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[DangerMouse]

Pretty much what SuperEpicMan said. It just doesn't work due to what Sony's teams aim for in development. They're already eyeing PS5 power whenever it comes.

I remember the rumors of a Vita 3000 with an HDMI out and was very interested in it.
Yes there was the Vita TV but that white list non-sense prevented some EU games to not be compatible despite the US version being it.
Danganronpa 1 and Disgaea 3 immediatly comes to mind.

Yeah, I bought a Vita TV for the function since I prefer gaming on my TV, and don't use or have much time to use my portables outside the house much anyway (including my Switch which is usually docked), so the Vita having an HDMI port itself would have been great. It probably wouldn't have changed its reception much, things like the memory cards also killed it anyway, but they should have launched with it having one since they were already getting questions about the possibility of including it a lot even before launch and seen there was some interest in it.

It just doesn't really work. Most of their first party teams are especially interested in being on the cutting edge of console development which severely limits their interest in developing on portables with naturally weaker components compared to top end consoles and PCs. Leaving only the B-teams and some co-productions and likely gimped versions of any main IP and mostly zero third parties outside of Japan. The only way a portable model would be likely worth it would be if you could make one just as powerful as their big consoles by putting those chips in there in both at the same time, but obviously the costs would make such a theoretical portable way too expensive.

And pretty much what qko said.

Even then, the game sizes would come into play big time. 64GB game cards? If download only, 256-512GB onboard flash memory? That's gonna cost ya.

I mean, even the convenience of sharing physical media with the PS4 is lost from the get-go.

This too.

 

[Astral Dog]

It could be called Vita TV 📺

 

[Shil Pencer]

It wouldnt because the Switch's appeal is Nintendo. The problem with PSP is the software is never going to be there. People who think the Switch is going to have amazing 3rd party support are going to be quickly disappointed. Nintendo has the power and fanbase that they can gimp graphics with their 1st party IP and nobody will care. I own a switch i loved my time with Zelda, but it never left the dock and i would have rather had the power of PS4 or Xbone playing the game. At the same time i didnt mind because its Nintendo being Nintendo. Sony tried to port uncharted and killzone to the PSP and it always felt like it was just gimped versions of great games. You will not get that same reaction to Nintendo IP's ever.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Sony is done with handhelds. They had their chance with the Vita which is a really nice piece of hardware held back by their own lack of support and baffling memory card situation. I doubt we ever see another handheld out of them again.

Sony doesn't need to 'counter' Nintendo anyway. Nintendo does their own thing... Sony R&D is probably all in on a ps5 right now.

 

[DrROBschiz]

Man

Vita was stupidly close to the switch concept lol

PS TV should have never existed and they should have rolled all that functionality into the Vita 2000 (hdmi out and controller support)

Along with a shift to microSD memory

Vita 2000 could have swung things around a bit temporarily. They were just not "there" with the concept of the system

Even then it was already doomed. Its very clear to me now that Unified platform is superior and Nintendo basically made the system the Vita should have been from the beginning

Though.... The switch is definitely missing some key features that Vita does better

 

[Buggy Loop]

It still would not work if Sony has a main console.

The hybrid concept is enticing because it promises to merge Nintendo's handheld and console output into one eventually.

Making an hybrid and still let your devs focus on a main console, more powerful, is destined to flop again.

Let's not even get into hardware details, overclocked vita? hahahaha. Magic power out of thin air will power it to catch up to Switch i guess. Probably at twice the battery life also right?

 

[marmoka]

That wouldn't work. Sony has enough with PS4.

 

[titiklabingapat]

Western third parties are lukewarm at best for the successful Switch. What makes you think that they are excited for a Sony counterpart? And they will have to carry the platform too, whereas Nintendo can get away with supporting just theirs because of unified handheld and console development support.

 

[protomouse]

They've had a swing at Nintendo twice, and have been knocked out both times. There's no market for a Sony handheld. Furthermore, they can't create a hybrid when their M.O. is to compete in spec wars with Microsoft, because the gulf between portable technology and TV boxes is too big.

They should continue to focus on TV boxes and big AAA games, because that's where they do well.

 

[phanphare]

there are so many things wrong with the OP but the main thing is that you're pitching a PS Vita revision. you've totally missed the point of why the Switch is successful. for Sony to counter the Switch's success it'd have to make a portable PS4 that played every game in that library, not another PS Vita. why would anyone buy a Vita revision when Sony's best games are on the PS4? if the latest and greatest games from Sony and it's 3rd party partners aren't coming to this device than just pack it up and go home.

Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, Metroid Prime 4, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, etc. all of the big Nintendo games are coming to Switch

Bloodborne, Uncharted 4, NieR, Horizon, The Last Guardian, Shadow of the Colossus Remastered, TLoU Pt. II, Spider Man, if those aren't playable on this hypothetical device then there is no point

 

[titiklabingapat]

If anything, this is the best case scenario for both companies and the consumers at largr. The market has gotten so big that differentiation can actually make them coexist, yet the experiences are similar enough that there is still some degree of competition left.

 

[llehuty]

It was also very easy to counter the 3DS and look how that went...

 

[Atomski]

How many more developers must we sacrifice to Sony's failed attempt at handhelds?

 

[RM8]

Vita sold like 5 million units in Japan. This is NOT good nor desirable, and Sony knows that. Vita is really, really not going to happen (as in, becoming an okay selling system).

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Standard miniSD card port.

Lol

 

[chronic_archaic]

They don't have the games to sell a handheld in the numbers they want. Nintendo is the only one with the properties to make it happen in a world with phones everywhere.

I love the freaking PS Vita by the way, it's my second favorite handheld behind the DS. It just has no sale potential anywhere but Japan.

 

[Buggy Loop]

It was also very easy to counter the 3DS and look how that went...

Yes this too. 3DS was the weakest sauce of all Nintendo's handhelds, not only in hardware but in software too (imo). Yet look at it go.

 

[Fisty]

Eh it would be interesting to see, but I think that ship has sailed. Besides, VR is how Sony is expanding the market right now so i'd love them to keep the focus on PS4/PSVR.

I still love my Vita, but yeah it's day has passed. Until we can get a portable PS4 I don't think Sony should jump back into handhelds

It was also very easy to counter the 3DS and look how that went...

To be fair, the Vita was set to be one hell of a competitor for 3DS. Then Nintendo slashed the 3DS price by like $90 right at Vita launch

 

[Pandora012]

How many more developers must we sacrifice to Sony's failed attempt at handhelds?

I wouldn't mind Japan Studio...they made some good games for Vita. But then, I'd also want them to do another console JRPG....

 

[FairFriend]

As to the OP, a large part of the Switch's success is that everything comes in a singular, clean, easy for consumers to digest package. Once you start selling things separately as addons you lose a lot of that. Look at Wii vs Move. I don't think Sony has to counter the Switch at all. There isn't a whole lot of intersection in the kinds of software support they are getting and The PS4 is monumental success. They just need to keep doing what they've been doing.

The dock station would be entirely optional. You could hook up the PSVita to the TV simply using an HDMI cable.

Sony's third party partners in the West, a crucial ingredient to their dominance, don't want to develop for handhelds. Sony's own developers, like Naughty Dog, don't want to develop for handhelds. If none of their friends or developers are willing to make software for the thing, what's the point? It's a losing proposition for them.

This is a valid concern, but the lineup of the 3DS is made almost exclusively of Japanese games, and the 3DS was overall a successful system. I do believe that a handled could get away from having little western support in terms of developers ready to create exclusive contents, and there are still high profile Japanese developers and publishers making games for the Vita.

PS exclusives are typically geared towards the experience the platform provides, likewise Nintendo exclusives are the same for the Switch. Part of the reason I felt the Vita didn't work was because it was trying to provide the same sort of games the PS3 and PS4 were offering, but on hardware that wasn't really suited to it. Why play a pared down version of Uncharted and Killzone, when they play better on a massive TV with better graphics.

Sony would just be repeating past mistakes to revisit the handheld market from the same approach. They would be better off focusing on supporting the PSVR, since that feels like an extension of the type of experiences are already pushing.

In the OP I tried to argue that Sony could leverage some dormant IPs, like for example Ape Escape, to relaunch the Vita. Some of those titles are particularly well suited to playing on the go and Sony doesn't seem to be interested in bringing them to the PS4 anyway.

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

Well eventually Nintendo will have mobile and home consoles converge into one system after they sunset the 3DS, and the same can't be said about Sony.

For all intents and purposes, it's already happened. They're still selling the 3ds in stores, but there isn't much indication that they're still supporting it with new software. All of Nintendo's development teams are working solely on Switch titles at this point.

 

[mas8705]

At this point, it is best to not even try and go up against the Switch (and it isn't like there is a need to do that to begin with). It would be like if the Xbox One X was made and then suddenly Microsoft saw a need to make a "Portable Xbox One" experience; what's the point if you have the home market down already?

Sony only needs the PS4 and that it.

 

[makingmusic476]

Now if you had said a portable ps4...

 

[2+2=5]

-First of all you don't want another handheld from Sony, SCEA never wanted Vita since the beginning and the same would be for a new Vita

-second it's too early to judge the "success" of Switch, launch period is different from the rest of the lifetime.

-third the "success" of Switch is based on its hybrid nature, there's no point of countering it with a handheld in a market where even Nintendo left handhelds.

-the only thing Sony(but even more MS if only they were interested imo) could do in some years is a PS4 lite, the opposite of the PS4Pro, a weaker PS4 handheld/hybrid that plays all the PS4 games at lower resolution, details, fps etc.

-if you really want a Vita pro a higher resolution would be a waste, just upgrade all the clocks, put an hdmi, a standard memory card and the missing buttons.

 

[DrROBschiz]

-First of all you don't want another handheld from Sony, SCEA never wanted Vita since the beginning and the same would be for a new Vita

-second it's too early to judge the "success" of Switch, launch period is different from the rest of the lifetime.

-third the "success" of Switch is based on its hybrid nature, there's no point of countering it with a handheld in a market where even Nintendo left handhelds.

-the only thing Sony(but even more MS if only they were interested imo) could do in some years is a PS4 lite, the opposite of the PS4Pro, a weaker PS4 handheld/hybrid that plays all the PS4 games at lower resolution, details, fps etc.

-if you really want a Vita pro a higher resolution would be a waste, just upgrade all the clocks, put an hdmi, a standard memory card and the missing buttons.

I suppose they could roll with a more reliable upgraded Vita that can do Remote play better but it would have to be super cheap and even then its locked to a niche

 

[MoonFrog]

How would a Vita Pro "steal Switch's thunder"?!?!

Sure Sony could make one and sure it could perhaps extend the life of the Vita if they put support towards it (which they've shown no desire to do), but "steal thunder"? That's not happening.

Switch has Nintendo, including Wii U successor Nintendo (including Splatoon). Switch has Pokemon. On top of this, insofar as Switch follows 3DS, it'll get bigger 3rd party games than a Vita Pro.

It's already getting MH (although after XX we'll see, maybe not), DQ, SMT...

 

[GuitarAtomik]

This is a valid concern, but the lineup of the 3DS is made almost exclusively of Japanese games, and the 3DS was overall a successful system. I do believe that a handled could get away from having little western support in terms of developers ready to create exclusive contents, and there are still high profile Japanese developers and publishers making games for the Vita.

Yeah, but that's because those games are largely made by Nintendo.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

No, please. Sony should focus on PS4/Pro and VR for now. I own a Vita and love it, but it's time to let go. Skip a "handheld gen" and come back with something new after 2020 if you must.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Sony's tech in the face of Nintendo has never been their problem. You would think after 13 years this would be obvious. Throwing money at a high-cost handheld, no matter how nice is utterly fucking meaningless if they don't intend on supporting it with great software. Splitting Sony's development focus between PS4, a handheld, and VR satisfies nobody.

 

[modsbox]

Only way this makes sense is if instead of it being a PS Vita update its simply this: PS4 Portable.

Whenever they can deliver a PS4 Portable for $300 they should do it. Subtract the disc drive, add the screen and L2/R2 buttons, make it digital only and take microsd cards with say 64GB built in.

I'd buy one, and the reason I think it could be interesting for Sony is that it would extend the reach of the PS4 ecosystem while not diluting developer support across multiple platforms. In much the same way that Switch devs can deliver one game that's playable both on console and handheld now PS4 devs could bring their titles to handheld with no effort.

 

[flozuki]

So now Ape Escape & Co are strong IPs that will move millions? Nice but to be honest I don't think it is that easy OP. But it would be interesting to see how they split their awesome support for PSVR with another device

 

[moltonasty]

OP:

 

[DrROBschiz]

Only way this makes sense is if instead of it being a PS Vita update its simply this: PS4 Portable.

Whenever they can deliver a PS4 Portable for $300 they should do it. Subtract the disc drive, add the screen and L2/R2 buttons, make it digital only and take microsd cards with say 64GB built in.

I'd buy one, and the reason I think it could be interesting for Sony is that it would extend the reach of the PS4 ecosystem while not diluting developer support across multiple platforms. In much the same way that Switch devs can deliver one game that's playable both on console and handheld now PS4 devs could bring their titles to handheld with no effort.

Trust me I WISH a portable PS4 was feasible

I just dont see how the tech is there to support something like that unless Sony/AMD are working some R&D magic right now

As far as I know AMD doesnt even make a flagship mobile chip

 

[Celine]

To be fair, the Vita was set to be one hell of a competitor for 3DS.

With what "system selling" software exactly?
Vita made no sense because 3DS was strong enough to pouch much of its key support like how Monster Hunter jumped the ship.

 

[Raging Spaniard]

OP, thats the kind of thinking that brings the PSP or the Vita. Good enough to make some money, but not relatively easy lol, NOTHING in this industry is relatively easy.

Sony has zero need to compete with Nintendo, they can both live together. Sony just needs to follow its own vision, dont get ahead of themselves and theyll be the market leader for a long time.

 

[phanphare]

Trust me I WISH a portable PS4 was feasible

I just dont see how the tech is there to support something like that unless Sony/AMD are working some R&D magic right now

As far as I know AMD doesnt even make a flagship mobile chip

which is why it'd be anything but relatively easy for Sony to counter the Switch so they should just probably (and will probably) stay in their lane

 

[Inuhanyou]

Sony are never going to have a handheld to compete with Nintendo again, its dead OP

 

[kinoki]

Even if Sony were to invest in PS Vita to counter the Switch that buzz will have died out by the time it got to market. Just like the waggle.

 

[LKSmash]

"I bet this is a crazy Vita thread... Yeeeeeeeeep"

OP you've gotta let it go. It's dead. It's not coming back.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

They don't have the games to sell a handheld in the numbers they want.

This is not true.

 

[Malice215]

Sony couldn't counter the success of the 3DS with the Vita. How can it easily go up against the Switch?

These suggestions are just a wish list for the Vita instead of ways to counter Switch's position in the market. Sony stopped supporting the Vita years ago, and there's no market for it outside of Japan, so who are they going to sell another handheld to? Without strong first party titles, nobody is going to care about whatever hardware upgrades that are made to the Vita. Adding a HDMI port doesn't make it a Switch contender either and ignores what Switch is able to offer as a platform.

 

[FairFriend]

Yeah, but that's because those games are largely made by Nintendo.

It's true that the best selling games were made by Nintendo, but there were a few million sellers made by third parties, a part from Monster Hunter that is, the first that comes to my mind being Bravely Default.

So now Ape Escape & Co are strong IPs that will move millions? Nice but to be honest I don't think it is that easy OP. But it would be interesting to see how they split their awesome support for PSVR with another device

Nobody is saying that Ape Escape would result to be as successful as Mario, but the surprising success of the Crash trilogy shows imo that Sony's IP are a little bit underrated when it comes to popularity (yes, yes, Crash is owned by Activision. It goes without saying that some effort would be needed in securing some selected IPs, another one being Spyro for instance, if only temporarily).

 

[SmokedMeat]

Revising the Vita sounds like a great idea. If they can also bring back the Wonderbook and bundle the two together I think they can easily steal Switch's Thunder!

 

[K' Dash]

This is not true.

Fuck yeah it isnt true, PSP destroyed the DS and Vita destroyed the 3DS because all thanks to that AAA Sony Lineup on portables.

 

[Rmagnus]

Why would Sony waste resources like so? Would it not make more sense to put those resources to making more games or rnd for ps5?

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

Most of the niche games are already on PS4 and PC. No need for countering anything.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

There’s no denying that the success of the Switch means that many developers will eventually abandon the PSVita.

This made me laugh. The Vita is almost 6 years old at this point (Dec 2011 Japanese release date). The Vita doesn't need competition for developers to abandon it - the mere passage of time will do the trick just fine.

 

[DrROBschiz]

Yeah even if they did Vita correctly all those years ago it would still be on its way to retirement along with the 3DS

Split Ecosystems are over

And thank god. Switch gets it mostly right even if Nintendo fucked some shit up along the way

I would hope that any future portable follows the same lead and runs the same games as its console counterpart

I see zero reason to shoot for less after the Switch

 

[Osukaa]

Id love for Sony to give it another go with a handheld but I don't know if now is the time, especially with them having to support VR and PS4. Plus my wallet probably cant handle another new system at the moment lol.

I love my Vita and really have a nice backlog but I think for now let it be, HOWEVER Id be happy with them relaunching/re-releasing the Vita with improvements like R2 and L2 and getting rid of the back touchscreen as I don't even know what game uses it any more. Plus let us use Regular Memory Cards. They already have a nice library too but it would be an uphill battle even with that as the Switch and 3DS are still a knockout combo at the moment.

Honestly my dream would be a Nintendo/Sony Handheld and then let them both have their Main Consoles. Oh what a wonderful world that would be...

 

[Salex_]

Didn't the PS4 just have it's best Q1 ever? And it's still on track to sell over 100m systems?

Why would they make hardware to "counter" the Switch when their extremely successful platform has plenty of software coming and services are still improving?

A portable PS4 seems obvious if mobile tech gets there before the next-gen PlayStation, but revamped Vita is pointless. They're not going to waste exclusives trying to revive a dead platform.

In terms of focus and exclusive software, PSVR & mobile games are right behind the PS4, not the Vita.