Topic: What if Sony didn't move away from the Vita/traditional handheld systems in general?

For example, let's say the 8th generation of console wars got off to a much better start for Nintendo & Microsoft in a few ways, such as the 3DS launching with Mario Kart & Mario 3D Land, maybe with delaying the system's release by a little while, Microsoft not angering gamers with their attempted DRM plans for the Xbox One, the Wii U having a better/less confusing name (the Nintendo U-niverse or something) and having a delayed launch with better hardware/more games at launch, the PS4 remote play apps end up getting delayed for mobile because of App Store outages, and so on, & so Sony ends up focusing a lot more/a lot longer on the Vita alongside the PS4, extending the Vita's lifespan by a few more years, along with it's game output.

What do you think we could have seen from the Vita line, had Sony kept it going in the spotlight longer than it was?

Inconvenience . The PSP was more successful than the vita because of the era it released . nowadays we have adequate smartphones and powerful laptops , so it’s just better ways to mobile game now imo & probably many others think the same too . Nintendo has a niche that no other competitor can fill & the DS was so successful over the vita because of its exclusives , shovelware gems , and games that were different than their console counter parts . if you ask a gamer today would they rather play borderlands pre-sequel on a vita or laptop , i think most would say the latter .

edit : sony would be better off continuing to use PSNow as a service & expanding with that , rather than trying to make handhelds again . & i loved the OG PSP btw .

I think it would have been interesting to see what they do next. They did have the developers for supported it but their management changes/directional focus changed that. Their phone division is alive, but they make the cameras and add extra features to their phones for enthusiasts so it works out I guess the Vita/PS side of Sony I don't think wants to go that direction but if they did I think the features, the IPs would probably push the system more. A cinematic game on the go may or may work I'm not sure.

If people got past the 'handheld games are worse' even though many I had more fun than console games but as the west likes their TVs and the PSP was at the right time for many IPs, a on the go device if you didn't have a computer, sort of like how a phone fills that gap now then yeah I see why the Vita didn't appeal to many people and the lack of ads didn't help either. Third parties went mobile because it was similar hardware (minus the Vita/3DS related features) and because of 'everyone has a phone' so unless it was Just Dance or Skylanders with the Wii U or 3DS the Vita didn't have appeal from Western devs to bother. Lego games released on them too. Many others like WRC or sports did around 3 entries and moved on. The system didn't have. If they did I see more Assassins Creeds, Tom Clancy and so on from Ubisoft like they did the PSP or PS/Xbox with releases. WRC would support it more like they did Switch. Project Cars on Wii U would have been great but alas just like Grid Autosport/Gear Club Unlimited games on Switch. Then again no GTAs on Vita either which helped the PSP.

The 3DS/Vita were it though the Panasonic Jungle dropped out and I think for the better. 2010 for an MMO handheld similarly to the OnLive being earliest form of Cloud gaming before the Logitech G Cloud or cloud on Switch/Xbox One. How many used Remote Play raise your hands. XD I never use it on Xbox One and from what I've tested of Cloud it's 'fine'. But I get why the Switch is more clear/straightforward and convenient for people. To me the Vita is (if you don't count the cartridge/disk part) what a system could be. Have a dual screen with the handheld and tv/console and the same games but Switch is a simplified way to cut that out and the Wii U was that without the taking the Gamepad with you part as it was a DS on the TV primarily.

The Steam Deck seems like what Sony would do for 'features' with the touchpads. Whether they did a digital only not sure.

The Vita was good as a Japanese games and Indies machine and Sony focused on that when they knew the West had pretty much no interest in supporting it. It's why Microsoft never made a handheld is because they supported the Pocket PC/PDA space as well as tried with Zune, tried with Windows Phone and just gave up. So the closest they have now is with Surface for tablets/Surface Duo (which the Fold/Duo to me is the future of dual screens, the Wii U was great but I think if people want phones and other devices instead dual screen phones is the way to do it even if not my ideal it would be possible besides PSVR being dual screens, TV, headset).

I'm not sure that we would have seen any more revisions of the system than the one we already got.

If you mean a next-gen Playstation handheld, I imagine it might not have been entirely dissimilar from something like the Switch Lite in terms of form factor. Maybe not an OLED screen, since they clearly moved away from that with the revised Vita, but certainly more similar to the SWOLED in terms of being more 'premium' in terms of its build quality from the get-go. And probably with a far less spartan user interface, apps, features, etc.

Vita was a very good piece of kit and even now, my Vita 2000 feels so much nicer in the hand than the 'Fisher Price' Switch Lite. Also, it is, pretty much, pocket sized.

I'm convinced that Sony pulling the plug on first party support was the main reason that the system failed. When the manufacturer says that they're not supporting their hardware any more, it's pretty much dead there and then.
Yes, the memory cards were ridiculously expensive but I suspect people like SanDisk and Lexar would've entered the market (similar to the Memory Stick Duo) and the prices would've come down, had the system survived.
Also, the lack of a PSP-supporting UMD accessory was a problem, as Sony's digital support of PSP titles was (and still is!) laughable. Original Vita had an extra expansion port at the top but no-one ever knew what it was for but I think we can guess.

PS Portal exists! 😊

@PSPortalRules Yes it is even if it's not that exciting it is 'what they planned to do next' and does answer the question posed.

Also great username.

Exactly what they said with the Vita when they stopped supporting it first party wise. We have to compete with mobile, and western third parties because they moved to mobile (and won't back us up, aka same with PSVR2 it seems them supporting Meta or other headsets with a good enough userbase instead of building up one because their lazy and hate that low of risk) and not many people care for Japanese games or Indies, we will let them support the system with a niche audience but we ourselves aren't willing to scale our games down to the Vita/make unique ones for it. In a manner of speaking.

The PS Portal exists to not be developed for. We can take or leave that of course depending if for kids, or adults in general off the TV during a tv show, sports game, off the TV in general (which isn't likely but 2 things going on a once makes more sense), out and board places with good WiFi, people at night playing, The possibilities are there for those interested.

Unlike the Nintendo where while the Wii U lacked in areas of functionality or did what it could for the time too (I like the Wii U regardless of it's limits in potential and fun library) (and over time lost support for some services) and the games they tried crossovers and more (and Nintendo's design could or could not have been impossible to push further on the Wii U hardware due to the failure of it so less care to support it while Xbox One did some things with more power (or Windows 8/8.1 did as well with dual apps/dual windows and we see Quick Resume).

While Sony didn't support dual screens or asymmetrical gaming much. Sure 1 vs 4 but in terms of PSVR or Vita/Phones/tablets we saw in Playroom, Playroom VR, Playlink games we saw some stuff but not much going forward just experiments. Which Everybody 1-2 Switch does Playlink style later with phones on Switch in a way.

At least remote play they always have supported even if they struggle to market it well the audience that does care has their care for it/not care for the Portal and that's fine. But for handheld fans it's a bit disappointing.

As far as casting PS5 games to another screen it's fine. But no cloud yet (we predict it will later once Sony gets those services ready).

The Vita had PS Now briefly, a library, remote play with PS3 a few games and most if not all PS4 games it's just depending on the support it differed and well with games that have no button rebinding they were unplayable in a way.

We saw the Android in 2019 app, iPhone and backbone 2023. So thing s have come about of remote play options by now and that's fine.

Sony's decision with the Portal makes total sense as they don't want a hardware flop like the Vita (to me it wasn't a flop they have MP3 players and phones for enthusiasts/niche audiences. PSVR2 is niche. Sony changed course with the Vita, the Dreamcast got releases till 2007 regardless of Sega pulling out on console production and games. Sony kept making the Vita in Japan and stopped production in other countries and let remote play stay on Vita it's whole life that's pretty dedicated I'd say.

It had Indies/Japanese games and I'm good there I don't play the major third party western games that much anyway so the Vita suited me first or third party western games at least for PS4+ era IPs their hit and miss for me in appeal personally).

But at the same time a TV app like Xbox did with Samsung made more sense than a streaming box they cancelled and only had the prototype and well Sony makes hardware so I get the Portal doesn't make it less satisfying because the Wii U and Vita and Xbox's second screen were more exciting then the Portal.

As hardware and remote play improvements it's probably good but phones will surpass it eventually so depending how relevant it can do what it can do we will see.

I use all 3 platforms but I do wonder what they will use the hardware for with games/apps/tech demos. Sony keeps remote play going and that's awesome but it doesn't mean I don't prefer other directions to take it.

I mean I said all 3's methods in 2012 after all so I did wonder how they'd go from there.

Think Sony should have just concentrated on a PSP-2 - no one knew what a Vita was.

The rear touchpad was a total failure, was not needed and is probably the reason why no Vita games have been added into the PS+ libraries.

PSP-2 should have kept things simple: two clickable analogue sticks (L3 & R3), two shoulder buttons per side (giving L1, L2, R1, R2), a connector to support an attachable UMD drive to give backwards compatibility with all PSP games, and a chunkier shape to mimic the Dual Shock design. Screen could've been higher resolution at that size (should've been closer to 720p).

@sanderson72 PS Vita TV had Dualshock 3 & 4 use the thumbsticks clicked in to go to touchpad/frontpad mode. They can they just know they won't get played as much or have PS3/PSP/PS4 versions for many to focus on instead of playable/selling any different. The effort they don't want to spend time on. Sure Golden Abyss would be nice but maybe the PS3 like reputation of not blowing them up or don't scaling them no idea.

AR camera stuff with Tearaway happened on the PS4 camera after all. They can work around things. It's if they care to.

The backtouchpad works well, if you actually use is. Think about it toggling sprint in Borderlands 2 easy, no press, no hold a brief touch and move on. Sure for other games more casual and particular but still 'if you use it you get it or tolerate it/hate it' I get that I don't think it's a perfect feature by any means. But I'm not going to say I want the same controller design for years either.

Clickable sticks would be nice yes. If we had L3/R3 as like Dualsense Pro controller then maybe? A UMD drive would have been nice or convertor to convert to digital but as working around physical and digital there no idea. Companies wouldn't do it but at a kiosk or something or sent into Sony maybe? The different versions thing gets awkward on the company side then what we want to benefit us as customers but never hated the disk drive addons for consoles/handhelds as an idea.

The Vita yes failed due to marketing/knowing about it I never did other than GA LP footage or youtubers. Around 2017 but also it had a niche audience, western third parties went mobile and gave up like PSVR2, like Wii U like anything the risk taking adverting types they are.

720p/800p or whatever is fine I think but then again sometimes they are too big. I know we won't get pocketable anymore that's for sure. Phones or handhelds. Battery life also to be good.