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Sony Admits It’s Struggling To Get Third-Party Support For PlayStation Vita

According to legendary Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto, the PlayStation Vita is a powerful piece of hardware but is struggling with sales because it lacks software. Sony Computer Entertainment executive Shuhei Yoshida also claims that Sony’s latest handheld needs more games.

Yoshida admits that Sony is having a hard time trying to attract third-party developers toward the PlayStation Vita. Sony is apparently trying to convince developers and publishers to bring their games to the PlayStation Vita. Are PlayStation Vita projects being moved to Wii U?

“We’re having a more difficult time than we had anticipated in terms of getting support from third-party publishers, but that’s our job.”

“We will continue to talk to development communities and publishing partners and tell them why [PlayStation] Vita can provide a great experience for the IPs they have and I hope the Assassin’s Creed game will prove that.”

231 thoughts on “Sony Admits It’s Struggling To Get Third-Party Support For PlayStation Vita”

      1. Davin (aka Platinum Lucario)

        The PSVita should’ve stayed on UMDs instead of changing to cartridges, UMDs are more cheaper to manufacture than cartridges. That way they would’ve had the ability to play Nintendo DS games, it doesn’t have to have a second screen to play them. The only way it’s gonna recover is by switching back to UMDs and lowering the price for the hardware and SDKs.

            1. Why do ppl hate sony i agree they are acting stupid marketing wise sometimes like ps3 in the beginning but they still have nice games i just enjoy nintendo and both sony consoles but i hope sony learned its lesson like nintendo did with 3ds

              1. I hate Sony’s business moves. they act stupid in the industry, like they release PS Move but i don’t see them supporting it that much, and the vita is another; they release it but it does not have a lot a support, they should have focus on the vita rather than ps3 in e3.

                What happen to the Sony i knew, the one that innovates?

              2. Nice Display pic. Agreed, I hope Sony learns the lesson and is willing to bite the bullet and fight hard to get the software to earn the console sales. But software doesn’t come without hardware, and hardware doesn’t sell without software. Tough spot.

              3. Most of the people here would probably love most of Sony’s games, but they want to ”get back” at the people on this site that keep bitching about Nintendo, which again is pretty damn childish.

                So basically the answer is: fanboyism.

          1. That’s like sayin money mayweather destroying Tyson in his prime hundreds what u think is going to happen

          1. Is everyone missing the point that this isn’t a Nintendo news? Is it considered Nintendo because Miyamoto sort of spoke about it?

        1. You’re one of the reasons I don’t like Microsoft, I don’t have a problem with any other company. However just because Microsoft is American, I see people being racist to Japanese people since Nintendo and Sony are Japanese. My other problems are that Microsoft is greedy making all online players pay, with so many people playing on Xbox live, Microsoft makes a ton of money. And Ness, please stop sucking up soo much to the trolls…

        1. It’s so sad you must expand your kingdom of bullying to the site itself, for posting articles you don’t like!
          You keep coming here, no one gives a shit about your opinion, yet you still come here…
          This is the most fun you’ve ever had! It goes to show the gameplay on all your mobile and PC platforms SUCKS, because you’d rather be here with us, than play you’re “Successful” game devices.

            1. what else is there for someone to assume? what other variable could you use to separate the two? handhelds are dedicated gaming platforms, and therefore in the same generations and consoles.

              1. Console and Handhelds are indeed in theyre own generation time line. There is a release date time line but when it comes to what each brought at different times is not only different in the time line but also unique.

    1. Of course there is. It’s referring to another company in the same league as Nintendo, meaning there is relevance.

  1. I own both the Vita and the 3DS. I love them both and approach both for specific types of games. I sincerely hope that Vita can get more support because the system is very impressive and a joy to play. There’s nothing wrong with Nintendo and Sony coinciding in peace.

    1. Sadly, idiot fanboys who call themselves “hardcore gamers” don’t get that. We’re the minorities here.

  2. That would be great for Wii U if the Vita games were moved to Wii U. Because then Vita would turn in to a complete failure, AND Wii U would also have even more games.

    1. Yeah, because healthy competition is just an awful thing. Nintendo should be the sole player in the market with no challenge to inspire innovation. Grow the fxck up.

      1. men i hate these kind of coments too, competition is %100 a “must be” but since ps3 from sony i don’t see any “competition” coming from sony they are doing what nintendo did with 64/gamecube, they make ps2 a glory console but moving on to next they just fucked up everything, i hope sony can come back with something good for ps4.
        nintendo, microsoft, sony need competition to upgrade and innovate instead of worrying about graphics and vita is nothing more than some good graphics.

      2. Nintendo didn’t have any competition during the GBA era, but did you see them monopolizing the market and not making innovations with their games? Even without competition, Nintendo delivered awesome and innovative games for cheap on the GBA.

        1. I don’t think people realise this. I mean there were other companies making consoles, but they weren’t given any attention. Nintendo dominated during that era and they still do, and with or without competition, they will continue to do so.

            1. Bandai developed the WonderSwan, and they are still around, and the other one was the Neo Geo Pocket Color, which was developed by SNK Playmore who were a company established in 1978 and are still going as a software developing company. Yet as you said, Nintendo had 100% control of the industry.

  3. Im not completely convinced the Vita is a lost cause, the ps3 had a terrible first 3 years, but then things starting pickin up again, but Sony lost ALOT of money. The Vita is the same story, at least at the moment.
    Sony needs to do play it safe next gen, the ps1 was weaker than the rest, and so was the ps2. But that meant the console was affordable, and Sony werent selling at lost, they could afford to give developers lost of money and oppertunites to make new games for their system. Bluray sis not end up like the big thing Sony expected it to be, and now theyre tied to it. I dont want to see Sony die as a gaming company, they do alot of great games, and ive own all the playstations, but if they keep giving into pressure from developers like Epic, to make these uber machines, and a CERTAIN fanbase, who only care about graphics, then the ps4 is going to be a disaster, and id rather not have that be the case. Make a console between $300-400, and dont make expensive handheld devices

    1. There’s nothing wrong with great graphics from companies like Epic and Crytek, but from a financial stance, graphics are the least important thing to promoting software. Games need to be fun, or else no one will buy them.

      1. I know, but theres a point where the big 3 companies have to say, “no, its too expensive”. Why are they letting Epic push them around, for an engine that its really that isnt a big leap on the previous one, and wont even run half as good on the next gen systems. Nintendo have always been about great games, and Sony were apart from the ps3 where they dropped the ball and though graphics were gona make a big difference, when they didnt. Sony need to wake up a realise that people dont buy consoles for huge specs, they buy it for the games and the services they provide. Microsoft wont give a fuck, they’ll just scrape as much money out of your ass they can get, like they always have, but Sony have the best selling system of all time, and another that wasnt far behind, all becase they had great software, and at an affordable price.

  4. I dont care. The vita ha potential but it didn’t live up to it’s hype an i hav money to spend elsewhere. Sony wow me or dont. My money goes to wii u

    1. i already have a 3ds and i pre purchased the 3dsxl i could buy the vita if i wanted to but too many issues with over heating bugs freezes and crashes and the blue light of death im staying away from ps vita. i see the system failing like the ps3 fat when it was released with over heating issue uh uh uh sony you wont get me again with a faulty system

      1. 3DS ha failed,no good specs,no good graphics,its not a next gen hundlet console and wiiu will have gamecube graphics

  5. A powerful and impressive piece of hardware. There just needs to be more quality 3rd-party software. And maybe a price cut, like the 3DS. And those memory card prices are ridiculous added to the price of the Vita!

  6. Sony. It’s really not just that. Think. 3DS was struggling with Sales.

    Then a price drop happened.

    3DS sales then started to pick up.

    coincidence?

    How about drop the Vita’s price? Oh wait. Apparently you can’t. Well lets let this one die like we did the Move shall we?

    And thanks to this Little King’s Story’s developer will likely go under too. :(

    1. That and freaking Mario released.

      Sony doesn’t have a franchise like Mario. Maybe they would if they stop hopping to the next IP no one knows about and actually kept existing series up.

      1. you hit the nail on the head Sony has no good first party title first party titles keep the company alive making money this is why Nintendo survived so long

            1. I know, but even though it isn’t a first party title, if they had Activision make a new Crash Bandicoot, it would sell well by my predictions.

                1. When I said Crash Bandicoot 4, I did mean by taking the game back to it’s roots and following up the fashion of the first three.

      2. sony and M$ don’t have the same luxury to reuse character’s and have them sell well simply out of nostalgia. sony IP’s are meant to tell a story and move the hell on. thats why i enjoy there games. you see they have to keep moving or there previous fans will die out because what stories have been known to be any good after a trilogy. Not alot. so instead most nintendo character’s dont have storylines. mario princess kidnapped, you save her. correct me if im wrong about most Nintendo character’s having no story. but yeah some of my favorite games came from ps1,Ps2 era. those games to me are up there with mario,the legend of zelda and metroid.

        1. Well, Mario games aren’t about story or graphics, but the gameplay and the fun you will have with them. Sony had Crash Bandicoot, which is the closest they got to a Mario game, but they just forgot about him and never looked back.

        1. new ip’s that are relativity the same concept but with different characters < same ip's with drastic changes

          1. If you think Sony’s IPs are relatiely the same concept, then you really have no idea of the variety they have to offer both in their digital and disc based portfolios.

        2. The problem is we want game play…. animation already hassony beat. We call them movies and you just admitted they mostly make games you down want to see go past 4 sequels. Or rather 3. They tried to change GAMING and failed.

          1. Um?….. I never said I don’t like sequels. And don’t even start talking about sequels when we know one company that is a monster at creating them.

    2. The sad thing is, Sony really cant sell the Vita at a loss, and they cant lower the price until production costs go down, they’ll loose money, again, and the Vita wont break even like the ps3 eventually did

      1. But they’ll make the same mistake as they did with the PS3. As soon as they begun to make a profit, they had to lower the price so it sold and then they were selling it at a loss again.

  7. This is very much the same problem Nintendo has dealt with on its last two home consoles– except that Nintendo’s first-party offerings are strong enough to carry a console. As Playstation All-Stars has shown, though, Sony has been almost entirely dependent on third parties for three generations now, with only a few notable exceptions. This may be the place where they start wishing they had a Mario of their own.

    1. I am inclined to agree right there. Problem with Sony is that in terms of first-party games/IPs, the ONLY one that would be considered the major first-party IP would be Kratos (a.k.a. God of War). That and Ratchet & Clank, but those two mascots aren’t really saying much, because ever since Sony entered the video game industry they were heavily reliant on third party developers. In the PS1 days, it was Crash Bandicoot & Spyro as first party IPs, but at the PS1 launch, Namco was their main supporter. Crash & Spyro went on to multiplatform afterwards. PS2 had Ratchet & Clank, God of War, Jak & Daxter, SOCOM, Killzone, and Sly Cooper. With the exception of Sly Cooper, I would say those IPs at least appeared on PS3 & PSP. Uncharted is decent and I do find LBP very underappreciated.

      1. Thats true, but the biggest problem with those franchises, is that theyre just getting old. Theres 5 God of War games, and a 6th coming soon. Zelda’s only had 5 3D games, and that was spread over a much larger time period and big enough changes came that stopped the games feeling the same. GOW Acsension does not attract my attention, and i really enjoyed 3. If Uncharted 4 came next gen, id ignore that, because its boring now, its the same gameplay over and over, 3 was disappointing especially when i loved 2.
        Sony dont have IP’s that last, thats their problem in terms of software

          1. Wetboxers are 2nd placer’s microwimps could of had first place with the first whackbox but slipped with the remote for the dvd gimmick

        1. the reason there ip’s dont last is like i said above. they tell stories and move the hell on. can you not say that you didn’t enjoy insomniacs Ps1 spyro. or naughty dogs crash bandicoot(before activision milked them). same way spyro saved the dragon and went to something different.i like mario but how many times can he save the princess. that’s way i loved galaxy so much. it actually refreshed a new take on mario.

          1. Mario can save the princess a million times because he’s not supposed to be telling a story; he’s a vaudeville character. Asking why he keeps saving the princess is like asking why Bugs Bunny’s rabbit hole is in a different convenient place every cartoon, or how the Three Stooges became barbers when they were just in prison in the last short– it misses the point entirely.

          2. Yeah but how much do you want a classic Spyro game or a new classic Crash? Id love to see them, but we wont. And Sony’s IP’s are become shooters. Insomniac made Resistance, Naughty Dog because shooter after Jak 1.

  8. Kill the vita and work on the ps3.

    Your not gaining money according to the stock market quarter this year from the vita.

    The system is dead let it die. 3ds sold 3.5 million in 3 months before the price cut.

                1. Okay :p
                  I guess I could have been clearer about the comment I was talking about – but all is clear now, so that’s cool.

  9. I’m a bit sad to see the Vita struggling so much. I’d rather have a scenario where there’s two competing handhelds forming a dedicated gaming handheld industry so they can take the wind out of the sails of the analysts who have claimed “smartphones killed the dedicated handheld industry.” I would have faith in Nintendo, but that would be a pain to watch them have to face those fools alone.

  10. Hey guys, I’ll just say anything right now. Before the ocean of flame comments appear. The Vita was mentioned, after all.

    So have fun. Or not.. No.. DO not…

      1. Stupid fanboy , the wii u is a piece of shit and has shitty 3rd party support LOL u fags are exited about ME3 wen u can get that on PC,PS3,360 ..and why are u pathetic nintendrones interested in the game anyways ?? u fags havnt played 1 or 2 so why play 3 ?? oh its becoz its on the wii u , If zombiU was on ps3 you wouldnt buy it but if its on Wii U you would …Stupid hypocrits ..OH AND I THOUGHT U NINTENFAGS HATED SHOOTERS ?? OH THE IRONY !!! HOPE MICROSOFT BUYS NINTENDO AND DESTROYS THEM LIKE RARE

        1. thekidnintendowiiman

          Can’t wait for Aliens and Assassin’s Creed. I loved playing Mass Effect 1 and 2 on my PC, had extra money left over from buying the Wii so I can play those games on my uber powerful computer.

        2. dude really. you do Know that if someone was a wii only owner they missed a shit ton of games. im not drawing into your flame bait because comments like yours are thrown around on the internet all the time, it never changes anything. and lose all value when you say “piece of shit, fanboy, and fags. “

          1. Haha how stupid … If u miss out on games on wii then why can’t u get it on pc,ps3,360 ? Exactly !! Ur too fanboyish to do so .. Wii u is a current gen system with gimmicks and shit , ENJOY UR GIMMICKY TOUCH CONTROLLS ! OVER GOOD GRAPHICS STUPID NINTENFAG !!

            1. Because every controller that has anything else than button and analog sticks is filled with gimmicks, yeah right. Get over yourself kid, ”Nintenfag” really? That sounds lame as fuck. And why can’t you just buy more than one console. Exactly !! Ur too poor to do so ..

              There’s a reason Nintendo has so many fans (not counting casuals), you are just too fanboyish to look at anything other than Sony or Microsoft. Also pretty strange that you never seem to respond when somebody says they like an other console AS WELL.
              Then you shut up all of a sudden.

          2. I’m wii only all I’ve missed is two overpriced gamecubes with overated graphics and inferior gameplay wii for the easy comeback

        3. Microchumps are only good for 2nd place wiipeat coming soon move the quitbox and copystation the 8th gen king approaches

        4. ..and why are u pathetic nintendrones interested in the game anyways ??

          I guess that’s why those few million Sony fanboys weren’t interested in me3 on ps3, same with bioshock. You sounded serious up until you went all out in caps, so I guess you are an idiot in both of your miserable lives.

      1. LOL THE IRONY !! YOUR THE FANBOY !! YOU EVEN SAID IN A POST THAT PC IS INFERIOR TO WII U !! LMFAO HYPOCRITE !! UR THE FANBOY !!

    1. Lol, the Vita (which is out more than half a year) has more 3rd party support than the Wii U (not even released yet)… WHAT A SURPRISE!
      You’re so fucking stupid, seriously, how can you even compare those two?

  11. Has remote play works yet? for most games?

    if not, thats the problem right there. If most PS3 games were playable on the Vita via remote play, they already solved half of the lack of games library. Sales will start picking up if they solve this.

    One of the reason I want a Vita is because of remote play. It’s suppose to be one of the primary feature of the Vita. A portable PS3.

  12. $300 with that dum memory card is the Vitas problem. At that price I can easily buy a PS3. Miyamoto has given you advice sony, thus seek third parties and cheapen the Vita.

        1. FIrst of all MGS it’s not a FPS. Second, BioShock, Borderlands, Qauke, TimeSplitters, Metroid Prime, Half-Life ,etc…

  13. Pokemon Trainer Tobi

    If u have played a ps3 then since launch for the six years am quite sure most of them will not want to play mediocre version of the same games on an expensive handheld device plus memory card

  14. Yeah NESS. If you hate Nintendo so fuckin’ much why do you have the the name of a Nintendo star, I LOVE Sony and Microsoft too but their just companies. Each of them are great just give one another a chance. You grow to love them like i did with Sony and Microsoft

  15. In other words, “Yeah, the 3DS is kicking our ass and no one cares. We lost a lot of money on this and will probably get fired.”

  16. Hate on someone else other than these three great companies
    Ex:
    Nintendo: Revived video game industry
    Sony: TV’s and Blu-Ray Players
    Microsoft: Computers and PC Games

  17. Haha look at these idiot fanboys in the comment section. Wii u has good support so far and the 3ds is more powerful then the psp so it’s better then last gen. Next. Wii u runs ure4 so it uses modern tech. Unlike ps3. Stop with the damage controlling and accept it

  18. Pingback: Sony adminte estar pasándolo mal en relación al apoyo third party para PS Vita | www.nextn.net

        1. Sonysofters should be happy the n turned on the 8th gen the microstations are just shooting three’s trying to make the blowout look better while king wii prepares to pass the crown to new king u

      1. i have some friends who they are sony drones and they say that ps4 is now in Germany.
        How is in Germany the ps4 when sony didn’t anounce nothing and also we don’t know if ps4 will have radeon HD 6000 series

    1. Notice, however, that the majority of said bashing from fanboys is still being done mostly as a defensive response to the idiotic trolls that are coming to this thread?
      We may have our share of trolls sometimes, but as a whole, I would like to believe that Nintendo fans are usually too busy enjoying actually playing games instead of roaming around the net looking for drama.

      Me, I find the trolling pathetic regardless of what side the Troll is on.
      Who in their right mind actually finds egging people on like that entertaining?
      I mean, seriously?
      I can only speculate that there’s a severe lack of maturity in such people.
      That and, possibly, a very large amount of defensiveness the instant they see something the idolize being out-done by something they hate.

      For people like that, the kids may leave high school, but high school never leaves the kids, sadly.

          1. I don’t own a single Microsoft console or hardware of sorts (Besides PC..?), so I’m not sure what the fuck you’re even going on with.

        1. I’m renting my own apartment, loser.
          I’ve also got a job and a wonderful woman for a fiance.
          And those are just the tips of the iceberg that is my wonderful life so far.
          You don’t have jack shit compared to my happiness no matter how rich you are.

  19. I honestly don’t see why this is here. Sure, Miyamoto says something. But… it’s still not Nintendo news.

    Let’s not forget the Nintendo 3DS had a SHIT lineup of mostly poor quality third party titles and two first party titles, one of which was a game that was not interesting to most older gamers. Sony will get on their feet, whether they have to have a price drop (which seems inevitable, it was how 3DS got some steam) or just need to release the right game. With LittleBigPlanet coming out, one of their biggest and best titles, it’ll surely have a good holiday season. It’s far better than the PSP, so I hope developers start working on more titles. It’s fantastic to be able to play games of such a high quality on the go.

  20. as far as i know (which may be wrong. i just needed a confirmation from u guys) psp made a comeback in japan becoz of monster hunter and in west becoz of gta. sony was thinking to have the same support from capcom for vita but now that it has shifted to 3ds vita has lost in japan atleast since black ops declassified and assassin creed cannot sell the system in japan. in the west it may help the system but i dont suppose it to be till a great extent. all were complaining of sony not making not great games for vita but the situation could be this that even though they are trying they are helpless and cant do anything more than porting and remakes. i dont know when or whether gta exclusive arrives on it but consider this why will a 3rd party developer like to work just to revive a system that does belong to him or the one whose revival profits wont be gained by him. instead he will gain relatively more profit on a way better selling system . i think sony even if it wants to revive vita and even if it is trying to revive vita cant help. they got lazy over developing strong 1st party franchises during ps1 and ps2 dominated era and relied heavily on 3rd party for their success. now its very late. as for a price cut it is not going to happen.does anyone have a sales comparison of vita , psp and ps3 during same timeperiod after their launches. just wanted to know if vita is doing the worst out of the 3 when comparing their initial time period sales.

  21. not surprising. the vita is just a miny ps3 with lesser graphics and a touchscreen. why bothrer buying it for like $500 aud when we can play non gimp games on the actually ps3.

    1. hi there vita has sold 1.8 million umits 3ds sold 19 million units soo 3ds out sold 10 too 1 ratio soo sad day for vita and sony i have both 3ds and vita getting 3ds xl and wii u

  22. It’s not just because of lack of software, I’d buy one just for Gravity Rush if it weren’t for the insane price tag.

  23. The funny thing is that I can buy a ps3 far less than the vita, when its a more powerful system and has way more games. Why would I want a vita? In fact I got my old psp out, fixed it up and am playing on that instead. Forcing you to buy another battery pack and storage for games is even more ridiculous. Instead of investing money for the vita I would much rather have more games on the ps3. Sony, no one wants a vita, psp sales are even more than the vita because

    1. Its something anyone can afford
    2.You have to re buy your psp games just to play them on a vita when you could just keep your psp
    3.(I’l leave that for everyone else)

    1. hi there psp vita $250 32 gb sony vita card $100 plus games your looking at least $420 thats wi-fi psp vita a 16 gb vita card and 1 vita game thats $420 yes netflix nico nico app and youtube app my game was unchated i just bought gravity rush is m bscond game

  24. So, time for Sony to have their problem with third party. I don’t want to sound like an ass, but I find it fun how Sony fans defend this while talking shit about how Nintendo has bad third party support. It is the same thing. I wish Sony good luck with getting the Vita on track but give all the Sony drones that has pointed finger at Nintendo because their bad TPS while defending Sony’s bad TPS the middle-finger-salute.

  25. The only thing Sony has going for it on the PS3 are the exclusives, the free to play and honestly the Playstation plus. with that said, I did get a Vita when it first came out and have aleady sold it.

    The games for the Vita are still. too high. I can get awesome games on My Nexus7. I will be trading in my PS3 for the WiiU. With the backwards compatibility with the Wii games and getting games cheap, I fell Nintendo has won again.

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