Don't Hold Your Breath for a New PlayStation Handheld

so they finally realized they can't compete with Nintendo in the handheld department.

Im so disappointed in Sony. The Vita looked like it had such a great future ahead of it when it first launched. I was really expecting to see a vast library just like the PSP, but unfortunately this hasn't been the case. If more big name developers had supported the thing with quality software it really would have taken off. I was really hoping to see GTA and Syphon Filter make an appearance on the system, but thats not going to happen now

I'm just saying Nintendo has ALWAYS dominated in the handheld department. Look at the GameGear

I don't want a new vita or I don't think any current vita owners want one either. We want hits for current vita and a better library like the psp had. Need more quality titles. Sony doing crap for vita they gon do same crap with there sony vr just like they did to the move the vita and now the ps eye! I'm done buying there new products that they support like trash cans with crappy plastic bags.

That horrible FEEL when I read all of these "PS Vita is dying/dead" articles... ON A VITA!

@get2sammyb Yeah, but the DS was an outlier that only the PS2 has come close to matching.
It's like saying the PS3 was a failure because it didn't sell as many units as the Wii. The 3DS and PS3 are marketed as relatively hardcore systems whereas the DS and Wii were gaming's first and only successes at being all things to all people. A good 50% of all Wii owners only ever bought Wii Sports, and a sizeable chunk of DS owners only ever bought Brain Training and Professor Layton.

It's game over for handheld consoles. The mobile, not to mention the tablet market, has taken over the last couple of years.

Let's have companion apps, I love those. But anything else is a waste of time and money.

@get2sammyb your response is a tad misleading... The 3ds has sold moe than 50m units. That is phenomenal by ANY standards

It's the right call. Even if they made a good new system, I don't think they'd have the consumer confidence to make it work after the Vita. I'm not sure if this is the true end for portable PlayStation consoles though. They need to take at least a break for a generation, but who knows if they'll take another shot in 8-15 years. The market could be right then.

Good. As much as I love the Vita, I don't want to see Sony invest in ANOTHER handheld just to overprice it, under-support it, and watch it mocked and die a horrible death.

At this point, if it wasn't for Japan and indie developers, the Vita would be a dustbin. Sony flat-out abandoned the Vita in favor of PS4 and PlayStation VR. Making a new handheld would be a disaster. I mean, all of Sony's first-parties are working on PS4 now. What the hell would that leave for Vita's successor? More indies and remastered PS2 games?!

Honestly, it's done. Nintendo owns the handheld market and mobile devices never let the Vita have a chance. At this point, I'd rather just continue collecting PS Plus games for my Vita and using it for remote play while Sony focuses their efforts are making PS4 games now. It's better than Sony spreading themselves thin trying to make games for two platforms while losing millions (billions?) on a handheld no one will buy.

I gotta say, its smart for them to stay away. It sucks, but the writing is on the wall.

@get2sammyb Looks like 150 million DS sold vs 53 million 3ds sold. That's quite a drop.

I'm not suprised that Sony has no plans for a new handled. In my eyes the Vita and the PlayStation Tv had a lot of promise and it seemed like Sony just left it to die. Then again, I am not privy to all of the information that led Sony to treat it this way.

Good. Too bad Sony didn't come to this conclusion BEFORE Vita's failure. Handheld gaming is not where Sony excels, plain and simple. This is an area where Nintendo absolutely dominates. As strong as the PS4 is, I can't help but wonder if the PS brand's image would be even better without the PSP and Vita hanging over it either.

That's a shame - albeit an understandable decision.

I love the Vita. Design-wise, it's probably my all-time favourite handheld. I'm curious to see if the NX will continue the handheld tradition.

Hmmm. Let's hope the Vita is extra durable then. I still have a launch 3g model, and don't really like buying 2 of the same consoles, which is what i'll have to do if mine dies and Sony don't bring out a Vita 2.

@RaymanFan2

Dude you're so wrong. DS sold in over 153mln units where over 800mln games were sold on DS. That gives you over 5 games per user. It's the same about Wii where over 813mln games were bought. Once again that gives over 8 games per user. So stop saying such crappy things that "DS and Wii sold so much cause 50% of the users didn't buy anything except those casual games". They sold so well because those consoles broke the wall that was a complicated controller. it was easy to pick up and play. I tested it on my friends who barely play any video games and they caught really fast what they need to do.

For me. I have at least another 2 good years for the vita. After that i will see whats happening in the mobile space. At the moment games that are being release on smartphone are not my cup off tea.

Could Sony produce another phone/game hybrid again. I do seem to remember they had one where you could slide the top off and get controls. I think more powerful phone/gaming machines will be the future of mobile gaming.

I would single handedly keep the Vita afloat.... If the memory cards were bigger and cheaper.

The market is completely different now, although the 3DS can be considered a success, it is still no way near the original DS.
The Vita will be around for another 5-6 years and it'll be interesting where the market is going to be at that time. Those things change pretty much on a yearly basis.

@themcnoisy
What size memory card have you got? I recently got a 64gb card, it's great and made me fall in love with my vita all over again.

@Chrno-x
Source?

To be fair Sony were never going to release a new model considering they don't even support the Vita with software anymore. I've come to peace with the fact the Vita won't be getting anymore Sony support, there's still quality games coming out of Japan and the indie scene for it to keep me happy at least. Personally I would be delighted if they can get ps now to work "optimised" on the vita, that would bring a large new selection of games to play, just hope my internet will be up to it. I think it's the best we can hope for

I'd advise anybody not to bother with the Vita. It has so few games worth playing. I'd suggest the PS TV instead. It's cheaper and the majority of games can be played it on. Plus it has remote play functionality.

Glad to hear it. I want Sony to focus more on their PS4 juggernaut. Nintendo completely outclasses them in the handheld department, stick to your strengths.

Who plays mobile games? I just don't get how games on phones or tablets are selling so well. Every time I've tried, the lack of a controller just pisses me off. How can you play anything on tuch screen. I mean besides clicking on candy or jewels.

_{Language -Tasuki-}

With the rumours that Nintendo's NX will be a handheld / home console hybrid, it seems like this is going to be the final generation with dedicated handhelds. It's kind of sad, but I really see no other way in an era that's utterly dominated by mobile gaming.

The PSVita is an excellent handheld but SONY shouldn't bother doing another 1 i think. It's impossible for them to make 'AAA' for 2 different things at the same time & just think how even more better the PS2 & 3 & now 4 would of been if those PSP & PSVita games were just made for those home consoles(that is why i don't like VR to because like PS MOVE it just takes away game makers from making even more 'normal' brilliant games for home consoles) Oh well.

"while his team has enjoyed working on the system," Working on the system. Good one.

@get2sammyb Yes market has shrunk but it is still possible to sell 10s of millions of units shown by the 3DS which will likely finish off near 65-70 million, that is nothing to shrug at.

From what I've seen, Sony never really had been successful with handhelds, so it's probably for the best. The 3DS has done well, but not as well as its predecessor. With the handheld market changing due to mobile, I can definitely see more developers start to do home/handheld hybrid systems to compensate for the drop in market popularity.

@Picola You just basically shown why Nintendo's portable sales have fallen so low when selling less than what PSP did is considered good for Nintendo. Everyone always says the Vita is a failure because it didn't sale as good as the PSP well the 3DS didn't sale as good as the PSP either let alone the DS.

I think taking a step back for awhile, focusing on PS4 and PSVR, and then reapproaching the handheld market in 3-4 years once it has settled is their best option. Why force another product into the market? Oversaturation drives undergarnishment for profit across the board.

Sad news, but honestly, this is for the best. Sony has been improving their marketing substantially since the PS4 has released. It would be smart for them to focus most of their time and money into the system that is making them a profit. While I still love to play my VITA, I think most people can agree that a majority of the gaming community would be hesitant on buying another portable by SONY anytime soon after the poor performance, both in sales and support, of the VITA. Maybe further in the future we may see one, but for now, it's best for SONY to stick with the PS4.

@get2sammyb I don't necessarily disagree with you but last gens handheld sales growth was so huge that it could be considered more of an outlier than the norm and what the 3DS is currently pushing is more in line with the GBA which is nothing to scoff at. Sony could still find a place in the market they just need to reevaluate their approach and not flake when things get rough.

The Vita is actually my main console and I love it but I can see what he's saying...it makes sense they're not planning another portable console. I just hope the Vita stays around for a long time and gets more support.

I love this system, such a shame there won't be a successor to it. Hope the next Nintendo Handheld as at least as good of graphics.

@Gamer83 I get what your saying about PS's image and the Vita, but the PSP was sucessful, so why would PS's image be better without it?

Sony handhelds just never really clicked with me. When I got a PSP years ago I thought it was really cool, but got bored with it quick. I never wanted a Vita and I pretty much forgot that it even exist.

there is absolutely no need for another or a "new" Sony Handheld - imo the Vita can hold up for another years to come - imo it has so many excellent games on it and still coming up to be released that I really dont need a follow up console right now to be announced

@Feena totally agreed - I own PS4, One and WiiU, but the Vita is by far my number one console at the moment - I really hope Sony keeps up supporting it, since there are quite some releases we can look forward to in the near future ^^

@JesWood13 80 million PSPs sold is not a success?

But IGN told me that the Vita was going to be the next big thing and the 3DS was the doomed one !!

@Tasuki Nintendo is making mobile games and PS MOBILE was a thing until Sony pulled Android support and...what do you mean no one heard of it?

I don't think the market has changed. Last generation was just an exception. The GBA sold 80 million units, combine the sales of the 3DS and the Vita in a few years and I'm sure they'll be well over 80 million. And for good measure, the original GameBoy (+GBC) sold just under 120 million units, so if the combined sales of the 3DS and the Vita end up somewhere between 80 and 100 million, that would be just average. The casual crowd came and went. Mobile didn't necessarily ''hurt'' the handheld console sales, mobile caused the handheld sales to go back to what they were before the DS.

@consolfreak1982 we got a solid 2016 full of interesting releases from Japanese developers - beyond that we can only hope, but I'm strangely positive: the hardware is so good that we really don't need a new console and the development costs are now much more affordable than when it launched...

I really can't blame Sony for deciding not to invest any more money in dedicated handheld game machines. Any such device launched into North America would struggle to gain traction against smart phones and tablets. It does beg the question though of how Sony will handle the Japanese market in the future. In Japan handhelds are king. Are they going to allow Nintendo to take over the market share there or are they assuming that eventually the Japanese will also switch to gaming primarily on mobiles?

The mobile market is (bafflingly) large, but Sony made enough mistakes with the Vita that they should sit on the sidelines of portables for a bit. A powerful system, without enough support to develop the correspondingly complicated games, as well as a bad memory card decision doomed the thing. And I love mine.

There will always be a market for games that demand more from the player than jabbing at a touchscreen.