A slowdown in hardware sales in the console market has impacted Sony's latest handheld PlayStation Vita badly. The device sold the smallest number of units since launching last year.

Last month, video game sales fell by 25 percent. Mass Effect 3 - arguably March's biggest release - sold only 1.3 million units in the U.S.

Hardware sales were also down over the same period, and Sony's PlayStation Vita was no exception. Last week, the handheld sold 8,931 units in Japan. That's the lowest number of units sold since the device's 2011 launch in the region.

It's a similar story in the U.S. In its first year on sale, the Nintendo 3DS sold 4.5 million units after a shaky start with few high-quality launch titles. Nintendo reduced the price, offered more colors and released well-known titles - such as Super Mario 3D Land - to boost sales. Sony may need to follow suit if it wants to sell more units.

In Japan, there isn't a Vita game in the top 20 charts. A look the release schedule for the Vita in Japan, shows many games will be announced, with blockbuster titles such as Assassin's Creed and Bioshock on the way. It seems Sony is lacking strong first-party titles that can propel sales for the Vita, while many games - such as Rayman Origins and Plants vs Zombies - are out on other platforms.

PlayStation Vita has strong rivals competition in the form of 3DS, the iPhone and iPad. Proving that Vita games at full retail prices are worth it, when Max Payne is available on iOS for $3, may be difficult for the company.

However, PlayStation Vita wasn't always in the doldrums. It registered strong sales at launch, and in February, Sony said that 1.2M Vita units had been sold since launch, and Uncharted: Golden Abyss was among the top 20 games during the month, while the company sold $10 million worth of accessories. At the time Sony said customer satisfaction rates were "very high."

While a strong launch lineup is good, as Nintendo found, maintaining momentum can be difficult.

(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)