It seems like, over four years since its original launch, the PlayStation Vita is nearing the end of its run. Reports are swirling that Sony has ceased shipping the system to the Netherlands, with major retailer Bol.com currently having only two units left in stock. And now a retail source has told NDTV that it's stopping supplying Indian stores with fresh units, too. Typically, this phasing out in smaller regions precedes a global discontinuation.
Of course, we're not there yet. The Japanese giant's second handheld is still selling reasonably well in its home nation, and software sales of smaller games such as Volume have proven more positive than expected. This has led to continued support from indie developers like Drinkbox, which is set to release its hotly anticipated dungeon crawler Severed exclusively on the system this month. There's still a pulse on the platform, then – even if it's getting fainter.
Stock doesn't appear to be plentiful on Amazon in the USA or UK, with most bundles being sold by third-parties. However, regional specialists like GameStop and GAME do seem to be stocking the system. That said, it's probably no surprise to see the console on its last legs – it's been selling poorly for some time now, after all. The positive is that the Vita still has a very vocal and dedicated fanbase, which is keeping it flush with content.
We wouldn't be surprised if the platform holder announced that it was ceasing to manufacture the machine towards the end of this year – it just depends whether it feels it can squeeze a few more sales out of Asia. For now, though, it probably has enough inventory lying around to keep the minuscule demand in Western territories fulfilled until the device is phased out altogether. That'll be a sad day – but surely it won't come as a surprise.
[source tweakers.net, via gadgets.ndtv.com]
Comments 51
Noooooooo..
The Vita was sacrificed so PSVR could be a thing, perhaps.
The Vita could have been a success (20-30 million sold) had not Sony dropped support so fast (as far as software), and had they been pro-active in terms of changing the memory situation. The Vita still does well in Japan, and had Sony tried more so in the west, it would have done alright, no, not PSP numbers, but it could have thrived with Japanese and western indie software, along with Sony first and second party support.
RIP Vita, it's a shame that your father didn't love you.
Noooooo it's one of my favourite consoles ever!
Has Sony officially said if they are done w/ handhelds? With all the smartphones, tablets and now even smart watches in the world who could blame them, but I think a handheld gaming device w/ TV out and standard memory cards could be successful enough. Not a blockbuster, but a moneymaker.
@sub12 I disagree in some ways. I think they did continue to support it, but when the second wave of software like Tearaway and Killzone: Mercenary failed to improve its sales, they made the decision internally to move on. Could they have supported it with another round of games? Of course, but I doubt it would have changed the situation all that much, sadly.
It's a shame because it's a good device. I still feel like I got my money's worth out of it, though.
@rjejr Well, they just opened a first-party studio dedicated to making smartphone games in Asia, so... https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2016/03/sony_announces_studio_dedicated_to_making_mobile_games
RIP Vita
I really enjoy the system...but oh well, it really was expected!
Bottom line is the Vita failed to make the projected sales Sony wanted, and in business if something doesn't make money it has to go.
Only had my Vita a year (and I knew the writing was on the wall when I bought it). Even so, I am a bit saddened to hear it.
I've always had a mobile gaming device, ever since the Gameboy and I still think there is a market there. I just think it needs to be targeted at hardcore gamers and do away with gimmicks. If you had a controller shaped console with a good screen and focused on core gaming, I think it would sell well. I think ultimately, the Vita had expensive gimmicks that didn't translate into gameplay or dev support.
I was gonna ditch the ps4 to smash my vita back catalogue later this year, great system but lets be honest - tablets have overtaken handheld gaming systems unfortunately.
Weird this article has popped up I have just bought my first retail cart today 'Lumines Electronic Symphony' hopefully all the games will drop in price to follow suit.
Did it even had a beginning ?
Train rides to work would not be the same without fresh vita games
The Vita is a good product but does have some serious flaws ie needing extra memory cards. The rise of tablets and smart phones never helped the Vita. I am also not sure enough was made of remote play. The writing has been on the wall for a while but the people who love the Vita can still play the games they love.
Also who allowed their Vita to get so much dust on it? Shame on you
@get2sammyb "smartphone games in Asia"
Nintendo has it's DeNA mobile deal, 1 down, 4 to go,
http://au.idigitaltimes.com/dena-first-five-mobile-games-nintendo-will-be-free-play-110577
but I bet it puts out another handheld next year. (Pokemon, Yokai Watch and Monster Hunter justifies it) And Wii U has done as poorly as Vita, but Nintendo is still likely giving it another shot w/ NX.
I think between PS Vue and PS Now there is a place for a Sony Playstation Portable Player - SPPP. And who doesn't need an extra PS4 controller? It will have to wait until after PSVR though. But I can't see them not replacing both Vita and PS TV, and PS3 is getting too old for a streaming device for people in their bedroom. Not everybody wants a 2nd PS4 in their bedroom, Sony needs a Roku/Fire/Shield type cheap device, might as well make it portable.
The system is still around, and it still has new games coming out all the time. I know it's not a feather in Sony's cap but the fan base is extremely dedicated. As such, I don't think the system is going anywhere any time soon. Smaller devs will continue making games for it, and Vita owners will continue to buy the ones that appeal to them.
I think it's incredible that the system, all these years after Sony turned it's back on it, still has so much support from Vita owners. That's worth celebrating in my opinion. That's a part of gaming history.
All of that said, the sun has to set some time, and the sooner it happens, the sooner Plus will start including more PS4 games. That's something I think most people can get behind.
This is the end of the end. That thing has been dead for several years now.
Maybe I'll see an idea factory brand vita in a year since it's basically their console these days.
It has been "The beginning of the end for the Vita" for the last couple of years. I have and always will be a massive fan of the Vita, its just a shame Sony wasn't. Aside from the overly expensive memory cards and lack of first and third party support, Sony made the big mistake of very poor advertising.
I know loads of casual gamers that have never even heard of the PlayStation Vita. I've even had people see me playing on my Vita and they thought it was a PSP. When I told them what it was they told me they had never heard of it.
I can understand that because Mobile/Cell phones dominate the mobile gaming space, it makes it very hard to sell a dedicated mobile gaming device. Having said that, as good as phones are with certain games lile Angry Birds etc they are no substitute for games like Uncharted, Killzone Mercenarys, Wipeout, Tearaway etc.
I was absolutely blown away when I played Killzone on my Vita for the first time. I couldn't believe how good the graphics and gameplay were. Even the multiplayer was amazing, for a mobile gaming device.
If Sony had advertised the Vita with Killzone Mercenary's, Uncharted & Tearaway on TV I am sure it would have sold a lot better. Also not charging as much as they did for the memory cards as that was a massive turnoff for alot of people.
It also doesn't help that most Vita games are only available through the PlayStation Store. One of my friends was going to purchase a Vita recently, but when he went into the store known as GAME he noticed that there were only around 20 physical games on the store shelf. Because of that he decided to purchase a 3DS instead. Later I showed him all the games that you can get via PSN and he was shocked.
If Sony had given the Vita one last big push and have games like Gran Turismo, Infamous, God of War and a new Uncharted, aswell as letting people know that you can join partys with your friends that are on their PS4's and also play certain games with those friends via cross play I think that just might have been enough to entice people.
In the United Kingdom we didn't even get the Netflix app which is ridiculous. These days pretty much everything has Netflix on them.
I think Sony should try adding the Vita to the PS4 as a bundle. They could charge an extra £100 for a bundle, throw in a couple of games along with a 16gb memory card because of remote play.
But Sony has a massive floor in their company, and that floor is advertising. Sony are absolutely terrible when it comes to advertising. They've just released Ratchet & Clank and I am yet to see an advert for it. They have a R&C movie coming out soon so one would think Sony would be pushing the R&C game.
Because of how they treated the Vita I am going to wait several months before I make a decision on purchasing the PSVR device. Talking of PSVR, I am surprised that they're using the PlayStation Move controllers as they're really outdated and not very good. They should do what Facebook are doing with the Oculus Rift and create a new controller. The Rift controllers are actually really good. The Move controllers don't even have any analog sticks. They could make a new DUALSHOCK 4 that can split into two as that would be a near enough perfect input device. I hope that Sony eventually realise that and they decide to create something similar.
Yea I feel like it is just time sadly. Sony needs to let go of the handheld gaming market imo and focus on ps4 and vr.
@Deadstanley I actually thought Uncharted GA, Killzone Mercenary's and Tearaway were amazing games that were actually console quality games that both ran a played perfectly on the Vita. Besides, Sony marketed (Albeit terribly) the Vita as a mobile gaming device that had console quality games.
@sub12 I totally agree with your comment. I also believe that it didn't help that Sony are terrible at marketing. I would have loved a western RPG and a Gran Turismo too.
If it had of been a big success it would have been great if they had made a revised Vita that had two extra shoulder buttons, instead of the terrible back touchpad. That way remote play and PlayStation Now would have been a much better experience on the Vita.
I'm going down with my vita. I have close to 65 games and counting on my vita spread across 4 memory cards- I'm sorted for the next 3 years. For me it has the greatest library of games, just on one 64GB memory card I have FF1->FF10-2 & Persona 1-4, where else can you get that?
Severed is out on April 26th and I guarantee that the vita faithful will reward drinkbox with their faith in the vita community.
As long as we keep showing the love, developers will keep making games.
The Vita has been dead long in the west but still doing fairly well in Japan. What are you doing with a Vita anyway if you don't like JRPGs and visual novels. I just bought a Vita game btw. But I don't buy a lot.
When it selling over 10,000 units a week in Japan only an idiot would stop manufacturing it...for Japan.
I think they will stop selling it outside Japan however.
I'm positive lots of Vita owners will go out and buy themselves a back up one, just in case... I know I did a while back.
When the Vita launched and I was gaming on its beautiful OLED screen I can remember myself mumbling "Nintendo is doomed", I was so wrong. A world where the Vita sells less than the 3ds, or PSP for that matters, is a world I have more and more trouble with to understand; gaming is changing and I have problems adapting...
... I'm not even sure I want to adapt.
Nope, the end a few years away for me. I have about 3 year off back catalog, and futute games to play. Best mobile game system ever.
I hope there a vita 2. Or combine vita-phone devices.
I am not sure why Sony handhelds do not hit well with the mass market, but it didn't hit with me (even though I bought one launch day) because of the touch screen (why do I want to take my hands off of the controls, to touch something on the screen?!), touch pad (this was a horrible idea and broke many of my favorite games), and the bubble OS (which made me feel like I was playing my kids LeapPad).
@Boerewors To be fair - the 3DS sells so well because Nintendo's handheld IPs - Pokémon, New Super Mario Bros., et cetera; are hard to compete with when appealing to a mainstream audience. It's having similar problems to a lesser scale - struggling to break 50 million in 5 years when its predecessor was at over 100 million in the same time. The dedicated handheld market died in the mainstream when tablets and smartphones became capable enough gaming devices to satisfy most; and the Vita never had enough quality software to gain a "base" beyond fans of its mix of low-budget indie and Japanese titles.
That's not to say the Vita doesn't have plenty of amazing games; because it really does; but when they're -incredibly niche- games, it's not hard to understand the system's eventual fate.
Still, as long as developers are finding success on the Vita and are willing to bring software to it, there's plenty of life left in the system, even if it paints a grim picture for the future of Sony handhelds.
That said, gaming in general has been changing a lot over the past few years, the Vita's an unfortunate victim of this transitionary period, and I sincerely hope that when things even out once more and the market is less unstable, Sony takes another stab at handheld gaming.
I have a feeling the Vita will live on for a while even after Sony has ceased shipping new units. To be honest I'm surprised it still ships any. The stream of indie support is great but it's unlikely to get new users to pick one up specifically for that. Without hallmark, retail games there's not much point in getting a console when a tablet or phone offers much the same range of titles.
But hey, like Sammy said I got more than my moneys worth from it. I got a Vita with a 64 GB card for £100 on eBay. I can have the first ten Final Fantasy games on the go! And enough classic indie titles to keep me going for years (many of which were included with my plus subscription, others heavily discounted) as well as some excellent console quality games. It'll last me for years yet.
Memory cards killed the majority of the sales pre-launch. The games line up killed the rest of them post launch. Snowball effect after that with games quality vs sales.
Should have made a Danganronpa bundle...
Beginning of the end? More like the end of the end; The Vita's been dying off over the past couple of years (especially in the West). It's a shame too as it has a lot of hidden gems and is still probably the most ambitious handheld to ever hit the market.
it's a shame, seems like Sony didn't market the vita very well at all. all of my friends who are casual or non gamers who ever tried it were blown away, & most of my buddies with ps4's didn't realize how well remote play works. they could have even made a ps4/Vita bundle to get more into the wild but it seems sony pulled the plug rather quick on the little machine. still one of my favorite handhelds, anybody whose had one knows how good it was though. I'll never regret my purchase
I want one, but for like $100. I just want MLB The Show on the go, even if at this point it's last year's edition. 3DS has 0 good baseball games on it, and I like having baseball as an option anywhere.
@get2sammyb
I agree a 3rd round probably would have had a negligible impact on overall sales. But, when a platform manufacturer sells a platform and a customer buys it, they do so in good faith it will be supported for a certain length of time. How many years? Idk, different depending who you ask, but the longer they support it the more people will feel that they got what they paid for.
If you look at the Wii U, which is really comparable to Vita in a lot of respects, the only difference is it received the full brunt of first party support for 4 years (or, it will be by the time Zelda drops). It's sales are still right on par with Vita, so it didn't really change its fate, but they made the right move by assuring consumers that when you buy one of their products, they will support it for a full generation, no matter what (albeit a short one).
And I believe that is what will do them the most damage. The software probably wouldn't have increased sales but it would have sent a signal to consumers that they can trust buying Sony platforms. That no matter what happens- come hell or high water, they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Sony will support it for a generation. By pulling the plug early, consumers such as myself may think twice about purchasing other, equally risky Sony platforms (like VR).
Of course, I myself did actually preorder PSVR, but those thoughts definitely crossed my mind. And I'm sure that it's cross the minds of many other Vita owners as well
Damn shame to hear this, but it isn't too surprising sadly. I do doubt that full discontinuation is coming in 2016, sales are stable(ish) enough in Japan to limp it into 2017. Smaller regions like India or the Netherlands, getting axed help cut costs on an other wise unsuccessful money hole.
Now, that all that stuffy, disheartening analysis and opinions are out of the way, let me say. As the 3DS too has faded into her twilight years, I have turned to the Vita, and fallen in love. Next to the Atari Lynx it is easily one of my favorite non-Nintendo handhelds, and up there (next to the Lynx) as the best handheld no one has played. An unbelievably quirky library, with plenty of gems to dive into. I haven't quite gotten into the digital stuff, 3DS still hogs most of the digital dollars, but most retail games I have are highly enjoyable and all have been bought for under (or around) $20. The Vita and 3DS, in my opinion, should stand side by side as equals this generation. They are both great handhelds, both stumbled early, but sadly only one was able to get up and run to the finish line. Still, for those still on the fence as the Vita fades out, give it a shot, its well worth the investment!
@sub12
I think Vita was definitely sacrificed for VR. I'm also starting to wonder if some first part development for PS4 also hadn't been sacrificed for that damn headset.
@JaxonH
I've always said it but the one and only thing Sony does right is the base home console. It's golden eras were PSone and 2 and unsurprisingly those were the sole focus. No portables (PSP was the very end of the PS2's run as the primary platform), no stupid stuff like PS Move, no PSVR, just the home platform. And to be fair, Sony has always supported its consoles strong so I don't worry when I buy a PlayStation if it's going to get support but the side nonsense is the stuff that bothers me.
@WARDIE
Advertising has long been a problem no question. I'm furious that websites likes this and some other PS-specific ones I visit did more to hyp Ratchet & Clank than Sony itself did. At least the movie is getting some trailers but c'mon, the game is the best game released on any platform so far in 2016!
according to the Internet. The End of Vita has began many times already... lol...
Not too surprising but there's still a massive back catalogue of excellent PSP and Vita games to be played! Only bought my Vita early this year but absolutely loving it and got a massive queue of games to play thanks to PS Plus, and that's before the games I've actually bought!
Not taking any chances and ordered a Japanese Orange and a white one just in case.
That brings the tally up to 6. 3 OLEDs and 3 2000s. I should be good for the rest of my days.
I guarantee* we'll get a huge E3 Vita blow out. In fact I'd put money on it.
*not a guarantee
After overpriced memory cards and early drop of software support, I knew I couldn't trust Sony on this. PS4 is a success so I had no worries there.
Such potential going to waste...
Great System but its not for everyone. I love my vita and theres alot of fun to be had with it. I also still use my psp.Thats the thing. They are for someone like me. I actually was using my psp for Metal gear solid this past week. Big backlog for me on those bad boys.
Going to pick up a vita soon
Will we be saying this about the PSVR in a few years time?
Guess I better buy up a couple mem cards now while I can, so I can download all the games I want while they're available.
The memory cards alone killed it for me. I would've bought so many more games if they were affordable.
@XCWarrior I use it 95% of the time for RTTS and even if it had come out for Vita this year, they definitely wouldn't have made any improvements. And actually last year's barely did and the fonts looked cheaper. I'll miss home run derby online, but I'll still be playing it for quite a while.
@blinkpunk02 Beyond out of state rosters, most sports games see minimal upgrades year to year. I usually buy one version per system. I have like MLB The Show 12 for the PS3 and if I pulled it out I'd still be happy with it.
There some interesting RPGs on the Vita I'd like to own, but I'm so behind on my backlog in that genre I don't need more.
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