't being well attracted. Also many titles for Vita were released for PS2/PS3/PS4, and they are better on home console than on Vita. Buying a console so you can just play it portably is not worth it. Nintendo home console & handheld may share some of the titles, but there are more exclusive titles (taken from their own trademark brand).

I don't buy into the " the handheld market" is only this big. People can't stop changing phone every year, despite the feature ain't getting ground breaking improvement annually.
I didn't mean that smartphone gaming was the main reason why the Vita failed, sorry if I came across that way. I was just pointing out how, in general, smartphone gaming is one of the reasons why sales in handheld gaming have declined since the glory days of the psp and DS. No doubt Sony's stupidity in not supporting the Vita with a good stream of first party content plus triple a third party games and the proprietary card crap is what killed the Vita. I owned a Vita and it was one of my favorite handhelds I've ever owned. I have a switch now and I've really enjoyed it as well, I'll always be a handheld gamer at heart as it's what introduced me to gaming and I've always loved being able to take quality games on the go. The handheld market is smaller than what it was before smartphone gaming became a thing Imo. Not to say it still isn't a decent sized market, look at how well the switch is doing!
 

ArugulaZ

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They failed to support their own platform and then say there is no market for handhelds. It's like they live in a parallel universe where the Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, DS, 3DS and Switch don't exist.

When they say that, they mean there's no market for handhelds for anyone BUT Nintendo.
 

tivu100

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I didn't mean that smartphone gaming was the main reason why the Vita failed, sorry if I came across that way. I was just pointing out how, in general, smartphone gaming is one of the reasons why sales in handheld gaming have declined since the glory days of the psp and DS. No doubt Sony's stupidity in not supporting the Vita with a good stream of first party content plus triple a third party games and the proprietary card crap is what killed the Vita. I owned a Vita and it was one of my favorite handhelds I've ever owned. I have a switch now and I've really enjoyed it as well, I'll always be a handheld gamer at heart as it's what introduced me to gaming and I've always loved being able to take quality games on the go. The handheld market is smaller than what it was before smartphone gaming became a thing Imo. Not to say it still isn't a decent sized market, look at how well the switch is doing!
I see. Still I edited my previous post and covered the point that there is always room to expand in handheld market for gaming console

I haven't got a Switch yet so no comment. Pre Switch, Vita 1000 is definitely my favorite hardware, design and OS wise. The problem as I explained is the lack of support from Sony to make a scene around the console. Gaming console and you need game to fulfill its potential. In this regard 3DS especially N3DS era, beat Vita to a pulp, even though the improvement ain't exactly that huge within the 3DS model.
 
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rileysrjay

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I see. Still I edited my previous post and covered the point that there is always room to expand in handheld market.

I haven't got a Switch yet so no comment. Pre Switch, Vita 1000 is definitely my favorite hardware, design and OS wise. The problem as I explained is the lack of support from Sony to make a scene around the console. Gaming console and you need game to fulfill its potential. In this regard 3DS especially N3DS era, beat Vita to a pulp, even though the improvement ain't exactly that huge
Same here, the original Vita 1000 was awesome with that oled screen and it had a really solid design (my only complaint would be the proprietary cord for charging and transferring data to a computer; I tried and I could never get my Vita to transfer stuff to my PC through that cable). I always waffle between whether I like the 3ds or the Vita better, they're both amazing handhelds. The Vita has that gorgeous screen and some great Indies, jrpgs, and some good ps2 and PS3 ports, while the 3ds has virtual console and some great first party games.
 

tivu100

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Same here, the original Vita 1000 was awesome with that oled screen and it had a really solid design (my only complaint would be the proprietary cord for charging and transferring data to a computer; I tried and I could never get my Vita to transfer stuff to my PC through that cable). I always waffle between whether I like the 3ds or the Vita better, they're both amazing handhelds. The Vita has that gorgeous screen and some great Indies, jrpgs, and some good ps2 and PS3 ports, while the 3ds has virtual console and some great first party games.
That's the point. If Sony did the right thing couple years ago just like Nintendo to the 3DS:Vita decided to upgrade instead downgrading with cheaper material for the Slim. New Vita with micro sd card reader, add UMD drive to bring back the PSP faithfuls, adding more game... And a bit of luck with homebrew scene make the same breakthrough as 3DS back then; arguably Vita scene would beat 3DS. 3DS won due to both luck and good strategy. If Nintendo happens to have approach similarly to Sony with the 3DS by only looking to downgrade design with cheaper material, and show lack of support in term of games, noone would touch a 3DS. It looks too childish design wise and without games to play with, it's awkward to carry around. You can't use 3ds for music with closed lid ffs (I meant using the built in speaker)
 
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