Vita reaches its fourth birthday in Japan

Japan sees the Vita hit the modest 4th birthday mark. The handheld sold 325,000 units in its first week but then tailed off badly for its first year, before picking up to sell around a million units in the each of the last three.

With lifetime Japanese sales approaching 4.5 million, Japan remains the handheld's heartland with new games regularly topping the charts. That's helped by a regular supply of new colours, limited edition models and even Vitas for the likes of Yakuza, for which there is no corresponding game.

Sony will probably get another two years out of the Vita in Japan, with otome and updated or new quirky JPRGs in ready supply. After that, dare Sony release another handheld - is the likely 6-7 million existing home customers by then enough?

今日12月17日はPlayStation®Vitaの誕生日です！ おかげさまで4周年を迎えることができました。これからもPS Vitaがみなさんとともにありますように！ #PSVita pic.twitter.com/XNQoRcdR8U

— プレイステーション公式 (@PlayStation_jp) December 16, 2015