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Vita is dead, Long live Vita (production ending in 2019 possibly)

Arkage

Banned
While this isn't directly sourced info, Iga of Bloodstained has cancelled the Vita port due to Sony discontinuing support for the system in what I assume is 2019.

Our first announcement is that the game will now launch in 2019. The most important reason for this is to raise the quality level, especially after all the very valuable feedback from the Beta Backer Demo.

The second announcement is that the game will no longer launch on PlayStation Vita. This decision is largely due to Sony’s plans to discontinue the Vita console, ending production of physical copies and stopping certain online store support features.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iga/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night/posts/2266944

I bought at Vita at launch due to the killer launch lineup of Uncharted, Wipeout, Lumines, Escape Plan, with Gravity Rush on the immediate horizon. Even got that bundle that included a memory stick and Little Deviants and carrying case. Was hyped on OLED, dual sticks and remote play. I enjoyed many of the exclusives that came out over the years (loved Killzone), the PS+ games, the pretty substantial PS1 digital catalog. But there was some really dumb shit. Expensive memory cards. Some games requiring digital transfer from the PS3 to the Vita. Trash entries in big name franchises (CoD, Resistance). The total drop off of 1st party AAA content because Sony lost faith. Vaporware like Bioshock. But it got lots of niche games and indies throughout the years which helped fill the void.

What were your favorite Vita memories? Or your biggest Vita letdowns? Are you surprised it lasted this long?
 

Vlaphor

Member
The Vita could potentially be my second favorite handheld of all time, behind the GameBoy Advance SP. So many damn good games, the massive amount of indies that came to it, some of my favorite visual novels of all time. Just a classic. It should've sold far more than it did.
 

Kacho

Member
I’ll never get the love for the Vita but I enjoyed it as a Castlevania Dracula Chronicles X machine
 

ShirAhava

Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
The Vita is the last 'real' handheld ...not a dumb tablet or whatever....after the gamegear the vita is the only other handheld I've ever cared to own
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I remember transferring Valkyria Chronicles 2, Silent Hill 1, Metal Gear Solid, and the Sega Genesis PSP collection using the Content Manager on my PS3. That was some work at first, but I got the hang of it. A few of them can be downloaded directly onto the Vita, but I believe it's only Valkyria Chronicles 2.

Silent Hill Origins had to be transferred too.

I absolutely love my Vita. I still play through PSOne classics. I believe Sony is making a terrible decision
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I also loved Vita. It give me amazing game like Gravity Rush and it was damn good system. I wish Sony supported this system same way Nintendo did with 3DS.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I also loved Vita. It give me amazing game like Gravity Rush and it was damn good system. I wish Sony supported this system same way Nintendo did with 3DS.

Yeah. Another great thing about the Vita were the banners you could get for your profile. Jeanne d'Arc is an awesome TRPG on the PSP and Sony had a bunch of banners for that, Rogue Galaxy, and Gravity Rush. Too bad we didn't get a Remaster of Jeanne d'Arc, but it's available digitally.
 
Got the white le bundle, it was anazing. I really enjoyed gaming on it. Uncharted, tearaway, gravity rush, and killzone were my favorites.

Then i left it on a plane :(
 
Never really liked it because Sony refused to support it properly. I've only got a handful of games and if it weren't for Persona 4, I prolly would've never bought it in the first place.

Patapon 4 could've been great on it.
 

Hudo

Member
Vita was the last Playstation device with good build quality, IMHO. PS4 and the DualShock 4 have horrible build quality. I really hope that Sony are getting back on track with the PS5.
 

Mr Branding

Member
Love the system. Got one from Japan a year ago and put it to good use since. Besides the Vita/PSP/PS1 libraries I'm also enjoying remote play on it a lot.
 

Akuza89

Member
Let's be honest the vita new release line up was done for when it was shown as "jailbreak"able meaning you can just illegal use games on it.

The system is basically dead anyway, just let it... as unfortunate as it is it's a nice system great even, it just didn't have the right support at all.
 

Mr Branding

Member
Sad to hear can someone recommend me some games for this system ?
The Rayman games (Origins/Legends), Gravity Rush, Spelunky, Rogue Legacy, Steamworld dig 1/2, Tearaway, NFS Most Wanted, Ninja gaiden sigma plus, Dracula X chronicles, A boy and his blob, Soulcalibur Broken Destiny, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Grim Fandango, Muramasa, Dragon's Crown, Axiom Verge, etc.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
I thought they quit making them like 2 years ago when retailers dropped them from their inventories.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
Vita was the first handheld that I really enjoyed. I bought it primarily for Broken Sword 5: The Serpents Curse, since back then it was an exclusive for the system, and I´m a huge Broken Sword fan so I had to get a Vita. I´ve never been much into handheld gaming before, I tried both the Game Boy and GB SP and they did nothing for me, but Vita was on a whole new level. It felt luxurious and robust, with a lot of nice multimedia features. I used it mainly for indie games and PS One Classics and for that it was great.

I can never understand why Sony just let it die. It´s like they didn´t even try. It was a great system, with a huge potential to become the number one handheld, but Sony didn´t give zero fucks about it. They put out a couple of high end games like Uncharted and Killzone, thought that was gonna be enough, and when they failed so did Sonys support.

As a handheld system Vita was perfect, with minor issues such a expensive memory cards and remote play sucking ass, but it could not compete with Nintendo who still reigns when it comes to handheld gaming systems. I too have upgraded to a Switch, which is far superior in terms of software already, and in the long run, multimedia functions too. I don´t think Sony will ever venture forth with another handheld, it´s clear that they don´t have the resources to support something like that in the long run. It may be a technological beast, but that doesn´t really matter when the system itself is lacking AAA-quality games to justify that technology.
 
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Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
I dont have ps vita

But thank you PS VITA For bring the game of my life

s-l300.jpg


Thank you for everything and more... Gravity rush
 
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Malio

Member
My favorite memory was the ridiculously priced SD card that prevented me from ever buying one. Good times.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
If you really want a PlayStation Classic then buy a Vita. There's a lot of great PS1 games you can play. I don't get the hate when I'm playing Parasite Eve, Suikoden 2, and Mega Man Legends on my Vita. I can play Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX and Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R on my PSTV. Sure the memory card thing is a hassle, but once you get one its pretty easy to optimize for yourself.
 

Shmunter

Member
I wonder if it would have lived on if a full ds3/4 controller layout was implemented instead of the bespoke approach
 

Nymphae

Banned
If you really want a PlayStation Classic then buy a Vita. There's a lot of great PS1 games you can play. I don't get the hate when I'm playing Parasite Eve, Suikoden 2, and Mega Man Legends on my Vita. I can play Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX and Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R on my PSTV. Sure the memory card thing is a hassle, but once you get one its pretty easy to optimize for yourself.

It needs R2 and L2 buttons, and the touch back does not cut it. Try playing RDR2 via remote play lol.

It's great for many games, but falls short of perfection for me because of this control issue. I recently got an 8bitdo SNES controller for PC, the one with analogs, and holy shit that thing feels great, I love the shoulder triggers.

Looking into fixing mine up for emulation though. I love the device I just don't use it much anymore.
 
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While this isn't directly sourced info, Iga of Bloodstained has cancelled the Vita port due to Sony discontinuing support for the system in what I assume is 2019.



I bought at Vita at launch due to the killer launch lineup of Uncharted, Wipeout, Lumines, Escape Plan, with Gravity Rush on the immediate horizon. Even got that bundle that included a memory stick and Little Deviants and carrying case. Was hyped on OLED, dual sticks and remote play. I enjoyed many of the exclusives that came out over the years (loved Killzone), the PS+ games, the pretty substantial PS1 digital catalog. But there was some really dumb shit. Expensive memory cards. Some games requiring digital transfer from the PS3 to the Vita. Trash entries in big name franchises (CoD, Resistance). The total drop off of 1st party AAA content because Sony lost faith. Vaporware like Bioshock. But it got lots of niche games and indies throughout the years which helped fill the void.

What were your favorite Vita memories? Or your biggest Vita letdowns? Are you surprised it lasted this long?


I think it was an excuse to dump support for it. I doubt it even got very far into development.

It did anger me as I pledged just to have a Castlevania inspired game for the Vita! I changed it to PS4 now though.

Best Vita memory has to be the Freedom Wars online and Platinuming the game as it was amazing!

I also enjoyed Ys MoC amd 8 on it and Tokyo Xanadu's infamous Typos and grammar errors! It somewhat annoyed me that they touted the PS4 Version as superior when they made a right mess of the original! (I almoat responded with "Yeah but it still wasn't localised by a Superior Team called XSEED" to upset them).

Otherwise great handheld and will have a lot of gems to look into over the years.
 

Fbh

Member
Man I remember being hyped about the vita but it just didn't turn out the way I expected and the support from Sony wasn't great either.

As a system it was pretty nice though. Because of its size and screen I actually liked it better as a handheld than the Switch
 

KINDERFELD

Banned
Mine hasn't been touched since I got a Switch last year.
I ended up buying the overpriced memory card and I have so many vita, psp and ps1 games on it that I haven't finished yet.
The vita had a lot of potential.
 
I wonder if it would have lived on if a full ds3/4 controller layout was implemented instead of the bespoke approach
No.

There are many arguments that people like to make about why the Vita failed, and what could have saved it, but it all comes down to only very simple thing as the end of the day.

Games.

It didn't have enough big titles to attract the average consumers. It didn't have its "Pokemon".
 

Wonko_C

Member
Back touch is universally hate-piled on but it was justified by DJMAX Technika Tune all by itself IMO, it made the game much more playable (and fun!). I wish the Switch had back touch and we got a sequel. :messenger_loudly_crying:

 
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Even with the long manufacturing time I can't call this a success.

It flopped everywhere outside of Japan after the 3DS cut its price.

It took a few years before the Vita started actually selling in Japan and is going to end with an LTD with less than 6 million only really selling in Japan for the last few years just because it was slightly making profit per console sold.

The PSP was around 20 million or so in comparison. WW the Vita may be less then 15 million LTD or just making it, while WW the PSP was around 80 million. A wii to Wii U like crash.

Sony could have tried salvaging the Vita but for some reason they led it die awhile ago. Never did understand why.
 
No.

There are many arguments that people like to make about why the Vita failed, and what could have saved it, but it all comes down to only very simple thing as the end of the day.

Games.

It didn't have enough big titles to attract the average consumers. It didn't have its "Pokemon".

PSP didn't have its pokemon either (outside of japan) the issue was Sony abandoned the platform early then they should and made no attempts to save it outside of Japan, which even there it wasn't doing that well.
 

cireza

Member
I actually sold mine 2 days ago and switched to the Switch (get it?). I couldnt care less for docked mode, my Switch is my new vita.
I have a Switch as well, but honestly it is not a proper replacement for handheld gaming. Too bulky. You also get pretty random performance on this console depending on game and docked/handheld.

Still some pretty great games to play on Switch, and at least this console is having new releases. I hope that visual novels will sell well on Switch.
 
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PSP didn't have its pokemon either (outside of japan) the issue was Sony abandoned the platform early then they should and made no attempts to save it outside of Japan, which even there it wasn't doing that well.
But it did have it's "Pokemon" in Japan, which helped to boost the sales significantly. The PSP was also a lot cheaper.

Sony did actually try, contrary to popular opinion. For the first few years of its life, they brought out plenty of great games for the hardware. They pushed the hardware and advertised it. But people didn't bite. Most people already had what they needed in the 3DS. and the rest didn't care because they had mobile phones.

It was the wrong device as the wrong time. It didn't have the software library to keep it afloat, and Sony accepted that. The fact that they've kept it in production for 8 years despite its failure at market is a testament if nothing else.
 
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stranno

Member
Back touch is universally hate-piled on but it was justified by DJMAX Technika Tune all by itself IMO, it made the game much more playable (and fun!). I wish the Switch had back touch and we got a sequel. :messenger_loudly_crying:
The rear-touch mini-game in Little Deviants was cool too. Unfortunately the console never saw another thing like that.
 

db1416

Member
This has always been weird for me because my moms name is Vita. My mom was very confused when she went into the electronics section of some stores.
 

Bolivar687

Banned
This comes up every few months with the intermittent bad news but I'll just reiterate that the Vita has supplanted the Game Boy Color as the best handheld I've ever owned. The digital storefront made for a perfect marriage between innovative indies and masterpiece favorites. The occasional "AAA" title like Killzone and Uncharted being even better than their console contemporaries was the icing on the handheld gaming cake. I'll probably get into emulation eventually but for a time, I was really happy with the gaming proposition that Vita represented.
 
But it did have it's "Pokemon" in Japan,

Did you read the post you quoted?

As for the rest, no, outside of japan they were already dialing back support and no longer putting in effort to get many devs on board a couple years in and the third year it got ridiculous, they started shifting away from games to sell the platform to remote play and classic titles. They lied about addressing some of the issues as well, such as price, 1st-party investment increase, and memory cards.
 

TLZ

Banned
Well, I look forward to whatever's up Sony's sleeves. Maybe their new controllers double as handhelds with the rumored screens in them?
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
It needs R2 and L2 buttons, and the touch back does not cut it. Try playing RDR2 via remote play lol.

It's great for many games, but falls short of perfection for me because of this control issue. I recently got an 8bitdo SNES controller for PC, the one with analogs, and holy shit that thing feels great, I love the shoulder triggers.

Looking into fixing mine up for emulation though. I love the device I just don't use it much anymore.

Prey was difficult for me since you couldn't remap the buttons and you had to rely on the touchpad on the back. I did do well with God of War and Resident Evil 2 Remake wasn't bad. Some games will map the controls for aiming and shooting when you start a remote session. Uncharted 4 let you remap the controls manually. I was frustrated that even when you switch around the controls on the system, that they did not reflect themselves when switching to remote play. There are also some grips available with L2/R2, but I haven't purchased them. I've had a couple of grips for my Vita. I personally agree about the lack of Dualshock support. I can use a Dualshock 3 with my PSTV, but not my Vita. All i have to do is switch around the memory cards. Another issue I have is the lack of the PS2 emulation from PS3's digital library of PS2 games. It makes the PS3 the primary console for a bunch of very good PS2 titles.
 

Rodolink

Member
I never had a Vita initially, got it a few years afterwards because I wanted to play its exclusives. And although I loved Tearway, Gravity Rush, and P4G. I really love it because its the ULTIMATE PSX machine, really its the best way to play PSX games, I'm still playing it just for that. It has amazing battery lifetime. and the screen is incredible, its still the best portable screen out there (the original Vita OLED). Maybe the only thing not so much to my liking are the small buttons.
 

20cent

Banned
It needs R2 and L2 buttons, and the touch back does not cut it. Try playing RDR2 via remote play lol.

It's great for many games, but falls short of perfection for me because of this control issue. I recently got an 8bitdo SNES controller for PC, the one with analogs, and holy shit that thing feels great, I love the shoulder triggers.

Looking into fixing mine up for emulation though. I love the device I just don't use it much anymore.

The cases/grip with built-in L2/R2 buttons work very well for remote play.. and quite cheap.
 
Unfortunately there is no statistics in how long you played your Vita games, but I think I have more hours in Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, than in all modded Bethesda games combined.

I'm still sad the updates never made it onto the handheld.
 
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