Kevin O’Donnell maps out a path for the Vita’s world domination
The PlayStation Vita is the hand held console that many gamers have always wanted. It’s powerful, provides us with console-like experiences on the go and, perhaps most importantly, it has two analogue sticks. Sadly, it hasn’t caught on in the way that it should have. Part of this is down to Sony’s baffling lack of advertising for the product but it’s also down to lack of games with mainstream appeal. Here are the top 5 franchises with the power to breathe life into the Vita…
5 – Monster Hunter
The Japanese market is hugely important in the world of gaming and Monster Hunter is a hugely important franchise within it. Bagging an entry in this series was a major coup for Nintendo’s 3DS and is one of the many reasons why it’s dominating the Vita in sales figures. However, a portable Monster Hunter game with better, shinier visual could sway some members of the Japanese audience to jump ship and buy a Vita.
4 – FIFA
FIFA has already seen two iterations hit the PlayStation Vita but there’s one function which has been sorely missing in making it a must-have for hand held sports gamers. Career cross-saves. Imagine how cool it would be to play through your career at home then continue that same career on the bus/train when you leave the house. FIFA is a huge seller and if this functionality was implemented, and advertised, then it could inject some life into Sony’s hand held.
3 – God of War
It’s hard to imagine the Vita going much longer without a God of War game. The PSP saw two instalments in the franchise so hopefully it’s successor isn’t too far behind in getting a God of War game. God of War III sold over 4.5 million units on the PS3, this a great number for a Sony first party title, so it clearly has a large following. And with God of War: Ascension just released, this could be the time to bring Kratos back into our hands.
2 – Grand Theft Auto
This is a no-brainer. The Grand Theft Auto franchise is huge, nobody can deny this. It’s up there with Call of Duty (perhaps surpasses it) in mainstream recognition. The last installment of the franchise, GTA IV, broke all kinds of sales records when it was released back in 2008. The fact that the Vita’s older brother, the PSP, saw two installments in the GTA franchise could give us some hope that we’ll see this series hit Sony’s newest hand held. Trawling the huge environments that Rockstar makes on-the-go could be an incredible experience,e and perhaps it could, somehow, tie into the upcoming GTA V?
1 – Call of Duty
Yes, I know that we’ve already seen Call of Duty on the Vita in the form of Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, but it was far from a true CoD experience. This is a franchise which has taken console gaming by storm over the past five years and dominated the holiday sales window. Therefore, Call of Duty is the perfect franchise to bring the Vita some much needed attention. However, it has to be much different from the previous attempt. It MUST have some form of cross-functionality with its home console counterpart. Perhaps the ability to provide air support to your buddy on console in a co-op mode? Maybe you could gain experience points which transfer over to your console save and could be spent of perks/upgrades? This is the Vita’s best chance at the success it deserves.
That’s my thoughts on which games could reinvigorate Sony’s PSVita but what do you think? Are there any games which you’d like to see come to the hand held? Comment below and let us know your thoughts.