Sony might not be developing games for its handheld, the PS Vita, but that hasn’t stopped a slew of developers from making games on the portable console.
With rumours regarding its demise ever present, only to be quashed by new colours unveiled at TGS 2016 and FCC filings that indicate a new variant is in the offing.
Jack Tretton, the former CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, weighed in with his thoughts on the struggles Sony faced with the PS Vita.
(Also see: New PS Vita to Be Announced at PS4 Neo and PS4 Slim Event: Report)
"Now that I don't work there anymore, I think internally it was: 'This is a great machine, it's just too late.' The world has shifted to portable devices that aren't dedicated gaming machines,” Tretton said in conversation with IGN.
He went on to recount the success of the PlayStation Portable (PSP) with it being an effective way to bring old gamers to the platform as well as bring console-level experiences on a portable platform.
However with the popularity of smartphones and tablets, the PS Vita was released at a time when dedicated handheld devices were not highly sought after so Tretton looks back on the PS Vita as "a nice machine" that launched "at a time when very few people needed a dedicated portable device."
According to popular gaming forum NeoGAF, FCC filings pertaining to a new iteration of the handheld have been unearthed. This follows Japanese blog Hakano reporting that Sony has registered two wireless modules with the FCC. These are AW-CB262 and J20H091 and they match up to the model numbers for modules pertaining to the PS4 and PS Vita respectively.
Other blogs such as Esuteru are labelling it as the PlayStation Fantasy while others speculate it could be the PS Vita PCH-3000 - indicating it's simply an iteration of the existing Vita that sports the 2000 model number. Nonetheless, some of the specs listed by Esuteru include a 1080p, 5.5-inch screen, a camera, rear touchpad as well as functionality for L1, R1, L2, R2, as well L3 and R3 triggers and buttons.
Along with this, Vita and PSP games would work on it in addition to FIFA 17, God of War 3, and a new Assassin's Creed are apparently in development for it too. Apparently it will be out in 2017 and supports a maximum of 32GB of storage.
We'd take this rumour with a grain of salt considering that Sony has stopped making games for the PS Vita. A new model, if at all, would probably be a strategic move until the company shores up its mobile game plans in totality.
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