Despite the PSP’s relative success in terms of units shifted, it could be argued that the games weren’t really there. For every Loco Roco, for every Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, there were a horde of ports. So many ports. That was a mistake, claims Sony’s John Koller, and one Sony doesn’t intend to repeat with the Vita.
“The issue that happened with PSP is we got overrun with ports,” he said, speaking to Gamasutra. “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.”
According to Koller, new experiences tailored to the PS Vita is the key — games like the new Vita exclusive Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation and Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified are the direction Sony wants to head in.
But is this really the correct direction? Instead of ports, Sony is essentially creating a sub-console experience — via games developed (for the most part) by 2nd tier studios. The major reason I’ve always preferred using my DS, and now my 3DS, to the Sony equivalents is because I feel as though the handhelds are a real priority, not an afterthought. Even games like the God of War series on PSP still felt like something I didn’t need to play, something ‘non-canon’. I think this is the mistake Sony is continuing to make with the PS Vita.
I guess what I’m saying is: more Loco Roco, more Sound Shapes. Less of that other stuff.
Sony avoids PSP’s mistake by encouraging fewer home console ports [Gamasutra]
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