What is MonoGame, and why do we need it?

MonoGame is a development system, tagged as "Write once, play everywhere!" That's not quite true as you can't easily port MonoGame titles to the Vita, yet. That nugget came out in a Q&A with the Axiom Verge crew, AV is a MonoGame title and Sony is still developing new tools to port the game, I'm guessing via expert port team Blitworks - see video.

The good news is, it sounds like it shouldn't take too long, although if Sony is involved - you never know. Previous MonoGame titles like Fez have come to the Vita, but it seems Blitworks has a new, easier, way in the pipe.



But what else could enabling MonoGame ports to the Vita bring us? Bastion was also built with MonoGame and has been announced for the Vita, presumably they're waiting on the same porting tools. Other developers using MonoGame include 17-Bit software, whose Skulls of the Shogun would be a good Vita game (they're also bringing the Unity-powered Galak-Z to the Vita). Then there's a host of other games that might get a port if the process is easy enough.

Developers are hopefully still keen on the Vita, if there's enough good vibes among the dev community about revenue and the loyal fanbase. I'd rather like to see the currently-in-Kickstarter tower defence Hydraulic Empire get a port, and there are bound to be more.

With Unity looking like it is moving ahead without much Vita support, Sony getting MonoGame and other dev tool support is vital to keeping the trickle of games coming, let us know if you think of anything else that would be a great Vita game. Any developers care to comment?