160°

Handheld on a High: Did Sony Just Save PS Vita?

RedBull.UK: What a difference an hour makes. Prior to Sony's Gamescom press conference, which it delivered in Cologne on Tuesday evening, PlayStation Vita was a dead man walking, spurned by consumers, shunned by third-parties and increasingly mourned by those of us that had once but feared for Vita's future.

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redbull.co.uk
GribbleGrunger4268d ago

It didn't need saving but this certainly helps to send out the message that its going in the right direction for all the jelly limbed fence-sitters out there.

user54670074268d ago (Edited 4268d ago )

I wonder if people ever take the time to think this was Sonys plan all along

Use E3 to focus on PS3 games, then once the dust is settled over new games announced by other companies use Gamescom to announced PSV support.

I mean they wouldn't want to announce something like Tearaway then have everyone talk about Watchdogs, The Last of Us or even Black Ops 2

GribbleGrunger4267d ago (Edited 4267d ago )

In my opinion, yes it was. America is a hard sell because it's Microsoft's turf. Sony's biggest markets (Japan and Europe) are why they outsell the 360 every week, so it made sense to advertise to their biggest audience, Europe

TBM4268d ago

about how many saved articles did we get once the presser finished? this is becoming boring, and extremely repetitive.

DA_SHREDDER4268d ago

Still think it needs L3 and R3 buttons, The WiiU added them last second. I don't think gamers realize how badly something like that could affect their sales.

DigitalAnalog4268d ago

The VITA designer stated that it was difficult to implement the clickable nubs on the VITA.

TheFirstClassic4268d ago

Ya I think I heard it makes them break easier or something.

sarshelyam4268d ago

Rear touchpad can emulate L2/R2/L3/R3.

himdeel4267d ago

It makes most sense to me that L3/R3 are the front touch screen and L2/R2 are the rear touch screen. L3/R3 are a MINOR inconvenience because you have to take your thumb off the analog stick to touch the screen.

nikoado4267d ago

Couldn't you "pinch" the screen, i.e. use front and back touchscreens simultaneously?

I know it's not ideal because you would have to take your fingers off the buttons but it could work.

What would you need those specific buttons for anyway, that couldn't be done with some other input?

snake-OO4267d ago

they have the back touchpad which can have four simultaneously inputs. perfect for L2, R2, L3, and R3. And don't forget the multi gesture touch screen.

one2thr4267d ago

It's actually 6... 6 for the front and 6 for the back....

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Protagonist4268d ago

Yes the PSVITA is here to stay and it should be "enough to make you go out and buy one".

FragGen4268d ago (Edited 4268d ago )

Media Molecule is Awesome. It was an extremely cool idea for Sony to let them loose on a totally new IP on the Vita.

The new firmware update will be a great thing too.

MaximusPrime4268d ago

More lame articles with word "save" aimed at Sony's product.

Remember good old days of anti-ps3 articles? PS3 was only a month old when all these "save"-related articles bombarded N4G front page...

DigitalRaptor4267d ago (Edited 4267d ago )

Exactly. I think I can speak for a lot of us when I say that we've developed thicker skin this generation with the constant crap regarding how PS3 its doomed and other "issues".

With hindsight, people are going to feel embarrassed, yet again, that stuff like this even happened. It's happening with WiiU already and that's not gonna be out for months.

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370°

Guerrilla Announces Shutdown of Servers for Killzone: Shadow Fall and More

In August, online servers for several PlayStation games will shut down, leaving their multiplayer functions unplayable.

purple101640d ago

whrere on earth is the next killzone, im soooOOO thirsty for some proper weighted, (but still fast when running/sprinting) fps gamplay, it felt sooso so good on ps3, with that, lets be honest, very small, quite uncomfortable sixaxis dualshock controller, that was just too small for western sized hands, ok for japanese kids i suppose was the point>??

now with PS5 controller, it would be totally masterfull.

ClayRules2012640d ago

I hear you. I want some NEW Killzone, especially on PS5, with the PS5 DualSense controller with that ever so impressive DualSense of an experience Haptic feedback!

Knowing how far Guerrilla has come since Horizon: Zero Dawn, Killzone can only benefit greatly from their ever growing talent!!

Bobertt639d ago

I think Sony has given up on their exclusive shooters. They haven't released a remaster for the Resistance series or a new SOCOM game either. I don't think Guerilla is in a rush to make Killzone since they have Horizon now too :(.

640d ago
Outside_ofthe_Box640d ago

All I want is for them to build Killzone 2 with multiplayer included from the ground up, keep the gameplay the same, and I'll be happy.

GG with KZ3 and Shafowfall haven't been able to match KZ2 so I don't really have faith in another sequel.

Unfortunate that KZ2 came out during COD era where every game that didn't pay like Modern Warfare was deemed garbage. KZ2's multiplayer is definitely an all time great.

Michiel1989640d ago

since when was kz2 deemed garbage?

MizHDTV640d ago

Right on dude
KZ2 was just a special game to me

sinspirit640d ago

I'd love KZ2 multiplayer again. I also think they could easily incorporate a mode to compete with Battlefield style game modes

Seraphim640d ago

KZ2 was one of maybe a handful of games I actually put time into online. What a blast!! And the campaign was excellent as well. I certainly miss that dark world. Still ashamed I never buttoned up that Platinum.

Storm23640d ago

A remake of Killzone 2 with the same grittiness and feel on PS5 would be f*cking incredible. The SP and MP were just perfect. I played the sh*t out of that game. Would happily pay a lot of money for that.

DarXyde640d ago

Honestly, I don't like FPS games. They're not for me, but I do agree that there was something about KZ2 multiplayer that even someone like me enjoyed.

Sony really needs to get better about tearing down servers. I don't like that they shut them down.

shadowT640d ago

agree, KZ2 was a masterpiece

Muigi640d ago

KZ3 multiplayer was better imo.

Outside_ofthe_Box639d ago (Edited 639d ago )

@Michiel1989
"since when was kz2 deemed garbage?"

As with anything, things don't get the appreciation it deserves until way after it's release.

KZ2 got a lot of flak for it's weighty controls that many mistook for input lag. People didn't like that it wasn't a twitch shooter like CoD. You also had people saying things like "it feels like you're controlling a midget", "enemies take too long to die" (you can't pray and spray in kz2. You have to shoot in bursts for your shots to be more accurate), people complained about the sniping, etc.

This led to a lot of changes in KZ3 that turned the vets off like reducing the amount of variables for bullet damage, getting rid of spawn grenades, etc.

BISHOP-BRASIL639d ago

@DarXyde

I don't think there's much Sony or any other company in that position can do much different about it... Keeping servers running simply cost money, these gomes don't generate none anymore, so eventually they need to pull the plug.

Astrokis639d ago

KZ2 was definitely better then KZ3, but the third one still had strong suits. It’s been many years but I remember something about Shadow Fall being made by a team at GG that did NOT do KZ2 and KZ3 multiplayer which is why it felt different. I remember when I found that out it made a lot of sense about Shadow Falls multiplayer feeling so off.

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 639d ago
elazz640d ago

Horizon zero dawn sold more copies than all of the killzone franchise combined including spin offs on handheld. I guess that's the reason why won't see killzone from guerilla soon. There is at least one more mainline horizon coming out and their second team is working on horizon VR I believe. So it's gonna be a while unless another studio takes over.

Profchaos640d ago

I've been playing a lot of Killzone 2 on rpcs3 with a duelsense combined with the ability to remap controls to a modern standard and bump the game to 60fps it shows that we really need a remaster to probably the best killzone game to date although shadowfall technically beats it in the graphics department art style was so different that they are incomparable

MizHDTV640d ago

I’d be happy with a release of KZ2

John_McClane640d ago

Killzone went to the same place as Socom and Mag, more money in 25 hour single player games with no servers to maintain. Socom was literally the reason I bought a PS2, Resistance FOM the reason I bought a PS3, all gone now.

senorfartcushion640d ago (Edited 640d ago )

Killzone has never been weighted correctly, the jumping never worked.

A new properly-weighted shooter in the Killzone series would be great. More like Killzone 1 and 2 than SF.

I think the issue comes from the fact that the Helghast side is sympathetic while looking like Nazi stormtroopers. The Trump age has led artists to avoid this look entirely.

ironmonkey640d ago

I feel something may be announced soon

ManMarmalade640d ago (Edited 640d ago )

The sixaxis felt fine in my hands since they're small, but the ps5 really made me feel the difference. So ergonomic.

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 639d ago
Gardenia640d ago

Killzone 2 was/is so good and it still looks good today. The multiplayer was fun as well. If they make a new Killzone I hope it is the style of Killzone 2.

Hauntedasylum8640d ago

I wish Sony didn’t abandon Resistance and Killzone. Those are some of my favorite series on PlayStation. If they’re not gonna make anymore, then maybe a remastered collection of each could be negotiated.

DefenderOfDoom2640d ago

KILLZONE 2 was my reason for buying a PS3. If a new KILLZONE or RESISTANCE was coming out in 22 I would try to buy a PS5 immediately.

Lightning77640d ago

SSOD2 would be big for Sony. The only reason they would be interested in it is if they can turn it into a live service game.

In which I can see that happening.

Hauntedasylum8640d ago

Hell yeah, brother. You and me both.

VanDamme640d ago

For anyone trying to understand @Lightning77’s comment, they had a typo, this should clarify:

SOD2
Superoxide dismutase 2, mitochondrial, also known as manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase, is an enzyme which in humans is encoded by the SOD2 gene on chromosome 6.

Profchaos640d ago

After 5 killzone games including portable Sony felt it needed a break I wouldn't say its abandoned however I believe we may randomly get a ps5 remaster with improved lighting to test the waters and eventually a full blown new game after all you can't just leave shadowfall on that ending

SeTTriP640d ago

Horizon is priority now its a mega franchise for them maybe after Horizon they might revisit.

Imalwaysright639d ago

I refuse to play for online play but there is one game that would make pay for it and that's Resistance Fall of Man. That's the only game that would make me throw my principles out of the window without feeling ashamed of myself.

jBlakeeper639d ago

Remember in the mid 2000’s when nearly every developer started to do FPS or linear third person? Now nearly every developer wants to do open world exclusively because it’s the easiest type of game to leave things out and then expand upon the world with DLC.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 639d ago
deleted640d ago

So many fond memories of both Shadowfall and Mercenaries Vita online! Shadowfall's SP may have been weak, but the MP was still a ton of fun. I had a lot of time in both, and it's especially tough seeing the Vita's best mp experience get shut down.

RIP my old friends.

LoveSpuds640d ago (Edited 640d ago )

In my opinion, I thought the single player games was really decent too and was treated quite harshly by the critics, but then, I think the Killzone franchise as a whole was kinda under rated by the critics. I always enjoyed the story in these games and I liked the slower, more deliberate gunplay too.

I remember getting my PS4 on day 1 and the first game I installed was Killzone Shadowfall, my workmates and I would play it for hours on end, the mode whish switched between game modes was brilliant.

P_Bomb640d ago

A world without Killzone Online. That it’s come to this…

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90°

Was Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified Really That Bad?

PP: Was Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified really that bad on the PS Vita?

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pureplaystation.com
cluclap996d ago

In comparison to its console counterparts at the time? Yes. Yes it was. In comparison to DS versions? It was god like

Amplitude996d ago (Edited 996d ago )

I got tons of fun out of it.

Killzone was better, yeah. Heck even Resistance online was better. But CoD Resistance and Modern Combat and such were all fun to change it up a bit when you've grinded too many hours into Killzone.

If i had to review them, yeah, all those games would get a low af score except Killzone. But i had fun plowing through the Resistance campaign and playing online and goofing off with CoD online while travelling. Not everything has to be a masterpiece but they were all fun enough for what they were lol

250°

Why The PS Vita Ultimately Failed (And How The Switch Did It Right)

How is a system so loved within its community considered a commercial failure, and how did the Nintendo Switch take its idea and run with it?

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thegamer.com
MadLad1175d ago

Highly overpriced proprietary memory, and Sony showing it little support, themselves?

VersusDMC1175d ago

Agree with the support but the overpriced memory was always overblown. The switch is an handheld charging 60 for games instead of 40 as they always had before...yet that cost hike is fine.

darthv721175d ago

As someone with both a Vita and PSP GO, it really made me curious why Sony felt the need to make a dedicated memory card when they already had one that was more than adequet. The M2 format (that the Go uses) is virtually the exact same size and shape as the vita... just flipped. It would have made things so much easier for people to buy into it, especially if they were able to insert their existing memory card with their purchased games on it.

I really like the vita, I also think they had a huge missed opportunity with not having TV out. I like to pop my Go onto the TV dock and play some games now and then (doing the switch thing before the switch). Doing that with a vita would have been awesome, especially with full DS4 support.

persona4chie1175d ago

The only thing is the Switch isn’t a handheld, it’s a hybrid of both. So there isn’t really a “cost hike” sure you get an overall lower quality or “handheld” quality when playing portably, but you do get better quality and performance when playing in “console mode”

And yes I know people are gonna say “bUt thE sWitCh iS wEAk” and compared to the PS4 and XOne absolutely, but it’s still console quality games. And the quality is much higher than on any handheld before.

The Vita was a great system, but people’s expectations were too high. It was definitely a capable system, but not as capable as people thought it would be. I don’t remember if Sony said this, but it was said that the Vita would be able to deliver PS3 quality games and it ultimately couldn’t.

And yes the memory cards were definitely an issue. There are countless complaints about it. Nobody wanted to pay $120 for a 32gb memory card https://www.gamespot.com/ar...

Neonridr1175d ago

I mean compare the scope and size of a 3DS game (Link Between Worlds) and compare that to Breath of the Wild and tell me that the additional price doesn't warrant itself.

DarkZane1175d ago

The overpriced memory was not overblown, it's the only reason why the Vita failed.

You had 4, 8, 16 and 32GB cards, but anything below 32GB was too small and a 32GB was $100 at launch, which was way too expensive. A SD card of the same size was like $25.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1175d ago
ApocalypseShadow1175d ago

$249 was a great price for the OG PSP. PS Vita launching at $249 years later for what it did was a steal compared to PSP. Nintendo dropped their price because it made 3DS seem expensive against it for inferior hardware. It worked.

Yeah. The cards were expensive. But look at the flip side. Many gamers stole games on PSP by downloading them from online. Just like they did with PS1 and PS2 games. And we see how DRM gets cut through in software so fast that that wouldn't have been enough. SD Card would have guaranteed theft immediately. They tried something different. Didn't work out.

The games were coming. Problem was, gamers weren't supporting it like they were with PS4. Gamers either complained the games were expensive or that the games were hand me downs or lesser than console like Uncharted. And with mobile phones powerful enough to play games that looked just as good as portable consoles for cheap or free with ads, something had to give. Sony even gave gamers the ability to stream PS4 games at home or anywhere in the world. Even that wasn't enough for some.

Nintendo has ruled the mobile market for decades. It's why they can weather the storm of challengers and mobile. And with new customers being born all the time, Nintendo rides its same properties like Disneyland. But new in house IPs are almost non existent.

The only thing Switch did was have no opposition. No competitor. Microsoft was too cowardly to try ever and Sony gave it a shot. TWICE. Now, if we flip the article around, we can ask how Sony had been successful with PS4 and PS5, while Nintendo failed at dedicated home consoles and ran to mobile.

persona4chie1175d ago (Edited 1175d ago )

Except they didn’t run to mobile? They’ve always had “mobile” devices, and they’ve proved in the past, gimmick or not that they can have a hugely successful system.

They literally just took the best part of the Wii U and made it independent. The Switch is a home console as well as a handheld, not just a handheld but people like that as an added option.

And while Nintendo has definitely had a few poor selling home consoles they haven’t failed by any means, “mobile console” or not it’s still successful.

Plus money is money. It doesn’t really matter if Nintendo is making it with a home console or a handheld. Just like Sony saw the handheld wasn’t viable so they dropped it to focus more on PS4.

Neonridr1175d ago

they failed once, with the Wii U... so you could say that but you'd be reaching Apocalypse.

rdgneoz31175d ago

@persona4chie "And while Nintendo has definitely had a few poor selling home consoles they haven’t failed by any means"

What would you call the WiiU? Nintendo ditched that pretty fast and went to a new console after a few years. WiiU (came out Nov 2012) had 13.56 million sales as of December 31, 2019. Switch has around 80 million and it came out just under 4 years ago.

That said, they learned from their utter failure with the WiiU and came out with the Switch.

ApocalypseShadow1175d ago (Edited 1175d ago )

Nintendo has failed more than once. Home and portable consoles. But name a portable console competitor to the Switch? I'll wait...still waiting...still waiting...

What some fail to mention, is that Nintendo has/had no direct competition to Switch. Zero. They also fail to see that Nintendo has been the dominant portable console maker since Gameboy. Not one portable has won against Nintendo since then. Targeting Vita is foolish as the market leader has always been Nintendo.

As for home consoles, Nintendo basically abandoned the formula of building a dedicated home console. They built a hybrid that's really a portable that replaced 3DS and happens to connect to a TV. But we all know its use and tech specs is mobile. Trying to spin that it's a home console is ridiculous when it can't even play certain games on home consoles. That's why it's streaming certain games. Why? It's a mobile platform. That just happens to have no competition. And Nintendo has been riding on underpowered products while selling the same properties without new IPs for years. At least we can say with Sony, they make new franchises EVERY GENERATION. Something Nintendo doesn't do.

Summary: Nintendo has always been portable market leader for years. And now, they have no competition. Not even from 3DS. So, of course Switch is going to sell unopposed. Vita would have been destined to be second fiddle to Nintendo with portables regardless. Even if Sony would have stuck with Vita.

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gamer78041175d ago

No first party support, end of story, they set it up to fail. I still have mine but after launch there was third party support only. They left it to die.

persona4chie1175d ago

Yeah I had a vita on two separate occasions, and I loved it. But like you said, they created this great system and then said “alright go die”

gamer78041175d ago (Edited 1175d ago )

@persona. Right I really liked the system. I even bought the pstv thingy to play my vita games on the tv too

Knushwood Butt1175d ago

It did get a lot of first party support for the first couple of years, but what happened is that third parties didn't know what to do with it. Toned down ports on the cheap, or risky new IPs or AA spinoffs,

They all held back and waited to see someone else take the plunge but it never happened and sales of the Vita didn't pick up, leaving Indies and slowly dwindling first party support.

Name the big third party games on Vita. Assassins Creed Lady Liberty? That CoD game?
Nothing from Capcom.
Nothing from Konami.
Koei Tecmo supported it well but all ports.
Bandai Namco had Ridge Racer that got slammed due to weird content behind paywalls.

Also didn't help that the media slammed anything that wasn't breaking new ground. Strange how the Switch gets a free pass on that.

Anyway, it did get Darius Burst CS, which is also on PS4, but is portable shmup excellence.

Ulf1174d ago (Edited 1174d ago )

This isn't true. There were a ton of (very well done) first-party Vita games in the first couple years -- Unit 13, Killzone Mercenary, Uncharted, Little Big Planet, etc.

They did choose to cater to an older audience, which may have been a mistake.

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badz1491175d ago

Nope. Games. Plain and simple. It didn't even have the games like the PSP did. Such a shame for such a wonderful hardware

specialguest1174d ago (Edited 1174d ago )

Even today people are still not willing to accept that what you stated with the overpriced memory and Sony showing little support was a big factor leading to the Vita failure. I remember wanting to a Vista, but was really turned off by the proprietary memory price. Sony abandoned the PS eyetoy on the PS2, the Vita, and PS Move. The PSVR got more support, but Sony could definitely do more

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franwex1175d ago

Pretty much Sony ditched it to focus on PS4. Can’t say I blame them, but it is disappointing. If Nintendo can manage to put out games for handhelds and main consoles-I would assume Sony could too.

persona4chie1175d ago

Oh definitely and the Vita would have been the perfect system for it. The PSP sold how much? 80m? That’s really damn good. If the vita 1. Had more first party support from Sony. 2. Had cheaper memory cards or used SD cards (the 32gb card cost and eye watering $120 at launch) and 3. Maybe launched at a cheaper price, maybe $50 cheaper it would have easily been a success.

godofiron1175d ago

I personally skipped the vita because memory was just so damn expensive - then eventually, Sony gave up on supporting it.

it got nowhere near the love that the PSP got, which is an absolute shame cause it paired pretty well with the PS4.

1nsomniac1175d ago

The only thing Sony cared about was protecting its image against piracy. They were willing to destroy it for the sake of saving face to its investors after the PSP. Same approach they took with not allowing external storage on the ps5.

AnotherGamer1175d ago

The overpriced memory cards easily.

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