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Call to arms, filling in the Vita game roster gaps

The lack of western third-party developers and Sony's killing of first-party support means there are some pretty big holes in the Vita's roster. Mostly that's because indies want to do off-beat titles and because those genres of games are somehow seen as the domain of larger publishers.

Between third-parties and indies, we're blessed with JRPGs, brawlers, monster hunting, roguelike and classic arcade-style games. So, well done everyone for bulking up that side of the Vita's arsenal. But there's still work to do for any developers or studios keen to tap into the Vita's loyal userbase who have money to burn on PSN titles.

Racing Games

Basically, we have Ridge Racer, an old F1 game and, um, Asphalt, but that's about it as far it goes when it comes to keeping four wheels on the ground. True, Milestone is keeping simulation fans happy with the likes of MotoGP, WRC and MXGP, but where's the carnage? Where's the Burnouts, the street racing of Midnight Club or the car fest of a Gran Turismo or similar experience?



Since Nicalis has signed up to publish and help develop 90s Arcade Racer, a Unity title, that'd be a good starting point in our quest for some vehicular fun, but we really need something of more explosive. In the meantime, confirmed for the Vita is Table Top Racing. What else would you like to see on the Vita.

Flight Games

The PSP had a couple of Ace Combat titles (Joint Assault is on PSN and plays on the Vita, only £7.99) and several smaller efforts to enjoy, but its hard to think of a single Vita air-to-air or air-to-ground title. We have space combat in the form of Starlight and Futuridium to come, but where's a spot of Tankbusting or MiG-splatting. There are quite a few mobile titles that could be ported, with the bonus of proper controls.



Exploring/Adventure Games

Yes, we've got one Uncharted game, several PSP Tomb Raiders, but the quest stops right there. There aren't many of these on mobile due to the lack of controls, but surely there's a Unity Engine game that some devs could tweak, reskin and presto, a Vita game!

First Person Shooters

There are at least three FPS engines running on the Vita, how much would it cost to license them from Sony (Killzone or Resistance) or Activision (CoD: Declassified) and pack in new assets, maps and a story. It doesn't have to be ground breaking, but there's scope to experiment as Vita owners will appreciate the effort that any team makes and there are plenty of modding teams out there that could do the job.

Anything Else?

They're the obvious candidates but feel free to comment with any genres you'd like to see better represented. Remember, while most indies are tiny teams, it has taken just a handful of people to build the most impressive game at E3, in No Man's Sky. What could other devs producing using procedural engines like that?

Currently playing on my Vita/PS4/PS5