I've been one to poke fun at all the Sony fan boy (any fan boy, actually). It really has done horribly in both the US and Japan, but now I really don't care too much whether the vita fails or not, but I'm glad that they at least are rolling out Little Big Planet for it. That's the game that got me to buy the PS3 in the first place. There are a couple other pretty good games on the Vita so far (some just downloadable mini games). Kinda overpriced, but well worth it to a first time player like me for Pixeljunk Monsters ($10), which is arguably the best tower defense game ever. There are a lot more games I'd get for the 3DS like Mario games, but there are certain ones which can be best enjoyed on a Vita---exclusive titles such as Lumines, Soundshapes (a total bargain for $15 including the PS3 version of the game, Little Big Planet...maybe some others).
For the same reason I use the Vita, I love the DS as well. Games that are easy to pick up and play for very short burts. Don't currently own one now, but had many of the older models and the mod chip.. Someday will pick up that 3DS XL which is quite nice
I could care less about the single analog stick (besides, they have already announced the attachment for the 2nd).
It's well worth it to me--you can EASILY buy a lightly used Vita with accessories and memory card/games for $150 on craigslist. I got mine for that price many months ago.... It makes for a terrific music player (it's improved) with the awesome sounding Wolfson DAC. If you use lower impedance headphones or an amp, near max volume sounds perfectly fine. I love watching Youtube and listening to Youtube music vids - uplifting trance especially in HD). The screen is really gorgeous and to me it looks better than any other smart phone Youtube app I've ever seen....It looks better than my laptop 1080p screen!
Nice and convenient for plane rides and falling asleep watching Netflix. Crunchy roll app is coming soon. I use flickr a lot and it's perfect for that... I'm sure the web browser will improve with time as well.
Paid $35 for a 16gb memory card used several months ago. Deal like that is easy to find now.. Even if developers abandon it, it's well worth having for me, especially at $150 price which is easy to come by.