I understand that Sony is not making first party games for it but do we really need to claim it is dead because Sony couldn't keep their promise? Last I heard, first party titles do not sell well on the vita so it was a good business decision to make those for ps4.

Third parties are still making games for it and everytime a game comes out for it they totally tear it up to pieces because they are never pleased with it and call it a "bad game."

Are we at the point where consumers are being too hard on this system or has this been going on for other failures like the dreamcast and n-gage before this system existed?

I'll be honest here: I'd almost forgotten the Vita exists at this point let alone get tired of people complaining about its lack of success. It's a shame. It seems like there's a lot of potential there, but it happened along when smart phones were thoroughly taking over the mobile gaming market. It never really stood a chance.

I still see on the ps website on the blogs that the name is still on there because of third parties moving forward. @sinusoidal

I don't really hear ppl talking about the Vita period. There is no denying it's been a failure in the US and I'm guessing Europe too. It's staying afloat in Japan but no means a slam dunk.

In terms of 3rd party support, some Japanese games are making it across the sea and some of the indie titles coming to the PS4 are trickling down to the Vita but that's going to dry up as it makes way more sense to port it to the Switch now.

Still, it's not like you can't enjoy dead consoles. I still play my PS3 and even my PS2 and PSP sometimes along with the PS4.

Don't have any dislike for the system, being the owner of one. That said, mine has been mostly collecting dust because I don't really travel a lot or so and when I'm home, I rather play on my PC or PS4.

First-party games would help in my case, because those would at least get advertised more visibly. Indie games and the likes either drown into the ocean with million other releases or just go by me unless there happens to be a positive thread made about the game here.

I should say about the system itself, though. I would've played some games way more on it, if the thing had dual triggers. The sucky solution of touch buttons on the back made games like Ratchet & Clank HD collection way more clunky and PS4 remote playing bad enough to not even bother trying it after giving it a test go when it first released. I don't know if that one Japanes-made accessory I read about once is any good, but as it is, it definitely makes me not want to play some of thoe great games on the go, on those rare occasions when I do travel.

@liquiddragon: It is not like Sony is going to publicly announce discontinuation about the system just because a few games even western third party support is on it and not just Japanese and Indie games.

I'd like to know your definition of a dead system if you don't mind me asking.

I'll preface this by saying own a Vita and use it daily.

As far as the West is concerned it's a dead system - or if you don't want to say dead you might as well say it's on life support at this stage. It's hard to find them and it's hard to find games for them. There's little to no support from any major Western publishers or developers. While it experienced a good run of some indie games and continues to get the odd one or two along the way from the West, we're getting less and less indie games as they're leaving the platform because porting to it is too time consuming and too expensive for the expected return value.

Now in the East it still does ok. It doesn't do amazing. But it does well enough to keep Sony producing them. We're also starting to get more titles that would've only stayed in the East before coming to the West and ending up on Vita - but that's more because Japanese developers and publishers are starting to finally, finally realize there's a market here for them. It's why we're also getting a lot of those same games on PC on Steam now. Someone finally figured out they were leaving money on the table.

They had one last chance at promoting it in the West with the launch of the PS4 and remote play and they abandoned that marketing strategy pretty quickly too.

PS Vita have not been in-stock in Norway for over a year so its pretty dead at least here.

@jesus_phish: I have talked to Sony PlayStation customer support and they told me on the phone that they are still being produced and you can still find it in some stores around the US at major retails just not all of them will carry it. For example, a far away toys r us still sells PS TV's even though Sony never publicly announce that it's discontinued. Maybe social media was spreading some kind of rumor that it is.

Social media can trick us sometimes about this handheld and they must be taken with a grain of salt SOMETIMES in very rare cases of the internet...

It's not just about the 1st party game support though. Sony barely markets it. It was mentioned a whopping 1 time during the whole E3 press conference and it was during the pre-show too.

@enomotoshards: I live in Ireland, there's barely anywhere that stocks them here. And if they do, they barely stock games for it. That's not the sign of a healthy console in that market. The only time a shortage of stock is good for a consoles health is when it's being sold out before more stock can be brought in.

I've owned a vita since a year after launch, and I think it is a really nice piece of kit. But you can't get away from the fact that it's a dated machine, mine has been sitting in a drawer for almost two years. And now I own a Switch, which in my opinion is everything the vita could have been, and more.

In regard to Sony being responsible for the death of the Vita, it's a chicken and the egg situation. Sony didn't produce enough top quality first party games for the system, which resulted in low sales of the Vita. And the low sales of the system resulted in Sony not producing more big budget first party games for it. Enter third party publishers, they see the Vita's poor hardware sales and Sony's meagre support of the handheld, so they don't invest in it.

As far as it's market impact, it's been dead in the West for a long time. That said, I love the thing and play it a lot. Having Vita games, all the indies, PSP games, and PS1 games is fantastic. (And I hear there's a way to play other games from other systems on there too, hmmm...)

I guess I've been annoyed by the way people have talked about it in general. No one gave the thing a chance. PSP got no respect either, and that thing actually sold crazy numbers of units.

Digital distribution and improved development tools mean that some games get ported to the Vita for sales in Japan, and then come over to the U.S. digitally because why not, but there are very few full retail Vita games being released (I am not counting something like Limited Run that's a specialty item.) There are also very few exclusives; it's almost all ports at this point, with a few notable exceptions.

If we were still in the era of physical media only the Vita WOULD be dead. As it is, it's being kept alive by digital distribution and the ease of ports, as well as a Japanese video game market that's portable focused and hasn't had a real Vita competitor (the 3DS is a somewhat different thing.)

I think the Switch will prove to be the stake in the heart of the Vita. Once it reaches greater market penetration (which won't be too long) Japanese development will move over to the Switch, which is in some ways like a Vita sequel, and the Vita will just get random ports from companies looking to squeeze a few last bucks out of consumers without Switches. To be fair, it had a decent run (5 years or so?) and has a pretty good library if you don't only count exclusives, so I don't think it's a failure of a system. I have one.

I think people say it's a 'failure' because it was pitched as "console quality AAA games on a portable" and those dried up quickly. It was kept afloat by visual novels, JRPGs, B-tier Japanese monster hunter type games, and ports of indie games. That doesn't make the library bad, but it's not what was promised, which was Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Gravity Rush. That part of the library is tiny. And there haven't been any of those for a very long time. So people who bought their Vita looking for those games were disappointed and feel like it failed. People who just wanted a portable way to play indies and RPGs had a good time with it.

As a vita owner, I think that the biggest cause of its death is Sony. Announcing that you aren't going to develop games for your own system a few years after being on the market was incredibly destructive. Can you imagine if in a couple years nintendo announces they aren't going to develop switch games anymore? It would kill any third party interest in development, and the public automatically views the system cycle at its end.

Plus add to the fact that they have ignore it at pretty much every turn, just like someone mentioned in this thread, sony hasn't even mentioned the vita in press conferences outside of pre-shows. Why wouldn't you put undertale in your press conference proper? Just because they had the gall to announce the game is crossbuy with the vita? God forbid they mention the vita in their precious conference, because I can guarantee if that game was coming out only on the ps4 it would have gotten in.

Sony has only sony to blame, the switch has proved that people don't give a shit about power, they don't do all their portable gaming on their phones and that their is an interest in a portable/console hybrid experience. In many ways the switch is the vita 2. But Sony nickel an dimeing on memory and their very obvious faithlessness in their own product doomed the product from the start.

I don't think the vitas dead. I play mine all the time, and in the 6 months I've bought 3 new full price games. If you like jrpgs and indie there has never been a better handle, except maybe the gba

The 3DS also happened alongside smartphones and it wound up being a success. That was after a huge price drop, though.

The Vita definitely could have been great. It had a ton of features. When it was released, it was pretty damn powerful for a handheld. It just had the same problem the PSP had - Sony wanted it to be a thing where you could play AAA-style games on the go, that's kinda how they marketed it at first with Killzone and Call of Duty and such, and it's just not great for that. They would have had far more success if they had focused on using that power to make great-looking 2D games or turn-based games or just something that fits better on a handheld. As it stands, there's a lot of that on the Vita but a lot of it looks cheap, cheesy, kitschy, dumb, or just plain bad - whether it actually is or not, I don't know because I don't play most of it, but I do know that when I scroll through the Vita's marketplace, I see a lot of same-y generic anime stuff.

I still think Sony could do something with it, but that's probably not going to happen.

Vita was the device where I could play all the PSP games I missed. Truth though is I haven't turned the damn thing on in at least 2 or 3 months.

I mean.... what are you arguing here? You just want people to be nice to Sony?

I think PSP and Vita are both cool but Sony didn't do well supporting either at all. That's just a fact.

It's not a very active system and almost no "big" games come out. I think it is "dead" and I have 2 3g models WITH an active 3g subscription. It's a cool little system that never seemed to get much attention from anyone. I mostly played wipeout to 100% completion, the silent hill dungeon crawler and.... that's it. Ive bought way more, downloaded a few of the ps+ games but it just doesn't occur to me to use it.

I have both of mine in a drawer and haven't charged either one in a few months.

The Vita is still a great piece of gear to keep around. I've had one since The Walking Dead bundle was released. It's the best way still to play Spelunky, Rogue Legacy & Persona 4 on the go, as well as every PS1 game I can throw at it - Recently I played through Resident Evil 3 and Mega Man X4 again and I use it for remote play when my partner is using the TV for something else. Persona 5 lends itself pretty well to remote play. I wish Sony actually had supported it more out here in the US, because it is a fantastic handheld with enough power to run some great stuff.

Eh, PSP was considered dead (or at least a punchline) in the west for the majority of it's lifespan too. Although it probably is hard to find a hardware unit in physical stores at this point. While it's a sore spot pr-wise that Sony publicly abandoned it they way they have, I still purchase a good number of titles for it too. It's mostly an awesome system for niche Japanese and indie titles, ie what I would expect from a PSP successor.

Sort of except Sony system's have always been about diverse libraries more than first-party titles. It did have a Uncharted title at launch, which is the biggest gun they had in their arsenal, as well as a Wipeout game. And they've had some quality titles like arguably the best Killzone, and new ips like Tearaway, Soul Sacrifice, and Freedom Wars. Sony properties just don't move systems the way Nintendo's do. The biggest problem may have been major third parties' lack of imagination in serving up second or third rate Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty titles which, shocker, didn't sell well. A lot of them had already bailed by the time Sony started to shy away from the Vita.

I don't own the Vita so I can't answer the question directly. But if you're having fun with the Vita and its games then who cares that other consumes are calling it dead or are being harsh to Vita games? It seems like you've done enough legwork to verify that the system is still being stocked and games are still being made that you're confident it's alive and well. If you're worried that their opinions will become a self-fulfilling prophesy where it will actually lead to the "death" of Vita, then you should double down on enjoying it while it lasts. And if it truly is alive and well then you shouldn't have to worry about that self-fulfilling prophesy in the first place then, right?

Also, of course social media can trick you about something, because people can trick you, and people have been tricking people for a llllong time.

I played Rondo of Blood on my vita and it was good (castlevania chronicles x, features the whole game translated as an unlockable)

Hahah, I'm sorry, vita owners get this a lot from the bomb crew. Seeing this title I had to laugh, I can see how this might be frustrating.

I own a vite, used to play it quite a lot. Persona 3 and 4, Zero Escape, variouse indie games, for a good while it was my dedicated Spelunky consol. But the thing came out in early 2012. I don't really get why people expect Sony and other developers to keep caring about it. What other pieces of enitertaniment technology did you buy five yeara ago, that you still give a shit about?

The reason the vita died, was not that Sony burried it, or stoped supporting it. It's simply becuase it's old and outdeaded.

I originally bought a Vita in 2013 to play Persona 4 Golden, like most people. Once I was done with that game I felt at that time (Fall 2013) the system was dead, and I ended up getting rid of it and moving on. I rebought one in February 2015 because the library of weird niche titles had grown to the point that there were several I wanted to play. I also started to amass a heavy ps1 JRPG backlog, which the vita is great for those games. Today I use it simply for that, but with the Switch out it is hard for me to not use the switch and play something on the Vita. It was a cool system, but the Switch improves upon that experience.

If they still produce them then its not dead, if you can only get them preowned i would say rip. I have no idea if they still produce vitas btw.

For example i would say the wiiU is dead even though botw came out on it.

For a while there it was arguable that it was still worth having solely for Japanese stuff, but I think even that's over now. The new Persona dancing games not being Vita exclusive was the final nail in the coffin.

As someone who owns a Vita, I only think about it when I feel like playing a PS1 game on it. In my mind, the vita is deader than the original playstation.

Are you sure you guys have been doing some research thoroughly or do you perceive what articles including clickbait journalism say plus taking people opinions and using them as your own instead of forming your own?

This video should explain clearly why devs stilll make games for the vita...

All I know is that I am really bummed that Final Fantasy XII didn't come out for the Vita. I had a great time with FFX on the platform.

Also a lack of a Metal Gear Acid port is a serious bummer.

Hey, I'm glad you're happy with the Vita but there is a reason Sony ain't making another one of those ever again. If you're definition of a dead product is the manufacturer announcing the discontinuation of it, sure, the Vita isn't "dead" but when the president of the company says they're focusing on other products as far back as 2015 and they don't mention the product even once at their biggest gaming conference of the year, most ppl see the writing on the wall pretty clearly.

The system getting some software isn't an indication of its health. The PS3 gets some great games still but who's really paying attention? Sales numbers are hard to come by and VGChartz is the only one I can find so, who knows but Vita sales are lower than the Wii U, 360, and the PS3 at around 200 units a week in the US. The 3DS on the other hand, close to 21 thousand.

You said you called Sony support? Did you try calling retailers to see if any of them are getting shipments of Vitas? I highly doubt they are 'cause I've seen Vitas on clearance for couple holidays now for as low for as $100.

Again, what does it really matter if you're getting what you need out of the system.

They port games to the Vita.

As a non-Vita owner, I'm not calling it dead until I can pick one up for sub-$100 to play P4 Golden and do PS4 remote play. That thing's still weirdly expensive, even used, for all the bandying about of it being dead.

@liquiddragon They do mention it at the PlayStation event called PlayStation Experience. There is one coming tomorrow hosted in an Asian country in malaysia. Why not do your research on that before dismissing any negative closed minded thought that the vita is not on Sony's top priority.

Look at all the PlayStation Experience press conferences and they too will mention the vita... I really think people should do more research on this.

I called a local Toys R Us far away from me and they said they carry PS TV's that is part of the vita system just not the games also they have a Lego bundle in stock.

The Nintendo Switch was the final nail in the coffin. It's taken its one remaining niche away from the Vita as an indie portable and as the hardware continues to age and the install base continues to decline there will be far less indies coming out. Hardware wise it's arguably the finest portable ever made, and it had it's place in history, but be real here... it's as good as dead.

It'd be nice is crossplay was the rule and not the exception. I'd play way more games on my Vita if something like the Odin Sphere remaster had it.

It has a high attach rate though from select vita owners that buy it for jrpgs and indies as well as western ports of other games that are on other platforms...

@banefirelord: If you are willing to plug it into a TV to get those, check your local Walmart for a PSTV. They have been on clearance for some time for $10, but you will probably have a hard time finding a bundled with a memory card, so expect to pay a good bit more for that.

Do you have the sales data to back that up? I tried to find out how many units games are shifting on the system in 2017 but found nothing.

I am talking about In general actually. Just look at twitter and type #PSVita on the search. You will see some people appreciative about the system and the games and most of them are willing to put a picture uploaded there as proof. It is a vocal small community for a more passionate reason. That is all I can say on that.

This is starting to get silly. Are we arguing the semantics of what it means for a console to be "dead"? The only stuff regularly coming out for the Vita in years have been incredibly niche japanese games and western indie ports from other consoles/pc. Is that enough for you as a consumer to consider it "alive"? Awesome. Is it at all challenging to understand why someone might consider this thing dead? Lord no.

Look at that price and then look at the hardware you could put that money towards. Would it really blow you away if someone considered, say, the Switch or PS4 an investment and the Vita "as is"?

What a strange hill to die on.

@enomotoshards: you have different criteria than everyone else if yours is some tweets and Playstation Experience Malaysia. I don't think you'll change anyone's mind but just enjoy your Vita.

You can't blame me for I am an early adopter of the vita...

May I ask, is the Vita your primary gaming platform?

Not all the time

I'm just more annoyed many new vita games lately don't seem to offer pstv support.

True