Sammy: "Two high-profile PS Vita exclusives, Freedom Wars and Soul Sacrifice, will have their servers deactivated on 24th December, 2021. Both titles, published by Sony in response to its loss of Monster Hunter exclusivity, were built around co-operative play, and maintained relatively dedicated communities to this day."
VGChartz's Adam Cartwright: "When Sony entered the world of handheld gaming in 2004, it provided a new opportunity for developers to chase a different market than had existed before. Over the next decade we saw multiple companies, from both western and eastern shores, shift their pipelines to focus on providing software for both the PlayStation Portable and its successor the PlayStation Vita. Despite the latter’s relatively weak hardware sales, there were still successes to be found on the console, which meant that it was easy to plan a future around being a Vita developer.
By 2014, though, it had become clear that Sony was no longer interested in pursuing the handheld market and this left a number of companies in difficulty – they’d either need to adapt to the shifting times, or face dying out altogether. In this article, I’m aiming to look at what happened to developers who made both the PSP and Vita their main focus, how they adapted to the demise of Sony handhelds, what future plans they made, and how well they’re doing in the current gaming market."
The moved to the Switch from Vita. Some of the exact same games or similar games from those developers. Loved the Vita and glad to see those devs still have a platform to release lesser budget fun games.
VGChartz's Adam Cartwright: "Competing with other players online is ingrained into the gaming ecosystem these days, with every hardware manufacturer (even the previously resistant Nintendo) offering ways to connect to others over the internet to engage in multiplayer. Ever since SEGA blazed a trail with their gone-too-soon Dreamcast and titles such as Chu Chu Rocket and Phantasy Star Online, the console landscape changed towards embracing the internet – solidified further by Microsoft’s Xbox initiative in 2001.
On handhelds, inroads into online gaming were slower, but with the advent of Sony’s PSP in 2005 that changed again and suddenly portable experiences were offered that could also connect with other players across the world. This was refined further with their next-generation handheld the PlayStation Vita, which offered improvements like easily accessible friends lists, system-based party chat, alongside some of the best portable online games that were available at the time of its release."
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Killzone Mercenary has spectacular gameplay and great mp. Underrated game.
Helldivers was pretty awesome to have on Vita.
NFS MW worked well on Vita.
Killzone Mercenary is not only a phenomenal KZ, it has the best integrated system shared between the campaign and the online community. I wish more shooters were this incredible.
Kevin Webb: "While one of Sony's main goals with the Vita was to produce experiences that felt like playing on a home console, the Vita produced a number of unique games that were later brought over to more powerful hardware. And as the Vita got older, independent developers began to take advantage of the console's strong hardware and dedicated player base. For example, PC games like "Stardew Valley" or "Minecraft" that had earned an indie following could be moved to the Vita at low cost, letting players take their favorite games on the go.
The PlayStation Vita may not have been a smash hit, but there were plenty of gems to be found on the handheld if you spent enough time looking."
Frobisher Says was one of the best games on the Vita. There was just nothing like it. It's such a shame that Sony didn't see fit to invest in the Vita long term.
Agreed. Admittedly I brought the console only to travel with (a 41yo gamer here) finished killzone liberation and just started Uncharted odesey and Resistance games. I really only got it to play the games that just never came to ps3/4and surf the net. Its a handy console and it's a shame if has come to an end especially with no replacement in sight just yet!
Yeah, I loved the Killzone Liberation. Although I have to say that since Sony have dedicated their focus only on the PS4 it has gone from strength to strength. I hope they keep supporting VR though - that might be a game changer for them next gen if they do.
Some excellent choices there. I spent so many hours on Soul Sacrifice and Persona 4
As much as I love the Uncharted series I couldn't come to terms with Golden Abyss. It felt like a few steps back in the series
Danganronpa, Stien Gate, and especially Persona 4 are some of the best titles that available on the Vita.
I will miss this console.
No Freedom Wars or Killzone Mercenary?
Both deserve remakes. Mercenary is cannon and Freedom Wars is just one of those ultra rare JRPG games I found fun and think could appeal to a wider audience.
Oreshika is also getting it servers shut down too. Big shame for these games. Honestly some of Vita's gems.
I'm surprised these were even still up! Loved the Vita though, had some great times with that handheld.
These games deserve sequels or remakes. It was Soul Sacrifice that even got me into Monster Hunter.
Freedom wars servers are still up? Holy shit.
This why you never should have achievements/trophies locked to online only features.