Sony’s console market grip has been phenomenal since the release of the PS4. The manufacturer has been exceptional with its consoles by adding constant updates and releasing more and more exclusive content as days past by. One of the most neglected section of Sony’s console fleet is the portable console section. Starting from the PSP which proved to be a pivot point for portable gaming and achieved highly detailed gameplay on the go. The PSP was then rebranded and updated to a PS Vita which gained a lot of traction upon its release and was expected to be the future of portable gaming.
The PS Vita, however, did not succeed as expected and didn’t appeal to the modern player base. Mostly because at its release, smartphone gaming had come a long way and as hardware improved on smartphones, video game development progressed as well. Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia has officially ended production of PS Vita in Japan, according to the official Japanese PlayStation website which was pretty much expected for the console. With a pretty limited game library and a set of features most smartphones would come packed with, the PS Vita just didn’t stick.
One of the most intriguing features about the handheld console was its ability to remotely play PS4 titles. This of course came with its set of problems. The fact that you’d need to be connected to the internet and had to have a PS4 was a huge drawback and ended up being a gimmick. Sony did, however, gave complete service support to the PS Vita with its softwares but all in vain. Today when we take a look at modern smartphones providing desktop grade performance at such a small form factor, portable gaming has shifted drastically.
With gaming smartphones like the Razer Phone 2, Xiaomi Black Shark and the Asus ROG phone, things are definitely going their way. Videogame developers also play a key role in this shift of powers by working more to the cause of smartphones. Examples are Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, Hearthstone and many more competitive titles. All in all the future seems bright for portable gaming but we could never forget Sony’s rendered services to the cause and how it shaped up the modern gaming world.
