The portable gaming landscape has seen a complete overhaul since the PSP launched nearly seven years ago. Back then, Sony’s biggest competition — its only competition — came from Nintendo. Even then, the options were clear: novelty family device (DS), or serious gaming device (PSP).
In 2012, as we approach the US launch of the PS Vita, things couldn’t be more different. When the iPhone launched in 2007, nobody ever mistook it for a gaming device. But when the App Store arrived a year later, things gradually began to change. Now millions of gamers turn to their iPhones, iPads, and Android devices for portable gaming. Dedicated gaming systems like the Vita and 3DS don’t even have a clear place at the table anymore.
Despite the threat from mobile devices, Sony’s head of worldwide game development, Shuhei Yoshida, sees the Vita as having a long life. When Kotaku asked him about the system’s life cycle, he said that Sony is designing the system to last “five, six, seven, eight years.”
It’s understandable that Yoshida would have this mindset. After all, just two or three years ago, this kind of life cycle would have been a no-brainer. But things have changed. Not only do smartphones and tablets have the advantage of being multipurpose devices, but they have another — far greater — weapon: they are updated all the time.
When Tim Cook unveils the iPad 3 in a few weeks, the tablet will (almost certainly) have a GPU and processor that are major upgrades over those in the iPad 2. Its gaming capabilities could potentially double or triple those of its predecessor.
If iOS and Android devices keep advancing at that rate, how can Sony keep up? If the Vita is a more advanced gaming device than the iPad 3 and iPhone 5 will be (not as sure a thing as you might expect), how will it stack up against the capabilities of the iPad 5 and iPhone 6S a couple of years from now? It won’t.The Vita will impress at launch, with its capabilities that (nearly) rival those of the PS3. But it will become outdated before you know it. It will grow long in the tooth much faster than Sony is anticipating. Eight years? Try two or three.
The Vita does still have obvious advantages over multitouch devices. It has physical controls, which will always be better-suited for action games than virtual analog sticks and buttons are. It also has more development that is focused on hardcore gamers. Angry Birds is great for passing time on the train, but Uncharted: Golden Abyss it is not.
But how long will that last? Do you think Apple wouldn’t seize the opportunity to introduce a “revolutionary new accessory” that adds physical gaming controls to an iPhone or iPad? If they don’t, countless third-party vendors will (they already are). When iOS and Android devices get drastically-upgraded GPUs, do you think major gaming developers won’t seize the opportunity to sell console-esque versions of their games in the App Store and Android Market? AirPlay, which lets you mirror games’ displays on a TV, will only speed up this evolution.
Much is unknown about the future of devices like the Vita and 3DS. They aren’t about to go the way of the dodo this year or next. But what we do know is that the landscape has changed. Sony has responded with some “smartphoney” features in the Vita, but that may not be enough. We now live in a world where our mobile devices get complete overhauls every year. Eight years ain’t gonna cut it any more. Though that may not bode well for Sony or Nintendo, how does it not benefit gamers?
Source: www.geek.com
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