I really want another handheld from Sony – from the looks of things, I’m in the minority (a very small minority at that). The dedicated gaming handheld space has taken quite a step plunge since their lofty heights since the last generation. The culprit is most likely the growing handheld and tablet market. Nintendo seems fine despite all this thanks to their software lineup and the variety of price points available on their many available models. They made a model at $100 after launching and struggling at the $250 price point. I think they learned their lesson. Sony, on the other hand, is yet to figure out their place in this space. The question remains – do they actually have one?
The PSP and Vita were both powerful at launch when compared to their concurrent Nintendo handhelds. Instead of competing with Nintendo for the younger audience, they chose instead to pursue power and a “handheld console experience”. Their focus was older gamers that had historically preferentially supported them on home consoles. The PSP had a better fate in terms of sales because at that time, there were still quite a few developers in Japan willing to make games in this space. But once these guys moved on to mobile devices, they began to suffer and Sony was unable/unwilling to support their Vita handheld with their own studios. It comes as no surprise that the Vita has struggled. It failed because it failed to deliver on its promise of a console – style gaming handheld. The lack of support in Japan coupled with the inability to woo western developers to the handheld meant that they have struggled out of the gate.
To their credit, they have managed to salvage the console for some fans by aggressively pursuing indie developers. While many deride these attempts with derogatory titles such as “indiestation”, it was a welcome surprise for me. I’ve never been a PC gamer nor have I been a fan of indie games but suddenly, I had a slew of these games in my pocket with me at all times at some very attractive price points. I’m in love. I have games that range from Spelunky, Guacamele, and Resogun in my pocket on a hardware platform that makes sense for me. I can’t imagine playing Spelunky on a pc or console, but it’s a joy on a handheld where I can quickly pause, put to sleep and then resume.
Unfortunately, I’m in the minority. Nobody seems to be impressed and the Vita just trudges along quietly yet impressively. I had hoped that PC gamers would be attracted to the idea of having their games on a handheld, but the response thus far has been a solid “meh!” So the question remains - Is there an audience for the high-end gaming handheld? I’m thinking that the answer is a resounding no. When an impressive game is made, the response is to compare it to the console version. When simpler indie games are brought forth the attitude is dismissive. With the casual market lost to the mobile sector, there isn’t enough of an audience to take chances and increase variety on the platform.
I love the Vita and its library of games, but I think the writing is on the wall. It would be a very pleasant surprise to have a successor, but the lack of first party studio support and the migration of some of them to the PS4 mean that Sony’s interest in a successor is marginal at best. I highly doubt that indie games alone can support a handheld device. I for one will greatly miss Sony’s efforts to entertain me at work.
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
i think that's the end of dedicated handhelds for sony. Remote play will e via their phones and tablets. hopefully we get a phone with full controls (xperia play successor), but that's doubtful at this point.
Sony's willful negligence has possibly ruined any chance of a future handheld. The cash cow juggernaut that is mobile games will continue to grow and dominate the market space. Our last hope is Nintendo but with their insistence on using first party titles, any hope for a handheld with a balanced library like the PSP is gone.
The next handheld (if there is one) will likely just be a cheap ($50 or so) shell that lets you play PS Now games and allow consoles to also stream to it.
I wouldn't expect anymore than that.
Sony read the market wrong and tried to capitalize on the success of Nintendo's handheld, (just like they tried with motion controls by Nintendo). What they didn't anticipate was the absolute dominance of the smartphone and how it would pretty much replace any need for a dedicated handheld.
Nintendo not only appealed and catered to the mobile casual but also their core gamers. They didn't alienate anyone unlike Vita where Sony promoted it as just for the core gamer. There's just not enough time for the average person outside of the home to dedicate to hardcore games.
The Vita is still capable device and a great companion for the PS4. But now that Sony is investing heavy in game streaming there's definitely no need to make a new handheld.
I love my Vita. If they made a really sexy looking Vitaphone I would buy it. That seems to be the direction handhelds are going to have to go now. The iphone 6+ is ridiculously huge. You could make a phone about that size with physical controls and it would be awesome. I know Sony kind of lost their shirt in mobile so it probably won't happen, but I'd like to see it.