The PlayStation Vita was in its death throes long before the Switch was released, but Nintendo’s little-system-that-could
Last year, we told you that Sony planned to end production on the PlayStation Vita’s game cards by March this year. We also knew that the system itself would cease production this year, but it’s now official. Sony Japan has confirmed that it’ll axe manufacture and distribution of the Vita in the land of the rising sun, which more than likely means it’s game over for the Vita in the rest of the world too. The Japanese PlayStation website (via Gematsu)says that the regular black and Aqua blue models (the only two still available in Japan) will soon become unavailable, saying that “shipments are scheduled to end soon.”
The PlayStation Vita was released all the way back in 2011, and showed a lot of potential. There was a heck of a lot of tech packed into a small handheld, but the high price and lack of big first and third-party games meant that it failed to live up to expectations. It sold significantly worse than the unfathomably successful PSP it replaced, and very probably put an end to Sony’s mobile gaming aspirations.
I quite liked the Vita (though, just as with the PSP, I largely used it as a Lumines machine) but I don’t think I’ve even turned the thing on since getting a Switch. Any of you still packing a Vita? What’re you playing on the thing?
Last Updated: February 19, 2019
DragonSpirit009
February 19, 2019 at 11:48
So sad. I like playing on my Vita.
I just wish the prices of the games was a bit cheaper. But I would never give up my little handheld.
Geoffrey Tim
February 19, 2019 at 09:23
VITA MEANS LIFE
Umar
February 19, 2019 at 09:35
It’s pretty amazing emulation machine, thooooooough it’s kind of a grey area.
Admiral Chief
February 19, 2019 at 09:41
Does that mean that they will allow Vita games to be played on the PS4?
Francois Knoetze
February 19, 2019 at 10:43
One can only wish. like all the classic PS1 games you can still play on it. Even the Vita TV works well in that regard for this.
Francois Knoetze
February 19, 2019 at 10:43
Use it for remote play all the time! when my wife and kid are hogging the tv it is the ultimate go to console at home. Spider Man is just crap to play on it. That R2 touchpad thing REALLY doesnt work for me. Also still jam the original Metal Gears on it.
HairyEwok
February 19, 2019 at 13:05
I have one of the first gens (with OLED instead of LCD screen) and I love it to bits especially with Eskom at the moment, it’s just the games, those prices are high.
Michael Gabrila
February 19, 2019 at 18:50
I love my Vita! I play it all the time, I play all my Final Fantasy games on it, I play Persona 4, Sword Art Online, Neptune, Summon Night 6, Borderlands 2, Ninja Gaiden, and a whole bunch of other games. There’s so many games to play on the Vita. I could be wrong about this, but Sony and company probably didn’t do a good job with advertising their products. Also the Vita probably would have done a lot better if Sony made it possible to use gaming apps that you see in the Apple & Google stores. I would have loved to play Marvel’s Strike Force, Epic Seven, Knights Chronicles and hundreds of others on my Vita.