Even if you were not a devotee of the system, I hope you will enjoy this short trip down memory lane.
Love and loss. Joy and sorrow. Pride and struggle. Throughout all of human history, generations of artists have used the musical medium to express emotions and experiences and impart upon us impressions that live beyond their era. As Sappho wrote, our beauty and bodies may fade, but our music lives forever, and in this music our infinite appreciation for the PS Vita lives eternal.
Many artists have devoted their work to describe their relationships with this seminal PlayStation handheld. "Vita Songs", or songs about how much artists miss the PlayStation Vita, are such a part of our cultural DNA that they surely don't need to be pointed out. But for fun, I thought I'd rank my favorite Vita Songs below.
Please pardon any typos, I am posting this from the on-screen keyboard on my PSV web browser! :)
King of Wishful Thinking – Go West (1990)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBZUz4C6kqk
An all-around classic in every respect, this turn-of-the-90s bop captures the post-support period of the Vita's life cycle where dedicated players tried to move on from their favorite device. With so many hours invested and so much appreciation for the vast library, writer and performer Peter Cox portrays a heartbroken gamer trying to move on from a machine with no proper successor. "I thought I'd get over it," he told Rolling Stone in 1992, "I tried to accept there just wasn't a market for this kind of device anymore. But then again, I was still there, wasn't I? Sometimes it didn't feel that way."
This song is famous for being featured in Pretty Woman, a modern Cinderella story about a wealthy business man who unexpectedly falls in love with a gamer girl, for which Julia Roberts was nominated for an Academy Award.
Missing You – John Waite (1984)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9e157Ner90
Similar in spirit and tone, I would be remiss not to mention John Waite's "Missing You" as the forefather to the above. Another chart-topping hit, John Waite's "Missing You" exemplifies the feeling of nostalgia in the years following the Vita's abandonment and the denial certain players adopted in an attempt to move on from the system. "The biggest thing for me was that the PS Vita was absolutely the best way to play PS1 games," said John Waite on VH1's I Love the 80's Strikes Back– 1984 "I tried to think, okay, I'll just play new games for a while. I don't need to play those old games. All these years later I still miss them."
Sony recently announced that PlayStation 1 and PSP titles would be coming to their subscription membership service PlayStation Plus. As of now, Vita titles themselves have not been announced.
Simply the Best – Tina Turner (1991)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC5E8ie2pdM
"What the PS Vita did for me was just reaffirm my love for video games. And not just video games right now, but a whole lifetime of video games," explained Tina Turner in a press interview ahead of the HBO documentary Tina – which follows the life and career of its eponymous subject.
While many Vita Songs prioritize the heartache of loss, Tina Turner's iconic anthem celebrates the Vita in its prime. Its lyrics lionize the device and its library as the top of its class, and embraces it with the dedicated totality that became the norm for so many of its fans. Many years have passed since the retirement of the handheld, but for those who basked in its splendor it is still "simply the best" there has ever been.
Tina Turner's song gained renewed acclaim in recent years when an acoustic arrangement was featured on the popular Canadian television sitcom Schitt's Creek. "I didn't want to lose the rawness of it," explained Noah Reid, who plays the character of Patrick on the show. "I didn't want to lose the honesty and emotion of the original, I wanted to bring that out in a different way. I am honored that Vita fans are so touched by our interpretation."
Back to You – Selena Gomez (2018)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY1eFxgRR-k
Lots of Vita Songs sought to capture the loss of the Vita from the gaming landscape, but one of the first entries into the canon in a post-Switch world was Back to You. Written for the controversial Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why, this lead single describes the haunting guilt of leaving the Vita behind as player attempt to embrace the Nintendo Switch.
Gomez has been cryptic about the song's personal meeting to her, declining to confirm whether the feelings are her own. But this stunning mood poem touches on the taboo of "Vita Guilt", a term first coined by Christina Aguilera on her time judging for the NBC musical competition The Voice. "We couldn't talk about it. No one was talking about it. We were supposed to be happy [with the Switch], but I don't know anyone who wouldn't go back if they could."
Shortly after Aguilera retired from her position on the show to spend more time with her family.
While cagey about the song's meaning, Gomez did have this to say on the red carpet at the American Music awards in response to what the lyrics were really about: "I think if you know, you know."
Just a Dream – Nelly (2010)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6O2ncUKvlg
"It killed me to see Gravity Rush 2 on PS4," Nelly told Vibe. "The PS4 port of Gravity Rush… it didn't affect me the same way. She was still my girl. But Gravity Rush 2 was a reality check. She was gone. I still had my Vita, but that was the first time I felt empty-handed."
For as vast as its library was, the PS Vita was not known for its exclusives. This is perhaps why players held what few it had so dearly and in such esteem. Nelly's Just a Dream, written about the protagonist Kat from Gravity Rush, exemplifies this passion for the Vita's noteworthy titles and the pain of seeing that franchise leave the Vita behind. Anyone who has ever loved and lost can relate to the difficulty in seeing an old sweetheart move on without you, making Nelly's love letter to Gravity Rush a timeless song.
Still into You – Paramore (2013)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OblL026SvD4
In an editorial, music journalist Jon Savage commented "[Vita] Songs don't have to be sad. I think there's a tendency to think they're all sad, but many people still celebrate their time with the Vita today just as they did in its prime." Paramore's Still Into You, one of their biggest breakout hits, captures this sentiment better than almost any other in its category.
"I still love the Vita! I will always love the Vita! So I wanted to write a song about that," said Hayley Williams in an early interview with AOL.
There is a tendency among Vita fans to lament the loss of the Vita as a contemporary machine as the end of an era, but the love for the Vita remains as a dedicated sect of the gaming community. When Sony attempted to delist titles accessible on the PS Vita, the outcry against the decision was so resounding that Sony pulled back. Jim Ryan, CEO of PlayStation, responded: "Upon further reflection, however, it's clear that we made the wrong decision here. So today I'm happy to say that we will be keeping the PlayStation Store operational for PS3 and PS Vita devices."
After all this time, we are still into the Vita. That doesn't seem to be changing any time soon. As the machine takes on a second life as a homebrew and emulation machine, one wonders if Sony's lack of support for the machine will still sting the way it once did. Perhaps there is something to be said that the Vita is now truly "for the players" alone.
Viva la Vida – Coldplay (2008)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE
I know, I know. There's a lot of you that just cringed on reading this. Viva la Vida, perhaps the most famous Vita requiem of all time, is a basic cheugy singalong. This is the kind of Vita Song your mom listens to in the car. I get it! But we have to be honest: it's famous for a reason. Viva la Vida, for as overplayed as it was, is the Vita Song and it deserves to be recognized for its impact.
Viva la Vida, a retrospective of sorts on the legacy of handhelds in general, examines the difficulty of transitioning away from the future once thought was inevitable. Regardless of how the PSP performed against the Nintendo DS, or how the Vita performed against the 3DS, handhelds were part of the gaming ecosystem that players took for granted. Regardless of any ups and downs, regardless of how the market changed, handhelds would endure. Looking back, this sounds tragically naïve. Processing that naivete is at the heart of Viva la Vida, as is letting go of years of pride Vita fans had built up for their preferred machine in particular.
While Viva la Vida might not your favorite song to listen to anymore, I think it's still worth going back to as on of the Vita's most somber love letters. While many Vita Songs capture just one dimension of what it means to love the machine, Viva la Vida manages to portray a far fuller spectrum of experience. This will still be the first song I think of when I think of the PS Vita. I think that's true for a lot of people too, even if they don't want to admit it.
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I know I probably haven't said anything that hasn't been said before but I love to reminisce about the Vita this time of year. I hope you enjoyed thinking about the Vita and hearing about my favorite songs that are all explicitly and unambiguously about the PSV. There are so many other songs out there, what are your favorite Vita Songs? When you want to remember how much you loved the PS Vita, which songs do you listen to? I'd love to hear your suggestions.
If we manage to put together a list of enough songs that are 100% about the PS Vita specifically, maybe we can make a playlist we can share so everyone can enjoy those songs together.
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