Not really, even my cellphone outpaces the Vita.

Completely agree. Just come up with a new model, relaunch it with a few improved specs like the new 3ds. Also have a line up of new kickass games for the first few months.

I think Nintendo should have done this with the Wii U as well. Just called it Wii 2

It really depends on what Nintendo succeed the 3DS with. If they're pretty comparable, at least in Japan, I'm sure many devs would find the porting costs negligible to make a Vita version as well.

If Nintendo release a beast, then no. Vita will see it's final releases in 2016.

This is just an outright lie at this stage. Mobile has more variety, but no physical controls. Vita lineup is far more varied than the 3DS' though.

Also Vita has been the cheaper of the two handhelds for a good while now, unless you count the 2DS which is only about £15 cheaper but with nowhere near as much included. Heck Nintendo don't even include a PSU in the box with the 3DS XL.

Also why are you bringing PS+ into it? It's entirely optional on Vita and just provides free games.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00OKA1SVG/ref=s9_acsd_ri_bw_rw_DSWbests_p2_t?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_r=0X3TR73K01PDKREPZSGB&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=559770527&pf_rd_i=1590473031

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nintendo-Handheld-Console-3DS-Black/dp/B00B5Q83KW/ref=pd_ts_zgc_vg_h__635609031_8?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&pf_rd_p=287471187&pf_rd_s=right-8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=635609031&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1CP8P62TK4XAXXFKBNTW

I think the problem with the Vita and the WiiU looks similar, but at its core, it really different. Both had a problem marketing their full capabilities and were compaired with their more succesful predecessors.

But Wii U's problem was differenciating the Wii from the Wii U, the gamepad being seen as a gimmick and the lack of interest from 3rd parties on the system (if it was about power, they would have made more ports from PS360, like CoD AW, GTAV, Destiny, of any EA sport games, and stop afterwards, but the majority didn't even try to begin with).Nintendo is trying everything they can to save the system, even if they'll probably drop it faster than their competition when the time comes.

The problems with the Vita is the lack of interest from Sony. They could have developed a model compatible with regular SD cards, like the DS received a redesign with the Lite and DSi models, but they prefered keep the cards as they were. They developed some quality tiltes for it, but after one or two years they stopped completely, prefering to port from PS3 titles. When the sales were low, Nintendo threw an emergency operation toi save the 3DS (advertisements, price drop, more games, consolation gifts for the early adopters...), bud Sony didn't do the same for the Vita. And if Sony doesn't care for the system, why should any major developer care? Especially when they could just go to mobile, 3DS or digital distribution in any home console or PC.

Nintendo cares about the Wii U, and their attempts to save the system shows a positive image for the console. Sony doesn't care about the Vita, so the consumers don't care either.

Yep! People think developers care about userbase, truth is they care about sales. Indie devs are not gonna drop the Vita anytime soon- it gives them money. Japanese devs are not gonna drop the Vita anytime soon, infact support is increasing and cross platform titles on PSV are now toe to toe with their PS3 counterparts.

The question is how low does hardware sales need to become for sony to throw in the towel? Will the userbase remain active in 3 years?

I think if sony continues to engage Vita fans, it could last longer then the 3DS support wise in japan.

That's what I think it should be. No reason to make it more powerful. Handhelds don't need PS3 level graphics.

for now the vita's main power is japanese games. phantasy star nova had just been released in japan, and in the near future japan will also be getting digimon and sao: lost song. Hope vita will also get more promising game releases too from the west(heard a rumor about another AAA game development planning by the creator of vita's uncharted or something. hope it's true)

and the last thing i remember(after looking through the upper posts) about another big vita title is gravity rush 2. definitely need more big west titles than just indies or small games for the vita to survive for at least the next 3 years. some indies like hyper light drifter, soul saga, fez, velocity 2x looks good though.. not to forget that the vita already got minecraft.

just saying, still want some jap games to be localized(PSO2 SEGA! would love to play tales of innocence r too..).

In Japan I can see it lasting a while because it has quite a bit of support but in the West I can only really see it lasting a few more years. The longer the Vita lives though the better it will be for Sony.

In what sense? How many games on your phone look like killzone mercinaries.

Whether modern phones are more  powerful is kind of irrelevant because developers simply aren't going to utilise  that power.