Why the PSVita TV is a good business decision

It's no secret that I am a fan of the Playstation brand, but lately I've been questioning some of their business decisions. For the life of me, I couldn't understand releasing the PS3 for $599 USD, the existence of the PSP Go, or why they've slowly started to westernize what used to be the console otaku gamers dream of. The PSvita is one of the decisions I questioned initially. Why did they release it in North America with no JRPGs whatsoever and expect it to sell? Did they forget their audience? Had Microsoft convinced them that Americans only want shooters and hack and slash? I was upset with Sony as a whole. The PSVita is a great piece of kit, but it had nothing for me to play.

It seems Sony is well aware that the PSVita is not living up to the sells expectations set by the PSP. When they first announced the PSVita TV, I was confused. Why would Sony do this? They're going to hurt the sells of their own portable. Then it hit me! If people are not buying the PSVita (Sony product) because they are buying the PSVita TV (Sony product) instead, Sony is still making money. It's a brilliant win/win idea. Say somebody wants to play a few Vita games, but don't want to shell out the money for a Vita. Well, now they have a cheaper alternative. Sure it's not portable, but it plays the games they want, plus it has other cool features such as video streaming, and the eventual PS4 functionality. It's definitely a way to cover all bases.

On top of the cheaper price point and Apple TV esque features, The PSVita TV can also be seen as the cheapest entry point to gain access to Playstation Network games. Which, in my opinion, is a great value, considering a lot of my all time favorite titles are on PSN. The only serious flaw i can see with it, is that some Vita games will not work on it, for example: Little Deviants uses the touchpad and touchscreen, So I'm fairly certain that won't work on it. Still, that's just a minor sacrifice for what you get out of this box. I look forward to it's realease (assuming it comes to the US) and would like to see Nintendo and Microsoft's response to this superb idea.

Gimme some MMO

Let me just start by saying "I freakin love The World of Magic" but i can't help but wonder why portable MMOs are exclusive to smartphones and tablets? I'm fairly certain the PSVita and Nintendo 3DS can play MMO games like that. Who wouldn't want to play Pocket Legends or something of that nature on their handheld?

I thought long and hard about why we do not have MMOs on dedicated handhelds, and the only reason i could think up was lack of 3G or 4G, but then why not just use the Wifi? The 3DS even has a whole other screen to handle stats and quick magic. Do developers like Com2Us hate handhelds? Are they intimidated by dedicated gaming platform? Did Apple pay them off? There has to be some deeper reason as to why we don't have MMOs on handhelds. The ability to use physical buttons could greatly enhance The World of Magic. Rendering it in glasses-free 3DS would be a nice touch too. Maybe even use the PSVita's power to enhance the graphics and speed of the game. Whatever the reason may be, they need to work it out.

There does seem to be hope this gen, however. The big 3 showed a lot of support for indie developers and mobile game developers. Could this be a sign of  possible MMOs coming to a handheld near you? What do you think? Should PSVita and Nintendo 3DS get games like The World of Magic and Pocket Legends? Feel free to comment.