14 DAY TRIAL // Sony seems to be determined to abandon first-party support for the PlayStation Vita, in spite of fans of the handheld gaming device clamoring about the lack of proper exclusive titles on it.
"When we launched PSP titles, a big talking point was PS2-quality games in your hands. It was an amazing experience to play PS2-quality like Twisted Metal on your portable device. But as time went on and the PS3 launched and people started to see next-gen games, that PS2 quality was not enough. People's expectations for the quality just moved on," Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida says in an interview with Polygon.
"So when we launched the Vita with Uncharted, it was amazing; PS3-like quality in your palm, but as time moved on, you are seeing PS4 quality and people's expectations for the graphic fidelity has gone up," he continues.
He adds that the question of graphics becomes less and less relevant with the Vita, and now the big discussion is in regard to how the expectations regarding the portable platform have shifted over time.
The recent indie boom is a fortunate occurrence, as there are tons of great games making their way to the Vita, especially since Unity support has been added.
"So, I think that's actually the biggest start to help provide great content to Vita going forward," Yoshida points out.
When asked about whether that means that the Vita will be getting fewer and fewer first-party games, he has said that it is most likely, but that they will continue striving to get cross-platform games, especially digital ones.
Third-party developers are still getting used to how games handle on the PlayStation Vita, an example being Borderlands 2, which was criticized for its annoying control scheme involving the back touch at launch, but which got an update to fix the issue in the meantime.
"I love what they did. Comparing that to the PS3 experience, I don't think that should be the point. It's a very, very deep and enjoyably fun game, and I'm having fun playing with a new character I missed on PS3 because it included most of the DLC. So I think they did a great job," Yoshida states, saying that the game should have shipped with the option to remap the controls.
The ability to properly handle controls on the PlayStation Vita is becoming more and more important due to the fact that the Vita is able to stream PlayStation 4 games through Remote Play, a feature which Yoshida thinks is the main reason Sony shouldn't consider making first-party Vita games in the future.