Is the PS Vita dead or dying?

ManofGod

ManofGod

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This is a serious question, not trolling at all. :( I have been looking around and I have found that you cannot get them new practically anywhere anymore. I look at Gamestop, nope, Target, nope, Walmart, nope, BestBuy, nope, Amazon is price gouging, Newegg, nope and on and on and on.

What is going on?
 
Hmm i havent looked for stock recently. That being said sony did pretty much say they are dropping all first party support for the system, and are depending on 3rd party/indies. The future for the vita looks EXTREMELY thin, and its not like it had much of a past either. Sony needs to just give up on handhelds, if they dont support it with first party games its completely pointless to sony. 3rd Party wont sell a console, especially a hand held.
 
Some might say it never left the birth canal. Good games have been few and far between.
 
Well, like me, my 21 year old daughter enjoys playing video games. :) However, she was hoping to get a PS Vita for her Birthday but now, I am not going to bother, it is just not worth it.
 
It's not dying, just hasn't gotten the push we all had hoped. It really is a fantastic little device, and there are some decent games.

Last month they just released the slim version bundled with Borderlands 2 (great vita game!). It's going to be bundled with the PS4 shortly, so that may have something to do with the shortage.
 
King Icewind said:
It's not dying, just hasn't gotten the push we all had hoped. It really is a fantastic little device, and there are some decent games.

Last month they just released the slim version bundled with Borderlands 2 (great vita game!). It's going to be bundled with the PS4 shortly, so that may have something to do with the shortage.
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great game if you hate frame rate
 
ManofGod said:
This is a serious question, not trolling at all. :( I have been looking around and I have found that you cannot get them new practically anywhere anymore. I look at Gamestop, nope, Target, nope, Walmart, nope, BestBuy, nope, Amazon is price gouging, Newegg, nope and on and on and on.

What is going on?
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I find this odd as well, I was looking for a new Vita Bundle a few days ago. I don't know if they overdid it with different SKUs or whatever (and retailers gave up), but its currently difficult to find a new Borderlands 2 bundle in stock. Maybe they are just trying to hold back stock to flush the old SKUs out of retail, or possible retailers just don't want to keep ordering Vita bundle they get stuck with.
 
Dying but not dead. Just a PS4 streamer and indie station not a bad life but it probably wasn't what it was originally designed for by Mark Cerny. The memory cards are still ridiculously expensive and there is very little pirating since you can basically only run a psp vm. People have to remember that one of the main reasons the original PSP sold well was because it was easy to hack and install games on both legal and illegal.
 
I just bought one on eBay used with box and a game for 140.00 to play around with and a couple games.
 
Vita is my least played device and I've had mine since launch. I like the system but most of its title just aren't my cup.
 
SeymourGore said:
Yar, at one point I was pretty pumped for the Vita and was considering picking one up, but then Sony went out and said that the Vita's focus will be indie titles and PS4 play. I dunno, that really dampened any excitement I had for the handheld.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/vi...itles-and-remote-play-sony-says/1100-6420613/
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That's sort of them just admitting what was already happening.

For people already using PS+, having a Vita gets you two free game a month which are generally pretty good. That is what got me looking into a Vita again. I had an original Vita, didn't like the size/weight though.
 
It's dead in the West, it's not getting anymore first party titles and the only thing you should expect moving forward is a lot of indie titles and possible Japanese imports or translations coming over.

It was screwed from the beginning because of price and memory cards.

The only way I would suggest one is buying used with a large memory card, you have a PS4 and PS+.
 
Get a 3DSXL if you want a good handheld. Vita looked like it had some nice power, but like you said I have barely seen any development for it.
 
MavericK96 said:
Get a 3DSXL if you want a good handheld. Vita looked like it had some nice power, but like you said I have barely seen any development for it.
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Just a side note, Staples in Canada is clearancing most of their gaming stuff. I just picked up a 3DSXL for $99.99 brand new. Prices and selection vary from store to store though. They also had 3DS for $79.99.
 
guitarguy6 said:
Just a side note, Staples in Canada is clearancing most of their gaming stuff. I just picked up a 3DSXL for $99.99 brand new. Prices and selection vary from store to store though. They also had 3DS for $79.99.
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That's a damn good deal.
 
I own both a 3DSXL and a Vita slim. I like JRPGs so both handhelds are worth it for me.
The reason Vita's can be hard to find is that Sony stopped making the 1000 series (fat, OLED, etc) so stock has been drying up and right now the 2000 series can only be bought in the Borderland 2 bundle.
 
Sony poorly marketed the Vita , made the memory cards too expensive and it was already a hard sale with people who didn't want to spend $300 on a purpose built portable gaming console when the 3DS is much cheaper and people are more attracted to gaming on their phones these days.

The Vita isn't dead though. JRPG's have really increased interest in the system both domestically and internationally and there have been some wonderful indie games released for it.

But what's really keeping it alive is the full on 100 percent compatibility with remote play with the PS4. It works with every game I've tried and works very well. People love the idea of basically having a Wii U Gamepad for the PS4.

But I don't expect the Vita to last another 5 years since Sony announced at E3 that its scaling back its efforts with first party Vita titles. Japanese developers will keep the Vita going for a while though with a healthy selection of JRPG's. Indie titles will help as well. But I don't expect lots of companies to jump on board unless Sony lowers the cost of the memory cards.

But for once we can blame the cost of memory cards on piracy. PSP piracy was RAMPANT , it was so bad that while I generally don't agree that piracy has the massive negative impact on many products (outside of indie entertainment) it really hurt the PSP. Once people got homebrew working it was off to the races. Same thing happened with the Nintendo DS but Nintendo figured out how to lock down the 3DS without charging insane prices for its memory cards. Sony should have figured out the same exact solution. The memory card prices really kill interest for so many people.

Despite all that I love my Vita and it has given me hundreds of hours of fun. I bought it on sale during Christmas with a free game and memory card for $200. Worth it.
 
See, personally I couldn't really care less about JRPGs, which is why the Vita has never seemed worthwhile to me.

Godmachine said:
Nintendo figured out how to lock down the 3DS without charging insane prices for its memory cards.
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Not exactly...it's better than the DS but it's been cracked for older firmwares, and newer ones will probably eventually be cracked as well.

In any case, focusing on making games worth the purchase should be the primary goal, not combating piracy which will probably happen anyway.
 
I think the last few games worth mentioning is freedom wars and the ratchet collection in the US. Tearaway bombed and so did Killzone. It sucks but Sony should have went with SD cards with good anti piracy measures and never have went with the rear touchpad, back camera, and gyroscope.

In other words release it at 199.99 with the ability to goto 139.99 eventually with revisions to hardware. Even if it meant going with LCD. I'm sure Cerny knew it was going to bomb with those memory card prices. They are probably that expensive to offset the hardware price for themselves.

It's a nice piece of kit, but even with a 250+ million marketing campaign in the west it would have still sold poorly.
 
MavericK96 said:
See, personally I couldn't really care less about JRPGs, which is why the Vita has never seemed worthwhile to me.



Not exactly...it's better than the DS but it's been cracked for older firmwares, and newer ones will probably eventually be cracked as well.

In any case, focusing on making games worth the purchase should be the primary goal, not combating piracy which will probably happen anyway.
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Not even close to the degree the DS was split wide open with the R4 card. The 3DS will require much more effort and won't be nearly as easy to crack. Nintendo has been aggressively plugging holes in its OS if you keep up with the home brew community. It took almost a year and half to even get home brew working and it was only a very conditional basis. Plus the 3DS has lots of network features that would have to be spoofed which will not be easy and Nintendo could easily update to break any work around. Street pass having to be deactivated is also not going to fly since it's become so well embedded.

The 3DS is pretty secure and it'll like remain so for at least a few more years.
 
Vita is dead, unless you have PS+.
I'm sure there will be an uptick once the get that PS4+Vita bundle out, but I don't think it matters since Sony said its an indie device from now on.

Vita got a shot in the arm when Soul Sacrifice Delta was launched in Japan, but that was short lived.
Unfortunately doesn't look like there is a single title that will do that for NA.
 
Godmachine said:
Not even close to the degree the DS was split wide open with the R4 card. The 3DS will require much more effort and won't be nearly as easy to crack. Nintendo has been aggressively plugging holes in its OS if you keep up with the home brew community. It took almost a year and half to even get home brew working and it was only a very conditional basis. Plus the 3DS has lots of network features that would have to be spoofed which will not be easy and Nintendo could easily update to break any work around. Street pass having to be deactivated is also not going to fly since it's become so well embedded.

The 3DS is pretty secure and it'll like remain so for at least a few more years.
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Again, for the latest firmwares...look up the Gateway flash cart, they have pretty much everything cracked for 4.1-4.5, including online.

I suspect we'll see the whole thing cracked wide open eventually, but it is more secure than the DS, yes.
 
MavericK96 said:
Again, for the latest firmwares...look up the Gateway flash cart, they have pretty much everything cracked for 4.1-4.5, including online.

I suspect we'll see the whole thing cracked wide open eventually, but it is more secure than the DS, yes.
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You'd have to either own a 3DS with that firmware or buy one used and you can't flash back to previous firmware , you need unofficial hardware and lots of patience to do the process which will be an "idiot check" against the vast majority of 3DS owners. You can't use any of the new features on the emulated NAND card over firmware 4.5 and you have to wait for updates for newer games to even function.

The DS R4 was about 10x simpler to use and even though it was wildly successful it's owners got sued into oblivion by Nintendo. Even with 3DS piracy a reality it's just a huge pain in the ass to deal with and that barrier will keep it from the epic levels piracy seen by the DS and the PSP unless there is a beyond firmware 4.5 breakthrough. The guys who make the unofficial "hardware" for the 3DS are already entrenched in a legal battle as well and they are the only solution that can work.

I just don't think we will see a major breakthrough at all or anytime soon based off what the community seems to think.
 
So I'm a Vita owner who absolutely loves his Vita. As far as a piece of hardware goes - it's by far the best little handheld I've ever laid eyes upon. I blows the 3DSXL out of the water. I feel like I've gotten more than my money's worth out of the system, and I think there's plenty of games to justify the purchase today (especially if you like RPGs).

However - as much as I love it - I do believe it is dying... There are some GREAT games on it - but nobody knows about them, or they aren't sure enough to plunk down the money. Unless you know a Vita owner who is like "dude - get this game - it's awesome!" you'll probably never purchase it. It's also fantastic for retro gaming old playstation games - but most people get all "I ain't buying a new system to play old games" - and they are right, that's not a primary reason to buy a $300 piece of hardware. Lastly, the memory cards are pretty much required, and you want a big one - so ya - even if you get one on sale for $179 like I did - you're still going to cough up another $100 for a friggin memory card.

It's really a shame because the Vita is straight up awesome - it just doesn't have the "OMG I MUST have that game" titles to support it. Imagine if Nintendo released the Vita, with their IPs - they'd have sold bazillions of them. Shame really...
 
I like the vita but it is pretty much dead. I love it now as a remote play device for the PS4. For me the biggest issue about it are the memory card prices. I ran out of space on the 32GB card which, when I bought my Vita, was almost $90 with tax and shipping. Now the only choice for larger is a 64GB, but that is like $103 without tax, or as much as $90 shipped cheaply with no tracking from some Asian web store. Even if new games were coming out it would reduce my desire to buy them because the storage prices are just nuts. Micro SD cards would have been a better choice for the consumer.

This though is an interesting perspective and I do somewhat agree with it:
http://www.dorkly.com/post/64797/why-the-vita-is-doomed-and-what-it-teaches-us-about-consoles
 
The problem with the Vita is the type of experiences Sony is best at creating don't translate well into portable gaming. Sony is fantastic at creating long cinematic games. Games like Last of Us and Uncharted. Those experiences just don't translate well into portable play where you do not always have the time to engross yourself into a game.

The opposite is true for Nintendo. Nintendo games tend to be extremely simple. Very easy to pickup and play for 10 minutes and stop. These types of games work GREAT on handhelds. No massive stories, no 10 min cutscenes. Just bursts of good game play.

I also think it's why in the home console market, Sony's and Nintendo's fates are swapped. At home where people have time, Sony's console can provide a much deeper and engrossing experience which many seem to prefer.

Kongar said:
As far as a piece of hardware goes - it's by far the best little handheld I've ever laid eyes upon. I blows the 3DSXL out of the water.
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Yep, I feel the same about mine and the hardware. Sadly I don't use it much due to the type of games available for it.
 
Kongar said:
So I'm a Vita owner who absolutely loves his Vita. As far as a piece of hardware goes - it's by far the best little handheld I've ever laid eyes upon. I blows the 3DSXL out of the water. I feel like I've gotten more than my money's worth out of the system, and I think there's plenty of games to justify the purchase today (especially if you like RPGs).

However - as much as I love it - I do believe it is dying... There are some GREAT games on it - but nobody knows about them, or they aren't sure enough to plunk down the money. Unless you know a Vita owner who is like "dude - get this game - it's awesome!" you'll probably never purchase it. It's also fantastic for retro gaming old playstation games - but most people get all "I ain't buying a new system to play old games" - and they are right, that's not a primary reason to buy a $300 piece of hardware. Lastly, the memory cards are pretty much required, and you want a big one - so ya - even if you get one on sale for $179 like I did - you're still going to cough up another $100 for a friggin memory card.

It's really a shame because the Vita is straight up awesome - it just doesn't have the "OMG I MUST have that game" titles to support it. Imagine if Nintendo released the Vita, with their IPs - they'd have sold bazillions of them. Shame really...
Click to expand...

Im curious what games you think are great on the Vita? I own one, and i never ever ever play it, its just a dead paperweigt to me. I tried playing Persona 4 but the several hour into sequence just flat out kills the game for me, cant get passed it
 
VladDracule said:
Im curious what games you think are great on the Vita? I own one, and i never ever ever play it, its just a dead paperweigt to me. I tried playing Persona 4 but the several hour into sequence just flat out kills the game for me, cant get passed it
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My favorites so far:


Vita only titles:

P4G
Demon Gaze
Killzone Mercenaries
Soul Sacrifice
Guacamelee
Uncharted Golden Abyss
Gravity Rush
wipeout 2048


Indie games (available on other systems)

Pixel Junk Monsters
Thomas was alone
Terraria
Hotline Miami


Then there's the gigantic pile of old ports. I've played through:

xenogears
chrono trigger
God of war (s)
Final fantasy omg they are all there
etc. etc. etc. So many PS1 classics if that's your thing.


Now the games I either can't get into, or beat and didn't think they were so great:

Tearaway
dragon's crown
little big planet
sly cooper
walking dead


On the to do list / looks good list:
Muramasa
Monster hunter
Ys memories of Celceta
Tales of Hearts
Lemmings touch
corpse party

So let's review that list. I've had well over a five hundred hours of fun on the vita. Cheap entertainment, more than paid for itself. But some of that was with games that can be had on the PC. And there were a good many from older consoles. I don't regret the console at all, and I've had a blast.

But where's a new God of war? What about a new persona game that's not just PS4? Where's the Vita "tales of ..." game? Why not port "the last of us" to vita as well as PS4 for those that haven't played it? Gran Turismo? Spyro for the kids? Jak and Daxter? Ratchet and Clank? Kingdom Hearts? Metal Gear? Resident Evil? Tomb Raider? Heck, the thing is powerful enough - I bet they could even get a respectable version of something like Diablo 3 running on it - bring on the PC games.

You get my point. There are fun games - but they aren't the games people associate with Playstation, and it's a shame because the Vita is powerful enough to bring these IPs to life on handhelds like it's never been done before. =\
 
Lower cost made me go with a 3DS XL. And Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy. I will play the various Nintendo titles as well (Pokemon, Mario Kart ect.). Not many games interested me on the Vita.

Though I did get the 3DS XL for a low price otherwise I would not have bought it either. :p
 
I like the Vita and there are actually a lot of really good games for it. The caveat is that there are almost no high profile titles for it. Nearly every good game for the Vita is a "sleeper hit" at best.
 
demingo said:
A portable version of Diablo 3 would be absolutely amazing.
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Wouldn't it? An offline version that everyone wanted... Once the PS4 version comes out - you'll have it via remote play - and then you can be constantly reminded of how cool it could be if there was a Vita cartridge - maybe even one with cross play capability so your character can go from the PS4 to your vita for a plane trip, and then back to your console. :D

I mean, who wouldn't buy that? Take all my monies. So much Vita potential, so much wasted.
 
Domingo said:
I like the Vita and there are actually a lot of really good games for it. The caveat is that there are almost no high profile titles for it. Nearly every good game for the Vita is a "sleeper hit" at best.
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Agreed 100%. You said it much more eloquently than I.
 
demingo said:
A portable version of Diablo 3 would be absolutely amazing.
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Someone had something similar in development but the studio nixed it. It was in development before the Vita came out iirc. Can't remember the name but they changed it then canceled it soon after.
 
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