The PlayStation Vita mobile gaming console won't work as an additional controller for the upcoming PlayStation 4 console except in cases where a game has been "specifically programmed" to support the device, a Sony representative recently clarified on Twitter.

Responding to tweeted question asking whether Vita was compatibility with the PS4, Computer Entertainment President of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida, explained how the PS Vita would work (or, rather, not work).

"In a normal sense, no," Yoshida wrote. "Unless a game is specifically programmed to allow such use of PS Vita." Rather making the PS4 compatible with Vita straight out of the box, Sony developers would need to take that extra step to "specifically program" the Vita for any given game.

That's disappointing news for Vita owners hoping to save on the $60 Sony will charge for each additional DualShock controller they'll need to play PS4 games with friends and family. (The new PS4 comes with just one controller.)

What's more, it's a lost opportunity for the Vita. Ever since the PlayStation Vita was first released in early 2012, Sony's newest mobile gaming console has proven to be an impressive (and expensive ) little gadget with an unclear purpose — not enough games to convince many gamers to spend upwards of $250, and little in the way of Sony's many heralded "cross-play" features that promise to bridge the gap between PlayStation's mobile and TV-based worlds.

A powerful bargaining chip that Sony has always left on the table for prospective Vita fans, however, is the mobile device's imminent integration with the brave new world of the PlayStation. The company consistently promised that the Vita will be able to play almost every single PS4 game, provided that it's within streaming distance of the home console and the software doesn't require anything special like the PlayStation Camera to run.

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And Gamescon will be focused on PS4. I dont know, but if it really happens, i will have sure that Sony isnt giving a fuck to the Vita.

What I've taken from this article is that the Remote Play feature is going to work with all PS4 games as long as the game requires something special that the Vita can't do, as was reported long ago, but the ability to use it as just another controller, such as for split-screen play, is a no-go unless told otherwise for each individual game.

Why oh why is this even an issue? Vita will be great for remote play, but it aint no ds4.

What is up with this? Why isn't this just an option. The GBA, DS, and 3DS never allowed this either. I just don't get it.

Unfortunately, as we've already been made painfully aware so far this generation, people will complain about every little thing and it's almost always the fans of one console getting on the case of another.

I read this earlier on a PS site and my response was basically ... so? Remote play is good enough. It doesn't have to be a 'permanent substitute', and as they said it (remote play) will work with virtually every game barring those that require the use of the PS eye and other peripherals.

If the game is going to be playing on the TV, I'd much rather use a real controller so it doesn't bother me much. As long as I can play PS4 games on the vita via remote play, I'll be happy.

(P.S. has anyone clarified if the PS4 can be used for Netflix, etc during remote play?)

No but I can't see a reason for it not to.

As we've heard previously, Sony is letting PS4 devs program their own way of control input on the Vita. Which is a smart thing to do, since the controls on the Vita don't exactly replicate the DS4 1:1. Devs will be able to find the best way to control a particular game using the Vita themselves.