Since its initial release in 2011, the PlayStation Vita did not seem as successful as its Nintendo counterpart, the Nintendo 3DS. It's competition began to take the lead in handheld gaming with new releases such as "Animal Crossing: A New Leaf" and remakes such as "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," the latter which was released originally for the Nintendo 64.
Currently, the Nintendo 3DS is still being supported by its developer, noted by the upcoming re-release of "Luigi's Mansion," originally released for the GameCube, despite the release of the newest system, the Nintendo Switch.
Unfortunately, the same can not be said for the PlayStation Vita.
According to Kotaku, Sony sent an email to developers regarding the status of the PlayStation Vita Carts, stating that "Sony's American and European branches 'plan to end all Vita GameCards production by close of the fiscal year of 2018." Despite the end of physical carts, Sony did state that they will still support the release of games via the digital form.
Seeing how physical games raise the price after developers end their physical production, it might be a good idea to purchase the physical carts that are still on sale. For example, take a look at "Gravity Rush Remastered." After the physical production of that game ended for the PlayStation 4, prices are up the scale to purchase, currently at $59.99 if bought from a third-party seller.
The history
The PlayStation Vita has been overlooked by many handheld console fans, particularly because of its lack of games to buy. With few noteworthy games such as "Uncharted: Golden Abyss" and "Killzone: Mercenary," the PlayStation Vita did not enjoy much attention.
On the other hand, Sony spent much of the console's lifetime releasing games such as "Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD" for both the Playstation 4 and the PlayStation Vita, which, unfortunately, players would rather choose the game for the higher end home console than for the handheld system.
While Sony is enjoying success and beating Microsoft with the PlayStation 4 with exclusive titles such as "God Of War" and "Horizon: Zero Dawn" this handheld console did not share the same fate.
On the contrary, the previous Sony handheld console, the Sony PSP, enjoyed a much longer lifespan and had Triple-A titles such as "Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII" and "Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep", the latter which has seen a re-release bundled in a package with its main titles in the PlayStation 4.
