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PlayStation 6 and PlayStation Portable future visions

 The recent PlayStation video about the "simulated" technology in development, discussed between AMD and Sony engineers that will power the PlayStation 6 was interesting from a geek point of view. But from a gameplay perspective, there is - IMO - no need for a PlayStation 6 for another few years. Especially with the limp Xbox is-it-isn't-it launch .  April 2026 Update:  Compatibility with PS5 and PS4 games seems to be locked-in, as anything the PS6 full fat hardware the portable versions should be able to do as well, with near-invisible trade-offs at the silicon level.  Prices are firming up too with estimates around the PlayStation 6 handheld at between $500 to $700 and a PlayStation 6 at $700 to $1,000, depending on the deepening silicon crisis and Sony's budgeting wizards.  Only a few developers around the world could afford to take advantage of it for AAA+ budget games. Everyone else is still barely cutting the skin of the PS5's power, and most western smal...

If Soul Sacrifice can't knock Virtua Tennis off the top of the chart, the Vita in done in Europe (for now)

Another week, still a year-old-game on top of the Vita chart thanks to Sega's reduced pricing of Virtua Tennis, which is a great game and one I've got back into it in a big way recently. However, it shows the shocking state of the Vita's line-up that VT and the four big games from last winter (FIFA, NFS, CoD, AC3) have sat largely unchallenged atop the UK chart, with only Persona 4 Golden making a brief dent.

Anyway, that should all change this week with Soul Sacrifice launching. Except, have you noticed any marketing for it from Sony? Umm, me neither, a bit of pre-order offering aside. Okay, so Soul Sacrifice was never going to boost Vita sales being too hardcore and nasty, and a new IP that westerners can't really relate to, for Sony to risk a massive ad-spend.

But for Sony not to make any effort is pretty grim! With no idea on EU Vita sales, expect they're crap otherwise Sony would tell us (I'd guess less than 500 UK sales a week), and the US not doing great, only Japan's recent revival post-price cut and a roster of decent games (that's shifted maybe an extra 150,000 units over baseline sales) shows how poorly the western Vita is doing.

This surely highlights the lacklustre efforts of Sony Europe and US on the Vita. Here's a potentially big new game, and no one outside the core will ever know it exists. If this doesn't work then expect nothing good about the Vita in the UK until the next batch of "big" games, you know FIFA 14, CoD 3 , AC3 Phoenix Rising and so on, and so on, and so on!

And when those games turn up every gamer's money will  be going toward shiny new PS4 and X720 consoles. Sony has until then to get its Vita motor running, but it already looks like too little, too late, and not even the Vita's fantastic roster of indie games will help.

1 - VIRTUA TENNIS 4: WORLD TOUR EDITION SEGA
2 - FIFA 13 EA SPORTS
3 + CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS DECLASSIFIED ACTIVISION
4 _ ASSASSIN'S CREED III LIBERATION UBISOFT
5 - NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED CRITERION

Currently playing on my Vita/PS3/PS4/PS5


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