What’s it like to use a PlayStation Vita in 2023? For some folks, that might seem
like a weird question to ask. After all, Sony stopped developing
games for the console in 2014 and officially stopped production of
cartridges and consoles in 2019. In 2021, they even tried to shut down
the Vita’s online store—only to agree to keep it open for the near future
after receiving a ton public backlash. Despite all that being true, plenty of
folks—whether out of nostalgia or genuine love for the handheld—are recommending the Vita as a modern
gaming device other folks might want to consider. As a Vita owner for almost a decade, I’m excited for the growing wave of enthusiasm for
such an underappreciated device, but…I also think it’s worthwhile not to
overstate the Vita’s capabilities. Even if there are many reasons a Vita might
fit perfectly into someone’s handheld arsenal, the market’s advanced quite a bit
since it first came out in 2011. So, in this video, let’s go over the actual
experience of using the Vita right now, what the Vita does right, what
about the Vita is frustrating, and how it stacks up against some of the
handheld competition it faces in 2023. Although, as a caveat before we get started, I’m going to completely ignore the use of
smartphones as a dedicated gaming device. Yes, you can make it work, but I’m
assuming that someone looking at a PS Vita actually wants a dedicated handheld console
that is designed to play games and games alone, complete with an integrated control system—like
the Switch Lite, Retroid Pocket, or Steam Deck. Okay, with that out of the way, let’s start
out with one of the first possible things new folks would notice and one of the
most important things overall: The UI. The Vita’s UI is fairly intuitive, animates smoothly, and still manages to
be pretty fast all these years later. I’ve never been a particular fan
of the bubble-centric design, but—as long as you don’t download a few hundred
games at once without using folders—it’s a relatively convenient organization system
that boots fast and makes games easy to find. The overarching card theming for open applications
also still feels comfortable and allows for both easily finding extra game info for Vita games
and quickly switching between open apps. All of it is quite modern. While I’d say the only UI that comes close to
the Vita’s streamlined setup would be the Switch, it’s common to see frontends for retro
handhelds trying to recreate the same feel of being able to turn on the system,
quickly find what you need, and get going. In a way, that all lends itself to the Vita
actually feeling a bit newer than it is, especially when paired with the
sleek design of the Slim model. What does not feel modern in any way is the
Vita’s version of the PlayStation Store. The home page of which has a variety of
options which will selectively either drop you into a curated list or an alphabetical
forest that is such a pain to navigate. Given the sheer number of games available
through this store, if I don’t have a specific game I’m personally looking for,
it’s a real hassle to find something new. Redownloading games from my library is also
the biggest pain they could have made it. There’s no dedicated library menu like on the
PS4. Instead, it forces me to sift through my complete list of PlayStation downloads
to find a game I previously purchased. And, yeah…that’s right, I
said “PlayStation” downloads, because I also have games from my
PS3 and PS4 mixed into this list. Heck, some games that have a Download button
near them aren’t even compatible with the Vita. Worse yet, when I select something
to Download, it kicks me out of the list and forces me to scroll down again
from the top to find where I left off. Given all the PS Plus games I’ve redeemed
to my library over the past decade, it’s a bigger pain than I could possibly stress. And, it’s worthwhile to highlight the
PlayStation Store because that’s really the place where newcomers are going to
legally acquire most of their games. If you’re a long-time PS Plus subscriber who
remembered to claim every game available, you probably have a huge library of Vita
games already—even if you don’t own a Vita. That library includes most of the Vita games
most people would probably purchase, like: Gravity Rush, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Wipeout
2048, Freedom Wars, Fez, and Muramasa Rebirth. For those who haven’t given hundreds of dollars
to Sony for subscriptions, all those games are still available to purchase through the store
along with a slew of classic PS1 and PSP games. You’ll just need to pay full price, because…there aren’t really any sales
happening any more for the larger titles. Sony’s also removed the ability to add
funds to your account through the Vita. So, you’ll either need to cross your
fingers that adding funds via the website works or use one of their home
consoles to add funds to your account. Luckily, cross-buy still works, which means
you could buy certain games for PS4 or PS3 through their respective stores and also get the
Vita version automatically thrown in as a bonus. For example, I recently purchased
Bastion for PS4 while it was on sale and was able to immediately
also download it for my Vita. Like many games, it also supports cross-saves,
which makes it really easy for me to play on a Vita while traveling and then later
pick up where I left off on my PS5. It’s a very modern and convenient
feature and the exact sorta way my wife Emily uses her Switch Lite and a
docked Switch OLED to play Splatoon 3. Unfortunately, buying digital might be your only
option for most of the worthwhile games out there. For one, many games just didn’t have
a physical card created for them. Indie and classic games may
be digital only to begin with, but Sony’s drop of support halfway through
the Vita’s lifespan also meant fewer physical releases to go along with their remaining
game launches while the Vita was still active. Luckily, the physical games that do
exist are mostly at decent prices right now online—$20 – $50 on average is what
I tend to see for the most common games. Games also aren’t region-locked. If,
for instance, you’re fine buying a game in Japanese you can still use your
North American console to play that game. However, I’ve found Vita games fairly difficult
to track down in game shops at the moment. It’s only been a few months since our local shop
even started carrying a handful of Vita games, and they’ve been equally scarce among the dozen
or so shops I’ve been to in the past 6 months. So, you might need to hunt a bit if you feel
like tracking down games the old-fashioned way. And…I know...I know...Some of you are probably
thinking it’s not worth it. You might already be in the comments saying: “Why not just pirate
the games?” Well, it’s kinda a sticky area. If Sony had already shut down the Store,
I might be right there with ya. But, they publicly kept the store open
longer than they wanted because people screamed at them that
they still wanted it to exist. As a result, all these games are
technically easily available right now for you to legally acquire. Just
because you personally feel that the value of certain games should decrease
over time, doesn’t change the reality that they haven’t and you might need to
pay full price to get access to them. If you say: “Screw it all! I’m
not giving Sony more of my money!” That’s your choice, but it also
lessens the impact and number of voices we have for demanding that
Sony keep it’s store open longer. Not to mention, the threat of piracy is
literally the reason Sony went overboard and created proprietary memory cards for the Vita
in the first place, which ultimately is one of the core reasons the Vita didn’t sell as well. But,
go watch our previous video if you want more...) In general, if you’re getting into gaming on
a Vita, it might be worthwhile to at least consider if there are any games you’d like to
buy outright to support the games’ developers, give business to your local game shop, or just
build a legitimate collection for yourself. Along those same lines, I’m gonna take
the slightly controversial stance to recommend shelling out extra for the
proprietary memory cards instead of jumping straight to an SD2Vita mod like
many folks seem to default to these days. My main rationale is that I’ve found the SD2Vita
mod to mess with my cartridge slot a bit. After modding, I now have to make sure to edit my storage settings and also reboot my
console between swapping game cards. As someone who really enjoys physical media,
it’s pretty annoying. If you’re like me and interested in the Vita for mainly Vita games,
official memory cards are the way to go. Personally, I’ve found my 16 GB card that
I purchased back in 2013 to be more than enough storage space for any games I’m
interested in playing at the moment. Splurging a bit for a 64 GB
card would probably cover even more plus a library of ROMs without any issue Okay, moving on to actual
gameplay. Does it hold up? The short answer is: yes. The long answer is:
It might depend on what you actually want to do. Vita games in particular have
held up exceedingly well. Quality varies by game, of course, but it’s
not too hard to find really great-looking games that would feel right at home if they
came out on Steam or Nintendo Switch today. That’s backed by a pair of impressive displays. The colors and contrast on the original
OLED continues to be top-tier and only really competes with my Switch OLED
for sheer vibrance and clarity. Meanwhile, the LCD on the Slim model doesn’t
look as great side-by-side, but is still a pretty solid display by today’s standards that
gets much brighter than you might expect…as long as you don’t put it
under direct sunlight that is. On sheer quality alone, I’d
always recommend the OLED display, but Sony really didn’t skimp on either model. If you went with the Slim based on aesthetics
alone or the fact that it has internal storage and doesn’t charge with a proprietary connector,
you’re still going to have a great time. On the controls side of things, the Vita’s action
buttons and d-pad still feel excellent to use. It’s probably my favorite d-pad outside of the
Xbox Series controller due to how smooth it feels in use and how well I can roll my thumb in any
direction and still get a snappy, clean input. While such small action buttons
aren’t my favorite, they are very tactile and don’t require my thumb to
move a ton to hit all of the buttons. If you plan to use a Vita just for puzzle games,
RPGs, or visual novels, it’s gonna feel great. Like, there’s a reason a lot of RPG lovers buy
these devices, outside of just library selection. Unfortunately, things break down a bit when
getting to the thumbsticks and shoulder buttons. While I can appreciate how the low
profile thumbsticks allow the Vita to fit comfortably into a pocket or
bag without becoming too stressed, their short travel and slippery caps feel
awkward for any precise aiming or movement. When using them for extended periods
of time, I always wind up feeling my thumbs sliding off them as I’m holding
one of the sticks in a single direction. If given a choice between them and the
half-height, Joy Con thumbsticks common in many pocket handhelds today,
I’d go with the Joy Con sticks. The shoulder buttons likewise aren’t
too great. They feel awkward to press anywhere but the exact center and have
never been quite as satisfying as even the smaller shoulder buttons on my 3DS or PSP. The slim model addresses this issue somewhat
by slightly recessing the shoulders into the console body to define the ideal
pressing range a little bit better, but it’s still not that great
even for 2011 standards. I could totally feel both of those
being up to personal preference though. Truth be told, even with those gripes,
everything is serviceable here and high quality. Maybe adding a grippier stick cap might
even help a bit for anyone who, like me, feels their thumbs sliding too much. Overall, playing Vita games on the Vita still
feels great and is an experience that hasn’t aged quite as much as some of the other
console gameplay from the same time period. Similarly, emulating other consoles is also
fantastic. Well, some other consoles at least… Anyone getting a Vita these days for more than playing Vita games should
really consider modding their system. From having modded both my Vita Slim
and a PlayStation TV in the past couple months, I can tell you from experience that
it takes about 10 minutes of your time and only requires that you have a working
Vita that can connect to the internet. That tiny bit of effort will
give you access to Adrenaline, which is possibly my favorite
PSP emulation tool on any device. Adrenaline is an app that makes
use of the official PSP emulator packed onto the Vita to run PSP firmware. Quite literally, it’s like adding a PSP
to your PS Vita, and it works great. Playing PSP games through this method
feels a lot like playing on an actual PSP, just with a much nicer display and
a ton of quality-of-life features. For example, in a game like
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, I can copy the camera controls from L and
R and place them on the right thumbstick. It’s still not as great as having a
free-roaming camera controls, but I enjoy having the option nonetheless and
makes gameplay a bit more enjoyable. Honestly, if you’re looking for a machine to
play PSP games, it’s hard to do better than the PlayStation Vita right now unless you’re dedicated
to original hardware or want a much bigger screen. Any PSP games you buy and download from the store even show up in Adrenaline
without any additional fuss. Same goes for PS1 games. While not as
pristine, PS1 emulation is very solid. Again, this is something Sony worked
on themselves, and it’s a top-quality experience that works really well—unless
of course you need trigger buttons… The important thing to note here is that
the Vita’s one of the few avenues left to legitimately get PS1 and PSP games
that aren’t tied to a streaming service. And, Sony did a lot right getting the
games to run well on this hardware. Even if you don’t have a ton
of favorites among the Vita’s own library, using Adrenaline to
play PSP and PS1 games might make getting a Vita a worthwhile purchase
in itself for fans of either system. One thing you probably shouldn’t buy a
Vita for is emulating any other system. Other non-Sony handhelds up to Gameboy Advance run
well enough, but home systems hit a hard stopping point at N64—which isn’t particularly
great on the Vita in the first place. So, sure, you can play Pokemon LeafGreen
without too many issues, but GameCube, Dreamcast, or PS2 emulation is pretty much
out of the question unless someone rewrites a game specifically to work with the Vita—which
Sony actually did for a variety of PS2 games. Additionally, even home consoles that technically
work aren’t going to be flawless in execution. N64 emulation stutters quite a bit and likely won’t live up to most other
retro handhelds these days. Similarly, SNES emulation is
passable but not pristine. It’s one of those cases where a casual session
of Super Mario World will likely be fine for most people, but someone who’s really into
SNES games might have some issues with it. (Though, to be honest, those folks should probably be looking at something like the
Analogue Pocket instead anyway.) I think the best I could say about
emulating non-Sony systems on the Vita is that it’s neat that it can do it all. Obviously, the Vita emulation community
is a magnitude smaller than the Android, Linux, or Windows emulation communities. So, the fact that these emulators are in such
good shape is promising but maybe shouldn’t be the sole focus of a Vita purchase decision or
argument for someone’s use case of the Vita. Instead, consider it more like
a...nifty bonus for tinkering a lil bit. Where things start to get more awkward
is with Remote Play for PS4 games. Don’t get me wrong, the actual Remote Play feature
works perfectly and genuinely feels more reliable than Remote Play on other platforms—which tend
to require pairing a DualShock 4 to a computer. If you want to play slower games, like
Persona 5, you’re gonna have a great time. It’s only when you start treading into
faster-paced games with heavy reliance on trigger buttons where things break down a bit. Now, as y’all can see, the Vita doesn’t
actually have any trigger buttons. (Those wouldn’t really start showing up in a majority of handhelds until a few
years after the Vita was released.) Sony’s work around was to map both
L2 and R2 to the rear touch panel. It’s actually a smart idea but
isn’t always the most comfortable. It’s especially bad on the original Vita
model since I’ll often accidentally touch the rear touchpad when resting my hands naturally. The Slim model fixed the issue somewhat by
shrinking the touchpad in favor of larger hand grips, but it’s still a long way
from the precision of an actual button. For Vita games in need of triggers—like
Borderlands 2—it’s an awkward solution but potentially serviceable if you’re
that dedicated to making it work. Stepping up to larger, more trigger-dependent
PS4 games like Fallout 76, feels terrible since there’s no real feedback that a trigger
press has actually been registered. In the heat of a firefight, it
feels like I’m flailing around trying to find the right spot to
even register the button correctly. If you’re buying a Vita these days for Remote Play
or any game that requires a ton of trigger usage, you’ll definitely want to get a case
with integrated trigger buttons. I’ve got one from Hori for my Slim model, which has little touchpads connected
to a couple buttons to relay input. It’s a bit janky, for sure, but makes a game like Spider-Man really comfortable to
play for longer periods of time. Just know, you still don’t have
any method for analog input. So, games that benefit from analog triggers are going to be more awkward to play—or even
unplayable, depending on your standards. So far, we’ve discussed system
usage, game availability, playing Vita games, Adrenaline, and Remote Play. Everything’s been fairly positive with just
a few caveats, like: poor Store design, game prices, tiny thumbsticks,
and non-existent trigger buttons. But, if you can deal with all that, you get a
great-looking handheld with solid face buttons, wonderful display, large library of native games, and impressive backwards- and
cross-device compatibility. There’s just one last question to answer: How
does that stack up against the modern competition? To get a sense for that, it’s worthwhile to identify what the
Vita’s actually competing against. Sure, you could choose a Vita
over a Steam Deck or Switch Lite, but (realistically) they’re
all very different machines. The Vita plays Vita games
better than any other setup, while the Steam Deck and Switch Lite are aimed
more at modern games—with the Switch specifically limited to Nintendo-sanctioned
games, unless you mod the system. Plus, while a used Switch Lite is about the
same price as a used Vita-plus-memory card combo—around $150 via eBay—a Steam
Deck starts at significantly more. So, yeah, neither are a great a comparison
for either price or gameplay—though the Switch gets just a tiny bit
closer than the Steam Deck overall. And, making any comparison based on ability
to play Vita or modern games is basically a non-starter since the Vita will always
win at the former and lose at the latter. Ultimately, that means we can only
really make comparisons with other systems on the basis of emulation ability alone, and, in that-retro-handheld space, the
Vita may actually be quite a hard sell. At a sub-$200 price point, we’re talking handhelds
like the Ayn Odin Lite or Retroid Pocket Flip. Both of these cost around the price of a Vita in
good condition and can handle all the same systems the Vita can but with better performance most
of the time—outside of Vita emulation which...is still a bit spotty via Vita3K. Both systems can even handle systems
the Vita can’t—like GameCube, Dreamcast, and PS2—with support for cloud streaming
and a slightly worse version of Remote Play. (Though, at least they can handle PS5
Remote Play via the official app.) That’s not to mention how much
more flexible Android is as an operating system for emulation (in general). Yes, modding a Vita is super easy, but
transferring ROMs and applications to the Vita from another device is very time consuming. Plus, while the Vita’s premium design
still holds up against anything in this price range—especially in terms of display and
face buttons—the integrated triggers and larger screens of the modern competition are likely
to be killer features for a lot of people. In many ways, the Vita just...doesn’t hold up. So, why choose it over the
other options available? Well, there are a few reasons—not including
the ability to play Vita games without worry. The first and main sticking point for me
is that I can still legally increase my PSP and PS1 library through the Vita and play those
games back exceptionally well on the Vita itself. If you’re really into PSP games, performance is only a step shy of the OG PSP, and the
hardware is overall a huge step above. My Slim is basically my dedicated PSP
device at this point, and I love it. The second reason is the form factor. While
bigger screens and trigger buttons may be crucial for some systems, it’s not all that necessary
for the types of consoles the Vita can handle. Plus, the compact form factor and
low height of the sticks are great for throwing in a bag without worry and might
be just right for anyone with smaller hands. Third, and finally, it’s just
neat to tinker with the Vita. While, playing Vita, PSP, PS1, and Remote
Play games are incredibly easy and have very little or no setup, there’s a lot of fun
to be had messing with different utilities, backing up games for preservation and emulation,
or getting different emulators up and running. Most modern handhelds are pretty streamlined
with their setup, with installing emulators being really simple—which I honestly
appreciate and you probably might too. For those who like to work a little bit harder
or try to tinker with hardware to use it a way contrary to developer intentions, the
Vita’s gonna scratch that itch much better than anything else—except maybe a 3DS,
but…that’s an entirely different conversation. Ultimately, I think intention is
key here. There are a ton of great options to consider within the Vita’s price range. If you want the most performant option or even a general-purpose emulation device that can
do everything, the Vita doesn’t quite fit. But, if you’re looking for a great Vita or
PSP player that can do some additional things, fit easily into a backpack, and create
a lot of opportunities to tinker, I think you’ll love the Vita. At minimum, it should at least be comforting
to know that the Vita’s design holds up over a decade later and games are still
very easy to obtain for the system. As long as you know what you’re
getting yourself into, then, yeah, the Vita is a fantastic handheld well worth
considering for any newcomer or veteran alike. Those are my thoughts though;
I’d love to know yours! Are you interested in buying a
Vita in the future and trying to figure out if it’s the right choice for you? Are you a Vita owner already with
thoughts of your own on how who you’d recommend pick up a Vita themselves?
Let me know down in the comments! As always, if you found this video helpful or
informative, go ahead and give it a like. Then, be sure to get subscribed for more
Vita-related content in the future. On top of the coolness that
is the Vita3K emulator, there’s also the PlayStation
TV on-deck for future videos. To make sure you don’t miss out, check out the
Twitter and Ko-Fi links in the description for updates on new videos and the Patreon link
for even earlier access to those videos. That’s all for this video though.
Until next time, catch ya later!
