PlayStation Vita Slim
Variant of PlayStation Vita
- Manufacturer
- Sony
- Released
- 2013
- Generation
- Gen 8
- Type
- Handheld
- Launch price
- $199
- Units sold
- 16.0M
About PlayStation Vita Slim
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
What's different from PlayStation Vita
- 1GB internal flash storage
- MicroUSB charging port (vs. proprietary Vita cable on PCH-1000)
- Lighter weight (219g vs. 279g)
- Slightly improved battery life (~4-6h vs. 3-5h)
- OLED display — replaced with LCD (controversial downgrade)
- display: 5-inch 960x544 OLED (deep blacks, vivid colors) → 5-inch 960x544 LCD (washed-out blacks, less vibrant)
- charging: Proprietary multi-pin Sony cable → standard microUSB
- thickness: 18.6mm → 15mm
Pricing
Launch price (2013)
- 🇺🇸 USD
- $199
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
Hardware specs
- Cpu
- Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore
- Gpu
- Quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4+
- Ram
- 512 MB RAM, 128 MB Video RAM
- Sound
- Stereo speakers, microphone, 3.5 mm headphone jack, Bluetooth
- Os
- PlayStation Vita system software
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
- Borderlands 2 Edition Slim Bundle
- Dragon Quest Builders Edition (JP)
- God Eater 2 Rage Burst Bundle (JP)
- Minecraft Bundle
- Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Bundle
- Phantasy Star Online 2 Edition (JP)
- Persona 4 Dancing All Night Bundle (JP)
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
Replacing OLED with LCD was the single most-criticized Slim change — original Vita's OLED was the most-praised feature; collectors prefer PCH-1000 (Phat) for screen quality alone; 1GB internal storage barely enough for system overhead — proprietary Vita memory card still required for games
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
More from Sony
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