The former PlayStation executive, Shuhei Yoshida, has recently left the company and shared his thoughts about the gaming industry in an interview, even sharing why the PlayStation Vita failed.
In a recent interview with Kinda Funny Games, former PlayStation Executive, Shuhei Yoshida shared many of his thoughts about the gaming industry but has dived deep into why the PlayStation Vita has sadly failed despite being loved. The failure ranges from the proprietary memory card, the OLED and back touchpad being unnecessary, the lack of features compared to the PSP, and many more.
One of the biggest contributions to the PlayStation Vita’s failure was how expensive it was to produce the handheld console, especially the proprietary memory card. Yoshida mentioned how it was incredibly expensive to create the proprietary memory card and added more cost for the consumers, which wasn’t helpful at the time since although the PSP also used the proprietary stick, consumers could opt for the micro SD with an adapter.
Alongside the proprietary memory card being expensive, Yoshida shared that despite the beautiful OLED screen and the interesting gimmicks for some games with the back touchpad, it was in the end, unnecessary. The OLED screen and back touchpad further contributed to the cost of production and for consumers, and sadly removed the video-out feature from the final product.
The video-out option was one of the key features that helped the PSP stand out, as it allows players to connect their PSP to a TV or another external display. Although it was intended to be included as it was present in the development kit version and helped game developers connect the device to another screen, it was ultimately removed to reduce the cost of production.
With the cost of production being the biggest contribution, Yoshida also noted Sony didn’t have the resources to support both the PlayStation Vita and PS3 at the same time, especially with the PS4 around the corner at the time. Yoshida would even mention how Sony had hoped to split their efforts and resources into two different platforms, but it wasn’t possible due to the lack of resources.
The PlayStation Vita was released in 2011, and after decades since its release, it seems like Sony is returning to the handheld market with the PlayStation Portal thanks to the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck keeping the handheld market alive. So far it’s being reported that Sony is working on a PS5 handheld to rival the Nintendo Switch, but we will have to wait for more details as it is still early and far from being final.
The PlayStation Vita’s failure was an unfortunate chapter in gaming history, but we can now gain some closure as former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida recently shared his thoughts on the matter, reflecting on his time at Sony.
