Is the PlayStation Vita dead? Um, no.

PS3 Attitude: "Unfortunately, things just got a whole lot worse for the Vita, with the release of the abysmal Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified last week. The negative reception of the game has led certain websites to claim this is the final nail in the coffin for the console, with one publication writing, ‘in reporting its [Declassified’s] failure we feel like we’re writing an obituary for the PS Vita itself’.

However, I hope to prove that claims of the handheld being dead are completely unfounded, and genuinely nothing more than shoddy and sensationalistic journalism."

[Stuart5756]

It's as simple as this, really, if you own a PS Vita and you play it and enjoy playing it then it's not dead. I own one, I've got Uncharted, MGS HD Collection, loads of PSOne Classics (Resi Evils, Silent Hill 1, Metal Gear 1), I've got Both Vice City & liberty City Stories, gunna get Assassins Creed 3 and new Need For Speed. It's certainly not dead for me, anyone saying it's dead wether they own one or not simply doesn't appreciate good gaming platforms and good games!

[DolphGB]

I wish it were that simple. What if the Vita does so badly that Sony can't support the platform any longer? Sure, you'll be enjoying it, but a year later you'll have no games to play.

This article is worth reading properly - explains the future of the console well and why owners should have hope that the future of the Vita is bright. A good read...

[oONinjavitiSOo]

It's not really doing to bad. It has sold 3,237,484 world wide which if everyone bought only the wifi version thats equals out to $809,371,000 again that is if people bought wifi only. Now on to software sales which is around 6,627,536 world wide which equals out to $198,826,080 if all games purchased were only $30(most are $40). To me these numbers look pretty solid. Definitely not worried about the vita.

[CommonSenseGamer]

@Ninja:
How many billions have been invested bringing the Vita to market? How much are they losing on each unit sold? Of greater concern is how profitable is it for developers?

[oONinjavitiSOo]

@commonsensegamer
I do not have those figures....do you? If you do please post. All I can comment on is the numbers I am presented with. Those just happen to be sales. So if you have all these other figures I would definitely be interested in veiwing said data.

[profgerbik]

Well sadly I still owned a Dreamcast for a while and even played it but I can confirm that system is indeed dead.

Off topic really.. and yes I own a Vita but just felt like saying that.

[jony_dols]

The Vita's future really does depend on this holiday season; if it performs well then it'll encourage 3rd party publishers & dev's to keep up their support for the platform.

If it's sales are poor then unfortunately the Vita will die a slow, undeserved death...

[JellyJelly]

Says ps3attitude.com.

[Rumplebumpkin]

Says JellyJelly, a 1 bubble troll that doesn't belong in this article.

[Tonester925]

Playstation All-Stars just came out today! Nope!

[Der_Kommandant]

Mine is just gathering dust

[LUCKYXS7LEVEN]

then why you bought it?

[KosmoCrisis]

I can't stand people who throw money around and buy the "latest" piece of gaming hardware to show off, and then later say to all their friends, "mine is just gathering dust".

What you mean is "I'm too rich to care but I'm still on gaming sites talking about it."

You may not play your Vita, but you're thinking about it all the time and therefor your Vita is not dead. Otherwise, I'd expect you to give it away to somewhere in this thread. Obviously, if you allow your dead epithelial cells to coat your expensive handheld then you can give it away to someone that will play it.

[tgcorke]

The only arguments I've seen for suggesting the Vita is failing is that EA, Ubisoft and Activision aren't taking it that seriously. Frankly, if you base your judgement on a console on whether those three care about it then you deserve to be disappointed. They'll always stick with what's safe and profitable. Uncharted Golden Abyss, Rayman Origins, Resistance, Super Monkey Ball, Wipeout, Gravity Rush and many others are where the quality is at, not in a re-skinned Fifa clone. In fact, it's probably to Vita's benefit that the big three don't care that much about it - maybe it can avoid their toxicity a little while longer than most systems.

[DragonKnight]

Given that there are 3 people already hating on the Vita, probably wishing for its death, and spewing negativity... in before this entire thread turns into a battle of "yes it is" with the pseudo analysts quoting their lack of business expertise as fact and harping on the price of the Vita just because the 3DS is 200.

And yes, that was one long run on sentence. And it was on purpose.

[tubers]

I usually criticize the VITA.. but I hope you'd believe me that I would love for it to thrive!

I don't like the 3DS but I can't ignore that it's doing much more things right than the VITA for today's market.

<-- wait's for a killer RPG that's not Persona.

[NastyLeftHook0]

quick question, isn't this like the 250th vita dead article? or is there more? its kind of funny because vita is not dead.

[r21]

Sadly, more will come for it. At least it wont be the only console to get doomz articles, the wii u will share this burden.

[NeverEnding1989]

This article is perpetuating furture Vita is dead articles.

[NastyLeftHook0]

lol i dont mind there opinion which imo sucks, but this is getting old lol.

[DolphGB]

Maybe you guys should read the article. It is saying the Vita is NOT dead, and refuting many of those 'is dead' articles.

Worth a read, not just a comment here at N4G without reading...

[KosmoCrisis]

The Vita is totally dead. I'm tired of reading about it not being dead. I mean, look at it. It won't turn on. Wait...uh...apparently I just needed to turn it on. Whoops.

Its alive, its aliiiiive!

[rainslacker]

Just 2 more and they get a free sub.

[Corax]

I hate how if something isn't booming and making big buck its a failure. Why can't products have a steady amount of cash flow and be successful?

[rainslacker]

Because "journalists" today think they know how to run a multi-billion dollar business. It's not to say that some of the points made aren't valid, it's just that everyone rolls with it and throws in a bunch of hyperbole that isn't really based on fact. There was one a while back that analyzed some real data, and compared it in a well thought out article. It wasn't a "Vita is dead" article though, just an analysis of it's current situation. Unfortunately I can't seem to find it, and it is dated now.

Sony invested enough into the Vita they aren't going to abandon it to the whim of internet bloggers and hit-seeking websites. Almost a billion dollars in revenue from it (based on a comment above) is pretty decent in the first year. It may not be as big as hoped, but I'd call that far from a failure. If it gets more support it can only go up from there.

When I had some people over the other night one of them played the Vita more than the Wii U and hasn't stopped talking about it since. He's not even really a gamer, so I'd say that the system definitely has merit and potential.

[tubers]

Because failure or success are relative and subjective.

[Embeepee]

It's not dead, it's on life support.

[tubers]

..in a state of coma.

[kayoss]

A lot of time when I read about PS Vita sales numbers for some reason they focuse mainly on Japanese sales numbers of the Vita. Japanese Vita sales number are abysmal which everyone agree. But when I look at the sales number in america and Europe the sales numbers are really high. I think in the month of October there were 22,000 Vitas sold in the United states alone and in Europe, 35,000 Vita sold.
I agree, one game should not define the faith of a console. Everyone knew COD for the vita will be a dissappointment. But remember a bad game vs a good game comes down to individual opinions. PS Vita starting out really slow but I think it will pick up just like the PS3

[Neonridr]

but when Japan's 3DS sales outsell the global sales of the Vita by like 4:1 almost, then that tells you a little something about the power of the Japanese market.

[Eazy-Eman]

I find it ironic how people hate COD, yet when it's announced and released for the vita, people claim it to be the vita's saving grace and the must have COD. As of right now the vita is not doing good, we all know that. There's still e3 and the vga's for sony to announce something for the vita. As of right now the vita will be my most played system because of persona 4, and i hope that game does what final fantasy VII managed to do back then in the 90's.

[Neonridr]

The Vita will be fine. Will it outsell the 3DS - very likely not, but it will have its own market. There will be better games that will come along, and new features that will help increase its appeal, and people will start to buy it. All is not lost. Personally I love the 3DS because I feel Nintendo knows how to design a handheld. Most people don't need console type experiences on a handheld because a) they only have a few minutes here and there to play b) they have a console at home with a larger TV that they would rather play on. Of course this isn't always the case, but I find that with Nintendo titles, it's definitely easier to pick up, play for a few minutes, then put down.

Regardless, the Vita will be fine, the 3DS will be fine, mobile gaming will go on, and competition is good for the industry. If Sony packed up it's handheld division, then Nintendo could do whatever they wanted and wouldn't have to try to innovate with its handhelds. The market would go stale, and us gamers would suffer.

[KosmoCrisis]

Well said.

[strigoi814]

persona 4 golden on my hands right now..so i think death is far from reality now..

[crazysammy]

What ever happened to a great conversation with different viewpoints? Everyone feels their opinion is "fact" and whatever they do not like is "bad" Blind loyalists are so irritating.

No one should want ANY game developer or publisher to fail. You should always want them to improve and offer a better product, but you should never wish them to not exist.

This article was a great read and all of us real gamers should want the system to do well. Even loyal 3DS fans should want the vita to succeed so it pushes Nintendo to keep making a superior product. When companies compete, the consumer wins.

[DolphGB]

Well said - bubbles for you...

[Williamson]

I owned a 3ds xl for 2 weeks before returning it and had a blast playing super mario 3d land, but I recently bought a vita for 199$ and i just love it. The 3ds just didnt have anything upcomming that would intrest me and I have a feeling sony will eventually bring games like infamous,GOW,GT,or even some new ips.

[CaptainN]

Really??? 3DS doesn't have anthing upcoming that grabs your interest? So games like Fire Emblem, Smash Bros, a new Zelda, Monster Hunter 3 & 4 and all the other 3rd party games don't interest you at all? Curious, what upcoming Vita games made you make that decision? Not trolling here, just curious as to how you came to that conclusion.

[tubers]

Was never a fan of any of those games. Not even MH for the PSP.

But neither am I a fan of any of the current VITA titles :(

Ragnarok Odyssey was supposed to be IT for me.. but it failed to meet my expectations.

Maybe a sequel in 2 years would then excite me. Or God Eater 2.

[Williamson]

I just have a gut feeling that sony will be bringing out more games for the vita since people say that it has no games. Similar to how the ps3 recieved the same criticism early on, and sony soon turned that around. I'll eventually get a wii U for the next smash bros,zelda,or 3D mario games.