http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-09-11-sony-insists-vita-isnt-going-anywhere

Sony insists Vita is here to stay

But don't expect games like Uncharted or Killzone again.

You'd be forgiven for thinking Sony had given up on the Vita - at least in the west - after its no-show at the company's major press conferences this year. But according to Sony's UK boss the handheld console is here to stay.

Vita went on sale in Europe in February 2012 and ever since has failed to set tills alight. But Sony has repositioned the console in a bid to make a modest amount of money out of a new-found niche of indie titles, ports and games aimed at younger players.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Sony UK chief Fergal Gara admitted the Vita doesn't sell anywhere near as well as the PlayStation 4, for example, but he said he was encouraged by how "robust and consistent" the sales were.

"It's trucking along," he said. "It's currently in year-on-year growth and enjoying a healthy year, and it's about to hit its biggest and potentially most powerful release of the year, which is Minecraft. That could be an extraordinary release for Vita.

"We're seeing a bit of reflected glory from PS4. So there is a traction in remote play, and we see the numbers there. But it's more than that. It's just found its niche. It's not the biggest niche in the world, and we've been fairly open about talking about it entered a crowded landscape with many other devices providing some sort of handheld fulfilment. But for those who want that more specialist device and a more specialist experience, it does a damn good job, and therefore it trucks along quite nicely."

Vita launched alongside a promise to provide a home console quality experience on the go. But the strategy failed, with £30 games such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Killzone: Mercenary struggling to make an impression on a market flooded with cheap titles for smartphones.

So Sony repositioned the handheld to focus on smaller games, an initiative spearheaded by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's Shahid Ahmad, as well as games aimed at younger players. And it's a strategy that's helping keep Vita afloat.

Will Sony release the likes of Uncharted or Killzone on Vita ever again? Probably not, Gara said. "But what we are excited by is the number of games we can take to the platform that have been created for other platforms.

"Minecraft is a classic example. We've got Lego Batman 3 coming to Vita as well as PS4 and PS3. The multitude of digital titles that are proving attractive on the console, and the fact it is a substantially digital device - a big chunk of the sales come direct from the store to the device - the multitude of titles in the indie sector in particular we've done a lot of work with has proven popular, both in terms of affordability and their quirky nature, which seems to suit many of the consumers who are buying Vita. And also a bunch of younger gamer titles, which is another substantial niche.

"We've done great numbers through the summer. You may have seen our TV campaign focused on younger gamers around the Lego titles. There's a nod to Minecraft in there and LittleBigPlanet. It's proved successful."

As you'd expect, for Sony the priority this Christmas is the PS4, which recently hit the one million sales mark in the UK alone (it's shifted 10m units worldwide since going on sale in November 2013).

But Gara said Vita also had a role to play over the coming months. On 26th September Sony will release a Vita bundled with FIFA 15 for €199.99. We wouldn't be surprised if Sony goes big on Minecraft, too, when it's eventually released.

"We will certainly not be ignoring it this Christmas," Gara said. "We're very pleased with how it continues to sell, and look forward to another big, seasonal spike at Christmas. Its sales profile has over the last couple of years proven to be far more seasonal than, say PS3, and how PS4 will behave once we have another year under our belts.

"There's a perception that it's fading away. I can absolutely assure you that that's not happening. It's proving remarkably resilient. We enter the peak season very optimistic about hitting similar or bigger numbers to last year. So we feel in good shape."

It will be interesting to see how things will continue once its user base will be larger. What if at some point Capcom decides it's become appealing enough to make a Monster Hunter Freedom for it?

Just bring all those japanese games to the west and i will be fine with whatever. Especially pressure SEGA to get off their rear ends and work on phantasy star.

That phantasy star online 2 could have saved the vita.

He's speaking for SCEE and talking about the western market. I wouldn't be surprised to see SCEJ continue with stuff on the scale of Soul Sacrifice Freedom Wars.

That's the most depressing thing about all this.  Sony in the west will happily acknowledge the device as an indie machine or a kids machine, but won't do anything to promote the work that NISA/XSEED/IFI/Aksys are doing; or even their own localization work (i.e. Freedom Wars; Oreshika).

Japanese gaems in the west might not be as big as they used to be, but they're still worth at least mentioning.

This. I'm getting the Vita sooner or later because it's simply the only place where I can get my niche Japanese stuff with consistency, and is within my reach in terms of finances.

Heck, they should've promoted the FF X HD remaster heavily to those also buying a PS4!

It's enjoying growth year on year, but we're not going to do a damn thing for the fans who bought one.

I've given up on my Vita. I like Japanese games, but a solitary diet of those really got to me. I still have 7-8 of those in my backlog, but cannot bring myself to play them. So it's understandable that I'm skipping all new Japanese releases.
I sold off all my physical games, and my Vita hasn't been turned on for over a month.

No new releases other than indie/LEGO stuff depresses me, and really makes me regret not being able to sell it for more than €70 (so I won't).
I'll rather keep it to play Football Manager and Mahjongg occasionaly, but my support stops there...
...except Danganronpa 2, I'll buy that when it goes on sale, in a month or 2 years, whenever.

Sony's treatment of the Vita is worse than Nintendo treats Wii U, and that's saying something.

This is what I heard too.

Sony has every right to make a portable system oriented around multiplatform small-budget games and family-friendly fare. But it should have embraced that philosophy years ago and marketed the system as such. As of now, this announcement amounts to a near-complete reversal of the Vita's tag line, "console quality gaming." As a Vita owner I can't help feel a little insulted.