I think the type of games do play a role in the Vita's low sales. I mean, it's hard to compete with Pokemon, Mario, Smash, Monster Hunter, Puzzles and Dragons, Dragon Quest, Professor Layton, Fire Emblem, Zelda, Shin Megami Tensei, etc. if you don't have anything else compelling besides Persona. Still, as many have said for a long time now the Vita's problems went beyond the games. It didn't help that Sony made little commitment to the system after launch.

Really the main reason (in my mind) nintendo always sees such success with their handhelds is that they have pokemon and (recently) monster hunter. Throw in the occasional zelda games like link between worlds and phantom hourglass and you've got a few games that alone might sell the handheld to someone.

Again though, as frustrating as it has been for people who want a proper pokemon game on the consoles, their exclusive presence on nintendo handhelds has really helped keep them afloat.

No. (one of) The Vita's real problem(s) were the games that didn't release on it.

Aren't handheld software sales generally lower than home console sales on a software to hardware ratio? Add in the much higher digital sales Vita has and actually Vita seems pretty comparable. I'd love to see some accurate Vita figures. Sadly we'll never get them.