I’ve been reading all of the E3 reports, of course, and noticed something. People are mainly talking about how big they think this year will be for the PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U. What nobody seems to realize is there’s this dark horse that I feel is going to dominate E3 2014. I’m talking, of course, about the Vita.
Yes, I think there’s going to be one clear winner this year. It’s going to be Sony’s handheld. The stars are aligning, make no mistake, and I think the Vita lineup is the one I’m most excited to see in action on Tuesday.
Part of the reason is, it looks like Sony’s coming on strong this year. We’ve already seen a new model Vita released this year, the 2000. Though it lacks that sexy OLED screen, it shows a new commitment to the handheld. Especially since it came with Borderlands 2 packed in. But even more convincing is that rumored Ultimate Player Edition bundle that includes a PS4 and Vita. If the price is right, it could substantially increase the Vita install base.
Another is the software push we already know is on the way. Sony made a big deal of hyping up Borderlands 2, Soul Sacrifice Delta, Oreshika , and Freedom Wars . Those are four big games, three of which we should be seeing this year (one we already got and, while it wasn’t exactly what we expected, was still a welcome addition). Not to mention, we’re now guaranteed 2 free Vita games each month with PlayStation Plus, and the continually growing library of cross-buy games.
I haven’t even gotten into the third party plans. Sony did a preliminary announcement of games that will be at its E3 2014 booth on the PlayStation Blog . Now, given the lack of first party titles, we know there’s more to be announced, but there were still 75 games in that list. Of that 75, 25 are Vita games. Yes, a solid third. More importantly, there are only 12 PS3 games in comparison. This is the first time Vita games have outnumbered PS3 games. Not to mention, most of the games that will be there are pretty exciting, and come from experienced first party, third party, and independent developers and publishers.
That isn’t even the full list of third party games that will be at E3 2014. There are games from Sega, XSEED, Atlus, Aksys, Tecmo Koei and others that are coming to the Vita both this year and next. The next two years are going to be absolutely huge for the Vita, and if you’re looking to be pleasantly surprised, perhaps even astonished this year, watch all the Vita announcements and playtests. Just be prepared to also be struck with the sudden need to own one.