There has been a lot of talk about Sony’s Playstation Vita this past month regarding whether or not this was the end. Before Sony’s E3 press conferences, gamers who were dedicated to the Vita had hoped to hear good news about the system. They remained optimistic about what Sony’s plans for the portable device’s future. Vita fanatics prepared for any kind of exclusive content or big announcement pertaining to the system so that they could prepare their wallets. After all, the Vita has a very high attachment rate and even small devs have had success on the platform.
During Sony’s two-hour press conference there was hardly any mention of the Vita. The only news to come for the Vita were announcements for games that would be released as cross-buy. There were no announcements of exclusive games, no information regarding the system, and not even new footage of the highly anticipated Vita game, Gravity Rush 2. Vita fans across the internet were highly disappointed and cries of its demise amplified. If you browse any of the major internet gaming forums you were in for headlines like, “Sony doesn’t care about the Vita” or, “The Vita has no games, its dead.” Honestly, after Sony left the Vita out in the cold during the conference I felt that those headlines were justified.
The day after the conference I ventured onto the E3 show floor. Just as I have done for the last two years, I headed to the Sony booth to see what games they were demoing for the Vita. There were definitely a lot more games on the floor than I had imagined would be there. Here is a list of the games I have captured:
The list of games looks pretty impressive at first glance. There were over 25 Vita games being demoed on the floor this year and that’s a lot of floor space dedicated to a dead system. The only catch with so many games being shown was that only a few of them were exclusive games for the Vita. This is where the community is split on the future of the Vita.
Half of the community believes the Vita is fine with the release of games that aren’t exclusive. The other half believes the Vita is dead because they are not getting exclusive games that allow them to “play console quality games on the go.” Who is correct in this situation? Both groups are justified in their thoughts. Gamers who have a Vita and no proper gaming PC are very happy to play all the ported Indie games. The gamers who want exclusive console quality should voice their opinion and get those games from Sony. You really can’t blame either group of gamers. Personally, I would like to see exclusive games, like a God of War game, for the system.
During an interview with Edge Andrew House, the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, spoke about the Vita in relation to the PS4. When asked about how to get the Vita into more gamers’ hands he said, “With Remote Play, Vita has now essentially become an extender or an enhancer for the main platform.” A lot of media outlets and gamers interpreted this quote as a dagger for the Vita. The head man at Sony himself has said that the Vita has been relegated to just an accessory for the PS4. If you re-read the quote he says, “With Remote Play.” My interpretation is that in terms of Remote Play the Vita is an accessory to the PS4, but it can stand on its own legs. I hope that I am correct in my assumption. As a Vita owner myself, I would love to get more exclusive Vita games.
I, personally, am giving the Vita one more year before I give up on the system. I’m one of those those owners that remain optimistic of what Sony will do with the it. Hopefully with the release of the Vita TV in the US we will see more games being developed for the system. What side of the fence do you stand on regarding the Vita?
