Most of your PS Vita Questions will be Answered here!
When I got my PS Vita, I had a lot of questions and doubts about it. As in the case of any millennial who needs answers, I turned to Google.com. But me being me, I researched and kept reading everything about PS Vita which I can get my hands on. This got me thinking and I have decided to create a dedicated FAQ section for PlayStation Vita which I will keep updating as and when I have new information.
Alright! Let’s begin
What’s PlayStation Vita?
The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld computer game console created and showcased by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The PlayStation Vita release date was 2012.
The console is the replacement to the PlayStation Portable, and a piece of the PlayStation brand of gaming gadgets; as a component of the eighth era of computer game consoles, it principally contended with the Nintendo 3DS. Please note that Sony discontinued the PSP in 2014. The PS Vita was discontinued in 2019
For more info, please check out my post mentioning everything about PS Vita and reasons to buy a PS Vita in 2022.
Is the PS Vita Region Locked?
Yes and No. Let me try to explain.
For physical game cards that you can directly insert on your PS Vita and play the game, there is no region lock. For example, a rich cousin, born and brought up in the US, is coming to visit you for the first time in India. Somehow he knows you have a PS Vita and brings you many game cards for you from a Best Buy in Seattle. Long story short, these game cards will work with your PS Vita bought from India officially.
Now for the part where I said No.
As you might know, if you want to download games digitally on any PlayStation console, you will need a Sony PlayStation Network (PSN) account. This account is tied to your country and the games available on your PSN Store are also tied to it and hence someone having US as his home country for his PSN account might have a different catalogue of games than someone from India. So, in this way we can say PS Vita is also region locked.
Are PS Vita Games free?
Yes and No. Let me try to explain again.
Yes, because you can jailbreak or mod your PS Vita which will then allow you to download games from 3rd party sites (many a times these are shady websites with ads and maybe a trojan here and there). There are ways to download and load the game files to a modded PS Vita and you can start playing those games. But I would like to highly discourage people to jailbreak or mod your PS Vita for this reason. There are truly some benefits of jailbreaking a PS Vita and you can enjoy that freedom but its an earnest request to support the game developers by buying their games officially from the PSN Store.
For me it will always be No as I at least in case of official games still available in the PSN Store, I like to buy them.
For a list of top 10 PS Vita Games in 2022, please check out this post in my blog.
Is the PS Vita Store still Open?
In a shocking event, Sony had announced that it will close down the PS3 and PS Vita Store by August 2021. But they later retracted their statement saying that the stores will continue operations as Sony made a wrong decision and will continue operating the stores. So, as of now we don’t have any dates yet for a permanent closure of the stores. But, please note that not all games are available in the store any more and as we all know well there wont be any new ones added, it is somewhat restrictive and confined. However, we still do have many options from various genres of games with some being PS Vita exclusives.
Is PS Vita OLED?
Yes and No. Let me explain
The launch version of PS Vita PS Vita 1000 series (A.K.A Fat) has an OLED Screen.
The newer version which is also the last version of PS Vita having 2000 series (A.K.A Slim) has an LCD screen. For some more info and comparison, check out this post about why to have a PS Vita in 2022.
Do they still make PS Vita Games?
Yes and No.
Officially the PS Vita Store is dead, no more games are being added to it and hence the answer is No. But I do say Yes because, you can play Homebrew games as well on a modded PS Vita and there is no limit to new games being added there.
Can PS Vita Play PS1 Games?
Yes and without the need of any jailbreak or mod. You can purchase and download PS1 games from the PS Store on your PS Vita and play out of the box without the need of any additional emulators.
Can PS Vita Play PS2 Games?
No, a PS Vita cannot emulate PS2 Games out of the box or even after modding using a 3rd party emulator. However, Sony allows you to play remastered PS 2 Classic Games for PS Vita. I am ignoring PS2 ELF Files as I do not consider them as emulation of PS 2 Games.
Here is a very detailed video from a popular YouTuber explaining the same
Can PS Vita Play PS3 Games?
No and Yes.
You can use remote play to to play PS3 games on a PS Vita using PS3 Link. Check out my post here explaining the setup.
Can PS Vita Play PS4 Games?
No and Yes.
You can use remote play to to play PS4 games on a PS Vita using PS4 Link. Check out my post here explaining the setup.
Can PS Vita Play PS5 Games?
No.
Can PS Vita Play PSP Games?
Yes and natively without any need of a jailbreak or mod with the help of built-in emulator. You can purchase and download PSP games from the PS Store on your PS Vita and play out of the box without the need of any additional emulators.
Can PS Vita Play PSP Go Games?
Same as above since PSP and PSP Go were built on the same platform, so the same answer applies here as well. One of the major change in a PSP Go was that it ditched the UMD Drive and required players to download games digitally from PS Store.
How much will the PS Vita cost in 2022?
I got my hands on a pre-owned PS Vita for 8000 INR ($100) and I think that it’s an ok price for this console. You can get handsome deals, keep checking pre-owned platforms like Olx.in, quikr.com in India and ebay.com, craigslist worldwide.
How to Jailbreak PS Vita?
I am not answering this as I don’t think I need to. Go to Youtube and search and you will find lots of videos explaining step by step.
What PS Vita Model to buy?
Simple answer, try and get a series 1000 model (A.K.A. Fat version) as it has OLED screen, the display is better than an LCD newer model (2000 series or Slim)
How to PS Vita remote play PS3?
Details steps mentioned in this post.
How to PS Vita remote play PS4?
Details steps mentioned in this post
Should I get a PS Vita in 2022?
Simple answer. Yes, freaking yes! Check out my post discussing all the real reasons to get one now.
Where can I buy a PlayStation Vita in 2022?
Sony discontinued the PSP in 2014. The PS Vita was discontinued in 2019. I live in India and I had approached several stores, some of them partners of Sony but I could not find a new PS Vita. The best bet is to get a used PlayStation Vita on platforms like ebay.com, olx.in, craigslist, etc.
What are the best Sony PlayStation Vita Games in 2022?
There are so many that it’s tough to add them all in a single post. Still, I have given it a try to list down top 10 games which I have played and enjoyed along with some honorable mentions. Please check out this post on my blog.
When did PS Vita Slim come out?
The PS Vita 2000 series or PS Vita Slim was released in 2014 worldwide.
What are PS Vita Alternatives?
PSP, Nintendo Switch Lite, Nintendo 2DS, Nintendo 3DS, Android Mobile Phone.
To be contd.