As expected, Sony's PlayStation Vita stumbled out of the gates in Japan. But this is just the beginning. With reports emerging that shipments for the European launch are getting cut in half (at least in France), it's a good time to analyze the problems that lie ahead of Sony and their new handheld. So here are five excellent reasons why the PS Vita is in big trouble, not just in little China:

1. The Vita looks like another iteration of the PSP - For the general consumer, the Vita is just another revision of the seven year old PSP with a second analog stick being added. They won't see this as justification to pay a premium price, hence why the PS Vita will quickly get the reputation of being an overpriced handheld.

2. Smartphones - They are growing rapidly in numbers and pose a serious threat to dedicated gaming handhelds. I know what you are going to say: "No self-respecting gamer would ever play without actual buttons." But the only thing that's true is that no self-respecting gamer would ever admit that he plays games without actual buttons. Just like everyone on the internet seems to hate the Call of Duty franchise, but buys every game of the series anyway.

3. Announced Vita games turned into lame games - Unreleased games are simply better. Why? Because when the PS Vita's launch lineup was finalized, you heard it everywhere: "Amazing launch lineup, much better than what the 3DS had." But as soon as Vita's second week sales were in, people were calling for killer apps, better games in general and even a price cut for the hardware.

4. No second pair of shoulder buttons - One of the main complaints about the PSP was the lack of a second analog stick which made it troublesome to port home console games on the portable. While this issue has been fixed (although it caused a new issue, see reason #1), the Vita still fails to offer all the same control inputs as a regular controller for home consoles. You could say that the Vita's rear touchpad can simulate the missing pair of shoulder buttons, but honestly, this point is moot, because no self-respecting gamer would ever play without actual buttons.

5. No stereoscopic 3D - Probably Sony's biggest mistake when they designed the Vita and they will have to pay dearly for it. In only its second week on the market, the Vita was being outsold 7:1 by the 3DS already. Now Sony is behind the times with their technologically inferior handheld.