PlayStation Vita Came "Too Late," Former Sony Exec Says

Asked by IGN how he feels about the portable device, through the 20/20 lens of hindsight and from outside Sony's walls, Tretton offered a candid take. "Now that I don't work there anymore, I think internally it was: 'This is a great machine, it's just too late.' The world has shifted to portable devices that aren't dedicated gaming machines," he said.

By comparison, the Vita's predecessor, the PSP, was a bigger hit, Tretton said. This system was successfully able to bring what he said were console-like experiences to a portable device and also attract older gamers to the handheld space. When the PS Vita came out (it debuted in the US in 2012), smartphone games were on the rise, leaving less of a space for dedicated gaming handhelds.

Tretton said his overall feeling is that the PS Vita is a "nice machine" that came out "at a time when very few people needed a dedicated portable device."

Full article below.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-vita-came-too-late-former-sony-exec-sa/1100-6443926/

Oh please, that was not Vita problem, at least not one of the real issue.Lack of big hit titles, expensive memory cards, and complete abandon of first party support after the first year or so is the real problem, along with others.

Even if the Vita addressed all the problems that plagued its launch and following months/years, it still would have not been successful (in terms of its predecessor and the overall dedicated handheld market). The system would have still been a Japanese centric, niche device.

That's pretty much it.  Anybody that says otherwise are just lying or in denial.

I dunno about that. I think the device was too expensive and lacked the right titles to sell the system. The drop in support from most sides aside from Japan also really hurt it.

The abandon of first party games was just a side-effect of abysmal sales. They did tried until Tearaway and KZ, and that was more than 2 years after launch.

While these factors did impact it, the handheld market is just a shell of the former days. If 3DS had performed admirably, we could say that was just a problem with Vita, but it isn't even on 60M and will hardly do 70M. The full handheld market this gen is at less than 80M while last gen it was at 240M. It's a stark fall to simply ignore. Hell, GBA had only 3 years on the market before being prematurely killed by the DS and it still manages to outsell both handhelds this gen combined.

Even Nintendo seems to realize it now that they are inded launching mobile games and are combining their handhelds with their home consoles to create a platform that does both things.

The impact cell phones have is too big. It's not like the console vs PC fight, because to have a gaming PC you have to:

- Have a desktop, everybody has laptops. Unless they build one just to game.

- Buy hardware that you don't have: GPUs, etc.

- Reserve a good space on your house to host a massive PC.

The handheld vs smartphone fight is different. Because most phone games run well on mid-end devices and everyone already have a cell phone. Unlike a PC, where you either have to buy an entire desktop or simply upgrade it with parts that cost as much as an entire console. The space thing is reversed: with a handheld, you have to walk around with it plus your phone. Why not game on it? Of course, the games are simpler, but you just want something to kill time for some minutes. The time where you want a more substantial gaming experience, is when you are at home. So you go for your PS4, X1 or PC.

I actually do prefer handhelds, but I understand why people would rather just game on their phones. You even have nice options for hardcore gamers such as Xcom, multipe GTAs and emulators. Get a controller for your phone and you're good to go.

He's pretty much right. The Vita's target audience in the west had little interest. They made a big mistake by not establishing any franchises for kids with the PSP.

this 1000%

I partially agree. A half-assed product like the Vita would have sold a lot better if there was not as much competition. Although it makes more sense to make a better product than turning back time, in my opinion that is.

That said, I do love my Vita. But they obviously did not try hard enough, the memory cards are just ridiculous, Sony games are half-assed, launch price could have been better, oval buttons, the Slim looks like a cheap plastic toy and it's price is inexcusable, a 3000 version for $100 should have been possible some time ago, PSM was a joke, PSTV blacklist is stupid and can't even run Netflix without hacks (that more or less saved the devices), some ports are nearly unplayable and should not have been released, and the list goes on.

At least I hope they learned their lesson or when pre built HTPCs become really competitive literally the same thing will happen to their home consoles.

Expensive memory cards and a lack of big titles killed it. Where was the GTA's and other amazing titles, sony just didnt want to invest in it, they didnt mind ports of games already coming to PS3/PS4 but thats not the point.