In the run up to the official Playstation Vita release in the United States, Sony has seen the number of units sold in Japan dropping steadily every week. What is most surprising however is that sells for the Playstation Portable, the Vita’s precursor has actually over shot the newer hand held’s sales numbers by a couple thousand. Here is a link to the report, you’ll just have to get past all those squiggly lines to get to the graph.

PSP had achieved an immense popularity in Japan it never managed to reach here in the states, where Nintendo’s DS maintained portable dominance for the duration of the previous generation. Though it’s still early in the PS Vita’s life cycle and a few “killer apps” could change the feelings of consumers, this news does not bode particularly well for Sony. One hope however is the fact that Nintendo’s 3DS has not done particularly well in the U.S., already having to undergo a price drop. Perhaps this means the Vita does not have as much of an uphill battle for consumers who would only be purchasing one hand held or the other.

Of course the mobile climate is a very different one than it used to be, with cell phones that are able to play many games and even now tablet devices that are more powerful than some laptops a few years back. Maybe this is just indicative of the overall direction the market is leaning. Do consumers really need additional pieces of hardware to carry around with them? When the Game Boy came out there was nothing else like it. Now it seems the line between phone and computer and gaming system is blurring more and more every day.

Could this generation possibly be the last for hand held gaming devices? Or could the 3D gimmick have been the kiss of death for the 3DS and the Vita will swoop in and obtain market dominance? Only time will tell obviously, but in the mean while, I think I will just stick to the tried and true Nintendo Virtual Boy . Safe to say that one’s not going anywhere.