The production of the PlayStation Vita is coming to an end in Japan. This was confirmed in a news report that Sony released on their Japan website. This is unfortunate news for gamers in the area. Although the PlayStation Vita showed so much promise, it wasn’t marketed properly.

If you ask gamers today about the portable console, you’ll get mixed reviews. On one hand, it has exceptional processing power and displays some amazing graphics for such a tiny device. Unfortunately, not a lot of game developers jumped on board to create games for it. You can’t blame them either. There wasn’t much of a future for the handheld. Developers didn’t want to put stock into a gaming device that might not be available in the next few years.

It seemed as if Sony was actually trying to kill off the Vita at certain points, which is unfortunate because it has so much potential. There is still a huge community for this device, and you’ll find dozens of forums for those who still appreciate what it has to offer.

Now, gamers in Japan will have a much harder time getting their hands on the device. Both the old and new versions are no longer being produced. The only source will be used units. This probably will drive up the Vita’s price given the added difficulty in finding it.

So, what does this mean for Western Vita users? Well, so far, there have been no reports of production coming to a halt. Still, the writing has been on the wall for some time. You rarely ever see the PlayStation Vita being pushed in the states, except from maybe die-hard users. New games are still being produced for the system, but they aren’t marketed that well.

One has to assume that production will eventually stop here in the states. If and when this happens, the PS Vita’s availability will drastically decrease. You’ll probably see people sell these handhelds on the market at marked-up prices. As a result, now is the perfect time to get a Vita.

It’s actually an incredible little machine, featuring crisp graphics and some amazing games. These include Resistance: Burning Skies, Killzone: Mercenary, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Wipeout 2048, and Mortal Kombat 9. Additionally, the PS Vita can stream games from a PS4. This feature alone makes the PS Vita worth checking out before its availability becomes scarce.

Hopefully, the Vita community can continue to push this portable gaming device and keep it alive.