The PlayStation Vita; destined to be the most underrated console ever?

Digitally Downloaded writes: "The only way to really understand the quality of games available on the Vita is to either own a Vita and head into the download portal, or alternatively do some research in the first place. This leaves the console in the unfortunate position of having poor market visibility, and as such I do think it's going to wind up being, at best, another PSP - a console that only really found a home in Japan, but at least there its audience was sustainably large enough that local developers and publishers saw value in creating some of the finest games of the generation for it."

[Protagonist]

The system is so underrated, it is beyond crazy... plus I believe this is the last dedicated handheld gaming gadget we will see from Sony Playstation.

The future of gaming handheld, will be on phones, which might not be a bad thing though, with the right peripherals and cheap games.

"The only way to really understand the quality of games available on the Vita is to either own a Vita and head into the download portal"

[miyamoto]

Call me crazy but I was really expecting a portble PS3 or PS4 from Sony before the NGP announcement.because of rumors of Sony using ARM technology.

Sony could have just made a very slim version with its own screen.
Seriously PS3 or PS4 needs a portble version like the PSOne with its own LCD screen.

So PS3 or PS4 needs a laptop like form factor but still can be hooked up to an HDTV. Laptops, tablwts and smartphones are doing this even wirelessly.

I believe Nintendo is streamlining and combining home console and its.handheld line.

This is the future of console.gaming.

[Protagonist]

My opinion is, that the Vita already is close to being a portable PS3, the games on it look better than PS2 games and close to early PS3 games... I mean look at games as Uncharted and Killzone for the Vita... they play excellent and look damn good.

Now compare games as LBP or Dragon's Crown with virtually no difference between the Vita and the PS3 + the fact that the Vita streams PS4 games without any issues... it just makes the system complete and utterly amazing.

[mikeslemonade]

Yea the hardware is real nice from the dual sticks, to back and front touch, to power, to the buttons etc. Suprisingly the systems fit well on my hands. I rather play the vita version over a ps3 version because the controls are actually better on the vita, oddly.

[UltraNova]

The Vita is great even the PSP was great, their games lineup are some of the best, the controls and feel are top notch and best of all they offer affordable gaming and now with the ps4 increased connectivity. Then why is it underselling?

IMO people are moving away from dedicated handhelds as the next thing is obviously smartphones with their all in one capabilities. Who wants to carry with them a portable gaming unit and a phone when they can have just one who does both?

Its not Sony's fault, although one can say they saw the writing on the wall even if the DS is clearly defying trends, nor is the lack of support for their handhelds.

Sony should terminate their handheld program with the Vita's life cycle end and make all their games exclusive to their Xperia phones.

Today 5+ inch smartphones are the norm and broadly accepted. This way they can continue to offer the best portable gaming experiences with the added bonus of a super sleek smartphone as icing on the cake. Yes the touch screen controls will make things trickier but with everything new a learning curve is unavoidable. It makes perfect sense business wise.

[Bundi]

It was over-hyped and the games under-delivered and now it is stewing in it.
Everybody was running around doing the aeroplane and high fiving each other thinking it would be the ultimate portable gaming machine!

Well welcome to what everybody already knows, great hardware isn't worth a velvet painting of a dolphin and a whale getting it on if it doesn't have games equally as great!

People now fall over themselves for last gen scraps in the form of HD collections and ports of games that can be played on just about anything with a screen.
Not so Next Generation Portable if the games are last gen.

[levian]

That's the truth of the matter. Honestly, and I know 99% of the people here will disagree me into oblivion, but the Vita feels like it's suffering from a case of the Wii U. It looks kinda neat, the idea is awesome, but there's just no games (that I like).

I like literally 1 or 2 of the games out for Vita. I don't enjoy fighters, those anime art styled games, and I have three other platforms that can play all the indies the Vita can, and I don't really have a need for the portability, so that's not a must have feature for me either.

[SilentNegotiator]

Come on, Vita isn't underrated. People aren't buying because even Sony isn't giving it much support anymore.

The lineup is weak, it's more expensive than its competition (never good for a handheld's sales), and it's not very portable, so sales are weak.

They screwed up the launch HARD, too. So many rushed versions of big game series. No quality control at all.

[randomass171]

I get what you're saying (and that sounds a lot like the Wii U when I think about it) but I don't think that all makes the hardware bad. It has a small number of exclusives, it's compatible with some PSOne Classics (and someday soon we can buy ALL of them), indie games, even full new console games, and it has a lot of cool features like its HD screen and remote play. I think it will sell a decent amount over time as more games come out, same as Wii U.

[3-4-5]

I love my Vita even though I don't have many games for it yet.

The main issue really is that a large majority of the games available for the Vita are VERY Niche games.

They only appeal to certain gamers and when they don't appeal to you they REALLY don't appeal to you/me/us/we.

* Same thing though. If you happen to really like a certain type of game, then this system could be your favorite ever possibly.

There aren't enough games yet that appeal to a wider or broader audience, but more games are slowly trickling in.

* A few new IP's announced at E3 would be nice.

[Bennibop]

Best console out at the moment absolutely love mine! Its a must buy for PS4 owners as remote play is fantastic.

[Anon1974]

Yeah, I'm finding the remote play for the PS4 pretty damn handy. Just a great feature added on to what was already a great console.

[Mankey]

Certainly seems to be underrated as of now.

Tons of great games to play on the system and it seems to just be getting more and more support from devs

[FoxTC]

Last Sony handheld I bought was the PSP and that was great, the Vita is smashing it out of the park with it's games, performance and link up with the PS4. I don't own a PS4 yet but WHEN I get one I will also get a Vita. Might even treat myself to a Vita sooner rather than wait.

[Protagonist]

Get it sooner! cause I strongly believe, this type of gaming will be the last we will see, before android/Windows/Ios takes over the whole market...

But, there is no doubt that in the future, the Vita will be seen as the most underrated and Ironically the best handheld gaming gadget ever made.

[VforVideogames]

Dont get one theres got to be a reason why is not selling

[Bundi]

Lol guy, what games?

[DCfan]

Xblaze, Dangan Ronpa 2, SS Delta, Tales of Hearts, Oreshika, Demon Gaze (released recently), HDN Rebirth 1 & 2 and PP and Noire's game, Freedom Wars, Gravity Rush 2, Disgaea 4, Akiba's Trip.

Oh, wait, japanese games don't count, we have to get fed up with shitty mainstream titles on almost every platform.

[Snookies12]

Hmmm, why don't you actually look up what games there are for the system. There are a LOT of exclusives... I hate having to list these off to people who don't look them up, but here we go just off the top of my head. Uncharted Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, Tearaway, Killzone Mercenaries, Ys Celceta, Freedom Wars, Oreshika, Demon Gaze, Dangan Ronpa and its sequel, Sword Art Online Hollow Fragment, Persona 4 Golden + Disgaea 4 Return (including these two because they both have all sorts of new stuff that the originals didn't), Soul Sacrifice & Soul Sacrifice Delta, Unit 13, Destiny of Spirits, Tales of Hearts R, etc. (People can't honestly say there's nothing in that list that interests them...)

These are just off the top of my head. Also, if you want, I can go into all the games that are for Vita in Japan that have yet to be announced for the west...

[Thehyph]

Vita has so many games.

You just don't think it has games because it doesn't have some super hyped western made AAA lamefest. (Commonly referred to as a "system seller")

[Hicken]

Over 500 games of various types, genres, and prices, guy. Believe it or not, the Vita had actually caught the 3
DS in quantity by its first year, and there are more than a few quality titles in its library.

Of course, to know these things, it requires you to not be trolling, and, well...

Anyway, before you start ranting about there only being HD remakes or some such crap, why not try actually being knowledgeable about the system's library?

Not that it matters. You won't get marked for trolling, so there's no reason for you to stop doing so.

[TheLastGuardian]

The Vita is as underrated as it gets. I love the Vita with a passion and everyone else just seems to love bashing it. People claim it lacks games, meanwhile I'm over here drowning in Vita games. Why must people be so negative towards my beloved?

[nope111]

Haters gonna hate.

Edit: Wow, somebody's at full force with the disagrees. Haters just love hating.

[Thehyph]

What's the attach rate now? Like 15-20 games or something stupid?

People think that the Vita is an absolute bomb, but the truth is that per single Vita hardware unit sold, more money (averages, of course) will be made from that unit than any single PS3, PS4, WiiU, 3DS, Xbox 360 or Xbox One.

[randomass171]

Like SilentNegotiator said above, there ARE some critical factors when it comes to Vita. It doesn't have enough exclusives to really entice people outside of the Sony fanbase. Of course we love it! It plays most, if not all of the games we want. But not everyone cares for that novelty. When you look at 3DS, it's cheap and has a lot of games you won't ever be able to play on Wii U. Vita is more expensive and has a lot of games also playable on its console brethren. I love Vita's hardware as well and I want to get one ASAP, but unfortunately its low sales and criticism are not entirely unwarranted.

[cluckey07]

I own a PS3, PS4, and Vita. I play my Vita far more than PS3 and PS4 combined. It's not that those systems don't have great games. They do. It's that I can watch TV, do homework and just about anything else while playing. The games are addicting and I love my Vita so much.

[patchzon]

I do agree,the vita is awesome and i will always love that little piece of hardware no matter what people say about it,for me its the best handled ever made and i also play it far more than my PS3.People have to understand that the vita is unique in its own,comparing it to the DS is like comparing a toyota corolla to a maserati ghibli.In my opinion this beauty is made for hardcore gamers whith special needs so of course the market for it is small.Im buying a PS4 next week,and i just realised that the reason of getting it,is because i own the vita.

[Otoshigamisama]

I got 2 LCD and Oled Love them both,I actually play more on my Ps vitas than my ps3 and my ps3 backlog is expanding because of my vitas, xD

[tigertron]

It's my favourite handheld next to the Gameboy.

It pains me to see it not selling like hotcakes because it deserves a lot of success. It just needs more AAA titles.

[DarXyde]

I wasn't too keen on the PSP: it did have some great games like Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Peace Walker, but the Vita has really grown on me. Uncharted: Golden Abyss was a nice pocket Drake adventure, but for me, the Vita's best game is Gravity Rush. I can't even stress how much I enjoy that game. I also love being able to play Metal Gear Solid 2,3, and Peace Walker in HD along with a personal favorite indie game, Thomas Was Alone. It's a solid handheld and I really hope gamers learn to appreciate it more.

[nope111]

The Vita is the best handheld ever made. I just wish Sony would realise this because their support could be better.
Now bundle Minecraft with Vita to help with sales, Sony.

[ritsuka666]

The Vita is the best han'''dheld ever made

Nope, not even close of this... Heck, even PSP is better than Vita.

[randomass171]

Two sticks > one nub. 'Nuff said.

[TongkatAli]

<3 this person always taking time from his busy schedule to diss the Vita, mad love bro : )

I mean it. I hope you win the lottery so you won't have to work and you can diss it all day and night.

[Eonjay]

Vita really is awesome. Playing FF4 now.

[Inception]

You remind me that i need to get FF I-VIII for vita. Already got FF IX and Tactics though. But i hope Sony had another sale for FF.

[GUYwhoPLAYSvideoGAME]

freaking kids man, I've influenced 2 kids to buy them only for them to buy call of duty and assassin's creed and sell the thing after complaining about no games, sometimes i hate people

[Hanso]

love my Vita
recently i really got into Destiny of Spirits (free to play)

upcoming games i will buy:
Sword Art Online - Hollow Fragment
Oreshika Tainted Bloodlines
Gravity Rush 2
Freedom Wars
Disgaea 4
Hotline Miami 2
Tales of Hearts
Soul Sacrifice Delta
Mind Zero
Broforce
Mighty No 9
Velocity X2
Hyperlight Drifter

[Inception]

Great list mate. I had the same list like yours too. Except i replace Broforce, Velocity X2, Hyperlight Drifter, and Disgaea 4 with XBlaze, Dangan Ronpa 1 & 2, and Akiba's Trip.

This year is great year for Vita owners ^^

[Hanso]

thx for reminding me of Danganronpa still need to buy that^^

[Inception]

No problem. Glad i can help :D

[Longshot28]

I should of bought the vita when I had the chance, bought a tablet instead.

[psDrake]

3 things screwed up the potential of Vita ( I have one and invested more than $500 on it )

1 - Lack of AAA commitment after the launch. Take this with grain of salt. Great games came out such as Tearaway, Killzone, Soul Sacrifice etc. and tons of great Japanese games, which are awesome. It appeals to me but not to the average consumer who'd like to see a COD, GTA, BioShock...

2 - Unreasonable memory card prices. Sony expects me to pay $80 for 32 gig memory card ? No sir, that price is not an issue for some but it's for me and I am sure majority feels that way.

3 - Everyone has smartphones/tablets. Why would an average parent go and spend 100s of dollars on a Vita when there the apps are .99 cents to $7... This is the biggest reason of Vita's outperforming. It's unnecessary for casual gamer to invest in Vita if they already have a smartphone/tablet.

Lastly, I love my Vita. I am committed to it but I understand why the mass market do not appreciate it.

[randomass171]

I think your first reason is the most telling for Vita's sales. However, those memory cards are what hold me back the most. They're just way too expensive, which is a shame because SD cards on 3DS are stupid cheap. Vita's a fantastic device, but sadly I don't believe it is an infallible piece of hardware.

[andrewer]

I have played more Wii U than my Vita, but thanks to Vita I was able to play Sly Cooper: Thieve in Time that I wanted so much to play, so can't really complain about anything. PS Vita is good, but lacks games that I'm interested in.

[antikbaka]

Although Vita is underrated it still receives lots of love from the company..unlike wiiU...

[SpiralTear]

Are you kidding? Have you seen what Sony has (or should I say "hasn't") been doing for the Vita?

Sony recently released a promo for the "future of portable gaming" and guess what was in the promo? A Dualshock connected to a tablet. That alone shows that Sony most certainly does not love the Vita. Right now, thank God for indies and Japanese developers, because they're the only ones who are actually giving the system some serious attention.

Sony and a majority of the Western game market are completely ignoring the system and that's a travesty. It's a great system, but when you say that Sony is giving the Vita love, I cannot believe you for a second.

THEY'RE the ones who are responsible for the lack of support for the system in the Western market. THEY'RE the ones who are still charging outrageous prices for the memory cards. THEY'RE the ones leaving the Vita to fend for itself and shoving it aside for their tablet support.

[antikbaka]

First of all I bought all sony consoles for japanese products.. Sony IS a japanese company and those studios releasing games are theirs or specially paid by them to release on vita.

Vita cards are too expensive? Use ebay or some analogs, my vita is second hand and my memory card too. As a result everything was cheaper.

When you have a problem - try to find a solution and not just whine.

[SpiralTear]

Dude, if there's a solution, that's fine, but that doesn't justify the existence of the problem in the first place. Sony is charging a lot for their memory cards and that's not good. I love that they're offering Vita games on IGC, but the money spent on storing those games cancels that advantage out.

The point I'm making is that Sony is simply not doing much for the Vita. It needs custom-built experiences from first-party studios. It needs those big AAA Sony franchises. It needs games like Tearaway that are built with the system in mind and aren't just ports or HD collections. And the fact that one of the biggest selling points for the Vita is remote play with PS4 is terrible. A standalone system shouldn't be chained to a console to be appealing.

And when Sony considers the future of portable gaming to be a controller and a tablet instead of this cutting-edge and extremely well-designed Vita hardware, it's clear as day that their attention is elsewhere. That's a problem and that's what needs to be solved.

[chris88755]

The Vita suffers from not having a big name game. It has a lot of good titles but not that one huge title to bring it to the masses.

[xymox333]

Why are people still comparing the Psp to the Ps Vita. Sure the Psp was niche at the beginning of it's life. But a system that as sold 80 million+ in hardware and god knows how much in software is not niche. As a matter of fact how about I run down a list of the Psp games.

It had Call Of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Ace Combat, Ghost Recon, Socom, Medal Of Honor, Metal Gear Solid...ect..ect

Then the Psp had a great sports lins-up of games as well, Like NBA, WWE, UFC, Fifa, Madden, Motogp, F1....ect...ect

Fighting games like Tekken, Mortal Kombat, DBZ, Naruto, Soul Caliber, and what about the plain old fun games like the SIM's, Pac-Man World....ect..ect.

And don't even get me started on games from Japan, And then the Psp had a line-up of playstation only games as well like, Resistance, Killzone, Little Big Planet, God of War, Ratchet and Clank, Gran Turismo...ect...

I didn't even include the Japanese games or the games exclusive to the Psp and it still came out with a good line-up. I think it's time gamers stop acting like the Psp was only successful in Japan because that is not the case and sales prove it.

The Ps Vita is not selling like the Psp because it does not have a line-up like the Psp. For every niche game the Psp had, it also had a AAA game right next it. The Ps Vita on the other had, not so much.

[welly300]

It so needed to copy ds3 buttons that back touch adds nothin. The sticks are not the best.

[asmith2306]

Downloaded the Spyro trilogy on my Vita for the girlfriend the other day and I haven't seen it since. Same thing happened when I downloaded PixelJunk Monsters.

[user9597082]

Sony may be crushing Nintendo is the console market but they just don't get it when it comes to portables.

What good is amazing hardware if you or no one else is developing games for it?

[Inception]

"What good is amazing hardware if you or no one else is developing games for it?"

But Vita got a lot of support from 3rd party to 1st party dev. Unlike WiiU, who lacks 3rd party support.

[user9597082]

The vita is suffering from the same thing the PSP largely suffered from. Not enough big games first or third, just dumbed down versions of console games.

I played my brothers for a while and really was upset at the lack of anything worthwhile because I really wanted an excuse to buy one.

[kinetic100]

Love my vita, well worth the price and it also comes in handy as an extra pad for the ps4 (came in handy for mercenary kings). If your a PS Plus member your getting games for it anyway so upto you if you wanna invest further.

But where is Gran Turismo Vita?
Why no media steaming?

[Spontogical]

It's simple. Sony hasn't given their target market a compelling reason to buy a Vita. Using it to play PS4 games, whilst a nifty idea and definitely something I'd do if I had the system and was away from it regularly - I can't see it as a system-selling feature.

Sony's given up on the system themselves, would've had one by now if I believed it had a future. 5 really good games and a large catalog of indies won't convince me to spend north of £200 on a handheld device.

[RosweeSon]

I've got about 40 games left to get through just go to metacritic and work your way up from the bottom, got some good ones coming up, gravity rush, tearaway, strangers wrath, loads of quality games along with all the ones mentioned above and with remote play, awesome little console but then I do still love my 3DS tho, hardly say it was most underrated of all time tho and it's hardly finished now ps4 is along to help it up.

[Mankey]

Def seems like it now.