Sony: PSP Was Too Port-Heavy, Vita Needs Unique Software
Assassin's Creed III: LiberationThe PlayStation Vita will always be able to use new software but this time around, Sony wants it to be new.
The manufacturer admitted to Gamasutra that they went too port-heavy with the PSP, and now it's time to focus on unique software for the new handheld. Said marketing vice president John Koller:
"The issue that happened with PSP is we got overrun with ports. It became very difficult for us to define what made PSP unique. The content development became a bit unstructured or decentralized, in that we got a lot of content that was on PlayStation 2 and got thrown over to the handheld."
He added that Sony is currently discouraging publishers from doing ports; they'd rather see brand new efforts, such as Assassin's Creed III: Liberation and Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified. This way, they get recognizable and popular franchises, but they're not watered-down ports from existing console iterations. We have to agree with this approach, although we should add that the PSP earned its identity by featuring "old" gameplay styles veteran fans enjoyed.
...so in other words, Sony, don't discourage publishers from offering new-old games for those who don't necessarily believe turn-based is "archaic."
Tags: sony, psp, vita, playstation vita, psp ports, vita ports, vita games
9/12/2012 8:20:38 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (17 posts)
bebestorm
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 @ 9:56:12 PM
Reply
Last edited by bebestorm on 9/12/2012 9:57:27 PM
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Beamboom
Thursday, September 13, 2012 @ 12:36:51 AM
Personally I believe there eventually will be several jrpgs for the Vita since it seems Japan is just about the only country that seem to be buying it.
Here in Norway it is simply not anywhere to be seen. I've seen it on demo display in *one* shop, a turned off, broken one with three or so titles standing beside it. It really was a sorry sight.
Last edited by Beamboom on 9/13/2012 12:42:48 AM
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Warrior Poet
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 @ 10:14:40 PM
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ZenChichiri
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 @ 11:10:21 PM
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Makes me want to learn Japanese even more. Too bad Kanji is super difficult. I'm learning Korean right now and Japanese and Korean have a lot of similarities with grammar and speaking, but Japanese writing is so hard!
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bebestorm
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 @ 11:25:37 PM
Zero Escape Virtues Last Reward releases in late October for Vita and 3DS!
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ZenChichiri
Thursday, September 13, 2012 @ 12:56:19 AM
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Gamer46
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 @ 11:11:20 PM
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Last edited by Gamer46 on 9/12/2012 11:11:32 PM
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Gordo
Thursday, September 13, 2012 @ 3:30:11 AM
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The games I sank the most hours into on my PSP were Jeanne D'Arc, NHL Hockey, Everybody's Golf and Valkyria Chronicles 2.
So some ports and some PSP exclusives.
With my PS Vita... Where do I start?
Physical:
Uncharted
Wipeout
Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3
Fifa
Everybodys Golf
Gravity Rush
Digital:
Escape Plan
Chess
Mutant Blob
Motorstorm RC
Super Stardust Delta
Velocity
PSP:
GOW Ghost of Sparta
GTA Vice City Stories
Pirates
Dragons Lair
Flow
PS One:
FFVII
Silent Hill
Fear Effect 2
A good mix of new and old, big and small and ports and unique. I think this is what we need to make a success of a handheld.
Love my Vita!
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Ultimadream
Thursday, September 13, 2012 @ 4:23:28 AM
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Gravity Rush seems a good start at this & I really like how Tearaway uses all the features of the Vita in an inventive way. So if we get more titles like this, maybe the Vita will be remember more for it's games than being a portable PS1.
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___________
Thursday, September 13, 2012 @ 5:07:10 AM
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EXACTLY why i both love and hate $ony this gen!
they SAY the right things, but thats exactly the problem!
they need less talkey talkey, and more dooey dooey!
as the saying goes put your money where your mouth is!
2 up, 1 down
Rogueagent01
Thursday, September 13, 2012 @ 12:25:59 PM
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With the power of the Vita there is no reason these games cannot be on both, and I am sorry but to me they should be on both. I personally would rather it be known as a mobile PS3 then its own stand alone system, but hey if devs want to keep losing my money go right ahead.
Also, one thing I would point out is that some of those ports were bad ideas, not because the games didn't help give the PSP its own identity, but because the control scheme of the PSP was very different making the ports feel generic, the Vita does not have that issue.
Last edited by Rogueagent01 on 9/13/2012 12:30:21 PM
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mustang750r
Thursday, September 13, 2012 @ 3:09:07 PM
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CrusaderForever
Thursday, September 13, 2012 @ 3:24:18 PM
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Gamer46
Thursday, September 13, 2012 @ 5:32:44 PM
Last edited by Gamer46 on 9/13/2012 5:34:40 PM
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mustang750r
Thursday, September 13, 2012 @ 10:52:11 PM
With all that stated above I'm willing to bet that someone's excuse at Capcom is that there's not enough Vitas and PS3s, well at least Vitas, in the wild to justify a MH title. You know you've heard plenty of devs say it and it's annoying. Know why there isn't enough? You didn't make the damn game to attract them. I'm sure the Vita would sell a few thousand if a MH title was even announced and probably sell a few mill when released.
Rant done.
Last edited by mustang750r on 9/13/2012 10:53:33 PM
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PHOENIXZERO
Sunday, September 16, 2012 @ 9:32:15 PM
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I will agree that making the PSV a dumping ground for lazy ports is bad however if there's a good enough reason for it such as cross-play even if its limited it should be considered, especially if the publisher gets on board with the cross-buy gimmick. Sony should encourage that and I hope they're pushing for EA to do it with NFS: Most Wanted (might not be full on cross-play but close enough) and with future sports/racing games. The thing is there has to be a right mix and oh, I don't know.... Promotion? I haven't seen a Vita add since March, maybe April at latest.
Unique experiences should sell the Vita but so should the idea of buying a PS3 version of the game and gaining access to the Vita version for when you're on the go but that'd depend on what Sony is willing to do to get on board and really at this point they should be doing whatever it takes, even if that means cutting their licensing fees to help offset development costs of the PSV versions, which aren't that high to begin with.
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Yukian
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Wednesday, September 12, 2012 @ 9:16:12 PM