The PS Vita Still Isn’t Getting Any AAA Games and It’s Time to Get Over It

Ed from Twinfinite writes: "When the PS Vita launched back in February of 2012, there was much buzz and excitement over a portable system that could deliver a true modern console experience in handheld form. With its two analog thumbsticks, a gorgeous OLED screen, and touch controls, it looked like the PS Vita had everything out of the box to take over. What happened?"

[MillennialBuddha]

Freedom Wars is a AAA game (Japan Studio).

/Fin.

[jujubee88]

The best quality Japanese games and Indie games:

I knew the VITA's library follow the (aforementioned) blueprint BEFORE the device even launched. How+Why others bought and/or now complain, [about the content not being their AAA console games] I have no freaking idea.

Whatever. There will be ignorant and loudmouths all over the internet. And getting mad about every VITA cynic/hater 'till the cows come home wont do anyone much good. I say just play the VITA and enjoy it. :P

[Prime157]

It's a shame, but, regardless, I absolutely love my vita... and the 3 to 4 free ps+ games (cross-buy games) make it the ultimate portable gaming device.

[NewMonday]

quite a number of AAA games announced for Vita ate the pre-TGS Sony conference, Ys looks incredible for a handheld.

[ShinMaster]

I'm starting to think some people believe that "AAA" means "not Japanese" or "non-new IP" that is "only from the West and is already a mainstream franchise".

A pretty dumb reason to miss out on good games.

[Giul_Xainx]

The vita had the attention it needed back in 2012... But everyone thought "can it make cell phone calls and play online games over a wireless network via cell phone towers?"

Basically because it couldn't do what ngage did on a chappy 1g network at all no one was really interested in it when it finally released. It was just an expensive mini ps3.

[3-4-5]

I don't care how many A's the games are, they just need to be fun & bug free.

[sanosukegtr123]

Well now we should depend on the japanese to deliver AAA to us unless we receive a triple game that can last on the vita like oh i don't know a GTA game build from ground up or a resident evil game like revelation but better with co-op missions and vs matches and mercenary modes.

[SamPao]

This and danganronpa2 also just released

[Snookies12]

I honestly don't care, most AAA games these days aren't all that great. There are plenty of fantastic games that aren't in that AAA class, but just as good if not better at times.

[EdMcGlone]

I totally agree! I bring up a lot of examples of great non AAA games in the article.

[jujubee88]

This is true. The boundaries are getting more and blurred -- between AAA and indie specifically, in the west -- as content becomes digital and more accessible and online-focused marketing becomes smarter. Not to mention tools and resources for making games becoming smarter and more of them.

On The VITA PS Store, Velocity 2X is ALREADY sitting at 468 user ratings (and @ a 4.5 star rating). It's free on PS Plus too so, that kind of blurs the units shipped. It wouldn't surprise me if V2X sells REALLY well on VITA, though.

[Gravity_DoGG]

I have nearly platinumed velocity 2x. decided to try it out on Vita before I was all done with it and damn it plays good if not better on the Vita. and the OLED screen makes it look much better than it did on my sony bravia tv from 2005 xD decided to delete it from my ps4 and get the platinum on Vita instead. Long live Cross-play/save

[Vegamyster]

I like indie games but that's not the reason i ordered a Vita a few days ago, they're a nice bonus but if I'm dishing out that much money on a system then i want more then games that could run on a smart phone.

[Gravity_DoGG]

You ordered a vita a few days ago and complain about lack of AAA games? that's your own fault ..

Edit; its cool tho. But you know what your gonna get :-)

[Vegamyster]

@Gravity_DoGG

I'm buying one to play its backlog and i got a good deal on it, i wasn't complaining about a lack of AAA games.

[Funantic1]

That could be true but indies definently aren't the greatest either. Most indies now suck big time. There are too many indies and not enough AAA games.

[Gravity_DoGG]

You know minecraft and no man's sky are indies, right? Indies is tomorrow's AAA. I think it was Shu who said that..

[Death]

Indies are not tomorrows AAA games. Indies are yesterdays homebrew games. While it is true Indies are taking the place of AAA games, that doesn't make it right. If you enjoy "indie" gaming, why are you buying the worlds most powerful handheld and home console?

Indie gaming is easy cash plain and simple. It's not a move forward in gaming, it's a giant leap back. Oddworld is more than capable of AAA games, but indies make more money with little overhead. Cliff is jumping aboard the indie gravy train instead of working on a new AAA franchise. You get the flashes of Phil Fish and Zoe Quinn, but you are also seeing established developers quitting to embrace the easy money.

If you honestly believe the bs we are being fed about indie gaming being the next AAA wave of talent, you are either young and/or stupid. Stop believing what you are told and start thinking for yourself.

[MSBAUSTX]

While this is true, i love Uncharted and Borderlands, i would really love seeing a new Black for Vita, infamous, and an exclusive Vita version of Fallout or a Lost Planet. But everything i have been playing is awesome.

[DanielGearSolid]

Who cares about that label...

Vita is getting mad support as we saw from the pre tgs press conference.

For some reason indie games and Japanese don't count anymore? Lol

[EdMcGlone]

I would highly suggest reading the article :)

[DanielGearSolid]

I read it...

I'm agreeing with u lol

[MrSwankSinatra]

The same way that people make the claim that there are hardly any games on PS4 that appeal to Japanese audiences in Japan, thus why it's not selling that well, it applies here in the west for vita. The level of ignorance when it comes to this topic is astounding. The vita needs games that appeal to western audiences and we're just not getting it. Indies do not sell systems, what sells systems are games that show what the platform is truly capable of. If indies were the mainstay of games then why even have a next generation system/hanheld?

[Death]

Had Sony launched the Vita in 2012 as a budget handheld with awesome indie support you would have a point. Unfortunatly Sony marketed the device as being as powerful as a home console with the convenience of a portable. Many of us that were led to believe Sony would support the console properly would like to see more games that take advantage of the systems capabilities.

It's awesome that you feel the need to pretend that the indie shovelware is more than enough to compensate for the lack of proper support, but that doesn't mean others can't "bitch" about not getting quality games for the system.

Quality AAA and even AA games along with indie shovelware is awesome. Not getting the quality games, but lot's of idie shovelware is nowhere near as cool as you want everyone to believe.

[NintySonySoft]

I love sony and all but, Handheld market is for Nintendo, as the console market sony is kicking ass! well it doesn't matter i got the best of both worlds!

[TongkatAli]

The 3DS is the worst gaming purchase that I have ever made. You're entitled to your opinion and I just gave you mine.

I can't wait to play RE revelations 2 on the Vita :)

[Odoylerules000]

RE Revelations 2 is going to be on the vita? You sure?

[NintySonySoft]

Its not a opinion it's facts the 3ds is dominating the handheld market.... lol as the ps4 is killing it with the console market

[InTheLab]

Yeah get over paying $200 (or $250 in my case)to play a bunch of indie games and niche titles. You don't spend that type of money to play those games.

No one in their right mind will go out and buy a product at this price to play the handful of crap Sony outsourced because they were never truly invested in the platform.

Yes most of you in this thread are happy with JRPGs and indies but we all are different. I want more Killzone and Sly Cooper. More Soul Sac and Gravity Rush, but it's obvious Vita has seen the last of that. And you all are lying if you say you don't want more of what I listed.

You don't build a monster rig to play humble bundle games so why on Earth should we just get over paying a premium for dime store games?

[hkgamer]

agreed. also your never going to get the games you mentioned above. sony has one more chance to revive the vita in the west and if that fails then its probably goodbye. japan seems like its getting a rebirth with the games its getting.

what i want to say is that you have a vita, its no point selling it. so have fun playing the indies and hope you will get atleast 1 aaa that you are interested in a year.

also like to say one promising feature that probably wont benefit anyone. but vita will have the ability to watch livestream from the playstation channels. this actually may lead to shareplay being available on the vita. i think shareplay was connected to playstation live anyway, not 100% sure because i dont think they announced how it will work.

anyway a cool feature that will probably allow vita owners to connect to their friends games and play without owning a ps4.

[Sir_Simba]

Its games worth way more than AAAs, bettter than a lot of AAAs
so yh

[darx]

Vita ...lol

[Protagonist]

What is that supposed to mean? indies aren´t quality or original?

[gootimes]

I want to get a vita just to play Persona 4 Golden and FFX remastered... I haven't really looked into other games on it.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

Same here P4G to me is the Vita's one must have game I don't wanna go without. I could just get the original on PSN which would be a lot cheaper but I wanna play the best version. Other than that there's some Vita games I kinda wanna try but P4G is a must have.

[BitbyDeath]

AAA should be deemed by overall quality and not budget or graphics.
Not everything EA, CryTek and Ubisoft make are AAA.

Fat Princess for example is animated but everything it does it does perfectly. That is AAA. IMO

[gamerfan0909]

AAA games are games that push consoles and bring scopes that justify paying 400 bucks for a machine. I can play most indies on my Samsung series 9 laptop. I would have zero need to buy an additional 400 dollar system and pay for online. There are no blurred lines between AAA and indies.

Even meh games like Saints Row stand out from indie games. I'm not arguing the quality of indie games. I'm arguing value and the actual purpose of your argument. If indie games are to be considered AAA then they need to step up their scale, game duration, graphics, scope, and voice acting. Because I can't see myself paying for a console at these current prices to buy 15 dollar indie arcade games no matter what the quality is.

[BitbyDeath]

Outlast is indie with better graphics then a lot of so called AAA games. How does that fit in?

[gamerfan0909]

A buddy of mine works at best buy and he told me flat out he hasn't seen a shipment of vita's in nearly a month and when they RSS the sku to see if there's any shipments coming to the other stores within a certain radius there still isn't any. Sony is simply abanonding the console and that shows with the lack of AAA support and marketing it gets. At this point the console seems like a failure.

I own the Vita and love it. I love the Vita, I'm proud to call myself an owner of one, and when you see AAA games built from the ground up for the system like Uncharted GB, Teraway, and KS Mercanies you see the potential and innovation oozing out. It's just Sony refuses to let the system live up to that potential. I do think if they make another PSP successor but this time come out with big AAA exclusives for it then I think they can regain market share. But right now, there's no saving it. 8 million units in 2 soon to be 3 years is pathetic.

[Gravity_DoGG]

It could be that they are gonna launch the new Vita model. so maybe that's why they don't get any right now.. maybe? : b

[gamerfan0909]

I'd be down for a completely revamped Vita. I would love to see them beef up the specs of a new one and change their entire strategy and beef up the AAA content. Like I said when games launch that show what the thing is capable of it leaves your jaw on the floor and shows you how far ahead it is in terms of handheld design and innovation. Problem is there's not many games that push it.

[InTheLab]

How can anyone disagree with what you just said? I find it odd how people just love mediocrity. No one is buying the system. Sales are consistently at the bottom of the charts.

Shu comes out and flat out tells you Sony is not making many more games for it and there's still people that will defend the platform. Ohhh but of course there's all of those games announce for it...

Fifa
Arcania Hearts
Murasaki Baby
Tiny Troopers
Teslagrad
The legend of Doodle
Hotline Miami 2
Bodycheck
The Firefly Diary
Tetris Ultimate
Woah Dave
Natural Doctrine
Race the Sun
Road not taken
Senran Kagura
Samurai Warriors 4
Freedom Wars
Run Sackboy Run
MotoGP 14
Tales of Hearts R
Hatsune Miku proj. Game of the f**kin year right there

I can continue but it's more crap like that. Other than Lego Batman 3 (which will be a PS4 purchase) and Hotline Miami 2, there is absolutely nothing coming out that looks good to me. I'm not Jrpg guy. I can play indies on anything and they are cheaper elsewhere. I certain won't be lining up to buy Akiba's trip: Undead and Undressed...and quite frankly, I'm embarrassed for any that do.

[BattleAxe]

Well said, and I completely agree. As per what the OP was saying about the Best Buy in his area not getting shipments of Vitas in stock, I don't know where he lives, but it's the same thing here in Vancouver.

It doesn't matter if you go to Best Buy, Future Shop, Wal-Mart, Target, or any other major retailer, the Vita just doesn't seem to be in stock anywhere. The Vita game sections in all of these stores look abandoned. Also, EB Games has barely anything to show for the Vita.

I wish I could be sitting in Sony's board room when they are making future decisions for their products. The Vita is literally floating in space right now, with little to no direction. Personally, I think that behind closed doors, Sony has decided to drop support in the west, and focus solely on the Japanese market with the Vita.

I also think that given the state of the Vita in the west, Playstation TV is dead before it even gets off the ground in the western countries. If you don't have compelling software, then there's no reason to buy the system. I get the fact that there is a small yet hardcore base of Vita fans saying that there are all kinds of games for the system, but there's nothing there for the mainstream gamer. Many people out there like myself, are not into Japanese games, just like many Japanese gamers aren't into western games.

[TongkatAli]

Minecraft bundle with an ad campaign will sell them, but Sony is dumb dumb dumb.

[Exceed]

"Hatsune Miku proj. Game of the f**kin year right there"

This might be a bit off topic but, believe it or not... I actually bought the vita just to play the first Project Diva f. The second one is one of my highest anticipated games for the vita...

[Asuka]

Hyperdimension neptunia re;birth may not be for everyone but it is a great rpg with gameplay mechanics and a combat system perfect for vita. Point is vita has great games to play and are still coming. If you are willing to try something different you'll come to realize there are quality titles to play.

[mixelon]

I love my vita. :) Tempted to get a second one. Japan + Indies is more than enough for me.. I got through some previous hardware generations with 100% japanese games. Was happy with that then, and would still be today - providing they keep releasing games.

Looking forward to Vita Minecraft too.

[ContigoXRed]

The Vita will get games like Titan Souls. I'm not even worried about it.

[TheGamez100]

Oh great another article about triple As on vita...and people commenting on not knowing that the vita has a great library...*Goes back to playing Danganronpa 2*

[NintySonySoft]

Maybe sonys next handheld will be better

[KonsoruMasuta]

I don't think Sony is making another handheld after the Vita.

After the Vita finishes it's life cycle, their handheld focus will most likely get fused in with the Xperia.

[thatbasedgamer1990]

Whuch no one will buy. Sony are just completely stupid. Their mobile phones are complete failures also, which tells you alot!

[SpiralTear]

If Sony wanted to make Vita a remote play device primarily, they should've just done that, axed the original games mentality, and charged somewhere around $100 for it. Instead, we're left with a $200 system with a steadily weakening library of games and no effort to fix that from Sony.

That's what really gets me: the fact that Sony just let this happen. The Vita is such a well of potential that Sony just passed over. What's the point of releasing a system so technically advanced and feature-rich, then not doing anything worthwhile with it?

[HentaiMasterRace]

Freedom Wars, Oreshika 2, and Gravity Rush 2(yes it's staying on vita), and more apparently don't count.

[BX81]

Traded in my vita a long time ago. There wasn't anything that I saw for it's future. Remote play really doesn't interest me. If they announced another uncharted I would most certainly pick up another one lol. Actually golden abyss is one of my favorite handheld games of all time. I played the hell out of mk on the vita as well. It's a hell of a handheld it just needed more support at an earlier time.

[BattleAxe]

Uncharted: Golden Abyss looks fantastic, and so does Killzone: Mercenary, but that's where it ends for me. If I want to play indie games, I'll use my Sony Xperia Z or any other smart phone or tablet. The fact that 2K released Bioshock on Apple's App Store and not on the Vita, really tells the story of where the Vita is headed unfortunately.

[BX81]

I kind of get the feeling its end state in the west is simply a device to use for remote play.

[goldwyncq]

What the vita needs are games that take full advantage of its exclusive features, like Tearaway and Gravity Rush.

[Xof]

My problem with the Vita isn't so much the lack of AAA games (which are usually too casual for me to care about) but the lack of platform-exclusive games.

Yeah, I love playing some Final Fantasy X, or Persona 4, or Rogue Legacy or whatever on my Vita... but it'd be nice to have more games that I could ONLY play on the Vita, to justify its existence. Right now, it's basically just a platform for me to play games I could play on other machines, but "mobile."

That said, if Sony has their way and axes b/c from future consoles, I suppose the Vita's chief strength will be as the last Sony platform capable of playing PS1 games.

[Protagonist]

BS!!

You can´t play any of these PS VITA exclusives on a mobile:

----------------------------- ----------------

(Only Retail)

Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified (Activision)

Corpse Party: Blood Drive (Kadokawa Games)

Danganronpa 1&2 Reload (Spike Chunsoft)

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (NIS America)

Dead or Alive 5 Plus (Koei Tecmo)

Deception IV: Blood Ties (Koei Tecmo)

Demon Gaze (NIS America)

DJ Max Technika Tune (Pentavision)

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn (Bandai Namco)

Dynasty Warriors Next (Koei Tecmo)

Fate/stay night [Réalta Nua] (Kadokawa Games)

Girls und Panzer: Master the Tankery! (Bandai Namco)

Gravity Rush (SCE)

J-Stars Victory VS (Bandai Namco)

KickBeat (Zen Studios)

Killzone: Mercenary (SCE)

Little Deviants (SCE)

Lord of Apocalypse (Square Enix)

Mind Zero (Aksys Games)

Orgarhythm (XSEED Games)

Phantasy Star Online 2 (Sega)

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (SCE)

Ragnarok Odyssey (XSEED Games)

Ragnarok Odyssey Ace (XSEED Games)

Resistance: Burning Skies (SCE)

Samurai Warriors 2 with Xtreme Legends & Empires HD

Shinobido 2: Tales of the Ninja (Bandai Namco)

Silent Hill: Book of Memories (Konami)

Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!!! (Aksys Games)

Bullet Girls (D3 Publisher)

Chaos Rings III: The Prequel Trilogy (Square Enix)

Criminal Girls: Invite Only (NIS America)

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (Bandai Namco)

Earth Defense Force 2 Portable V2 (D3 Publisher)

Fate/hollow ataraxia (Kadokawa Games)

Freedom Wars (SCE)

God Eater 2: Rage Burst (Bandai Namco)

Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd (Sega)

Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines (SCE)

Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Atlus)

Phantasy Star Nova (Sega)

Xblaze: Lost Memories (Arc System Works)

Ys (Falcom)

[Xof]

I have no idea what you're trying to say.

But 100% of PSV games can be played "mobile." It's a handheld gaming platform.

But thanks for the bigass list of... games that don't have anything in common?

[Protagonist]

"but the lack of platform-exclusive games."

"but it'd be nice to have more games that I could ONLY play on the Vita, to justify its existence. Right now, it's basically just a platform for me to play games I could play on other machines, but "mobile.""

The games mentioned are all Vita "mobile" platform-exclusive , that is the common part. You can´t play them otherwise, NO other machines, no other mobile, no other machine/console... I hope that is not too hard for you to understand.

[Xof]

No, those aren't platform exclusives. Many of those are multiplatform titles. Many of them are also not localized in English, and many more aren't all that good.

My point stands: there are far too few A-grade platform exclusives on Vita. This shouldn't be news to you. This has been the case since day 1 and is widely recognized as the chief reason for the Vita's failure to move as many units as the 3DS, or to attract as much 3rd party development.

[hkgamer]

aaa titles are great, especially jrpgs like ffx and persona4, even though they were ports.

what people dont see is that indie titles are probably more suitable for handhelds. well not just indie titles but smaller games in general that would probably cost around £10. i would love to get a scott pilgrim port for the vita.

thomas was alone is also a fantastic platformer, thoug it does look plain. the next game they making looks amazing, not sure if its for vita though.

i think indie decs are in the early phase atm, if they succeed and make one or two well known games then there next game will probably be better with a slightly bigger budget.

[thatbasedgamer1990]

All im gonna say is Sony better not think about producing another handheld, after the failure of the vita. This goes to show, just how Goddamn stupid this company is. They fail to market the device, refuse to support their own products properly, and rely on third party and indies to sell their system. Only thing going for the company is the ps4, which is sad because once the ps4 becomes irrelevant and outdated in a few years, people would probably shift to another console from a different company, where Sony will have nothing left. Their TV division, smartphones and everything else are complete failures! Look at Samsung already working on releasing a VR headset to the masses. Once VR headsets start overflowing the market next year, the amount of money Sony had blown on the Morpheous would be a waste, because the product would not sell as well. I can just see Sony becoming as irrelevant as Panasonic in the future, which serves them right because are one very stupid company.

[Protagonist]

Everything what you just wrote is fail!

[thatbasedgamer1990]

Of course, typical Sony fanboy would claim my post to be a fail.

[Protagonist]

Freedom Wars is AAA...end

[Revengeance]

Wow some people don't like to look as what games are fun and not fun anymore. It's whether a game is indie or AAA. So let me ask you this: would you rther play a great indie or a terrible AAA game?

I play whatever games look fun to me. I don't care if it's indie or AAA. This is something a lot of people have forgotten and it's one of the reasons this has become possibly the worst generation in gaming.

[dorron]

... and that explains why the vita is in the situation it is nowadays. Don't be delusional.

[PSVitaPS4owner]

Are Vita owners that bad in denial? Seriously, Freedom Wars a AAA game in US? It will not move Vita systems. There will be people that will buy it but it won't sell like hotcakes (it will in Japan). People want to experience big name games like Resident Evil, GTA, Jak, Syphon Filter, Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry, Infamous, God of War, Metal Gear Solid and on. Still no NBA or NHL game, little in sports. PSP had several original GTAs, how many has Vita had? Thats right: zero. And 3DS is stealing Vita games like Resident Evil. Heck, Final Fantasy 0 is going straight to PS4. Need games like these. I love my Sly and God of War Collections, but it is rather sad that these are the best current games on Vita for 2014. I like Indies, but they should be the secondary games to own a Vita, not the primary reason. Can't use Remote play outside the house, so Sony can't keep falling on that.