The PS Vita is arguably one of the best-designed handheld gaming devices out in the market. It also has quite a set of features that can make some of the most amazing smartphones out there envious. So why then isn’t the PS Vita a runaway hit? It’s because not too many developers are interested in making games, according to Sony.
No matter how good your gaming device is, there’s no way it will survive if it doesn’t have an awesome collection of games to support it. That’s what Sony is finding out with the PS Vita, a truly top-tier portable gaming device that somehow just didn’t light the gaming world on fire the way Sony expected it to. Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida admits his disappointment and surprise at the lack of support from third-party developers:
“One thing that was surprising and disappointing to us was the [lower] number of third parties to come out [in support] after launch.
“…In retrospect, there are so many options for publishers now that we cannot take it for granted that our new platform would be supported by third parties, like [it would’ve been] many years ago.”
Unsurprisingly, Yoshida believes that developers are missing out. He’s on a mission to convince them that the PS Vita is the perfect platform to develop games for:
“We’ve been working harder with our third party relations department to secure more content for PS Vita, We are confident that we have the right hardware platform that we have with PS Vita.”
So what’s in store for the PS Vita? Well, aside from wooing more third-party developers to create games for the device, Sony intends to use their internal resources, such as Naughty Dog and Sony Santa Monica, to create impressive new content that would show to the world what the PS Vita is capable of and why third parties should scramble to make games for it:
“As we can expand our install base and articulate what works really well on the platform as compared to others, it will get easier for us to be able get support from third parties. We create our content, and that can be used to evangelize some functionalities of the platforms for third party purposes.”
While it may all sound like a lot of chest-beating and promises, I think it’s still good to know that Sony is trying to get more attention to the PS Vita. Some people think that smartphones are slowly taking over handheld gaming but I don’t think that dedicated portable gaming devices like the PS Vita can be completely replaced just yet. There’s still nothing on Google Play or Apple store that can match games like Uncharted or God of War, titles that true gamers appreciate and are constantly on the look out for. I think Sony is on the right track of trying to get more of those on the PS Vita. They just need do it a little faster.
Do you think more games are all the the PS Vita needs to succeed? What else does Sony need to do to keep their handheld gaming device in the spotlight? Opinions are welcome in the comments below!
[via Gamasutra]