Vita Continues To Struggle, Sony Admits Lack Of Developer Support
We like the PlayStation Vita, we really do. Just take a gander at our early-look review and you'll understand why; an impressive 5-inch OLED display, strength in performance and, finally, those long-awaited dual analogue sticks. But despite that, the Vita is a £200-odd purchase now haunting our bank balances. Why? The games just aren't there.
Hardware Review: PlayStation Vita
You have to give Sony credit. It takes a ballsy company to release major new hardware at a price upwards of £200 in such economically difficult times (and at a time where we're constantly reminded of the games industry's troubling outlook), but it takes even more confidence to launch hardware that, essentially, swims against the tide of current gaming trends. In a market now chock-full of often-shallow social games, 59p Apps for mobile devices and free-to-play triple-A titles, it's an immensely risky strategy to put so much marketing grunt and belief behind a portable gaming machine in which off-the-shelf titles are priced comparatively to their console equivalents, and where going all-in for the hardware is likely to cost much more than buying another home console.
Call Of Duty Is Coming To Vita This Autumn, Black Ops 2 Listed On Amazon
A game talked up to be a potential ‘system seller’ is one thrown around all too often for our liking. Sure, Resistance might well be an enjoyable, if slightly mediocre, Sony-exclusive first-person-shooter. But a system seller? LittleBigPlanet, though adored by us and many Sony fans alike, is unlikely to be considered in the same vein as God Of War, Gran Turismo or Uncharted when trying to summate what it is has allowed the PS3 to claw back Xbox 360’s early sales success. A ‘system seller’ by rights doesn’t come around too often, but when it does it can make all the difference in the world. Now confirmed for the autumn, Call of Duty’s debut on the Vita might well be (and we believe it definitely will be) Sony's crowning glory for its follow-up to the PlayStation Portable (PSP).
Rant: UMD Passport? I don't want to pay for my games again!
The somewhat thorny issue of backwards compatability on the PS Vita has been solved. Users now have the opportunity to download their old games via a UMD passport, offering the titles you already have at discounted prices off the Playstation Store.