PlayStation TV: the Vita micro-console that failed at being a Vita

PlayStation TV was Sony's micro-console, a small box that played compatible Vita games on a TV. It launched in Japan on November 14, 2013 at ¥9,480, then reached North America in October 2014 at $99 and Europe at €99. The idea was to extend the Vita's library to the living room without a handheld in hand — a cheap way to play Sony's portable games on the big screen.

The catch was that not every Vita game was allowed on it. Sony required titles to be whitelisted, and anything that leaned on the Vita's rear touchpad, microphone or camera just did not work. That cut a huge slice of the library out of the box, so the box's one reason to exist — the Vita catalog — was missing most of it. The Verge's verdict was blunt: the Vita TV's most egregious failure was that 'it failed at being a Vita.'

Sales reflected it. The Japanese debut sold 42,172 units in its first week, and by the end of March 2015 Sony had cut the European price 40% to €59.99. The console was discontinued in the US and Europe at the end of 2015, and in Japan on February 29, 2016. A product that promised the Vita's library but delivered a sliver of it never found the audience it was built for.