The 5 Biggest Disappointments Of 2012

In any space as diverse as the game industry, there are bound to be meaningful disappointments -- but what were the most affecting of them all? Gamasutra's Christian Nutt looks back at what left us wanting more.

[JadedXGamer]

Sony definately dropped the ball with the Vita. They need to make urgent changes and additions with it if they want it to survive in the flooded market it's in.

[Cam977]

I love my Vita, so much that I've just been shopping on the psn and bought Monster Hunter: FU and Tomb Raider 1.

[da_2pacalypse]

Agreed! I love my vita, LBP, Gravity Rush, Uncharted, and Rayman Origins (I know it's not exclusive, but I find it's best for on the road) are some great titles that I still play.

On the side note, this list sucks. There were many disappointments bigger than this... I mean, how is Steam Greenlight a disappointment? Have you see the creative games that have been released because of that thing?!?!? And how is Diablo 3 not here?!?! What about Mass Effect 3?!?!?!? My list would be much different than this one.

[darthv72]

things that sort of stuck out to me was their lack of direct bc for umd games and no tv out.

I know they are wanting to move their platform forward but it was sony that touted the idea of bc when they brought out the ps2 to be able to play ps1 games without any special needs.

BC has been seen on systems like the genesis and the snes and others but those required special adapters to make it work. Sony could have added a umd drive but you get those that say cost is a factor.

instead of changing the format of the games to these little memory cards they could have kept the umd drive, maybe even made it better.

TV out...that is a surprise right there. Especially considering since the psp 2000 had it. the 3000 and Go have it but a big nod to the Go is the use of direct controller connection via bluetooth.

If they make a revised vita I would love to see them make tv out and bluetooth controller connection. Maybe even adapt the front facing camera to support the move for games that used touch input when you plug it into a tv.

I am not disappointed in the vita for not having those. i am disappointed in sony for not taking them into consideration that they would have been somewhat of reasons to buy.

[eferreira]

What's so bad about it?
Lately I haven't put it down and there's still a lot of titles I still have to buy. Don't say the price thing because when you hold one and see the build quality, you'll know the value is there. Plus it comes with a free game.

[CommonSenseGamer]

I don't think anyone is disputing that the majority who buy a Vita are advocates for it but the problem is not many people are buying the Vita. You can list its specs and the games already released and those coming soon but it still is not swaying people to buy it.

If its so good then why has it only sold 3.2 million to date?

[Godchild1020]

I expect the Vita to be on a lot of sites "Biggest failures/disappointments of 2012." While Persona 4 is the highest rated title on the Vita, you can't deny, that the Vita did have some great titles this year. Assassin's Creed, Need For Speed, Uncharted, Persona, Little Big Planet, Gravity Rush and all the other great titles that came digitally. And that is to name a few. The Vita is not a disappointment, the lack of Developer support is and the price of the memory cards. I'm sure Next year will be an improvement. Sony will make it happen. Just like Nintendo did with the 3DS.

E3 was a disappointment from the lack of real new IPs from Microsoft and the Wonderbook incident from Sony. I barely remember Nintendo, I knew the WiiU was there and that really was something.

We still have a few days until Mega Man's Birthday and there is that Mega Man VS Street Fighter game that is being Ok'd by Capcom to be released on his Birthday. It's still early to write it off as a disappointment.

The other two, I can't comment on.

[Soldierone]

Don't really care what people say, I still play my Vita and love it.

[kB0]

Vita the biggest disappointment? LOL I honestly don't understand the hate for this console.

It has great set of games and more to come:) Maybe if ppl stopped putting it on a pedestal and compare it to consoles, maybe u could find a system that tickles your fancy.

Steam Greenlight is just knit picking...

[Janitor]

LOL "Console quality on the go". Guess who made that slogan and still uses it? SONY. So, if it"s unfair to compare it to consoles, Sony is the one to blame for creating that perception, not "biased" media.

[kB0]

Closest we've gotten yet:)

But I see your point, everyone believe what commercials say.:)

So should we start taking slogans seriously? lol

Anyways, I think since we are the gaming fanbase we can separate fantasy, slogans and fiction from actuality.

The console is a good consoles, even better if it got more support. Uncharted I found was nearly identical to the console experience minus the online, wipeout, mlb I mean it's a pretty well rounded system!

Back to Persona 4!

[majiebeast]

Playing uncharted Golden Abyss and for a game on a *failing system* its pretty damn good.

Gravity rush and Attack of the mutant blobs still some of the best games i played this year not to mention the ammount of psp games i downloaded.

[DomceM]

Getting one for xmas. I liked what i saw when i tried playing LBP on it at my local gamestop.

[KangarooSam]

Next person who says "disappointment", "Vita", "failure", or "2012" together in a sentence gets this:

That's right, all 9:13 of it.

[Y_5150]

To me, a disappointment of 2012 wasn't the Vita because when I touch it I do not feel no failure off of it. :P

[Ben_Grimm]

I seriously agree with the E3 comment. But a lot of it has to do with video games going mainstream. And while I do agree with the points this authors is making I don't agree that E3 should be less of a spectacle.

There should be at least one event where all the companies go balls out to chow their product. Unfortunately the smaller guys get swallowed up by the big fish in terms of glitz. But hey there's always PAX.

[StreetsofRage]

Still haven't met anybody that owns a vita. And I go to this cyber cafe that has huge lan parties once a month at this local cyber cafe. Also I'm a regular at this arcade that has regular fight tournaments. Still haven't seen one.

[KangarooSam]

Try hanging out with people who can afford more than the quarters required to play at the arcade lol :P

[ExCest]

Dude, arcades are freaking expensive. I can't afford all those quarters, let alone carry them.

[tachy0n]

the biggest disappointment of the decade:

JOURNALISM.