Considering the current situation of the market, Sony Interactive Entertainment doesn't appear to be too inclined to release a new portable console carrying forward the legacy of the PS Vita. Yet NieR: Automata Director Yoko Taro would still like it to happen.Yoko-san expressed his desire for a PS Vita successor on Twitter, mentioning that while the release of the Nintendo Switch helps, he'd prefer a smaller next-generation portable.

"I want a Vita successor. While I feel a bit relieved since the Switch appeared, I'd like a slightly smaller next-generation portable game machine. I'd like to satisfy the desire that cannot be satisfied by smartphones, that don't have physical buttons."

Despite the boom of smartphones, portable game consoles are still relatively popular in Japan, and the Switch might indeed prove a bit big to fit the needs of the average local commuter, who often has to deal with the extremely cramped spaces of the super-crowded Tokyo rush hour (which is one of the reasons why smartphone games are so popular to begin with).

While it's currently difficult to envision a new move by Sony in the portable market, we should never say never.

Incidentally, Yoko-san is currently at the creative helm of the development of a smartphone game, Square Enix's SINoALICE.