How the PS Vita lost out to smartphones with the online casino industry

We’ve said it time and time again: the more features you drop to “focus” your device, the more users you’re alienating. And the truth is, Playstation dropped support for various features very early on in the lifespan of the Vita. Today, we’re going to focus on a bit “what if”, as we tell the story of how smartphones won in the war to attract the online casino industry. 

The current situation

The truth is, the online casino industry brings in millions of dollars each year. And whoever takes a bite of that cake, will likely end up doing quite well. It’s an industry that has evolved a lot, too: you only need to visit places like RoyalVegas online casino to realize that the variety of games you can play has never been better. The technology is getting better, too: while a lot of casinos traditionally rely on Adobe Flash, a lot are also now banking on more modern technology, like HTML5 and JavaScript.

It’s also very safe, too, with multiple agencies governing secure transactions over the internet. Long gone are the days of being scared to input your credit card number on the web. You can now browse safely and put real money towards online purchases thanks to secure connections, high-level encryptions and a myriad of other safety features.

In short, it’s never been easier, safer or more pleasant to have a flutter.

Why smartphones won

Simply put: the Vita lacked the technology to run most online casinos. The truth is, during the Vita’s crucial growth years (2012, 2013 and 2014), most, if not all, online casinos ran on Adobe Flash. The Playstation Vita’s inability to run this technology natively put it out of contention immediately, as adult gamers who wanted to play on real casino games had no choice but to use other devices. Playstation basically ran all extra Vita features into the ground.

Enter smartphones: not only did everyone already have one, negating the need to make an additional hardware purchase, but they were (and still are, until next year!) compatible with Adobe Flash. This means that you can visit pretty much every single website in the world and get acceptable compatibility.

Now, I personally like using my Vita to play Vita games (one of my favorites being Bastion, for example), but not needing to take another device with me when I want to put some extra bucks on Black 11 means that I’m more likely to spend time with that device. And the fact that I couldn’t even run a lot of online casinos on the Vita even if I wanted to, basically puts the last nail in the coffin.

What to do?

Well, if you want to visit online casinos, you can do it from pretty much every modern device: your desktop computer, your smartphone, your laptop, your tablet. Just not your Playstation Vita. The little handheld that could will have to remain a gaming-only device. For everything else? I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere.

It’s not that bad, though: there’s plenty to choose from, and with very capable smartphones starting at under US$90, you can almost have a dedicated device for online casinos if you want. A little extra privacy never goes amiss, am I right?

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About Marcos Codas 384 Articles
Lover of portable gaming and horror cinema. Indie filmmaker and game developer. Multimedia producer. Born in Paraguay, raised in Canada. Huge fan of "The Blair Witch Project", and "Sonic 3D Blast". Deputy head at Vita Player and its parent organization, Infinite Frontiers. Like what I do? Donate a coffee: https://www.paypal.me/marcoscodas