It looks like the PlayStation Vita was the last handheld gaming console that was made by Sony, as the company now confirms that they will not be making any handheld gaming systems. The company has confirmed that they are not interested in staying in the handheld business any longer.
In a recent interview with Game Informer, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan said that Sony is not going to be making handheld gaming consoles in the future, and are focused on the next-gen PlayStation 5.
PlayStation Vita was brilliant in many ways, and the actual gaming experience was great, but clearly it’s a business that we’re no longer in now.
It makes sense that the company is focused on the PlayStation 5, especially considering that the next-gen consoles are going to make an appearance next year, and how good PlayStation 4 turned out for Sony. It is arguably the best selling Sony console brand that crossed the 100 million units sold mark back in July this year.
It is still unfortunate and will disappoint a lot of fans that were familiar with PlayStation Vita and the PSP. The Vita was officially dead when its production in Japan was stopped earlier this year. The console was first launched in Japan back in 2011, followed by a launch in North America and Europe shortly afterward. Over the years, the company had been showing less and less support for the console while it lasted over several years. It was also recently announced that February was also going to be the last game that the console would be receiving any free games for March for PS Plus membership.
PlayStation Vita and it’s demise is always an open debate. While many blame the company or not using the console to its full potential with continuous support, to others calling it unfair to captivate the attention of the increasingly smart phone-obsessed market. The final blow was when the Vita lacked software for the high cost that it was sold for.
However, one of the biggest problems with PS Vita was its memory. The memory cards were very expensive and the fact that you had to switch Memory Cards just to use different IDs on the same console was very impractical. The console’s architecture was pretty complex as well which did not facilitate porting games to it as well which led to a lot of titles skipping out the Vita.
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