Vita needs an injection of white-hot gaming directly into its eyeball if it is to thrive. Here’s our suggestions for what would do that.

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Vita is dead. Wait, not dead. Sorry, we’ve been reading too many doom-and-gloom headlines and idiotic forum and blog posts. Vita isn’t dead – it just hasn’t quite got itself a foothold in the market just yet.
But how can this change? Games, mainly. It’s not a mystery: if you build it, they will come. Also: if you release good games for it, they will buy.

Unless it’s a Nintendo device in which case they’ll all buy it anyway because they’re frightening zealots.
Yeah, we said zealots. Like we’re in a late-‘90s PlayStation magazine OH WAIT WE ARE oh god this is going so meta right now. Better break up the mind-buggery with a list of games on Vita that would make you buy the handheld:

Call Of Duty/Battlefield
The first one is definitely coming, the second will be sure to follow, but these – done right – could be system-sellers that pull the Vita up even without any other games to bother with. If they’re done right. If.

Final Fantasy (a good one)
You can beg and plead for a thousand different Final Fantasy games, but it only really matters if they’re the VI, VII, IX, XII, Tactics of the series. Anything like those recent XII-2s and the like and you’re going to have strong Japanese sales, and not much else.

Diablo 3
And Blizzard could even maintain its horrible always-on DRM if you have a 3G Vita – huzzah! But no, we don’t want that: we just want a compulsive hack-and-slash RPG to blitz through in our tiny hands. Diablo would work. Or Torchlight.
Grand Theft Auto V


Or, you know, Saints Row 4. Alright, maybe we’re overstating how much impact the Saints have on the world. GTA would be a system-seller. SR would be less so. Either way, just put both of them on the handheld so we can rob cars and shoot people while on the bus IN THE GAME.

Spelunky
Something quick, simple (though not easy) and maddeningly addictive? Yeah, we could probably see that working on a handheld. Probably. Possibly. Definitely.

Vandal Hearts
We’ve already mentioned Final Fantasy Tactics so that’s off the list, and Disgaea is already out, so let’s go for another wonderful strategic RPG: Vandal Hearts. A remake of the original will do nicely, cheers.

Skyrim
There was meant to be an Elder Scrolls spin-off coming to PSP, but it died a quiet, lonesome death. It should be avenged by having Skyrim – another spin-off or just a pared-down version of the original – on Vita. Skyrim on Vita: bliss.

Monster Hunter
Because ignore everything else on this list: all it needs is Monster Hunter. It’s scientific fact.
And if all else fails, here’s Scott Steiner: