Why do you need a PlayStation Vita in 2023? This console was ahead of its time and is still top

The first portable console from Sony called PlayStation Portable has become truly popular in our country. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said about her heiress. But is the PlayStation Vita really that bad? And why is it worth buying it in 2023?

My acquaintance with PS Vita took place at the end of 2012. I took it with the hope of seeing ideas for quality development of the PSP aside media combinewhere you can play, watch videos, and listen to the new music album of your favorite band.

The first thing that catches your eye when you pick up the PS Vita is its unforgettable, rich OLED screen. Even now it looks more than decent and gives the impression of a premium, expensive device.

After all, this was actually the first time I’d used a console for anything other than gaming—surfing social media via the built-in browser and watching YouTube.
However, I lost interest quite quickly and put it on the shelf, where it remained until 2017, when the first version of the hack appeared.

But after that everything became much more interesting. Tweaks have appeared that greatly expand the user experience, ports and much more, which we will talk about later.

Why is it still worth getting a PS Vita in 2023? Let’s look at the points:

1. Library of exclusive projects

– The Legend of Heroes – Traces of Cold Steel. Huge Japanese RPG for over 100 hours

It may not be the largest, but it is quite diverse.

There is both a full-fledged part of Uncharted, the now almost forgotten Killzone and Wipeout, and authentic Japanese games.

2. Re-releases of classic games

The brightest representative of the indie scene project. My wife spent over 800 hours in The Binding of Isaac

In the first years of the console’s life, there were quite a lot of ports from the older PS3 and Xbox 360 at the time, and Sony itself tried to transfer re-releases of many of its past hits to HD.

Of course, indie projects are also fully available.

3. Feedback

For example, you can brush up on the great Final Fantasy VII.

Even an unflashed PS Vita can run games on PSP and PS 1. Hacking makes everything much better, essentially turning the console into a full-fledged 2-in-1 device.

What I’m saying is that classic PS1 games look amazing on the OLED screen.

4. Fan ports of games

This is a full-fledged GTA, not a cut-down port.

I’m not talking about the classic DOOM port: over the past few years, enthusiasts have managed to port such hits as GTA 3/Vice City/San Andreas, the first Max Payne and even Bully to the PS Vita.

A list of huge ports, check it out, it is recommended on special resources. Some of the names may surprise you, I’m sure.

Enthusiasts resurrected an abandoned project

Craftsmen have written software with which the PlayStation Vita turns on the PSP interface with all its capabilities with one click.

Incredible, but true: fans and pirates essentially resurrected the PS Vita and corrected the mistakes that Sony itself made.

Let me give you an example of a non-original accessory called SD2VITA, created by fans of the console. This is an adapter that allows you to use the console with a regular MicroSD memory card. As a rule, almost using the PS Vita on the secondary market is already in advance.

The second main achievement is the expansion of the console’s capabilities. The fact is that inside the PS Vita there is a MIPS processor, which provides excellent compatibility with PSP games.

Also, on a flashed PS Vita, you can unlock the processor frequency for safe overclocking and increasing resolution in some games. And in projects for PSP, use the second stick.

Which PS Vita to buy and where to get games from?

Buying a PS Vita in our country is quite simple even now. Prices on the sites range from 9 to 15 thousand for regular colors. Unique ones will be more expensive. Which one should I take? It’s simple.

There are three versions of the PlayStation Vita worldwide – Fat, Slim and TV.

Vita Fat – the first version, released in 2011 in Japan and in 2012 worldwide. The clear advantages include an OLED screen and a convenient holder for keeping track of dimensions. The downsides are a unique charging port and the lack of free internal memory. To use the console in any case, you will need an original flash drive.

Vita Slim – simplified and lightweight version of 2014 release. Difference from the “fat one” The main thing is the IPS screen. There is quite a bit of debate online about where the screen turned out better. Personally, after PS Vita Fat, using Slim was not very pleasant for me.

But the Slim version uses a Micro USB connector for charging and has a built-in memory of 1 GB, which allows you to use it without an original flash drive only with an adapter.

And the PS Vita Slim had a lot of very beautiful colors. True, now on the secondary market they are much more expensive.

PlayStation TV – Strictly speaking, this is not a revision of almost a separate class of devices. In short, this is a PS Vita without a screen, which is connected via HDMI. If the development of this miracle device is described in detail, there will be enough information for a separate article.

Let me know in the comments if you would like to know about this device, because the story about PS TV can be a lot of interesting.

PS TV and PS Vita

Unlike the Nintendo 3DS, Sony has not yet disabled the Playstation Store. And, according to theory, games on the console can be officially purchased digitally. The truth about the consequences for bringing a separate account in another region with all the attendant “crutches”.

However, in some cases the console can be easily hacked without the need to open it and solder anything. And on the secondary market, 99 of the latest offers are already modified consoles with a “gentleman’s set” of programs. Among them there will probably be one with which you can download games directly from the console.

The design of the program for downloading games directly to the console is frankly spartan, but the functionality is excellent.

Yes, not all projects are there and there will not be, for example, fan-made patches for localization and resolution development, but there is no effort on the Internet to find the necessary resources.

The console has a very developed Russian community of enthusiasts who still support the PS Vita with information and content, are engaged in preserving its library and even modifying games.

What to play on PS Vita

If you are not sure about the riches when choosing games for PS Vita, here is a list of titles that you should pay attention to first. Some names have already been mentioned above, but still:

✔️ Killing Zone: Mercenary
✔️ Uncharted: Golden Abyss
✔️ Breakaway
✔️ Soul Sacrifice
✔️ Gravity Rush
✔️ Destruction 2048
✔️ Persona 4 Gold
✔️ Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc
✔️ Mortal Kombat
✔️ Odin’s Sphere Leifthrasir
✔️ God of War HD Collection
✔️ Revival of Muramasa
✔️ Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster

The list contains both common hits and some hidden gems, which are not available on other platforms. However, the platform’s desktop library is good – it is very flexible, and the games are at least a little compared to the Nintendo Switch, but there are a couple of interesting projects for everyone.

Vita means “Life”.

PlayStation Vita can be called a phoenix that died and then was reborn from the ashes. This console appeared on shelves outside Japan in 2012 and almost immediately there was a failure: despite extremely high expectations, sales figures were ridiculous – only 600 thousand in the first month. In no case do such factors as illiterate pricing and unique expensive memory cards play a role in this.

PS Vita gave a second life to enthusiasts. They revived it, corrected Sony’s mistakes and turned it into an excellent product that is still difficult to surprise. Perhaps this is a unique case for the gaming industry, one of a kind.

I still return to it from time to time. I am mostly comfortable reading visual novels and playing rhythm games. And also, when I really want to play something on the PSP, I pick up the PS Vita, although I also have its predecessor.

So while it is possible to buy a PlayStation Vita in good condition relatively inexpensively and without problems, I advise you to do so.

On topic: Why I need a Nintendo 3DS in 2023. This console is still cooler than Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch