The book is not official, but there will be demand for it, as the PlayStation Vita book’s author Sandeep Rai has already reached the goal of community funding.

The Kickstarter for the book’s campaign to tell the story of the PlayStation Vita has a modest goal of £6,000, and Rai is already close to quadrupling that, with the 464 backers who have already pledged to join in, and many hundreds to thousands more to participate in 27 days. In short, the book will be in demand if the minimum amount needed is raised in a matter of hours.

Not only does Vita Means Life summarise the handheld’s sorry fate, but it also features interviews with several PlayStation Vita developers and a detailed retrospective of some of the platform’s most significant works. The A5-sized book will be divided into four sections: history, interviews, retrospectives, and the library (which lists what’s been released for the PS Vita in the West).

Rai listed a few examples of what to expect in the retrospective section (and he says there will be more): Gravity Rush, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Persona 4 Golden, LittleBigPlanet Vita, Wipeout 2048, Freedom Wars, Soul Sacrifice, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, the Ys series, the SteamWorld series, Salt & Sanctuary, Shovel Knight, the Atelier series, and Trails of Cold Steel 1 & 2. “I felt that despite being such an amazing device, the [PlayStation] Vita would never get the same treatment as other retro systems and have books written about it, so I thought, ‘why don’t I do it?’ I’m so glad it worked out, and I got so much support for the first two books, and I am hopeful that will continue for this third book,” Rai said.

The 400-page Vita Means Life will be available in digital (PDF/eBook) and hardback, physical versions by April. Rai is telling the truth: the PlayStation Vita has indeed been quickly forgotten in the West.

Source: PSL