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Forums - Sony Discussion - What really made the Playstation Vita a failure? (I DON'T GET IT!!)

In my opinion, Sony is what happened. They act like the Vita don't exist.



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I cost too much, smartphones, pirating was way harder than on the PSP (which I dare say was a big factor in the PSP's success), and Sony shifting support to the massively more succesful PS4. Also western third parties just aren't interested in handhelds anymore, and 3rd parties are important for Sony.



Yeah... i would say the main reasons were the memory cards and how Sony didnt support the device either due to lack of faith or lack of capability of their first party studios that didnt carry the same weight as Nintendo's with the 3DS.
Also, some mistakes from the past wich ended with the loss of the Monster hunter franchise.

Mobiles took away the casuals, that is true, but Sony failed to lure in more hardcores.



Market (shrunk)
Games (lack of quality x appeal)
Third Parties (lack of incentive to make exclusives)
Terribly overpriced and mandatory, cards.

The fact that no Vita game has passed 2m tells you all you need to know.The fact that 2 of its biggest sellers are actually trash (COD, AC Liberation) is also very informing. Uncharted (a launch title) was the only game that combined mass appeal with quality production. If we had seen the same applied to more titles like Final Fantasy, GTA, God of War, Elderscrolls, Jak and Daxter reboot etc within the first 2 years it would have been a different story.

I knew the Vita was in trouble when Sony revealed Uncharted and Resistance as its premier launch window titles. It showed me that had no idea what they were doing in terms of software. By the time the launch had arrived it was clear the system didn't have a bright future, aside from LBP and GRavity rush there were no compelling titles in the pipeline. 



Proprietary memory cards.
Lack of AAA support.
Mostly niche games, however, i loved them.
Nintendo have bigger IP's and handheld reputation/history.

Obviously the smartphones/tablets.


Can't really think of anything else.



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Because smartphones did everything the psp did amd there was no "absolutely must have" software on the Vita. No pokemon



Dravenet7 said:
Angelv577 said:
Touchscreen curse? Look at wii u and vita sales.

the 3DS has been doing fairly well

I didnt know 3ds work as a touchscreen device as well.  Still, it also got affected by it even if it is not a failure like the other two.  Just in case when I say touchscreen curse, I mean only smartphone are allowed to sell huge.  Other devices offering touchscreen are bound to not sell well or sell below expectations. 



A combination of the smartphone market along with the fact that the PSP lacked a distinct character and distinct audience. Nintendo have that quality, which is why they survived much better. You buy their consoles for a very particular set of games. Whereas sony has always been just a bit of everything. That makes it easier to replace with smartphones.
Then combine that with the fact that they have up on making AAA games for it after about 2 games (Killzone and Uncharted).



Beating a dead horse, but ill bite.

-Lack of 1st party games
-Lack of 3rd party support that targeted western audiences
-Memory card price
-Lack of any real marketing after the first year
-Not as hackable as the PSP/DS was



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Maraccuda said:
Beating a dead horse, but ill bite.

-Lack of 1st party games
-Lack of 3rd party support that targeted western audiences
-Memory card price
-Lack of any real marketing after the first year
-Not as hackable as the PSP/DS was


This^ And the bold one. Yep! People is still waiting for hackable. :S