We love the Vita, if for the wrong reasons. The console is sagging in sales, memory card prices (even after a price drop) are astonishingly high, its “sequel” features an LCD screen instead of OLED, and that Vita TV thing? Locked to Japan.
So why was 2013 so gracious to this handheld?
If you have not owned Vita, there are exclusive renditions of key franchises in Killzone and Uncharted. There are excellent PlayStation 3 ports in the likes Sly Cooper, Injustice, Mortal Kombat, or the Jak & Daxter Collection. You can find original works like Tearaway, Unit 13, and Gravity Rush. And those are not even considering the wealth of potential sitting as digital exclusives, from PSN to PlayStation Mobile titles.
Oh, and cross buy, cross saves, plus second screen connectivity/streaming. It does it all.
Do not take this the wrong way. Nintendo’s 3DS is on fire within the handheld market. If you are looking to purchase any new console and have yet to pick up a 3DS (XL preferred), your funds should be steered toward Nintendo’s long held domain. But, the next purchase should not be Xbox One or PlayStation 4. Even the Wii U, which is slowly entering the veins of “must own,” should be superseded by Sony’s Vita.
Sony crafted a device with many faces. Unfortunately, those faces were artificial masks initially. Now the handheld unit has carved its niche and proudly wears its own identifying face. We can forgive titles which existed just to exist (Resistance, we’re looking at you) because something has come along to cover up errors in rushed judgment. The system’s unique abilities are no longer exploited just because; they’re situated as integral elements which scream, “This can only be done on Vita.”
This unit does not deserve to die because of internet pessimism, nor should it just be considered a second tier device for PlayStation 4 owners. Right now, Vita’s library has surpassed anything Sony has been able to muster on PlayStation 4 – and in quantity. Is it fair to judge a console with only weeks of availability to a miniaturized console with a clear head start? No, but consider those people spending $400 on currently limiting PlayStation 4 could snatch a portable for $200 with a richer, deeper library. It’s a shame the system seems to have dwindling fan and press support. Vita is better than that, and 2013 was a proving ground.
