It’s been 13 months now since the PS Vita launched in early 2012. Despite the PS Vita having PS3-like graphics on a handheld system, the high price and lack of killer exclusive games failed to encourage people to buy the system. Not to mention many people now own powerful smartphones and tablets which pretty much do more things than what a PS Vita can do.
The PS Vita is a great little system and Sony (and other third party publishers) should not abandon the handheld so quickly. There’s no other handheld device on the market that can play PS3-like games. Even though it looks like support for the system has died, here are a few things that can help the system remain relevant for the remainder of 2013 and beyond.
Worldwide Price Drop
Price drops are a no brainer since most people like to buy things at a lower price. Sony announced a price drop recently for Japan and this has done semi-wonders for the PS Vita since then. Some shops have sold out their stock of the handheld and the PS Vita even outsold the Wii U.
Sadly, Sony has neither confirmed nor denied if a price drop for the PS Vita is coming to any other countries outside of Japan. PS Vita sales quadrupled in Japan following the price drop, so Sony should lower the price of the handheld everywhere else to encourage more people to buy the system.
Another thing Sony should consider is lowering the price of its memory cards too. These things are quite expensive as well since they’re essential for any PS Vita owner.
More Quality Exclusive Games
When the PS Vita first launched, things seemed to be looking up for the handheld system. Some of the more notable exclusives included Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Wipeout 2048 and Gravity Rush just to name a few.
It wasn’t until later in the system’s life that some of the console’s exclusives turned out to be mediocre. Resistance: Burning Skies looked promising, but turned out to be poor and did not utilize the Vita’s full power. Although the biggest disappointment of all was Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified. It was supposed to be the one game that would convince people to buy a PS Vita in the first place. Sadly, the game was a piece of garbage and everyone avoided both the game and Vita altogether.
Sony needs to release more quality exclusive games for the system in order for it to survive. New releases for the system seem too few and far between at this point in time. The most recent PS Vita games I’ve played have only been PS3 ports like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time…
The PSP had better exclusives at the time. Before they were ported to the PS2, the PSP had Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories. The PSP also had Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII too. If the PS Vita had a similar line-up, more people would buy the system for sure.
PS4 Connectivity
There’s a chance the PS Vita can stay alive once the PS4 releases later this year. This is because it has a remote play option that will allow you to play your PS4 games on the go. Knack was the first PS4 game to allow you to do this. Sony hopes to make every PS4 game to be playable on the PS Vita via remote play. Another thing Sony could do is allow some PS4 games to use the PS Vita as an alternative controller. A game like Watch Dogs could use the PS Vita as a map or even a cellphone. Wii U games use a similar setup and it might make PS4 games a little more interesting if you could use the PS Vita console like this too.
Some More Free Apps And Games
The one thing that makes Android and iOS so popular is the amount of free games and interesting apps you can download. Looking at the Vita’s store right now, there are not many apps or games that you can download for free. The store is pretty much littered with full price Vita, PSP, PSOne and mini games. If the PS Vita wants to stay relevant in a day and age full of smartphones and tablets, more apps would be beneficial.
This is just a few steps to ensure the PS Vita stays relevant in the gaming industry for the next year or so. I have a PS Vita for review purposes, but I have not played/reviewed a PS Vita games in months now. The only PS Vita exclusive game that I know that is coming out later this year is Killzone: Mercenary. Hopefully Sony will announce more killer PS Vita titles at E3.
First i want to say great article, the points the author has made is true and would help the vita.
Here is my opinion as a new Vita owner. I want to say the machine is built well, the design is great and it has potential to do great things for gamers, but Sony refuses to make this Vita all it can be. here is what the vita should have to make it great in my opinion.
1. Price Drop – i got mine used thank god, but cannot justify $250 plus tx. plus games plus memory. A person can buy even a used smart phone and it does more than the vita.
2. Lower memory price – way overpriced compared to a micro SD card. How can people download games and buy items from the PSN store if they are always out of space. who is gonna spend $100 for a 32 gb memory card vs $25 for a micro SD card.
3. More Free games and cheaper games to buy, android and iphone games look as good and a fraction of the cost. Despite people saying android and iphone games may not have the debt of game, they still sell way more and are good for quick portable fun.
4. STOP Online passes – This is a complete rip off and is shooting themselves in the foot. For many people forking over $300 to get setup with a Vita, now needs games for it. Most used games i have tried to buy are $25 used. Then add $10 for the online pass, just as well i bought it new. what a rip off. Games are over priced as they are, stop forcing people to pay more. You already got money from the first owner.
5. Media support, open source apps, Backwards compatible – Make this Vita the All of All systems, play most media formats, play old psp titles. i want the complete game station in hand. There is people trying to load custom firmware because Sony wont open up the Vita for support.
If i was a innovative company id want my device to do it all, even make toast if possible. why restrict a system if it can do it, And i don’t condone piracy, but Sony can make the vita do so much more.
6. Android support – Imagine a Vita that supported and played Android games, they wouldn’t be able to keep them on the shelves. A true device with built in controller. Yes the Xperia Play exists but it was outdated when it was released, a great system but dont compare to the power of the Vita.
Having android support wouldn’t hurt game sales, it would increase vita sales, and increase vita games sales, it would cater to every niche gamer, quick easy games and hard core games. We all know android and iphone is killing the Vita. if you cannot beat em, join em.
My Vita will sit pretty in the box til the PS4 releases to see how it will work together, for now, its a over priced piece of technology. My old smart phone does more.
Thanks,