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Sony: Indies, third-party games are Vita's focus moving forward

D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
Well, we Vita owners have known this for a long time. I also knew this when I bought it, and I'm personally fine with it.

But it's weird that Sony basically confirms they're not going to bother with first party SW anymore. They have basically acknowledged and accepted that this will be a godlike niche product for a select few.
 
H

Huff

Banned
Well they are kinda saying what everyone said at the beginning. No one wants big blockbusters on a handheld. Indies fit the device more than another uncharted
 
E

ErrorMacro

Member
Given the success of the PS4 and the failure of the Vita, it makes sense for Sony to cut their support. The problem is the message this gives to both consumers and third parties/indies. It is something like: "If Sony doesn't support it, why the hell should we?", and it might end up with even fewer third party and indie titles.

It's a shame really. I don't own one, and the device is not my cup of tea, but as someone who enjoys handheld gaming and owns a 3DS, more compeetition can only mean good things. It feels like the Vita is the unluckiest gaming device in history.
 
K

Kandrick

GAF's Ed McMahon
coldone said:
Why do they even bother releasing Vita-TV, Vita-2000. Are they just milking the dead cow. I feel terrible for the people who bought Vita 2000 last month.
Click to expand...

People who bought the vita last month knew what they were getting into. I feel bad for people that bought it at launch or near launch ( like me ).
 
P

Pachimari

Member
This greatly disappoints me.

Actually, this might be the biggest disappointment I have had for a console ever.

I love that it has indie games (which I have already bought on PC though), but I bought it expecting at least Sony would support it with their own IP's, so I could play their great 3D games on this powerful handheld.

I wanted a Final Fantasy like Crisis Core, a Tekken and a Syphon Filter.

At least I got Lumines, MGS HD, Jak & Daxter and Persona 4 on my handheld.
 
F

Faustek

Member
Uhm, that's not the problem.

The problem is that Sony is treating it as a bastard ginger child in a Universe where Eric Cartman exists as the Dictator, oh yeah and the child is Jewish as well.

Barely any adds support, can't be bothered to give it any prime time whatsoever. That embarrassing product placement in House of Cards? No.
Not even able to support it with your own PSP releases? PS1? Nah to bothersome. For fucks sake, its like you made this awesome thing and your going all Spartan on it by kicking it out in the wilderness and letting it fend for itself. If you want it killed so badly just say so and just put it out of its misery.

If not, then try supporting it instead of behaving like a dead beat father.

Gamescom/TGS yeah yeah I know but I bet it'll still won't get more time than King Ping Powers.
 
digita1alchemy

digita1alchemy

Member
I love the Vita hardware but I'm not particularly interested in indie games, remote play or Playstation Now. I'm hoping for a PSP-esque late lifecycle boom in Japanese support.

Amazon Instant Video and Vudu apps would be nice, too. I think I use mine as a portable video player as much as I do a gaming machine, such a fantastic screen.
 
M

Mr_Antimatter

Member
Kyoufu said:
That's not a Vita game.
Click to expand...

Gravity Rush hasn't been announced for anything else yet. Current assumption is that is, like GR1 is a vita game.

It's really not.

As for Sony, at least they're being honest about it.
Click to expand...

Gravity rush was pretty awesome for a new IP. Looked fantastic, had great characters, played very well, and had an interesting world setup. The first game ends with an obvious setup for a sequel, and one was announced at TGS last yeah to a pretty warm reception.
 
T

TheSpoiler

Member
ErrorMacro said:
Given the success of the PS4 and the failure of the Vita, it makes sense for Sony to cut their support. The problem is the message this gives to both consumers and third parties/indies. It is something like: "If Sony doesn't support it, why the hell should we?", and it might end up with even fewer third party and indie titles.

It's a shame really. I don't own one, and the device is not my cup of tea, but as someone who enjoys handheld gaming and owns a 3DS, more compeetition can only mean good things. It feels like the Vita is the unluckiest gaming device in history.
Click to expand...

People are forgetting that this means that Sony isn't directly creating more first party titles, but when it comes to third party, they'll keep focus on that instead.

So you won't see Uncharted, but you will see lower grade game get released on the Vita when it might not have before. It's just scaling back one area and improving another - an area of which has developers that they will support. I doesn't send such a bad message when Sony comes down and is like, hey man, lemme help you get that game released because we are about the little/medium sized dudes now
 
C

Con_Smith

Banned
Fuck the haters I enjoy the indie love as those games really are great for on the go gaming and with Binding of Isaac coming to the plaatform it's already a guarantee I'll be spending a hell of a lot of time enjoying the device.
 
M

Mass_Pincup

Banned
It's really sad as a Vita owner to here this but completely understandable. When they released first party game at launch no one cared, when they tried bringing big franchise no one cared either. And then there is the stigma of Vita has no games even though the PS4 launched with far less games then the Vita. People are just not interested. At least I can count on Tecmo, Xseed and NISA to keep supporting the Vita.
 
SEGAvangelist

SEGAvangelist

Gold Member
So they're saying they'll just let other make games for their console? Ouch. Why can't Sony just make smaller games for the console? I suppose we should have suspected this when Sony said all their studios are working on PS4 games. Does this mean Gravity Rush 2 might not be a PS Vita game?
 
T

TheSpoiler

Member
sindbadthesailor said:
Fire Yoshida and bring in someone competent.
Click to expand...

It's truly his fault that people aren't interested in first party games. Off with his head.

Azull said:
Exactly this. I get some people don't care and would much rather prefer Sony stop supporting the vita with first party titles, but why the hell would third parties support a system that it's creator as all but given up on?
Click to expand...

Because Sony is still directly supporting them, if not more so since their focus is now on them instead of their in-house stuff? You all realize that third-party includes games made for the system by a seperate company, and games made for the system by a separate company under Sony's publishing rights, yeah?

This isn't difficult to understand.
 
A

Azull

Member
Miles Quaritch said:
Can't even be bothered to support their own handheld. Doesn't exactly send a strong message out to third parties that it has the full support of Sony...
Click to expand...

Exactly this. I get some people don't care and would much rather prefer Sony stop supporting the vita with first party titles, but why the hell would third parties support a system that its creators have all but given up on?
 
A

AcademicSaucer

Member
How many vitas ha sony sold ? 7 million ? thats a good number for a niche.

And Vita will most likely outlive the 3ds for several years , as a ps4 controller, so there will be a point in time, where the vita will be the best selling handheld on the market .
 
G

gigantor21

Member
DedValve said:
I wonder what would have happened if they released a $200 4gb vita at launch. Ah well, shoulda/coulda/woulda.
Click to expand...

It would have to be at least 16GB for it to really matter, considering PS+ and the system's indie bet. Hell, I have to juggle stuff on my 32GB card because of that.

At any rate, this was pretty much known. Sony's handling of the memory pricing and their constant efforts to push it as a PS4 controller proved that they weren't serious about turning things around in the first place. Nice to get proper confirmation, though.
 
H

Huff

Banned
It's not like they're going to stop funding games, but Sony's first party is mostly western and their work didn't translate well to a handheld
 
B

BadWolf

Member
Azull said:
Exactly this. I get some people don't care and would much rather prefer Sony stop supporting the vita with first party titles, but why the hell would third parties support a system that it's creator as all but given up on?
Click to expand...

That is what happened with the PSP though.

Sony gave up on it and focused on fixing the disaster that was the PS3 while the PSP sort of found success on its own via third parties.
 
T

The_Darkest_Red

Member
As a longtime fan of handheld games I find this to be incredibly depressing, obvious as it may be. Don't get me wrong, I love indie games and I greatly enjoy playing them on my Vita, but that's not the primary reason I bought the system. I loved the PSP for its variety in retail titles, from Killzone: Liberation and MGS: Peace Walker to Tactics Ogre and Trails in the Sky. I realize that the majority of those games came from third parties but obviously the Vita has much less support even in that regard.

I still get bitter about some of the half-hearted attempts Sony spit out earlier in the Vita's life cycle. Resistance: Burning Skies is downright shameful, for instance.

The Vita could have been the ultimate RPG machine, but instead it has been relegated to a glorified indie game machine and companion device for the PS4. There are worse fates I suppose, but it's hard not to be a little disappointed.
 
K

Krakn3Dfx

Member
I'm sure this will be something people complain about, but it's probably either this or complete abandonment. I love indies and Remote Play, so no regrets.
 
S

sindbadthesailor

Member
Andrefpvs said:
This is why I'll never buy another Sony console at launch, ever. Not supporting your own hardware after such a short time. Ridiculous. Shameful, even. I'm a very disappointed costumer.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

What an absolutely terrible message to send out - "the system's struggling so we're not going to bother supporting it anymore."

Huff said:
Well they are kinda saying what everyone said at the beginning. No one wants big blockbusters on a handheld. Indies fit the device more than another uncharted
Click to expand...

Speak for yourself.

Honestly, it's beyond bizarre how people keep degenerating the conversation into a zero-sum game. It shouldn't have to be indies or first party support; it should be both.

TheSpoiler said:
It's truly his fault that people aren't interested in first party games. Off with his head.
Click to expand...

Nah, it's his fault for letting SCEA abandon the system more or less by directing every studio to focus on the PS4 while at the same time, not even bothering to advertise the system.

And it's absolutely hilarious anyone here actually thought something like Tearaway would be a seller.
 
E

EdgeXL

Member
Screw you, Sony.

I preordered the First Edition Bundle and 9 games at launch. I have been a defender of the Vita for over two years now. I bought the Vita for games like Uncharted, Gravity Rush, etc. I didn't buy it to play indies that I'd rather buy from Humble Bundle.

To me it just feels like Sony is giving up on any sort of identity for the Vita. Now the system will be known for multiplat indies and a PS4 accessory.

Yeah...screw you, Sony.
 
2

2+2=5

The Amiga Brotherhood
So that's why SCEA can treat Vita like that and no one does anything, Yoshida agrees.

Honestly i think the entire situation is really stupid, you don't want to spend a single cent to support it? Ok i'm totally fine with it, but at least show a 2 minute trailer with what Vita already has at e3! There are lots a great games coming! People would be interested in Vita if you show them, you had even some of them on the showfloor! Wouldn't be in your interest showing them?

I mean if Vita had nothing then ok, but Vita has many games, why not showing them?
 
T

TheSpoiler

Member
The_Darkest_Red said:
As a longtime fan of handheld games I find this to be incredibly depressing, obvious as it may be. Don't get me wrong, I love indie games and I greatly enjoy playing them on my Vita, but that's not the primary reason I bought the system. I loved the PSP for its variety in retail titles, from Killzone: Liberation and MGS: Peace Walker to Tactics Ogre and Trails in the Sky. I realize that the majority of those games came from third parties but obviously the Vita has much less support even in that regard.

I still get bitter about some of the half-hearted attempts Sony spit out earlier in the Vita's life cycle. Resistance: Burning Skies is downright shameful, for instance.

The Vita could have been the ultimate RPG machine, but instead it has been relegated to a glorified indie game machine and companion device for the PS4. There are worse fates I suppose, but it's hard not to be a little disappointed.
Click to expand...

That's what is going on though. Your Soul Sacrifice, Ys, Persona, Destiny of Spirits, all of that is getting bolstered.

These kneejerk reactions aren't gonna stop.

2+2=5 said:
So that's why SCEA can treat Vita like that and no one does anything, Yoshida agrees.

Honestly i think the entire situation is really stupid, you don't want to spend a single cent to support it? Ok i'm totally fine with it, but at least show a 2 minute trailer with what Vita already has at e3! There are lots a great games coming! People would be interested in Vita if you show them, you had even some of them on the showfloor!

I mean if Vita had nothing then ok, but Vita has many games, why not showing them?
Click to expand...

EdgeXL said:
Screw you, Sony.

I preordered the First Edition Bundle and 9 games at launch. I have been a defender of the Vita for over two years now. I bought the Vita for games like Uncharted, Gravity Rush, etc. I didn't buy it to play indies that I'd rather buy from Humble Bundle.

To me it just feels like Sony is giving up on any sort of identity for the Vita. Now the system will be known for multiplat indies and a PS4 accessory.

Yeah...screw you, Sony.
Click to expand...

I guess not!
 
B

biglittleps

Member
Madridista said:
This greatly disappoints me.

Actually, this might be the biggest disappointment I have had for a console ever.

I love that it has indie games (which I have already bought on PC though), but I bought it expecting at least Sony would support it with their own IP's, so I could play their great 3D games on this powerful handheld.

I wanted a Final Fantasy like Crisis Core, a Tekken and a Syphon Filter.

At least I got Lumines, MGS HD, Jak & Daxter and Persona 4 on my handheld.
Click to expand...

They are not dropping complete support as they are saying few First party titles so we might see some IP's in future (more if the device performs better) and there are going to be many Cross platform Unity based games made for PS4/Vita in future.
 
1

18-Volt

Member
If this means Sony will give money to 3rd parties to make games instead of having their own people make games, it's good. It even could mean a GTA game in the future.

But I think this means "We'll leave the fate of the system to the indies as we don't want to kill it ourselves" then it's bad. Nobody buys a system just to play indie games on it.

Regardless of Vita's fate, I'm curious about what will happen to handheld market in 9th generation.
 
H

Hatchtag

Banned
On one hand, I don't really think Sony's western studios understand what to put on the Vita anyways, honestly. Crappy sequels to first party games made by studios other than the people who usually make the series don't really count as AAA in my eyes, even if they do have a high budget. I mean, they're just shitty. With the 3DS, Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, Fire Emblem: Awakening, they're all made by the usual people. On the western side of things, for the most part, the Vita doesn't have that. So it's not like we're losing much. Hell, even ports of console games on the 3DS are of much higher quality. OOT3D and DKCR3D run better than just about any western-made HD Collection on the Vita. And considering that people don't think DKCR3D runs that great, that's saying something.

On the other hand, it's annoying to see them throw in the towel on an incredibly young handheld. I'd like to see them at least try.
 
S

SmokyDave

Member
Seems fair enough, the market for 'big' first party titles just ain't there. The majority of Vita games I enjoy are indies or third party ports / multiplats anyway.

It's a shame things didn't happen another way, but they didn't. Smartphones and tablets are attacking from one end, the PS4 is attacking from the other. Poor Vita never stood a chance once it was clear that it wasn't going to be a sales success.

I'm glad to have been given a glimpse of what high-end handheld gaming looks like.
 
Andrefpvs

Andrefpvs

Member
TheSpoiler said:
It's not Sony's fault - it's the market. They put up first party games, and they simply didn't take. And they did have some amazing games too, so it's not like quality was an issue.

Vita's not a console, and is in no way indicative of how the PS4 is performing. Do you really think the PS4 is going to never, ever get first party support?
Click to expand...

I don't have a PS4, I have a PS Vita.

And no, they didn't put up enough quality first party games. The only first party games that had overwhelmingly positive reviews were LBP Vita and Tearaway. None of which were system sellers, unfortunately. Apart from those and Gravity Rush, Sony took a couple of their franchises (for example, Uncharted) and gave them to studios that were not the creators of the franchise.

Sony purposely held back their most talented studios so they could work on PS3 and PS4 games, and let the PS Vita get the leftovers. This of course didn't result in blockbuster, system selling games, so they resorted to what the PS Vita is now known for: ports. Obviously this didn't sell systems as well, so now it's the market's fault because they don't want handheld consoles, right? Oh, but meanwhile, the freaking 3DS is on its way to sell 45 million units. Huh. I wonder what kind of voodoo Nintendo did.

If the market is hostile towards the Vita, then I, as a consumer, EXPECT Sony to fight back that market by pushing out quality software as often as needed until everyone who has the means to get a Vita but doesn't feels like an idiot. It's their system, it's their responsibility. I have every right as a costumer and Vita owner to feel disappointed.


They didn't take enough chances with the system, and this is the result.
 
L

Loudninja

Member
2+2=5 said:
So that's why SCEA can treat Vita like that and no one does anything, Yoshida agrees.

Honestly i think the entire situation is really stupid, you don't want to spend a single cent to support it? Ok i'm totally fine with it, but at least show a 2 minute trailer with what Vita already has at e3! There are lots a great games coming! People would be interested in Vita if you show them, you had even some of them on the showfloor! Wouldn't be in your interest showing them?

I mean if Vita had nothing then ok, but Vita has many games, why not showing them?
Click to expand...
How do you think the Vita is getting alot of these indie games?
 
G

gigantor21

Member
BadWolf said:
That is what happened with the PSP though.

Sony gave up on it and focused on fixing the disaster that was the PS3 while the PSP sort of found success on its own via third parties.
Click to expand...

On a system which actually sold well, and before mobile gaming was anywhere near as prominent. That the 3DS will be lucky to hit PSP sales when the DS outsold it 2:1 shows how much the market has shrank.

With the Vita, big publishers face the prospect of higher dev costs in a greatly diminished market. It's no wonder few outside Japan are doing anything with it. :/
 
A

Azull

Member
TheSpoiler said:
Because Sony is still directly supporting them, if not more so since their focus is now on them instead of their in-house stuff? You all realize that third-party includes games made for the system by a seperate company, and games made for the system by a separate company under Sony's publishing rights, yeah?

This isn't difficult to understand.
Click to expand...

I get that, but still releasing games like gravity rush and wipeout can and would help the system out. I bought the vita just because of Uncharted, gravity rush, and wipeout (unit 13 wasn't bad either). From my understanding they helped with the borderlands 2 release correct? So they will probably be doing more of that than full fledge games from their own studios? That's what frigging sucks.

BadWolf said:
That is what happened with the PSP though.

Sony gave up on it and focused on fixing the disaster that was the PS3 while the PSP sort of found success on its own via third parties.
Click to expand...

The PSP had some amazing 1st party and third party titles though. Also Monster hunter, monster hunter made it what it was.

Off topic: Is it just me or is neogaf lagging? Loading up threads, posting comments, etc. are extremely slow for some reason.
 
T

Trago

Member
So...what does this mean for Gravity Rush 2?

I want to pick up a Vita for the first game. I hope they don't cancel it.
 
M

Miles Quaritch

Member
BadWolf said:
That is what happened with the PSP though.

Sony gave up on it and focused on fixing the disaster that was the PS3 while the PSP sort of found success on its own via third parties.
Click to expand...

That decision was probably made easier by the fact that it was actually selling and pretty well at that too.

I'd also disagree that Sony gave up on the PSP, it had a lot more first party support than the Vita has had so far and probably will have.
 
H

Huff

Banned
sindbadthesailor said:
Ditto.

What an absolutely terrible message to send out - "the system's struggling so we're not going to bother supporting it anymore."



Speak for yourself.

Honestly, it's beyond bizarre how people keep degenerating the conversation into a zero-sum game. It shouldn't have to be indies or first party support; it should be both.
Click to expand...

Sony's first party is now mostly western and is more suited for the big screen. That's just the way things are
 
T

The_Darkest_Red

Member
TheSpoiler said:
That's what is going on though. Your Soul Sacrifice, Ys, Persona, Destiny of Spirits, all of that is getting bolstered.

These kneejerk reactions aren't gonna stop.
Click to expand...
Kneejerk? I've owned a Vita since launch, this is something I think about a lot. P4G was wonderful but generally speaking I think the PSP has a much stronger library than the Vita ever will in terms of everything but indie games.
 
X

Xinkwi-Xkuk

Banned
I already love the Vita and have had it almost 3 years. If games stopped today, I would still have another 3 years of gaming left in the system.

That's to say there are soooo many games form Vita who could possibly play them all? (Maybe someone with no job, no wife, no kids etc.)

But for average gamers this system already has a ton of content.

Glad Sony is upfront, and to be real if their is Playstation NOW on Vita.... Mobile game play of streaming content for the ages right?

I guess I'm happy with the system already could die tomorrow and I'd still enjoy it. Best game purchase for me in the past 2+ years.
 
O

Oersted

Member
18-Volt said:
If this means Sony will give money to 3rd parties to make games instead of having their own people make games, it's good. It even could mean a GTA game in the future.

But I think this means "We'll leave the fate of the system to the indies as we don't want to kill it ourselves" then it's bad. Nobody buys a system just to play indie games on it.

Regardless of Vita's fate, I'm curious about what will happen to handheld market in 9th generation.
Click to expand...

GTA in the future? Vita is already 3 years old and GTA needs years to develop.
 
B

BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO

Junior Member
Mr_Antimatter said:
Makes me wonder whats going to happen to Gravity Rush 2. Too good a series to let die, but perhaps, not financial viable given the recent failures in terms of first party vita game sales.

I'd love to see it jump to the ps4 as a series though, with GR1 HD as a combo or something.
Click to expand...
Japan will continue to support the vita, Sony west is the one focusing on Indies
 
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