PS Vita Likely To See Only Incremental Improvements In 2015
PS Vita enthusiasts are feeling a bit lonely these days, as news about their chosen portable game device has slowed to a trickle. After a launch with a lot of fanfare and support from Sony in 2012, the PS Vita has slowly fallen in terms of market share and news mentions to the point where fans of the device – and there are still plenty of those – aren’t even certain if Sony will even mention the device at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Tech News Today reported.
Other Priorities
Sony certainly has other systems to launch and better-performing products than the PS Vita to worry about at E3, which is being held from June 16-18 in Los Angeles. E3 is where all the major entertainment companies launch new products, announce new developments in existing product lines, and generally milk the event for all the hype they can manage.
Bob Hahn at Tech News Today spoke of the likelihood of the PS Vita being featured at this year’s E3.
“Vita’s appearance at E3 2015 looks bleak at best. Mainly due to the fact that the conference will be chunking up a lot of time with discussions regarding Project Morpheus and PS4 exclusive titles.
Hahn hasn’t given up all hope on the PS Vita, however.
“There is always a possibility of one or two trailers for the system.”
Still Popular
The main problem that has dogged the PS Vita has been gaming support. While the device does feature some well-known games such as LittleBigPlanet, for the most part, the Triple A games have not come to the Vita. In fact, as VC Post commented, in recent months Sony has appeared to stop even trying to get big-name games developed for the device (much to the disappointment of die-hard PS Vita enthusiasts), and instead appears to have embraced its role as a darling of Independent game developers.
@PlayStationEU @PlayStation Only a month left before #E3 We want new #aaa exclusive game for #psvita #buildingthelist
— ?????? ????? (@StalkerDolg4) May 18, 2015
This niche might wind up being the salvation of the PS Vita. As noted by Matt Egan at PC Advisor, portable gaming devices remain surprisingly attractive to gamers.
“… despite the innate quirkiness of an additional device just for games, portable consoles are successful… even the dear old PS Vita remains relatively popular considering that Sony never really markets it, and that essential weirdness of it not being a smartphone or even a tablet.”
No Vita II
So, what’s the future looking like for the PS Vita? Chances are Sony won’t completely abandon it, but it looks very unlikely that they will unveil a second-generation version of their oddball portable. Somewhat more likely – though not guaranteed – is a software-only update of sorts that gives the device a more modern interface and perhaps makes it easier for the Indie developers who have embraced the Vita to deliver and improve their games on the device. After all, there is still a significant fan base out there, and there is still money to be made.
The real question is whether Sony will relegate all this to the back burner or make an effort to give the PS Vita at least some spotlight at E3. That means we’ll have a very good idea where the device stands in Sony’s estimation by the end of the convention.
[Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images]
