When asked about PlayStation Vita and it’s future, Shuhei Yoshida, Sony’s Worldwide Studios President, shed some light on Sony’s plans for the handheld. Sadly, it was not news that Vita lovers wanted to hear.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t say we will have big AAA Vita games from first party,” Shuhei told IGN in an interview. The statement, while not surprising, is a tad disheartening to hear. It comes as no shock since Sony hasn’t given the support the Vita needs in quite some time. He went on to explain that there will still be Vita games coming from third-party and indie developers.
The only game announced for both PlayStation 4 and Vita at Sony’s E3 press conference was the Square-Enix title, World of Final Fantasy. For those that missed the conference, Vita only received a slight mention in a sizzle reel from Sony itself.
In the interview, Shuhei explains the situation surrounding the Vita was similar to what happened to the PlayStation Portable (PSP):
“When we launched PSP, [it was] a big deal for people to be able to play PS2-quality games on the go on a portable. And that was great,” he explained. “But after that, when PS3 was announced, and people’s expectations for the high end graphics were raised above and beyond what PSP was able to handle. Those big titles and 3D graphics and action-adventure shooters are easier to play on a big TV. So the same things [were] going to happen, and are happening.”
While there may be some truth to this, Sony did no favors to help keep the second iteration of their portable gaming system alive when it was new.
Shuhei told IGN that it was better to let smaller games thrive on Vita since they don’t “require that PS4 tech to make the game fun.”