On paper, Sony’s PlayStation Vita looks like an awesome handheld. It’s specs resemble a slightly under powered PlayStation 3 and it’s one of the first handheld gaming devices to truly blur the lines between what a portable gaming device is actually capable of.

So why is it struggling and getting consistently outsold by Nintendo’s 3DS? The PlayStation Vita currently has an installed base of 4.1 million units and the 3DS has amounted 27.9 million units sold. Also, when both the 3Ds and the Vita were first released, critics heralded the device and scoffed at the 3DS’ outdated technical specification.

Just like with the battle between the PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo DS years ago, most gamers predicted that Nintendo’s handheld would ultimately fail at the might of Sony’s technically impressive high-end device.

When it comes to consoles, whether they are portable or designed for your living room, most of the time, it’s all about the games. And right now, the PlayStation Vita’s library is very sparse, especially when compared to the 3Ds’.

Months ago I took an in-depth look at the Vita when it first hit store shelves and back then, one of its main issues was the fact that it didn’t really have that system selling title that new gaming devices often need to succeed in the sales department. Sure, there was Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and today there is the relatively underwhelming Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation and Little Big Planet, but other than that, there isn’t much coming out on the horizon.

Also, the one title many gamers were pinning the Vita’s immediate hope on was Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified. It ended up bombing and disappointing both Call of Duty fans and critics alike. It also has an average review score of 32 on Metacritic.

The Vita is a feature rich console and its back touch screen gives developers the opportunity to create unique gameplay experiences that can only work on the Vita. Titles that feature Vita, PlayStation 3 cross play like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, have the right idea. Also, having the ability to pick up a console game and play it on the go, is a great concept and really shows off the Vita’s unique capabilities as a handheld device.

What the Vita needs to do is prove that a powerful dedicated handheld device, with dual joysticks, is a necessary gaming device that all video game players should own. Its price point also isn’t helping its cause very much. At $250 for the handheld and usually between $29.99 and $39.99 per game, it’s difficult to convince the $1 Apple App Store iPhone/iPad gaming crowd, that purchasing and playing a PlayStation Vita is actually worth their time. Still, the 3DS and the Vita offer deep gaming experiences that Apple and Android devices really just can’t compete with.

Even in the first-party game department, Vita owners really don’t have much to look forward to in the future beyond Sly Copper: Thieves In Time and titles like Killzone: Mercenary. In Killzone’s case, it doesn’t even have an official release date yet. Third-party developers seem to have all but completely abandoned the Vita. Where are the killer system selling titles?

This could be because Sony is putting all of their efforts into getting the PlayStation 4 ready for its predicted launch sometime this coming fall though. Either way, right now, the PlayStation Vita seems like it’s dying and at this year’s E3, Sony really needs to show that it still has something to offer. Until then, my Vita will continue sitting in a box on my desk collecting dust.

Sony: PlayStation Vita Sales 'Absolutely Exploded' Over Christmas

Posted Fri, 08 Mar 2013 | 23:00 GMT by Sammy Barker

It sounds like the PlayStation Vita is finally on the ascension. In a recent interview with industry publication MCV, Sony Computer Entertainment UK’s managing director Fergal Gara has hinted that the system’s sales “absolutely exploded” during the holiday season – even though it had to endure a period of sluggish numbers to get there.

"We had a pre-Christmas lull where sales were quite low,” he told the publication. “But that absolutely exploded 20-fold from that low-point into the peak of Christmas. That's very encouraging and shows that with the right promotion and software we can light that fire."

Gara also took a moment to respond to criticisms regarding the console’s current release schedule. "It looks bare in terms of what we have announced,” he explained. “The cupboard won't be bare."

The comments come on the back of a positive week for the handheld, in which the system’s recent price drop boosted sales in Japan by more than six times. The platform holder’s ruled out a similar adjustment overseas – but if Gara’s telling the truth, then perhaps the console's price doesn't need to be slashed in Western territories after all.

Sony Reveals New Hardware: PS Vita TV

Play your Vita games on the big screen.


by Colin Moriarty
September 9, 2013

Sony revealed a ton of stuff tonight at its pre-TGS press conference, but perhaps the biggest surprise (well, other than a PS Vita redesign) was the unveiling of an all-new piece of Vita-related hardware. It’s called PS Vita TV, and it lets you play Vita games on your television... and do a bunch of other stuff, too.

PS Vita TV is a tiny piece of hardware. It’s about as big as a deck of cards, measuring 6cm by 10cm. It’s the smallest PlayStation hardware ever.

The idea of PS Vita TV is to let you play Vita games on the big screen using a DualShock 3 controller, but there’s actually more to it than that. While PS Vita TV has a card slot for Vita games, and accepts Vita memory cards, it will also let you use video streaming services (such as Hulu) and more. It will even let you play your PlayStation 4 via Remote Play with DualShock 4; this functionality will come later via system update.

It will also let you play PSone Classics and PSP games through it, again using the DualShock 3. And it will connect to PlayStation 4 so that you can play Vita games through PS4, as well.

PS Vita TV launches in Japan on November 14th, and will cost 9,480 Yen ($95). A special verison of it, packing an 8 gig Vita memory card and a DualShock 3 controller, will cost 14,980 ($150). It sounds like it will eventually be released in the west, though a specific release date (as well as pricing information) is still unknown.

Colin Moriarty is IGN’s Senior Editor. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN and learn just how sad the life of a New York Islanders and New York Jets fan can be.