Ben-DutkaOne of the primary failings of most all new pieces of hardware has been a lack of software. This goes double for certain PlayStation platform offerings in the last decade.
But as Sony has said many times before, they've learned from those mistakes and now understand the necessity of having a lot of available titles when a new piece of hardware hits store shelves. That's why they delayed the launch of the new PlayStation Vita and why the handheld will have no less than 25 games ready to go on February 22 in North America and Europe.
If you consider the industry's history, that's a very good thing. More games – or to be more specific, more good games – means the chances of hardware success are much higher and in fact, without the games, consoles used to be little more than big ol' paperweights. But these days, just about anything is a computer, and that includes the devices we hold in our hands. Therefore, there's a lot more involved with portable entertainment and games may not be enough for the Vita.
While it nearly doubled the launch sales of the PSP when the new portable arrived in Japan in December, the reception may be lukewarm in the US and Europe. That remains to be seen, of course, and we certainly hope to see satisfactory sales numbers, but the hurdles are obvious. Could the Vita be the very first game system to flounder despite having excellent software? Well, why not? The Wii bucked the trend for a while, putting out one gem for every wheelbarrow's worth of shovelware…but then again, that was a little different; the Wii had a gimmick. The Vita is just fancy.
I just sorta miss the days when games meant everything…
