Forme Executive Says PlayStation Vita Came Too Late
IGN recently spoke to former Sony Computer Entertainment of America CEO, Jack Tretton, who was candid in his thoughts of the problems for the PlayStation Vita, Sony’s handheld PlayStation console. During a recent edition of IGN Unfiltered, Tretton voiced his thoughts that the device came out too late.
Tretton stated, “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.”
The Vita was preceded by the PlayStation Portable, which was a lot more successful than the Vita in bringing experiences that were comparable to game consoles to a handheld device. In addition, the PSP did a good job of bringing in older gamers. Unfortunately, the Vita was hurt by being released at a time when those types of devices were on the decline. Not to mention, the popularity of smartphones and tablets grew exponentially, which made the Vita less relevant.
Tretton said the Vita was a “nice machine” that unfortunately launched “at a time when very few people needed a dedicated portable device.”
The PlayStation Vita hit US shores in February 2012. In Spring 2014, Sony released a new version of the Vita that had a higher battery life and some other new features.