Why I Want a Vita, But Not Just Yet

I'd like to start off by saying that I'm speaking only for myself and my views. Please don't take this as anything else.

The Playstation Vita is an interesting case in this still young generation of video game hardware. It was the "ultra-powered" hardcore handheld experience that was meant to blow the 3DS out of the water. Sadly it's done exactly the opposite and has seen little success in the process. Many a Sony fan are quite pleased with the platform and that's a great thing, but it simply has not caught on with the broad audience with which the 3DS made off.

There is a variety of reasons anyone can list for the poor sales and they all sound familiar when in a discussion about the Wii U which is, after its first two months, seeing a similar downturn in sales. Factors like "lack of games", "price", or other such issues. In my case, it's a little of both.

My preference generally lies with Nintendo above the other publishers, so justifying my Wii U purchase with games was easy. I had the intention to play Assassin's Creed, Black Ops, New Super Mario Bros., ZombiU and Ninja Gaiden from the getgo. That there was my five plus games to play and I always justify my hardware purchase with at least five games. Not everyone will agree with this library because some of these games are available on other platforms, which is a perfectly viable argument. With the Wii U, I purchased multiplatform games on it that I knew I wanted with the knowledge that more of the games I loved, such as Mario Kart, Zelda, Metroid and Monolith's new game were all well on the way.

Next we have the Vita. I may not be a big Sony fan, but I do like a number of their franchises and have owned all of their platforms sans the PSP. So far here are the games I want for Vita; Gravity Rush, Tearaway and Sly Cooper 4 (though only through cross-buy). That's pretty much it right now. The other games are either sequels to games I don't particularly care for, or ports of PS3 games (or even poor man's spinoffs of games like CoD or Assassin's Creed).

Now don't get me wrong; cross-buy is a great side feature as is the Vita's ability to do off-screen play like a Wii U controller. All that said, these really are not massive selling points for the platform as it is a dedicated device that should be able to coexist separately from its console brethren. In my view, the benefits of having both together should honestly come after everything else.

I want my Vita's library to stand up on its own. More Gravity Rush games. More Tearaway. More new material that interests me (this, I'm aware, is completely subjective). While Uncharted may not tickle my fancy, the Uncharted game for the Vita is at least a new one, so it counts in favor of the platform. Being able to take my games out of my PS3 and play them on the go is fantastic, but it should only be a side feature.

The 3DS is a stark example of this. No one wanted a $250 machine for Zelda: Ocarina of Time and a port of Super Street Fighter IV. One price drop and a new Mario/Mario Kart later, suddenly the platform managed to seriously pick up and is now selling just as well as its HD console competition. The Vita can do exactly the same thing if Sony chooses to do so.

On a side note, contrary to what I'm sure would be the common belief, I did not purchase my 3DS on launch day. I actually purchased mine roughly two days prior to the price drop due to the Ambassador Program promising twenty free games for it. If the Vita does something like that, it will be an instantaneous buy for me.

Anyway, just as what I mentioned above with the 3DS, I'm not quite ready to go for a $250 - $300+ machine for only a few new games I want and cross-compatible PS3 ports, cool as the latter may be. The library needs a little more variety; maybe a new (and proper) Ape Escape to take advantage of the Vita's dual sticks or perhaps an exclusive Star Wars Battlefront game that goes online. Or perhaps a proper portable Jak game.

The Vita is a powerful and amazing piece of portable hardware which is more than capable of coexisting with the 3DS, but it needs a push that I feel Sony is reluctant to give it. At E3 Sony should give the Vita games that are new and unique and provide a much needed price drop and the Vita will become much more competitive. Once this happens, I'll dive right in.

[chrismichaels04]

You raise some valid concerns. I don't mean to sound obnoxious but in truth, the Vita's is a stronger quality machine, so it's easier to justify the $250 price tag for it over the 3ds. As far as the games, Vita has dozens of solid quality retail and digital games to play other than uncharted, gravity rush, tear away and sly cooper. If you like tearaway there is also littlebigplanet. If you like sports games, MLB the show is a fantastic pick up. Than we have the great RPG lineup of games like Soul Sacrifice, Ragnarok Odyssey and Phantasy Star Online 2. And as far as assassins creed liberation....I'm sorry but that was not a poor mans spin off (I can agree about COD though). AC liberation is the best portable assassins creed game ever created. Nothing on DS, PSP or iOs comes close. Im curious, did you ever try the game to make that statement? Killzone Mercenary looks like a fantastic portable FPS. I mean these are just some of the games available. You can't say vita doesn't already have a diverse lineup. And you can't criticize these games as not being "unique" titles the same way I can't criticize Mario, Zelda and Metroid for showing up on a Nintendo console.

[PopRocks359]

Great hardware doesn't justify a purchase at all if its primary function is to play games. You need games for that justification, and as I said, I require a solid 5 games that I know I want before I make that dive.

LittleBigPlanet 2 I already own, so there isn't very much need for the Vita one. I don't play sports games at all. The RPG lineup seems promising, but those are games I'd more willing to check out after their prices have gone down; they're not must-have games to me.

I tried Assassin's Creed Liberation and played it for about an hour on a friend's Vita. It made me wonder why I wasn't just playing Assassin's Creed III. Killzone is a franchise I never really wanted to get into. I respect that Sony fans dig it, but it's not really my thing when I already play games from one or two other FPS franchises, minus a few one hit wonders like F.E.A.R. and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath.

I most certainly can say the lineup is not diverse just as you can say the same about Nintendo's franchises. The beauty of it is that we're allowed to respectfully disagree with one another.

[FriedGoat]

I have both the 3DS and the Vita, the 3DS is the most disappointing handheld Nintendo I have bought in quite some time, and I absolutely adored the DS and imported it before release from Japan and did the same with the DSLite.

The Vita rivalled the 3DS in games just 6 months after its release.

I'm somebody who purchases alot of games for my consoles and the Vita is one great investment.

"made me wonder why I wasn't playing assassins creed 3". Now the thing is, I don't see why people compare vita games to full blown console games? The 3DS doesn't make me think "why am I not playing MarioKart wii" it makes me think that Nintendo are seriously losing the ability to keep me entertained. If I compared the 5 hour long game that is Mario 3D land to Mario 64 or Mario Galaxy it is actually pretty laughable, but nobody else seems to point that out.

When I play a Vita game, not only do I have trouble deciding what to play, I still marvel at how good it looks and plays.

When I play a 3DS game I think, I payed £30 for this game? I swear the DS version had more content.

[PopRocks359]

For starters Mario Kart 7 was a much better game than Mario Kart Wii. The broken motorcycles were removed, you could customize your kart, the online communities were a much welcome addition to the network play (which was not anywhere near as bad as it was on Wii), less hackers and griefers (if any) and it made some nice subtle upgrades to the formula, such as bringing back the coin system and the hang gliders.

Your point on Mario 3D Land is much more sound, but keep in mind that many of the 3DS' games are structured to be played in short bursts, much like an iOS/Android game, as oppose to console gaming's generally longer and more profound software design. Not all 3DS games are like that of course; Metal Gear is a bare bones port with some colorful textures and Kingdom Hearts 3D has save points as oppose to just mapping the save feature to the pause menu.

It's fine that you think that about the 3DS. It's pretty much the same as how I feel about the Vita right now. And it's not because of a personal vendetta or because I WANT to see it that way, it's just my preferences.

If the Vita has a proper remake of the first Ape Escape for example, I may just buy it simply for that. I friggin' love that game. But the Vita's current lineup is not quite what I'm looking for presently, with some exceptions here and there. And I honestly don't expect many people to agree with that either.

[FriedGoat]

That may be true, But I know from experience, you know from guesswork ;)

I only used MarioKart wii as an example, If I wanted to refer to a better mariokart title I would have said MarioKart DS.

[chrismichaels04]

@ PopRocks359 - Basically..it comes down to personal preference. Nobody is disputing that fact. What we are disputing is the hypocracy of nintendo fans to bash the Vita for "only having sequels of PS3 games" when Nintendo is guilty of the same thing. How many Super Mario, Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda games are we going to see on both the WiiU and 3DS? Yet thats ok. But the minute you see Sony dropping an Uncharted or Killzone for the Vita, the complaints start of Vita not having enough "original" titles. Having an opinion is fine...having selective criticism is not.

[PopRocks359]

@chrismichaels04

This last comment was pretty much your worst one. Your argument has gone from something very reasonable to "Wah wah, the Nintendo fanboys don't like what I like."

My criticism isn't selective at all. I'm not bashing the Vita for having sequels to games I don't care for. In fact, I'm not bashing it period.

I stated that I won't spend $250+ for PS3 ports and sequels to franchises I DON'T CARE FOR. There is a difference. I buy Nintendo hardware for Nintendo sequels because I am interested in those franchises. I thought it was already explicitly clear that I am a big Mario, Metroid and Zelda fan. And just to note, I bought the Wii U versions of multiplats like Assassin's Creed and Black Ops 2 specifically for the off-screen play feature; something exclusive to the Wii U versions.

That's not selective criticism, that is the very definition of preference. I even specified that if they added a sequel or remake for Ape Escape, I'd get the Vita right away, because I love the Ape Escape series..

Honestly, I'm disappointed. Don't try to fling loose conspiracy theories in a discussion; it severely weakens your argument. There are always people who will hypocritically shy away from one console in favor of another for dumb reasons. I'm not one of those people.

I'm not interested in the latest Uncharted. Not because I think it's bad, but because I don't care for the series very much. Those are valid reasons for me to not get a Vita right now.

[chrismichaels04]

Don't misunderstand me...I completely respect your opinion. I just don't understand the reasoning behind saying it makes no sense playing assassins creed liberation or littlebigplanet since you already have those franchises on a console system. That would be like me criticizing the 3ds lineup of Mario and Zelda games because I can also play them on the Wii or WiiU. A perfect example is resident evil revelations. A fantastic 3ds game...but by your logic, why should I play it when I can play resident evil 6 on a home console instead? By comparing these portable games to console games your missing the point of "playing your favorite franchises on the go". Plus, if I'm a fan of a franchise, I'm going to look forward to playing a new entry in the series, no matter what system it is on. Please dont be offended by my post, I'm simply responding to a question you asked.

[PopRocks359]

The thing is you have to consider owner preference here. I'm not pretending I don't prefer Nintendo products, quite the opposite. I am itching for the next installment of Mario/Zelda/etc. The Sony franchises don't reach the same bar for me, so when I have LittleBigPlanet on my PS3, I'm not really rushing out to get it on another platform without looking into how much has changed. There's a reason why I didn't by Mario Baseball on the Wii; I felt it didn't change much outside of controls from the GCN game.

That said, I think your point about Resident Evil is very bizarre. Resident Evil Revelations has a focus on atmosphere and is arguably the creepiest Resident Evil game in quite a few years; much more so than the shit heap that Resident Evil 6 turned out to be. If RE6 was a good game, I think you would have a more solid argument. Comparing the two is like comparing silver to dog turds.

I'm not really missing any point dude. It's just about what games I want to play and where my interests lie. It doesn't really get anymore complicated than that. If I didn't want ANY Vita games, I wouldn't want a Vita. Same with any video game platform, including Nintendo platforms.

[knifefight]

Re: "Don't misunderstand me...I completely respect your opinion. I just don't understand the reasoning behind saying it makes no sense playing assassins creed liberation or littlebigplanet since you already have those franchises on a console system."

So in other words...
"Hey man, I respect your opinion, but actually I don't quite understand it and I think it would be better if it were my opinion instead."

>_>

[Count]

I want to buy it. I want Persona 4 Golden. But I cannot justify its price tag right now.

[SamPao]

I bought it, dont have time to play it so I said to my little sister she should try it out... she stayed up till 3 in the morning.......... No Vita for her from 10pm forward.

However the game is fantastic, price is totally justified :)

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

Id pick up a Vita too but u summed up why I wouldnt right now either.

Personally the 3DS line up has a lot more games I want than the Vitas. Theres at least 4-6 3DS games coming this year that I want. Not only that but PS3/360 are still cranking out games so I may not have money to drop for Vita this year. And

[Kratoscar2008]

No BC no sell for me, and the 3DS is getting ATLUS love so i might go there.

[wingman32x]

I think I'm in a somewhat similar position. I'm very interested in getting a Vita. For me, it's just a matter of letting some games that I would buy accumulate. I'm a little gun shy, though. I tried getting into the PSP, but there wasn't really a lot that interested me at the time. So with the Vita, I want to be sure that there's going to be a good amount of stuff that I would really be interested in.

So that's my position. I'm interested, but I think it's best for me to wait a bit still. Tearaway really wowed me when they first showed it, and I would buy LBP Vita. I'm also curious about some of the RPG stuff on the system. So it's getting there.

[bunfighterii]

Good article. I bought a Vita at launch, and currently have about 7 games. I actually used my system almost daily for the first 6 or so months but things really dried up for the Vita since.

Here's hoping for some great, new IP soon to satisfy my need!

[Automatic79]

I have the Vita and have played some excellent games. I do agree that they are dropping way to many ports on the system. I want to see more diverse games and games that take advantage of the vita. Especially, FPS shooters. I could see a Battlefield, Bioschock and Crysis on the vita. I could also see more adventures games like Tomb Raider as well. Can't wait to try out Soul Sacrifice.

[lex-1020]

I actually just bought a Vita the other day (got it from a friend with a 4 gig and 8 gig SD card, screen protector, little deviants, Shinobi 2, Resistance, and a Nyko power pack for $150. WIN) and I gotta say I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. The vita is quite a beast of hardware but the main problem is there aren't enough games.
Uncharted was Meh, Resistance was ok, Gravity rush is freaking awesome, wipeout 2048 is ok (it's more wipeout), motorstorm Rc is still motorstorm so its ok, and Ninja Guiden is just a port (all of these are free with PS+).

We need more games like Gravity Rush. Soul Sacrifice looks awesome. But after that what's the next big thing? Killzone? That's 5 months after Soul Sacrifice. That's 5 months without a really big game coming out.

[TuxedoMoon]

I'm a cheap gamer, so I do gauge my console purchases on franchises I know will be on the system. Every system relies on their games. Games is what drives console sales. It's no coincidence that there was a spike in 3ds games sold when Mario kart (and the price drop) happened. I'm sure the same will happen when Pokemon X/Y comes out too.

The Vita is a powerful machine, but most of the games on there (vita only games) are not games I'm interested in. I might get it in the future when it has more games (and a price drop), but as of yet it doesn't have any games I'd want to play on the system. The cross-buy games are games that I'd rather play on the big screen (Sly, Sony smash Bros, MVC3, etc.).

Another factor is the "casual" gamer. They do make up the majority of game/console sales. Parents would rather get their kids a 3ds because it has more kid friendly franchises (and it's cheaper).

I do wish that in the near future, we can play 3ds and vita games on our big consoles. Ds/3ds games would work perfectly on the Wii-u and I'm sure that Vita games will work on the ps4.