14 DAY TRIAL // Sony has talked a bit about the role its niche consoles, like the PlayStation Vita or the PlayStation TV, have on the market and how they can attract customers through their compatibility with other platforms, such as the PS4.
The PlayStation 4 is currently surging in terms of sales, trumping its rival, the Xbox One, and now acting as a locomotive for the other devices being sold by Sony nowadays.
As you can imagine, the company is focusing a lot on its new device but this doesn't meant that it has forgotten about other, more niche devices, like the PS Vita or the PlayStation TV (known as PlayStation Vita TV in Japan).
In an interview with Eurogamer on the roles these consoles play on the current market, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida first talked about the PlayStation TV and how it's been renamed for release in Europe and North America, as opposed to Japan.
According to Yoshida, Sony realized that the PS TV was much more than just a micro-console capable of playing some PS Vita games. As such, it needed a bigger scope that's projected through the new name.
"We decided to call it PlayStation TV, because it does way more than play PS Vita games. And used with PS4 with a companion device, it's a really strong proposition, so we called it PlayStation TV," Yoshida said.
He also went a bit more in-depth about the PS Vita and how, despite the lack of blockbuster games, it has a lot of smaller experiences that can attract through their unique appeal. The Sony executive also revealed that, through its multiple uses, customers can get it to fulfill all sorts of roles.
"There are lots of new Vita games, you can go and find little gems and there are lots of exciting games," Yoshida added. "But it's not about individual Vita games any more. It's more about how Vita can have multiple uses - with PS4 remote play, PS3 games with PS Now, and the dedicated games. The whole ecosystem with PS4 at the center, the Vita's a part of that."
Sony has begun to market the PS Vita more aggressively alongside the PS4, via special bundles, and it seems that, while there will certainly be more indie games on the portable platform, it will soon transition into just a companion device for the PS4 that facilitates other features, chief among which being Remote Play.