The PlayStation Vita is the odd-duck of the PlayStation line. It had impressive hardware, features, and specs for a device of its kind, was relatively affordable on paper, and was following up the very successful PlayStation Portable. Unfortunately, overpriced memory cards, non-existent marketing, and poor third party support resulted in the console not dying, but rather going into a sort of comatose state. Games are actually still releasing for it, and for a while, it became a good home for a variety of indie titles, and small Japanese games. But Sony has gradually de-emphasized the Vita in subsequent years, dismantling it piece by piece with the closure of services and discontinuation of physical games.
Perhaps the biggest crime, was the lack of software from Sony themselves. SCE Worldwide Studios gradually focused less and less on the Vita until abandoning it just 3 years into its life in favor of the PS4. Sony's final physical release for the system, Freedom Wars, came out just 3 years into its life. It didn't help that many of Sony's most popular teams didn't want to make games for it. Unlike Nintendo EPD, WWS is comprised of disparate teams scattered across the globe, so getting all of them to believe in a platform/feature and share information with each other is more difficult. So while the likes of Media Molecule and Sony Japan will experiment with something like the Vita, Don't expect Naughty Dog, Guerilla flagship, or Sucker Punch to do anything with it.
The lack of first party support with the Vita was a problem, because it made the system's lackluster third party support stand out like a sore thumb compared to other PS systems. With Nintendo, they could at least get their teams to prop up the console to disguise that fact, as was the case with the 3DS, GameCube, N64, and Wii U. But Sony couldn't even be bothered to ask many of their top studios to at least set-up secondary handheld teams to work on Vita games. So instead of trying to salvage the Vita and make it at least a more successful console than it ended up being, they just threw their hands up too early, and went all in on PS4.
Perhaps the biggest crime, was the lack of software from Sony themselves. SCE Worldwide Studios gradually focused less and less on the Vita until abandoning it just 3 years into its life in favor of the PS4. Sony's final physical release for the system, Freedom Wars, came out just 3 years into its life. It didn't help that many of Sony's most popular teams didn't want to make games for it. Unlike Nintendo EPD, WWS is comprised of disparate teams scattered across the globe, so getting all of them to believe in a platform/feature and share information with each other is more difficult. So while the likes of Media Molecule and Sony Japan will experiment with something like the Vita, Don't expect Naughty Dog, Guerilla flagship, or Sucker Punch to do anything with it.
The lack of first party support with the Vita was a problem, because it made the system's lackluster third party support stand out like a sore thumb compared to other PS systems. With Nintendo, they could at least get their teams to prop up the console to disguise that fact, as was the case with the 3DS, GameCube, N64, and Wii U. But Sony couldn't even be bothered to ask many of their top studios to at least set-up secondary handheld teams to work on Vita games. So instead of trying to salvage the Vita and make it at least a more successful console than it ended up being, they just threw their hands up too early, and went all in on PS4.
