Will Sony Enter the Handheld Market again? PS Vita Successor?

BLUEVOODU · March 04, 2018, 04:57:44 PM

Will there be a PS Vita Successor? Will Sony Ever enter the handheld market again?/

I personally dig my Playstation Vita. I've played it quite a bit... PSN integration is done very well with trophies, messaging and all. In fact, I like the format, design and layout.

Personally, I hope Sony decides to release something else. I think Handhelds are the way of the future... at least very portable systems. The Switch in my opinion is the future. In manufacturing, we now run much smaller systems (fanless machines - super small terminals). I'll create a topic on this later.

Post it up!

targetrasp · March 04, 2018, 05:32:47 PM

I think its a toss up. Handhelds have a role, as well as home consoles. This hybrid idea is interesting and could take over both markets but I'd be disappointed. It'd be like gaming on a laptop. The screen will always be smaller, there will always be power trade offs, and it's always more expensive to make similar components smaller. I love the switch but its not my primary console.

A ton of others feel different, and there's even a charter spectrum commercial making fun of my sentiment. The pitchman is talking about all these different ways to watch their cable service and when he mentions on the tv the kids laugh at him. My daughter has a huge tv in her room but she still watches netflix on her iPad and probably hasn't turned her cable box on in a year.

retro junkie · March 04, 2018, 11:19:58 PM

If Sony does have a successor, they need to reinvent the way they approach portable gaming. Support on their part would have made the Vita very big in the handheld market. The way it was treated by Sony and it still had the impact, that it did in gaming, says a lot for the possibilities it had as a portable. Sony could have made it as big as the PS3 and PS4. All it needed was a little of their attention. It was being mostly kept alive by a trickle of imports and indie games. If that is still happening. Hard for me to tell. There is really no activity in my town's gaming stores, except for a few used games being offered. I don't think the console is being manufactured any more, is it? I really don't want them to bring anything out if they are just going to kill it after it is released.
I miss what my Vita used to be.

I think there is room for a second portable in the market. I have a PSP and a Vita. I would be more than willing to invest in a Vita 2.

BLUEVOODU · March 05, 2018, 09:49:36 PM

I agree... Sony missed out on a BIG opportunity. They had a great concept - and knocked it out of the park with the PSN integration... syncing trophies... and being able to have mobile friends / users lists. Heck... I would do all my messaging from the Vita because it was 5x more convenient.

@ Target,... I honestly think that's the way consoles will be in the future. Like the Switch Concept. I called that about 5-7 years ago. NOW... will it look exactly like it? No... but I seriously think large consoles aren't long for the world... and companies are continually figuring out how to push more into less. Graphics cards will be the hardest part - to keep up with consoles and high end GPU processing in a smaller package.

Mai Valentine · March 09, 2018, 09:58:37 PM

They could have a chance but they really have to work on battery life. Personally that was always my #1 issue with Sony handhelds.

BLUEVOODU · March 10, 2018, 03:10:38 PM

Yeah, Sony's battery life wasn't the greatest. I agree. The systems did charge fast though.

Outside Nintendo, no one... and I mean no one has every got the battery life equation correct. I guess NeonGeo Pocket color did. Let me rephrase... no one what backlit screens.

BLUEVOODU · August 23, 2018, 06:50:43 PM

I know it's been awhile. Any other thoughts on this?

Personally I'd really like to see another Vita. More remote play capabilities - Maybe even switch-style of play. Remote play was a great idea. It wasn't a perfect translation but a good attempt in most cases.

Oled - yes please.

retro junkie · August 23, 2018, 11:20:57 PM

OLED is a must have for any new Sony portable. I love my OLED Vita.

BLUEVOODU · November 04, 2018, 02:05:15 PM

@retro junkie you know... I've really looked into the Playstation Vita OLED once you said this... I thought I about upgrading. I think I'll create a topic on the OLED PlayStation Vita. Some love it and others do not due to colors shown.

I dig OLED for the most part... so this is an interesting topic. They really should look amazing IMO.

BLUEVOODU · March 31, 2019, 10:46:25 PM

I'm reviving this topic.... I was thinking about the PSP and PSVita today. We haven't heard anything from Sony... which makes me think their handheld attempts are dead.

I'd love to see thing bring a new entry to market. Would I buy it? yes. I bought the PSP original as well as the PS Vita. Sony had a great handheld format with the PS Vita. The remote play features were pretty cool as well. There were a few issues with games such as Call of Duty... but they could fix that with future successors by updating their controller layout to be more like a PlayStation Dual Shock Controller.

Thoughts / Comments? Post it up!

retro junkie · April 01, 2019, 06:08:48 PM

Just my thoughts on the subject. I think the real question is, what is viable for the present state of gaming in the marketplace? I fear that the Nintendo Switch has changed everything and Nintendo has killed their cash cow. (Replaced by a prize bull.) Really, what market is there for a portable at this point? Those gamers that you would not want to fork out $300 for, and then hand to them the Switch. A young audience, maybe. And how big of a market share would that be? What age group would we be looking at? Nintendo has always reigned as king in portable gaming. Sony has only been able to get a chunk of that pie. I don't think Sony is willing to step out onto that limb anymore, especially with the success of the Switch. Unless Sony can do a "me too" thing. Nintendo on the other hand will need to assess the situation that the Switch has created. I am hoping and thinking that they have something in the wings to fill that void soon. The last time I checked into it, the 3DS, its support, was waning with little being released in the way of games. Nintendo would have to be sure of themselves that the market was big enough to continue with a system pointed toward the younger gamer. I would be standing in line with all those kids, I like the portable price point, which would need to be low enough to entice parents.

I would love to have another PSP Vita thingy from Sony. But I am not sure they are even considering. Any rebuttals? Any new insight?

Someone please have a rebuttal! Give me a little hope!

targetrasp · April 01, 2019, 06:52:16 PM

i'm not hopeful, I mean I love handhelds but the psp hurt my hands after any extended play and I never bothered getting a vita. Nintendo for the win

BLUEVOODU · November 19, 2019, 11:08:28 PM

@retro junkie I'm not sure there is a rebuttal to this one... honestly, I Think they would've released information on it by name. MAYBE they'll release it with the PlayStation 5 though. There's always that hope.

I really liked the remote play features... though sometimes the controls didn't map perfectly...

@targetrasp I had the same issue with PSP and sometimes with 3DS. I didn't have the same issues with the PlayStation Vita though. They really played well.. I still play mine here and there. There's a decent library of games on it!