PlayStation Vita

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The **PlayStation Vita** is a handheld video game console that competed against the Nintendo 3DS and is the successor to the PlayStation Portable. It was released in December 2011 in Japan, early 2012 worldwide, and in Canada in late 2012. It was discontinued on March 8, 2019.

A home console version called the mh:crappygames:PlayStation TV also exists.

## Why It Rocks

1. Several must own games like *Tearaway*, *Uncharted: Golden Abyss*, *Wipeout 2048*, *Killzone: Mercenary*, *Gravity Rush*, *Little Big Planet Vita*, and more. It also had great ports including *Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3*, one of the HD ports of *Final Fantasy X* and an enhanced version of *Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4* *known as Persona 4: Golden*, which was so well-received that it's considered one of the best JRPGs and even a second anime series was made with the same name.
2. Several apps, including Netflix and other streaming services. A good majority of them are discontinued, however.
3. The PlayStation Store allows gamers to buy and play emulated PlayStation Portable games, giving the Vita backwards compatibility, but not for all of them though.
	* PSP games can make use of the second analog stick, greatly improving them when played on the Vita.
4. Very good internet browser which even allows for streaming on the YouTube website and downloading videos.
5. Can act as a second screen for the PlayStation 4, essentially allowing gamers to play PlayStation 4 games on the go, similar to the Wii U or even the Switch.
6. The main screen is a touch screen and there is also a touch screen on the back.
7. It had a large number of niche Japanese games (JRPGs, doujin games, anime games etc.) Even in 2022 it still continued to receive new releases of visual novels! If you love anime, this is the handheld for you! (although many of them are Japanese exclusive)
8. Unlike the PSP, its camera is already built into the handheld, not as a separate accessory, plus it has a built in mic.
9. Has a great community that's still keeping the handheld alive.
10. It helped lots of indie developers because of the community.
11. While lots of Vita games are multiplatform, the Vita versions tend to be either cheaper, cross-buy with other Sony consoles, or both.
12. Is one of the four PlayStation platforms that award trophies, along with the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. It's also the first handheld console to have an award system.
13. Beautiful system music, such as the home screen.
14. If your Vita has firmware version 3.60 to 3.73, you can turn it into a decent emulation machine in the same vein as the PlayStation Portable through the use of HENkaku.
	* Although unrelated to the above, if you have Moonlight, you can stream emulators from your PC onto the Vita, and also use it as a controller.
15. Unlike its competitor, the Nintendo 3DS, it has no region locking.

## Bad Qualities

Despite its good qualities, the PS Vita was the only commercial failure of the PlayStation lineup (not counting the mh:crappygames:PlayStation Classic). Click here to see why.

## Reception

Despite all the positive qualities the Vita has, it was a commercial flop selling only about 4 million units worldwide by the beginning of 2013, although fans (one of which was YouTuber AlphaOmegaSin) have called it severely underrated. It was later announced that the Vita was now a legacy console, meaning that while the Vita was still in production, Sony was basically done with it. However, digital games are still in production.

Sony has stated that it is very unlikely that they'll ever make a Vita successor.