Is Sony Declaring Defeat On Handheld?

Megalith

Megalith

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This isn’t too surprising, due to the ubiquity of smartphones. And I don’t think the Vita was ever that successful, anyway. It’s suggested that they will continue to support mobile gaming, but on Xperia devices, however.

The likelihood of another handheld console from Sony turning up in the foreseeable future is considered to be incredibly low by almost everyone, and it's notable that there's never been so much as a whisper about what such a successor might look like or comprise; it's so vanishingly unlikely to come to pass, why even bother speculating on what might be? Yet for commentators and analysts to dismiss the notion of Sony carrying on in handheld is one thing; for such a senior figure at the company to seemingly join in that dismissal is another.
 
I got to play with Vita a few weeks before it was released. Hardware was neat but for me it was clear the whole thing was doomed because of the smart phone boom.

Sometimes I am thinking of buying a hand-held device for games but I only want one for MAME/Gens, etc. I want a Portable MAME Station damn it. Maybe I should kick start it.
 
DQZ - go for it. A handheld MAME machine would be nice (with real buttons and a joystick). I've seen a few Raspberry Pi-based handhelds people have created. I'd buy one.

Other than that, hand helds seem doomed. What I think would be a smart move: what if the companies braced mobile platforms and brought over their IP? Sega did this for all platforms (once they exited the hardware business). I have not followed them, but they seem to still be around.
Would not Nintendo, Sony, and the like have a new market? I know many people that would be $10 for Mario on a smart phone. Maybe they could make more.

Now that I think about it more, I'm afraid they'd all have in-app purchases. Damn it.
 
dgz said:
I got to play with Vita a few weeks before it was released.
Click to expand...
Hardware was neat but for me it was clear the whole thing was doomed because of the smart phone boom.

Well the guys at Extra Credits had a better explanation as to why the Vita failed. Remember both the Vita and 3DS were expensive at first and have to deal with the mobile market.

Sometimes I am thinking of buying a hand-held device for games but I only want one for MAME/Gens, etc. I want a Portable MAME Station damn it. Maybe I should kick start it.
Click to expand...
You could always buy a Chinese JXD S5800 that actually works as a phone but is also a Vita knock off, and it's cheap. You don't have to use the phone function and I think it would only work with AT&T here in the US. Just download your favorite MAME emulator and load up some roms and you're good to go.

jxd-s5800.jpg


The Much W1 is a better version of the JXD-S5800 that works on T-Mobile and has a 8core CPU.

SAM_6317.JPG
 
I like the Vita hardware, but after a promising start (Uncharted, Unit 13, Killzone, Metal Gear, etc.) the high profile games started disappearing.
Plus, I'm also guilty of not wanting to lug around another device when my phone can DL acceptable games for 1/10 of the cost.
I don't see myself needing another portable system unless there's some sort of major technological shift.
 
dgz said:
I got to play with Vita a few weeks before it was released. Hardware was neat but for me it was clear the whole thing was doomed because of the smart phone boom.
Click to expand...

Nintendo 3DS sold very well. Some of the games on that system have sold millions. Phones are terrible for games, so if there is still a market for mobile gaming there is still a market for hand held consoles.
 
Sony doomed vita with that stupid one memory card per account bullshit. I'm not paying that kind of money for a handheld to be that heavily restricted.

Handhelds can absolutely compete against phones, they just have to stop doing retarded shit. Phones suck dick at games and there are no mobile games worth more than $2. Even then most of them are still a ripoff.
 
Flogger23m said:
Nintendo 3DS sold very well. Some of the games on that system have sold millions. Phones are terrible for games, so if there is still a market for mobile gaming there is still a market for hand held consoles.
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yup, phones didnt kill the vita, the vita killed the vita.

its game library was largely a turd. look at it: http://www.metacritic.com/feature/25-best-playstation-vita-games

snooze fest, and even the high profile games like uncharted played like bleh.

crap marketing, too. dumb name to boot.
 
Nintendo has shown time and time again that they rule the hand held market. Which is kind of funny in this case actually. It made sense back in the sega vs Nintendo days. Sega screwed up and couldn't compete. I think the issue with Sony vs Nintendo is market. Sony had some very good games, but most people that were Sony fans were not the type to want to play on small screens, they wanted larger screens. Nintendo with their large collection of extremely kid friendly / family oriented games are going to result in kids wanting their systems. As a result you have families having to buy multiple hand held systems for all the kids to have one. So they sell millions of them. Sony on the other hand is more adult themed games, so you have people that only need one, on top of that it didn't have the killer games that people had to buy one for. I can't tell you many Vita only games, plenty of DS/3DS only games that people talk about.
 
cinnamonandgravy said:
yup, phones didnt kill the vita, the vita killed the vita.

its game library was largely a turd. look at it: http://www.metacritic.com/feature/25-best-playstation-vita-games

snooze fest, and even the high profile games like uncharted played like bleh.

crap marketing, too. dumb name to boot.
Click to expand...

Also worth pointing out the PSP sold rather well, although that was before smart phones. It was popular as a multi media device. Given how well the 3DS sells, I think the market for mobile gaming is still there.
 
Ashbringer said:
Hardware was neat but for me it was clear the whole thing was doomed because of the smart phone boom.

Well the guys at Extra Credits had a better explanation as to why the Vita failed. Remember both the Vita and 3DS were expensive at first and have to deal with the mobile market.


You could always buy a Chinese JXD S5800 that actually works as a phone but is also a Vita knock off, and it's cheap. You don't have to use the phone function and I think it would only work with AT&T here in the US. Just download your favorite MAME emulator and load up some roms and you're good to go.

The Much W1 is a better version of the JXD-S5800 that works on T-Mobile and has a 8core CPU.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I didn't know such things existed already.

I gave up on smartphones half a decade ago, so if I may ask, how's MAME for android these days? Last time I checked it was kind of bad. Yes, all of my games worked but it was just vanilla MAME. I want something with auto fire options and working cheats.
 
People buy portable gaming systems? The only ones I've seen in the "wild" are kids that do not have cell phones. Those are usually nintendo ds or the like. Nintendo has better kid friendly games.

I'm trying to think of the last time I saw an adult or even teenager with a portable gaming system... It's been awhile. Maybe I don't get out enough though :).
 
Dawill said:
People buy portable gaming systems? The only ones I've seen in the "wild" are kids that do not have cell phones. Those are usually nintendo ds or the like. Nintendo has better kid friendly games.

I'm trying to think of the last time I saw an adult or even teenager with a portable gaming system... It's been awhile. Maybe I don't get out enough though :).
Click to expand...

Yes people buy portable game systems. Ever heard of pokemon? Herp Derp.
 
It was a combination of Smartphones and Sony themselves.

- The handheld market has shrunk quite a bit since the iPhone showed up
- Cost of entry was far too much (OLED, Front and Rear touch, Front and Rear cameras, etc.)
- Sort of related to the second one but memory card prices were (and still are) far too expensive
- One account per memory card was ridiculous
- Marketing was not up to par
- Release press conference was similar to MS with their Xbox One debut. The gasp at Vita 3G and AT&T was enough to cause serious concern and not being able to play online with it was another blunder.

That being said it is the premier indie and Japanese import machine on the market right now.
 
Vita's issue lack of games coupled with high price (memory card was a rip off and was required). Most of the good games didn't actually make it stateside. (Gundam Breaker, Tales, other Jrpgs etc.)

3ds had a much better game library and a much more acceptable price. 3ds still has a following for Pokemon, Monster Hunter, Smash Brothers Mario Kart. There are Pokemon video game tournaments.

Mame's issue on phones is touch controls are bad for twitch arcade games. That and the newer games still run pretty bad.
 
With the way phones are going (And have been for the past few years) there is no need for a device like the vita
 
nb14 said:
With the way phones are going (And have been for the past few years) there is no need for a device like the vita
Click to expand...

Well that depends. If you want to play real games, then you need devices like the vita or ds. If all you play is stupid cow clicker garbage like candy crush, then sure a phone is fine.

Personally I'll keep my handhelds.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Well that depends. If you want to play real games, then you need devices like the vita or ds. If all you play is stupid cow clicker garbage like candy crush, then sure a phone is fine.

Personally I'll keep my handhelds.
Click to expand...

Ive never really been into handheld, well since my gameboy as a kid. Guess there is still a market out there for people :)
 
Still play my first generation Atari Lynx from back in the day. Blue Lightning, Paperboy, California Games FTW.

Gaming on a phone is a terrible experience IMO. I've got a Lumia 1520 (6" screen) so while that's nice, no feedback, buttons, or thumbpad just plain sucks unless you're just playing tap style games.

The pendulum will swing back the other way and phones will start shrinking again and we all will be clamoring for a decent handheld. The Vita killed the Vita and nothing else.
 
I had a Vita for a long time before life got in the way. I figured any small amount of free time I had where I could sit down, would better be spent playing games on my PC. I really did enjoy the games on the Vita though, and being able to go anywhere and have access to great looking 3D games was always a plus.

I'm playing a few older games now on my new iPhone 6s, but it's not quite the same. It's great...but something's missing. I really don't want to get another Vita, since I can't see myself lugging it around in my bag or worse, pocket. I'm sure I'll eventually grab another one for cheap and play some more Persona, Final Fantasy, etc.
 
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