Vita sales back on the slide in Japan, how low will she go?

All hardware sales are down in Japan as the year ends for the Media Create sales, but the Vita's drop back to below 8,000 isn't just a weekly back-to-normal mark. This year it sold just 38,000 over the last four weeks compared to 145,000 last year. That suggests there won't be a Vita on the shelves come next Christmas, or at least one in any meaningful numbers. 

All of which puts the onus on software, and while Vita games sell, only a few charted with any impact in 2017. Still, as long as there's interest and a sizeable user base, presumably the Japanese mainstay developers will keep going, and the odd delight like Catherine will turn up.

On the plus side, PSO2 announced topping 1.5 million Vita downloads this week, according to Sega, with "the number of client downloads of "Phantasy Star Online 2" PlayStation Vita version exceeded 1.5 million on January 7, 2018 (Sunday)."

Also, there seems to be a bit more activity among Japanese indies recently, which could provide some welcome support. Enjoy it while it lasts folks! Then again, if Microsoft will still put Xbox out there, selling 400 a week, who knows how low and long the Vita might cling on for.

Up next is musou-fest Gintama Rumble from Bandai, which managed to score 33/40 in the latest Famitsu magazine. And here's the latest advert for it.