PS Vita

Nearly two years since its original launch, the PlayStation Vita finds itself in a bit of a strange spot. The console has amassed a reasonable selection of must-play games, with Soul Sacrifice, Killzone: Mercenary, and the absolutely exceptional Tearaway among the highlights – but it’s still struggling to set the sales charts alight. Despite this, Sony hopes that the device will continue to carve out a niche as both a standalone gaming machine, and a companion for the PlayStation 4.

“It's not the biggest seller that we've ever had, but it is still a very much loved and much respected machine,” said SCEUK boss Fergal Gara in an interview with Digital Spy. “It's now far more keenly priced, it's becoming more of a digital machine in terms of more and more rich digital content becoming available for the machine, and most importantly, it becomes a very strong companion for the PS4.”

He continued: “We believe that that feature is very compelling; it doesn't matter what we think, it matters what gamers think, and as of tonight they get a chance to try it and give us their feedback, and we're hopeful that that feedback will be good and therefore [the system will have] a dual life from here on in, both as a standalone, very effective gaming machine and as a brilliant companion to the PS4.”

It strikes us that Sony’s pinning a lot of its hopes on the popularity of its next generation console to resurrect the fortunes of the handheld. It’s an interesting strategy, but it could work. Almost anyone that actually gets their hands on one of the portable platforms tends to fall in love with it, so its flagship format could act as a Trojan horse to get more people to try the device out. What are your thoughts on this tactic? Send us a lifeline in the comments section below.

[source digitalspy.co.uk]