Here's Why The PlayStation Vita Is Still Impressive In 2020 (Video)

[entremet]

I know there are a lot of Vita fans here, so I figured many would appreciate this.

Some highlights:
-He loved the 1000 version for the OLED displays. I must agree even though the 2000 model has some benefits like the standard power cable. But look at those colors popping on the thumb.
-He hates the propriety memory cards--obviously lol.
-Remember the 3G models?! I completely forget about that implementation.

I enjoyed the Vita a lot. I have a white OLED model. It mostly became an indie machine (played so much Spelunky on that thing) for me, which was fine honestly given how terrible it did commercially.

Recently, I was working through P4G on it recently, but my 16GB card died, along with some PS1 and PSP game saves. And it is very obvious Sony is done with dedicated handhelds. I thought they had a great run with the PSP and Vita. Well, I'm speaking personally here lol. The marketplace clearly rejected the Vita.

But, what a great little system. I need to mod it for SDVita. RIP my many hours of P4G.

 

[Neutral_Jump]

Got a Vita on day one and still have one of each model. I prefer playing on the 2000 - the dpad and buttons still beat out the switch lite by a big margin for me. Some games really shine on the format, too. Muramasa and Street fighter x Tekken are a few that I've put 40+ hours in easily.

I recently bought Soul Sacrifice Delta and I'm excited to dig into that one as I've heard nothing but good things.

 

[Jonnax]

See I've got a 1000 vita.
But the oled is absolutely crap.
On black screens it's full of grey splotches.

The memory cards were stupid.
And I think it lacked a killer game.

Like top of the list of best games is Persona. And that was a PS2 port.

 

[demi]

Good thread, just brought out my Vita again to play FF7. Miss me with that up-res port

 

[Deleted member 11637]

I just started my NG++ run of P4G, and the color scheme of that game on an OLED screen is stunning to behold. I've come close to selling it a few times over the last couple of years, but I don't think I can at this point. Beautiful form factor, one of the best D-Pads of all time, and an enormous library of games.

And checking my home screen, I had forgotten I bought Suikoden I and II recently, so...I think I'll be using my Vita a lot in the near future.

 

[Replicant]

I was never impressed by the hardware. The games didn't look that great and the oled looked good until you saw the black blobs and since it's a first gen oled era panel, it is very prone to image retention.

 

[TheMadTitan]

I'd buy a Vita if I could find one at a rock bottom price. I'll stick with my PSTV.

 

[Deleted member 16876]

Still the best handheld ever made.

 

[Listai]

It's an amazing platform especially if you install custom firmware. It's now a breeze to rip my PSOne titles over and install them as PSOne classics with added extras like save states and fast forward.

I imported my 1000 model from the US at launch and it hasn't skipped a beat - I currently have the JEC trigger grip on mine which makes it not only more comfortable to hold but adds L2 and R2 buttons for PSOne games. The one thing I haven't gotten around to is switching over to SD2Vita so I can use a 128gb micro sd in place of the 32gb vita card I currently have.

 

[MPrza]

Personally, I thought it was dead the moment they announced they were going to use proprietary cards. Then they announced the prices and it was all but certain.

That being said, I own an sd2vita soft-modded aqua blue one. 256gb card that holds nearly my entire ps1/psp/vita collection. I never thought of the vita as anything special or impressive though.

 

[Dozer]

Still the best platform to play Minecraft

 

[entremet]

Personally, I thought it was dead the moment they announced they were going to use proprietary cards. Then they announced the prices and it was all but certain.

That being said, I own an sd2vita soft-modded aqua blue one. 256gb card that holds nearly my entire ps1/psp/vita collection. I never thought of the vita as anything special or impressive though.

Click to shrink...

Could you still connect to PSN with the softmodded one?

 

[Bradford]

I have a 3G OLED Vita and I love the hardware, minus the rear touchpad, but I never really found any games for the thing that I really adored.

That being said, I installed Moonlight on it recently and it's been a wild time replaying PC games on it portably.

Unfortunately my Vita also has a REALLY bad mura issue -- common on the OLED vitas, but like, the splotches are ridiculously visible, so that's a bummer.

Also yes, you can connect to PSN with CFW.

 

[BrickArts295]

A CFW 1000 Vita with an SD2Vita is beyond amazing.

 

[Mass_Pincup]

The best handheld I ever had, it was such a pleasure to play on it.

 

[Arklite]

Three things that would've helped the Vita in an alternate universe:
1. Earlier launch to compete with the same priced 3DS that had launched at the same $249.
2. Monster Hunter
3. Non-proprietary memory cards.

They really fucked up with the memory cards though, and unlike the Pro 2 Duo sticks of the PSP, their camera line didn't support it to open it up to another market.

Anyways, it's a shame the fantastic hardware couldn't get the support to match. My favorites are Freedom Wars, Killzone Mercenary, and Shinobido 2.

Also I had no idea the Vita outsold the Wii U, per the video.

 

[MPrza]

Could you still connect to PSN with the softmodded one?

Click to shrink...

Yea, the mod I have (henkaku?) spoofs the latest firmware and allows me to connect online. I don't use my vita for piracy but I'm not sure if that really makes a difference with connecting online.

 

[entremet]

Yea, the mod I have (henkaku?) spoofs the latest firmware and allows me to connect online. I don't use my vita for piracy but I'm not sure if that really makes a difference with connecting online.

Click to shrink...

I have a sizable digital PSN (PS1, PSP) library so that's why I ask.

Three things that would've helped the Vita in an alternate universe:
1. Earlier launch to compete with the same priced 3DS that had launched at the same $249.
2. Monster Hunter
3. Non-proprietary memory cards.

They really fucked up with the memory cards though, and unlike the Pro 2 Duo sticks of the PSP, their camera line didn't support it to open it up to another market.

Anyways, it's a shame the fantastic hardware couldn't get the support to match. My favorites are Freedom Wars, Killzone Mercenary, and Shinobido 2.

Also I had no idea the Vita outsold the Wii U, per the video.

Click to shrink...

By a small margin. Both systems heavily underperformed obviously.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

The handheld GOAT

 

[yrcmlived]

I would like to buy one but why? All best games (p4g and uncharted) are available in other console and the custom memory card sucks

I have a PSTV (got for 20€) but actually without memory card. I could mod but I would keep stock my console

 

[FreshYoungDoggo]

The year is 2030, Thread title appears on the front page. "Why the PSVita is still my favorite system"
Vita means life. /s

 

[MPrza]

I have a sizable digital PSN (PS1, PSP) library so that's why I ask.

Click to shrink...

Yea, I did as well after years of ps plus freebies and my own purchases. I purchased a $100 64gb vita memory card and thought, there has to be a better way. Which lead me towards softmodding with sd2vita support.

 

[KamenSenshi]

Vita will always be great. And will have always been mishandled and unwanted by Sony west.

 

[entremet]

Vita will always be great. And will have always been mishandled and unwanted by Sony west.

Click to shrink...

I honestly thought Sony did the best it could do. The market was just not there.

There is one thing I can fault Sony for. Many of their top studios ignored it. ND and Santa Monica for example.

 

[Rodney McKay]

Anyone with a Vita and most of their games digital should get an SD2Vita. Let's you use an SD card for storage instead of the stupid proprietary memory cards, but it uses your game card slot.
And I think you need to hack it, but to my knowledge it's pretty easy to do these days (used to need to be on an old firmware, but I think it has improved since then.

I got a big enough SD card to fit all my PSN games (Vita, PS1, PSP) on and it's been fantastic.

See I've got a 1000 vita.
But the oled is absolutely crap.
On black screens it's full of grey splotches.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, as nice as the OLED could look, I don't regret selling it for the 2000 model's LCD.

It's still a great screen, the micro USB port is so much more convenient, and the overall feel of the system is improved IMO (it's rounder which makes it feel a lot better in your hands).

 

[Blizz]

I honestly thought Sony did the best it could do. The market was just not there.

There is one thing I can fault Sony for. Many of their top studios ignored it. ND and Santa Monica for example.

Click to shrink...

The proprietary memory cards were 100% Sony's fault.

 

[entremet]

The proprietary memory cards were 100% Sony's fault.

Click to shrink...

True. That was like starting a 100-meter dash and shooting yourself in the leg lol.

 

[JohnnyMoses]

I played and finished Guacamelee on my OLED Vita. That alone was worth it. I'm currently going through Silent Hill Origins. I still love both my OLED and slim!

I also love Spawn Wave's videos. Can't wait to watch this.

 

[t26]

I honestly thought Sony did the best it could do. The market was just not there.

There is one thing I can fault Sony for. Many of their top studios ignored it. ND and Santa Monica for example.

Click to shrink...

Would having a ND developed Uncharted or another portable God of War made a difference? Probably not. They had a very good Killzone and a Call of Duty game. The audience for that kind of game weren't buying a Vita.

 

[KamenSenshi]

I honestly thought Sony did the best it could do. The market was just not there.

I cant agree, especially with the west. Hard for a market to be a place it doesnt know exists. Or that is constantly downplayed when it actually does get mentioned, reluctantly. Its funny how the one place that actually had any type of notable sales for the system and games is the one place where they actuakky bothered to advertise the system and games. Not the weird back breast ads in the UK or no ads in the US. Freedom Wars alone, with all its Sony Japan music videos has more advertising than the Vita and games in America.

Saying Sony did the best they could is like if Nintendo announced the Switch did minimal advertising and what they did either didnt work as shown(cross play/save), or didnt show off the system. Then they procced to not talk about it even 4 months after its release, and never bring it up or even once make it seem like it has a future.


There is one thing I can fault Sony for. Many of their top studios ignored it. ND and Santa Monica for example.

They should have allowed Bend to "bring up" Syphon Filter instead of working on Uncharted.

Click to shrink...

 

[Fallen92]

I have a 1000 model and a PSTV and I still regularly play them. It's still the only way to play Odin's Sphere and Dragon's Crown on the go and they support save transfer from PS4. Softmodding is a must imo since the proprietary memory cards are not only expensive but the larger sized ones tend to crap out a lot.

If anyone happens to have a PSTV they should look into sharpscale. It's a recently released plugin that allows the PSTV to output the Vita's native resolution in 720p mode which provides a perfect integer scale to 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. It looks much better than the upscaled 720p the mini console originally output which was blurry.

 

[Hugare]

The problem with the Vita was that any studio would rather make a game for the Xbox 360 / PS3 thus earning MUCH more with sales than developing for one device (that also was kind of a bitch to develop to, so I've heard)

Even first party studios. See how Golden Abyss turned out compared to other Uncharted games in terms of scope.
The Vita was at the "middle of the road" berween hadheld games and the "full console experience", and it suffered for it.

Nintendo doesnt have the same problem with the Switch because they only have one device to give support to. Also the device is really powerful, and can deliver "full console experiences".

 

[JustAnotherOne]

Gotta say,I own both 2000 that I got last year and 1000 that I have since 2012 in excellent condition and while the OLED screen is kinda nice (though to be honest,it doesn't impress as much anymore when compared to modern smartphones) ergonomically the 2000 is much better,it's lighter and has better shoulder and face buttons and the LCD screen isn't bad at all,and if I remember correctly,it has it's advantages over the 1000's punchy OLED with more accurate colors that closer to the sRGB standard.
Also it has microUSB and that alone made me use it much more than the 1000 that I had to look for its charger each time.

Great,great handheld and it also runs PSP and PS1 games perfectly.

 

[Rodney McKay]

My only issue when going back to the Vita (especially from using the Switch a lot) is that the analog sticks are just too damn small.

I had to buy rubber toppers for them just to be able to use them comfortably, and even then they're still just too small.

And a lot of Vita games I find they use them badly, like they have dead zones that are too large or noticeable lag.

Also I hate games that use the rear TouchPad to try and simulate L2/R2 in games, especially PS2 posts like the Ratchet and Clank Collection which I'm playing right now.

Thankfully I have one of those grips that adds actual L2/R2 buttons (I remember it being stupidly overpriced, like $60 or more just for the tiny chunk of plastic), it works and helps a LOT for games that do that.
It doesn't even need to plug in, the L2/R2 buttons actually touch the rear TouchPad where devs put those buttons, so when you press them it actually presses the rear pad for you.

 

[Fisty]

The party chat system requiring no extra peripherals was awesome, made grouping up for multiplayer easy for everyone. Compared to other modern handheld solutions, I guess it shouldnt have been taken for granted in 2012

 

[Wariobenotware]

As far as i remember the OLED Vita models had pretty bad color accuracy. Also i really didn't like how loose the analogue sticks were.

Didn't really care for this platform and the lack of any decent exclusives made it far worse than the PSP.

 

[Mechaplum]

I'm currently playing Cold Steel with side games in Persona3P, and am hunting for a PSTV. They are stupid expensive though.

Homebrew it and it's my favorite handheld of all time.

Persona 4 G on the OLED is /chefkiss.

 

[entremet]

Would having a ND developed Uncharted or another portable God of War made a difference? Probably not. They had a very good Killzone and a Call of Duty game. The audience for that kind of game weren't buying a Vita.

Click to shrink...

I agree. I'm just saying that if Sony couldn't get buy-in from developers they own, that's a problem.

 

[Deleted member 25042]

The OLED was awful.
When I think "OLED" the first thing that comes to mind is the perfect blacks.
This was not it, at all.

 

[PspLikeANut]

Vita is indeed amazing still this day. It's bluetooth connectivity is also on point. It's the only playstation console that allows connection for Air Pods!! You can adjust the volume through the Vita as well which is dope!

 

[entremet]

The OLED was awful.
When I think "OLED" the first thing that comes to mind is the perfect blacks.
This was not it, at all.

Click to shrink...

I mean, it was a small screen on a dedicated handheld, not a high-end big screen. Cut it slack lol. For what it was, it was great.

 

[Ciao]

Some guy borrowed my 1000, and never brought it back. I miss my P4G/Tactics Ogre/Vagrant Story machine.

 

[AmFreak]

I was never impressed by the hardware. The games didn't look that great and the oled looked good until you saw the black blobs and since it's a first gen oled era panel, it is very prone to image retention.

Click to shrink...

Yup, complete let down after the PSP.

 

[Y2Kev]

I wish they'd port Uncharted Vita.

 

[Aaronrules380]

The problem with the Vita was that any studio would rather make a game for the Xbox 360 / PS3 thus earning MUCH more with sales than developing for one device (that also was kind of a bitch to develop to, so I've heard)

Even first party studios. See how Golden Abyss turned out compared to other Uncharted games in terms of scope.
The Vita was at the "middle of the road" berween hadheld games and the "full console experience", and it suffered for it.

Nintendo doesnt have the same problem with the Switch because they only have one device to give support to. Also the device is really powerful, and can deliver "full console experiences".

Click to shrink...

Sony also just never invested that many resources into trying to make unique Vita experiences, especially after the initial failings. Eventually I feel like they tried to pivot into making it a companion piece to a PS4, but I honestly think that was straight up the worst move they could have made since it's way too pricy for most to justify buying it as such

 

[Iacomus]

I have a Vita and it feels really good. If Sony released an updated Vita and didn't have such backwards thoughts about it (difficult to design games for, memory card, 3g/4g) the system would rival the Switch.

 

[super moustique]

Never bought one.

I do own a PSTV though ! :P

 

[HotHamBoy]

It has Muramasa Rebirth

why won't atlus port muramasa rebirth collection

 

[Piggus]

My launch 3G Vita (the one that came out a week early) is still going strong. Great system that didn't get the support it deserved. :(

 

[Redcrayon]

I still think the Vita is a great piece of hardware. I don't go back to it's own software much, but mine is loaded with enough great PSP and PSOne games to last me a lifetime. My favourite way to play older Sony games.