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PS Vita was a revolutionary iteration of PlayStation's portable lineup. It was preceded by PlayStation Street which hyped up the fans and set the stage for PlayStation Vita's launch in Japan in 2011. This hit the overseas market in 2012. It was a technical marvel and a complete gaming console more advanced than the available smartphones.
The PlayStation Vita was followed by its Slim version and the PS TV. After this, Sony remained completely dormant for a whole decade until recently. They came up with a new handheld gaming console called the PlayStation Portal. It is not a standalone console but rather a remote-play companion for the PlayStation 5.
This article presents a comprehensive study of the two handheld innovations of Sony. We bring up memories and nostalgia and mix a little bit of modernity along with it. Let's look at what these two handhelds offer and how they fundamentally differ from each other.
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What essentially was the PS Vita?
The PlayStation Vita was the most technologically advanced handheld gaming console ever released by Sony. It shipped with two analog sticks on each side of the display. The back panel had a touch-sensitive layer which added further interactive controls. It had a 6-axis motion sensor along with front and rear cameras which had features like head tracking and face detection.
The screen was a capacitive touch OLED display with 544p resolution. It was better than the display of many smartphones. The Vita shipped with 3G functionality along with WiFi and GPS. The UMD disc was replaced by an SD card system. Even the materials were upgraded to metal and a glass finish. It hyped up the fans all over the world.
However, the PS Vita failed massively. PlayStation Vita and its Slim version combined sales of only 16 million units which seems meager in front of the 82 million units of the PSP versions combined. So what caused it to fail miserably despite being launched at $330, almost $70 lower than what the PSP was launched at? Let's get into that.
Why did the PS Vita Fail?
Despite promising big titles like Uncharted and Persona 4, that could be played on Day 1, the PlayStation Vita didn't leave the store shelves. The failure of the console can be attributed to four factors which are gimmicky features, faulty pricing, changing technological dynamics, and a lack of games from developers.
Gimmicky Features:
The PlayStation Vita was launched with features like the touch-sensitive back panel and head tracking cameras which promised augmented reality gaming but never really delivered on that promise. There weren't many use cases for these features. Sony could have shaved these features to bring down the price of the handheld console which brings up the next point.
Faulty Pricing:
The PlayStation was launched at $330 which seemed great considering that the PSP was launched at $400 but there was a catch. Sony sold the SD cards, that were supposed to go inside it, separately. The prices of those cards maxed out at $100 for the 64 GB version. This was pricy for gamers and felt like a deliberate tactic from Sony to make the money they had to shave down from the PS Vita.
Changing technological dynamics:
The PS Vita was beaten by the Nintendo's 3DS launching first into the market. Smartphones were popularising the market as well. The hardcore Nintendo fans bought the 3DS while the people who bought smartphones enjoyed gaming on the smartphone itself. PS Vita was only brought by Sony fans who were not many compared to the Nintendo fans.
On top of that only Japan got the PS Vita in 2011. The rest of the world got their hands on it in 2012 which was already too late. The hype for the new PS4 was building up and people focused more on that. The PS Vita lost the attention of gamers faster than it had garnered previously.
Lack of game development:
The developers seeing that PS Vita has already lost the attention didn't feel the need to develop games for it anymore. They too shifted their focus to the upcoming PS4. As a result, the game library came crashing down with only a handful of games developed especially for the PS Vita. Later on, it started getting used just as a companion for the PS4.
What is the new PlayStation Portal and how is it different?
The PlayStation Portal is the latest iteration of Sony's handheld gaming consoles. However, it is not a handheld gaming console per se but rather a handheld device that can play games streaming from the PlayStation 5. It is not capable of gaming on its own. It is essential to own a PS5 to play games on the PlayStation Portal.
It features a large 8-inch 1080p display with controllers on either side of the screen. It is essentially a PS5 controller with a large screen on it. It has the same controller features as that of the PS5 controller. With it, you can stream your PS5 games onto this device with minimal lag. However, you need a fast internet connection to do so.
Unlike the PS Vita, it doesn't want to replace any existing tech rather wants to make the experience of PS5 gaming more streamlined and enjoyable. It adds flexibility and experience to an already enjoyable console gaming experience. PS Vita acts as a gush of nostalgia into the past whereas the PS Portal reminds us about the modern technological era we have stepped into.
PS Portal vs Nintendo Switch vs Steam Deck: How do they compete?
All of the three gaming handhelds target a separate segment of the market. The PS Portal comes as an add-on to the already enjoyable PS5 experience. It essentially acts like a cloud streaming service for the PS5. It mirrors the screen of the PS5 to bring the complete PS5 gaming experience wherever you go provided you have a fast internet connection.
Nintendo's Switch caters to the hardcore Nintendo fans and other casual gamers. It is a complete handheld gaming console that runs on Nintendo's ecosystem. It also doubles down as a console when you are at home and want to connect it with your TV. Nintendo has always maintained its share of the market due to its vibrant library of games.
Legend of Zelda series, Super Mario series, Animal Crossing series, Pokemon series, Donkey Kong series, etc are all Nintendo exclusives. These games trigger our nostalgia and come clumped up with our childhood memories. Nintendo's Switch doesn't exactly compete with other handhelds. It owns a separate market base of its own and gradually adds to it with every new Nintendo release.
Valve's SteamDeck is a recent venture of Valve to enter into the handheld gaming market. Steam Deck is a handheld console that runs on Windows's ecosystem. It was made to run all the PC games that are available on the market. Be it an Xbox game or a PS5 game. If it is available to play on the PC, it is available to be played on the SteamDeck.
These devices cater to separate niches of the market. They weren't exactly made to compete with each other but to capture their own separate market share. They were meant to grow the handheld gaming market attracting more gamers rather than targeting each other's fans.
Read More: Why Sony's PlayStation Portal doesn't make sense?
PS Vita vs PS Portal: Which is the more successful handheld?
The PlayStation Vita was launched with a lot of hardware and software innovations. It had hyped up the fans all over the world. If only they had done some things right, the Vita would have attracted a lot of the fanbase. However, their inability to keep up the hype cost them that opportunity selling only 16 million units worldwide.
The Portal on the other hand adds to the experience of PS5 gaming. So technically all the PS5 fans are its consumer base. The PS5 has sold almost 60 million units in today's date. These 60 million users are the only gamers that the Portal can attract. Moreover, the PS Portal doesn't have any fanbase, the fans actually belong to the PS5.
Moreover, not every PS5 fan is interested in buying the Portal. Gamers enjoy gaming on the PS5 itself. Also, the Portal depends on the model of cloud gaming which in today's market is an unsuccessful. Cloud gaming comes with a lot of problems like connectivity issues, lag, and lack of ownership. PlayStation's Portal doesn't show that promise which the Vita did.
So, I would say PS Vita was a more successful handheld compared to the Portal. The situation could however change with technological developments. Cloud gaming could become fun one day. But as of now, I don't see the appeal of buying the PS Portal.
Can you emulate PSP and PS Vita games on the Portal?
According to a post by Google Engineer Andy Nguyen, the PS Portal could run PSP games using the PPSSPP emulator on the device itself. It was like an exploit that the engineers found out to make this possible. The post showed a PS Portal playing the GTA: Liberty Stories running on the Portal. The Twitter post garnered a lot of attention from the fans.
However, that exploit has been fixed by Sony. So there is no way to emulate PSP and PS Vita games on the Portal yet. But maybe someday some other engineer actually makes it possible or Sony themselves come up with a new handheld. The possibilities are endless which excites us gamers about what the future holds.
