People who'd buy a game console would be ok with a thicker phone. But they won't carry two devices. (strictly in a general majority sense)

The one game I'm looking forward to for the Vita this year is Dragon's Crown (<3 VanillaWare)... but then again, it's also going to release simultaneously on PS3.

But yes, the deck that Nintendo holds when it comes to 2013 3DS releases is mightily impressive. There's no denying that.

Uncharted was that game for me, but I acknowledge it doesn't even compare to Pokemon at selling a system.

Vita will never get that mega-hit, so what it needs is a series of hits to propel it to success. A GTA here, another Uncharted there, in between some smaller but still relatively popular titles like Gravity Rush or Killzone, and a whole bunch of smaller downloadables that may not necessarily sell the system, but strengthen it's library and keeps a stream of content flowing instead of month-wide gaps between bigger, retail titles.

Sony also needs to ditch the PSP in JP and cut the price which it will do, probably soon.

There is, and it was Persona 4 golden. I've already logged in over 100 hours, abandoned my ps360wii. Yeah that and ps plus.

As a handheld, its form is great: confortable, big screen, nice analogs and DPAD. But, thinking as a smartphone, its thick and enormous. It won't fit in my pocket and the analogs would be another problem.

For me, Vita smartphone = NGAGE and that phone wasn't exactly a success (and we had all the jokes, the "taco" history...) And most people I know that have consoles still prefer thinner phones. We had some dev phones here, including a LG WP7 one with a physical keyboard. Everyone hated the design of the device and it was considerated simply ugly. When we won dev phones for every developer, we always had the same joke: "let's hope that we don't get the LG one" (we got a Samsung one).

The problem is you can't release games like AC Liberation or Call of Duty Declassified right next to the launch of the console versions of these franchise titles. When someone is sitting there wondering if they should play COD on a handheld or go online with their 360/PS3 it makes it an easy decision. The same with AC 3. Why should we care about a women assassins and a story we know nothing bout when we are about to play AC 3 (most anticipated of the series) and it will be the last of the Desmond story arc.

Releases like that also fall in line with how Sony handles and markets their exclusives games. You want your exclusives to sell stop releasing them on top of each other and in turn it gives you time to focus on one game at a time to market.

Who the hell is willing to invest hard-earned money in something as absurd and counter-productive as gaming on the go? If you have an HD console or high-end PC and a nice 55-inch plasma, where do you need to go in the first place? Do you crave the 5-inch gaming experience? Smaller resolution? Anemic stereo sound? Limited setup options? I pity peer-pressure driven gamers who willingly turn from a more wholesome gaming enviroment to pursue cultists and socialites in search of what 'everybody else is doing' because it's bitchin'

This is what's killing video games in Japan: the transition from plot-driven, highly experimental, technology based showcase to fan-sabisu and banal mediocrity. A transition heavily nurtured by the focus on developing IP's for the mobile market.

Yep, you are right. The problem with the Vita is that it doesn't have any true system sellers.

The purchase of HandHelds in Japan (and all countries really) isn't because "everyone else is doing it." It's because people argue that HandHelds are easier to connect to other people with, many people like that.

There are also a lot of games that are HandHeld exclusive/Play better on a HandHeld. 

Your idea as to why people buy HandHelds is not totally right.

The Vita has games that deserve the sales a Pokemon Game gets but the problem is outside of the gaming community nobody has heard of games like:

- LittleBigPlanet Vita
- Uncharted
- Gravity Rush
- Persona

Those four games surpass the quality of any game on 3DS but people just aren't aware of how good they are. Plus the Vita's main demographic is smaller than the 3DS, 3DS Leans more towards kids while the Vita leans more towards adults who have phones, tablets, and like someone above me said " a console with a 55 inch HD tv".

All-in-all the Vita is worth the $250 price tag its just the average consumer doesn't know that.