3) PS Vita
198 Exclusive Games
The poor old PS Vita: the brilliant handheld console that came out at entirely the wrong time. Right as smartphones were finding their way into the back pocket of every single man, woman, and child, the Vita arrived hoping to become the next big thing in portable gaming. Sadly, that wasn’t to be, but the console’s often overlooked library of games is actually superb, especially if you’re into Japanese games and willing to import them.
Indeed, it should be noted that of the 198 exclusive games listed, only 64 of them are available worldwide and available in English. If you aren’t up to speed: unlike in the west, the Vita still records very impressive weekly sales figures in Japan, explaining the high volume of Japanese-only releases.
Before Sony decided the Vita wasn’t worth continuing in a AAA capacity, it did publish some excellent games from its first party studio. Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, and Killzone Mercenary were solid, and the only blockbuster, console-quality portable games before the arrival of the Nintendo Switch’ library of content. Other games such as Tearaway – just about the only game that made decent use of Vita’s back touchpad – is another highlight.
Sony might have opted out of supporting the Vita, but there are some bastion third parties that have commendably kept things going. For a start, the Metal Gear Solid collection is a compilation of some of Kojima’s best work. You also can’t mention the Vita without giving a nod to Persona 4 Golden, which arguably remains the best game on the system. Freedom Wars is a blast, too — the console’s last big hoorah before being supported mostly by smaller indie games.
While Vita’s continued success in Japan means the console likely won’t be killed off for some time yet, don’t expect too many more notable exclusives to be added to its total. That being said, the console is still well worth picking up for its overall library of multiplatform games.
