This isn't going to do anything to reassure people that the PlayStation Vita is alive and well. Sony has announced this morning that it will be discontinuing support for the YouTube, Maps, and Near applications on its flagship handheld soon. The video streaming software will be delisted from the PlayStation Store today, but will function until 20th April.
The platform holder recommends using the handheld's browser if you want to continue viewing kitten clips on your console, but clearly the experience isn't going to be anywhere near as rich. Speculation is already rife that this is due to Google switching from YouTube API v2 to YouTube API v3 – which the Japanese giant has had a year to prepare for.
Meanwhile, the Maps app will be removed as part of a March update, rendering some functions of Near redundant. You won't, for example, be able to obtain your location address, which, we imagine, will prevent you from searching for Game Goods – not that anyone ever did anyway. Some data will be saved in the software, so all is not entirely lost.
The sad thing about all of this is that it looks like a bit of a death knell for the put upon platform. While we can understand the manufacturer giving up on Near – the idea was always solid, but the execution just wasn't there – it's crazy to think that it's removing YouTube, especially if the reason really is that it can't spare the time to update the app to employ the new API.
Has this shattered your faith in Sony's portable system, or do you think that this is a minor mishap all things considered? Do less on your Vita in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com, via support.us.playstation.com, faq.en.playstation.com, gameranx.com]
Comments 52
Sammy, do you know if Sony have to pay some kind of fee to have YouTube on the platform? Just thinking if they did, and no-one used it (to any great degree), then perhaps ditching it would free up some cash.
Not to mention much needed memory space
@General_Spiller I'm not sure. I'm going to assume that the only kind of fee related to this is hiring the software engineers required to keep it up to date, but I could be wrong.
I'm kinda with @KratosMD in that these were a great novelty at first, but I don't really use them anymore. Still, would it really have hurt to maintain them for a little longer?
I'll be using it less then since Youtube is gone. Might as well discontinue the thing anyway as theres nothing worthwhile on the horizon anymore.
Edit: Although no one cares about Near and Maps.
The PSVita is a brilliant bit of Kit but PLEASE SONY don't make another handheld :-/ Just use all your time & money on Home Consoles like the PS4.
I opened Near once, but I still have no idea really what it's supposed to do or how it works. Occasionally I get a notification telling me that something to do with Near has changed, but it's all meaningless to me! Oh well, we've all known major support was not going to be forthcoming for ages. Personally, while more AAA Vita games would've been amazing (particularly after seeing what the system can really do with KZ: Mercs), I'm still perfectly happy with all of the smaller releases and JRPGs etc that come to it
Vita needs a diablo like game and Heartsone. Marketing for the vita has been disastrous from the start and all this news isn't helping the people who are on the fence and fans alike. They should just hold a vita only conference before E3 and announce gravity rush 2, soul sacrifice 2 and other big hitters like gta san andreas remaster of some sort soon ... Becuase from here n out it will just go down year on year
@tulaib_100 I think Ubisoft put out a Diablo clone at launch. I forget it's name, though... Hang on...
... Got it - Dungeon Hunter Alliance!
@get2sammyb never heard of it before 0_0 is it any good?
I've only recently bought a Vita, having been s Nintendo fan for years. I'm pleasantly surprised by what the device can do, such a pity that Sony is acting like it doesn't care for the console..
@tulaib_100 Doesn't look like it - we gave it a 4/10: https://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/psvita/dungeon_hunter_alliance
This is worrying. It shouldn't be too much work to update the app, but they just don't care. So what's next?
Totally agree Sammy, I can understand giving near the boot but YouTube? Da fuq Sony?!?!
that's awful. Near sucks though. Really poorly executed. Streetpass is brilliant.
Really? I sometimes use Youtube on Vita...
It's a shame because Vita is a well consistent platform for me, I have like 15 games that will release this year which I want to buy on Vita without mentioning some games from last year.
@get2sammyb @tulaib_100 yeah I think there might still be a demo/timed teial for dungeon hunter, I played it for a very short stint, although there wasn't anything inherently wrong with I was bored after 15 minutes.
Near, okay, pointless.
I have voiced my disappointment in the Vita many times on this website but this article really brings back memories for me.
The Vita was a failure from the start. It was a console with zero direction and its weaknesses shone through since day one. I remember seeing Near and rolling my eyes. It was such an obvious response to StreetPass it hurt. The whole Vita was just one big 'lets throw everything at it'. Why is StreetPass so great? Because Nintendo actually created the concept with fantastic ideas in mind. Why is Near so s@#t? Because Sony cluelessly through it in. 3G....
Its great people are enjoying their purchase and that the Vita died quick enough that not many people who would be disappointed bought it. But when people say the Vita is a great piece of kit it really baffles me. It is so easy to think how simple changes really could have made it great. It's not and sales prove this.
Welp can't see myself touching my Vita much till Hotline Miami 2 at this point, honestly just seems like Sony are phasing it out quietly at this point.
Losing YouTube is beyond crap.
Kinda lame....
NEAR was still useful for helping new players in Soul Sacrifice. There MUST be some type of monetary loss going on for Sony to do this. I can't see any other solid reason to kill advertised functionality that isn't being updated anyways.
Considering I bought a PSTV to play Vita games, I really don't care about useless apps being removed. Like most, I never understood what NEAR was even used for. It was never explained & when I used it I had no clue what I was gaining. As for Youtube, I have a bazillion devices that can access it anyway, plus the only way to access Youtube on a PSTV is the browser as it is so no loss here. As long as I keep getting good Japanese 3rd party releases with PSTV compatibility, which looks to be the case this year, I don't care about apps being removed
Anyone managed to get the Network Media Player app to work? The Vita/PSTV having DLNA is a neat idea, but the app seems like it was created as a joke. It just doesn't seem to work
No Youtube support anymore means I'm selling my Vita for a 3DS! I mainly use it to watch videos and sometimes play old PS1 games...
Not having a smartphone, I actually use maps on my 3G Vita. I also found several PSN friends on Near and in the beginning there were some interesting game goodies. No YouTube is another Sony fail.
@KillTheG1mp Definitely try the YouTube app on the 3DS before you commit. I'd take the Vita's browser over the YouTube app on the 3DS any day.
These apps are no big loss, in fact a few others need to go too (like Email). The Vita needs a focus, and not one that my phone/phablet/tablet can do better (like YouTube, Maps, and Email). It's a gaming platform, everything else needs to go and it needs to focus on that.
NOOOOOOOOO!, I use the youtube app on my vita everyday, now how will I watch youtube privetly on my sofa (before anyone says use a smart phone or tablet well I don't have a mobile phone and my tablet is old and crap and won't run youtube it just keeps saying can't connect to server)
Not bothered, but it's not a great sign is it? Still we've been relying on indie publishers to bring great games to Vita for a while now, so it's not really that much difference. I guess when Sony remove free titles from the monthly PS Plus lineup, that's when we'll know they've really given up.
Im fine with losing near and maps but sorta p*ssed off with losing youtube because it was perfect if I was stuck in a game I would just suspend the game and hop on to youtube. I know I could use the browser but the dedicated youtube app is much better.
Language - get2sammyb
@Punished_Boss_84 What makes you think that Sony will discontinue the vita? I bet you it is not this year....
Opened Near about six times in my Vita's life and received one whole game good and two notifications about it in that time. Always had the feel of it being a botched, quick attempt to copy what the 3DS has with StreetPass Plaza. Always liked the SPP for some reason, was nice seeing you'd met someone out and about then having them help you on Help Mii or whatever it was called. Had well over 1,000 visitors before my 3DS broke whereas I've seen ONE person playing a Vita. This seems to be the third nail in the coffin now. One more and it's goodnight Vita.
Doesn't bode well for PS TV getting Youtube or Netflix or Hulu Plus or Amazon. And I wouldn't hold my breath on P4 getting DLNA and becoming as functional as a PS3, not w/ the Plex app out.
@NathanUC I definitely agree with you regarding the current 3ds however the 'New 3ds' youtube app should perform significantly better.
@eLarkos They probably won't update the app. The N3DS browser version supposedly works pretty well though. You're stuck with the browser on both handhelds, it's just that one of them has 3D videos, while the other has a better resolution.
So, Sony just announced a deal with Spotify. Can't tell if this is coming to Vita though. Can't be a coincidence that they drop Youtube and pick up Spotify.
Why vita always gets bad news ??? No games, now no YouTube and near, Sony you destroyed vita. They can remove applications then give us AAA games
I was considering buying a vita now I'm not so sure. Cheers Sony
I was considering buying a vita now I'm not so sure. Cheers Sony
I was considering buying a vita now I'm not so sure. Cheers Sony
I know of at least 20 vita owners exist in my area, I see them regularly on the bus, at college, and at GS. There are probably MANY more.
But when I launch near, there's only 10 outdated users listed in the entire county. I don't see this as a death knell, it's a culling. The programs aren't being used. Simple as that.
If you are using maps and YouTube outside of the house it's probably tethered to a smart phone that can do it better. So it makes sense they aren't gonna mess with those much more either.
@johnny30 Don't buy it for those, but it for remote play!
@eLarkos
Sales are by no means proof of quality. The psvita sales are just as indicative of what an amazing piece of kit it as wiiu's sales and the quality of its first party games.
In other words, it's like saying "I don't get people who praise Wiiu for its games. The sales are proof that they're not good".
The only two serious problems the vita had were the rise of mobiles/tablets and the lack of enough first party games. In terms of hardware it was and still is "a great piece of kit". I also have a 3ds and that has more big budget games, but in terms of hardware, as far as I'm concerned, it's nowhere near as good as the vita.
Ok guys I need to bring this up. Someone has been reporting posts made by other users not sure if this is a mistake or what but I have seen nothing wrong with the posts except for a difference of opinion. Now there is nothing wrong with a difference of opinion especially if a user is being polite in the deliverance of their opinion. Having an opinion is not against the rules here and every one is entitled to their opinion here. So please if there is nothing wrong with how the person deliveries their opinion i.e. no insults, cussing etc then don't report it.
Thanks.
Now back to the article at hand.
@naruball Where we disagree is in the fact that in no way do i believe it is "a great piece of kit" today or even when it was released. I think many other people also believe this and this is the reason why i believe its sales are so poor. It's sales haven't dropped off recently, they were never good.
Many things affect a product's sales and we can have a lengthy discussion about the WiiU if you want, however you can't take what im saying about the Vita and directly compare it to the Wii U. They are completely different.
The 3ds hardware achieves exactly what Nintendo's strategy positioned it for. The Vita's hardware doesn't (hang on, what exactly was their strategy?? Mini PS3?). When I say its a bad piece of hardware i'm not talking about pixel count im talking about it as a proposition to its target market.
The 3ds doesn't really need to be changed much, if at all, to completely satisfy its target market. The Vita needs several major changes to be valuable to its wider target market. Thats not a good example of good hardware.
See this is why I'm hesitant on buying a vita :/ I am really curious due to the rpgs and quality of the handheld itself, but im having a hard time justifying it now since they seem to be pulling away from it so quickly... That and I already own a 3ds. Idk. I'm on the fence...
i hate to hear the possibility of the vita being phased out. i use mine every single day, it's my fave handheld (i have a 3ds and psp as well). i would have liked the youtube app more if it wasn't so glitchy. it took forever to load a music video and then it would pause every 3 seconds. as for near i never bothered with it. another thing that hurts vita is the game selection when you go to somewhere like gamestop. i'd dl more games from psn but the cost way more for some weird reason. plus the theme prices are rediculous (3$ for one theme), i can make one for free from pics online. i do have one tiny request of sony, plz never take away the browser, cause this is pretty much my tablet. (×)^^
Ehh I'm not really that concerned with either apps going. I hardly used Near as there weren't that many people around me that had a Vita. And if I did get a game good it was for games I didn't even own. I only saw about 6 people in my area that had one. Now no one appears so I guess they gave up on it.
While in regards to YouTube; I can just watch YouTube on my iPod, iPad or laptop. Frankly the Vita and 3ds Youtube apps were half-assed at best imo. Both have been poorly implemented especially the 3ds version. The Vita version was very temperamental when it came to searching for things.
I really don't use any of the other apps either, save for the map when I can't get anything else to work on other devices. I wish they would just support the Vita like they did with the PSP. Just blindly keep going and eventually a following will happen.
Well, it's a wrap. They already pulled the plug on 1st party games, now they're pulling the plug on the apps, most 3rd parties have already pulled the plug on support... the curtains are closing and it's time to go home.
I got 3 years from my Vita, so basically half a lifespan. I really don't play it any more, which is a shame because I really do like it. In fact I just invested in upgrading from a 32gb to a 64gb mem card (even to the end they just wouldn't lower those dang memory card prices to a reasonable level). I'll continue to take advantage of indies and cross buy when I can, since I doubt it will be getting anything more than that after RE Revelations 2.
I used NEAR from time to time- there's actually quite a few Vita owners in my vicinity. My brother lives close by, and I'd always see when he got a new game I had. Of course, NEAR was a very clunky app and a shoddy rip of Streetpass, so it's not really a huge loss, but losing Youtube sucks. Just hope they don't pull Netflix (I'm thinking they won't, even the original Wii still has a working Netflix app).
Im usually the fanboy defending Sony, but this time I'm really pissed.. Wtf Sony!
This is a shame. The YT app was pretty nifty on Vita. It sucks how poorly Sony treats the Vita. Not making anymore games for it and now pulling apps... All in under 3 years of it's lifespan.
I haven't touched my Vita in months. I've used my PSP more actually. Nintendo's strangle hold on the hand held console market is too strong.
I'm glad they're taking Maps out. It was totally useless unless you had the 3G Vita. The YouTube discontinuation's a shame, but I only watch YouTube on my laptop anyway. My brother's gonna be very mad though; he stays up till like 2am every night watching videos on his Vita. So is near being removed completely or is it just gonna keep sitting there?
I'm definitely pissed about losing the youtube app. I've accepted the damn thing isn't going to get anymore than indie games at this point because it just didn't sell, but losing the apps is ridiculous. Anyway, hopefully this was Sony's last attempt with the handheld market. From now on focus on the home sector where the company mostly knows what it's doing. If not for Japan, PSP would've been a disaster as well.
Tap here to load 52 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...