PlayStation Vita
- Manufacturer
- Sony
- Production
- 2011–2019
- Generation
- Gen 8
- Type
- Handheld
- Launch price
- $249
- Units sold
- 16.0M
About PlayStation Vita
The PlayStation Vita is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced until discontinuation on March 1, 2019. The console is the successor to the PlayStation Portable (PSP), and a part of the PlayStation brand of gaming devices; as part of the eighth generation of video game consoles, it primarily competed with the Nintendo 3DS.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Library & collector facts
1,450licensed games
- North America: 500
- Japan: 1,100
- PAL: 500
Release timeline
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- December 17, 2011
- 🇺🇸 North America
- February 15, 2012
- 🇪🇺 Europe / PAL
- October 19, 2011
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- February 22, 2012
- Lifespan
- 8 years on market
Pricing
Launch price (2011)
- 🇺🇸 USD
- $249
Controller
Touchscreen / Rear touchpad
Launch titles & exclusives
Uncharted: Golden Abyss · Wipeout 2048 · Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational · FIFA Football · Rayman Origins · Little Deviants · ModNation Racers: Road Trip · Touch My Katamari · Lumines: Electronic Symphony · Reality Fighters · Asphalt: Injection
None standard; various First Edition bundles included Little Deviants
Persona 4 Golden · Danganronpa 1 & 2 / Ultra Despair Girls · Gravity Rush · Tearaway · Soul Sacrifice / Delta · Killzone: Mercenary · Uncharted: Golden Abyss · Freedom Wars · Severed · Steins;Gate (Vita port) · Atelier Vita trilogy (Ayesha, Escha & Logy, Shallie Plus) · Ys VIII (Vita first) · The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel I & II (Vita ports) · Demon Gaze · Toukiden series · Muramasa Rebirth · Dragon's Crown
Quite a few small JP indies released into 2019–2020 before Sony closed Vita physical-cartridge production; Russian Subway Dogs (2018) and similar were among the last Western digital titles
Persona 4 Golden Vita CIB Premium Edition (~$200+); Tales of Hearts R Soldier of Sadness Edition (JP, ~$300+); Ys: Memories of Celceta Silver Anniversary Edition; Atelier Premium Boxes; many JP-exclusive collector's editions
Variants of PlayStation Vita
Hardware specs
- Os
- PlayStation Vita system software
- Cpu
- Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore
- Gpu
- Quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4+
- Ram
- 512 MB RAM, 128 MB Video RAM
- Power
- 2210 mAh, PCH-1000:, approx. 3–5 hours for games, 5 hours for video, 9 hours for music (in stand-by mode), PCH-2000:, approx. 4–6 hours for games, 7 hours for video, 12 hours for music (in stand-by mode)
- Sound
- Stereo speakers, microphone, 3.5 mm headphone jack, Bluetooth
- Weight
- PCH-1000:, 260 g (Wi-Fi), 279 g (3G), PCH-2000:, 219 g (Wi-Fi)
- Dimensions
- PCH-1000:, 83.55 mm (h), 182 mm (w), 18.6 mm (d), PCH-2000:, 85.1 mm (h), 183.6 mm (w), 15.0 mm (d)
- Display Output
- 5-inch (16:9) OLED (PCH-1000)/LCD (PCH-2000) multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, approximately 17 million colors, 960 × 544 qHD @ 220 ppi
- Storage Internal
- 1 GB flash memory (PCH-2000 only)
Hardware revisions
- PS Vita PCH-1000 (OLED)(2011)
original launch hardware, vibrant OLED screen, 3G or WiFi-only variants — the collector-prized model
- PS Vita PCH-2000 (Slim)(2013)
LCD screen replaces OLED (downgrade in vibrancy but better battery), internal 1GB storage, thinner
⚠ eliminated 3G option
- PlayStation TV (VTE-1000)(2013)
non-portable home variant outputting Vita games to TV, region-locked + many compatibility gaps
Launch colorways & special editions
- White
- Aqua Blue
- Cosmic Red
- Lime Green
- Khaki Black
- Glacier White
- JP retailer-exclusive variants in pastel colors
- Persona 4 Golden Limited (JP)
- God Eater 2 Edition (JP)
- Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Edition (JP)
- Soul Sacrifice Edition
- Star Ocean 5 Edition
Modding scene
- Difficulty
- soft-mod
- Custom firmware
- HENkaku / h-encore²; VitaShell; modoru (downgrader)
Reception & legacy
Strong reviews (especially for OLED screen and dual analog sticks); weak commercial response — never gained third-party AAA support after Sony scaled back first-party output by 2013
Proprietary memory cards (4GB cost ~$30, 64GB cost ~$100) widely criticized as price gouging; Sony nearly closed the PS3/Vita/PSP stores in 2021 before reversing course after fan outcry; Western third-party support dried up by 2014 with publishers like Ubisoft, EA pulling out
Cult-classic handheld revered for OLED display and JP RPG library; commercial failure that ended Sony's dedicated-handheld business; the platform Japan didn't quite want to let go of (final JP physical release was as late as 2021)
References
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PlayStation Vita in the news
Recent coverage mentioning the PlayStation Vita, gathered from 80+ gaming-news sources.
