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[Voost Kain]

You knew the PlayStation Vita wasn't long for this world, and now it's official: Sony has discontinued the last two Vita models. The move marks the last step of a long, gradual phase-out that included a halt on first-party games in 2015, the discontinuation of physical games and the end to PS Plus freebies. If you're looking for the handheld, you'll either have to get lucky at a retailer (if there are any units left) or track down a second-hand model.

The Vita had a long shelf life, but not a happy one. It launched in Japan in December 2011, right when phone and tablet gaming were taking off -- Sony was trying to sell people on a dedicated handheld at a time when many could play "good enough" mobile games on devices they already owned. And while there were high-quality titles like Severed, tepid sales led developers to shy away. Things only got worse when you included design complaints (such as a reliance on expensive, proprietary memory cards) and fierce competition from Nintendo.

Sony doesn't plan a sequel to the Vita.

Welp, going from the PSP to a almost intentional self-sabotaging of the Xperia Play, and then to the Vita which they gave up on trying to salvage around 2 years after release, and made it become a consoles with a library of Visual Novels and other types of niche games, only really pushing it in Japan, where it only sold a few million units.

No successor is planned at this time. I still think they can try an Xperia Play again, actually add games to it, have a separate PSN store for smaller titles and indies, the tech is there for a slick big screen phone with a reliable slide out controller. But it's likely they are done with portable gaming for awhile.

But it's the end of the Vita and also the end of Nintendos only competition that was left in the portable sapce (though even Nintendo kind of gave up on that with the hybrid approach of the switch but that's a different subject.)

Even in it's death I see 4GB cards for over $20, Vita means life of high prices that never end.

 

[Chozofication_]

I honestly thought they stopped making them years ago lol.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Vita means DEATH.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Goodbye, my sweet friend.

 

[ethomaz]

Life is finally dead.

 

[Fake]

 

[Hudo]

So, what are the must-haves for this system? Persona 4: Golden, obviously. But what else would you guys consider?

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

So, what are the must-haves for this system? Persona 4: Golden, obviously. But what else would you guys consider?

that question is very easy the answer

Is a must have, not only for ps vita... For a Gamer in anything.

I dont care what happens with Uncharted Golden Abbys or Soul Sacrifice.

Gravity rush = Life

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I felt like Vita was cool tech when it came out. Will always fondly remember it for introducing me to Gravity Rush

 

[Von Hugh]

It's unfortunate, but I can't even remember where my Vita is. Same goes for the games.

 

[Voost Kain]

that question is very easy the answer

Is a must have, not only for ps vita... For a Gamer in anything.

I dont care what happens with Uncharted Golden Abbys or Soul Sacrifice.

Gravity rush = Life

Actually that's not much of an answer now since the PS4 remaster exists. I mean sure there's some Gyro stuff on Vita but that's about it.

 

[BibiMaghoo]

I love my Vita, backpad controls aside. I do not love the memory card prices and that they seem to fail relatively easily. They made so many mistakes with the console, but it still has its place. I just wish more games had physical versions.

 

[Danjin44]

 

[The_Mike]

I'm actually surprised they didn't do this year's ago. I had one myself, really sexy piece of hardware, but it felt like really early that Sony abandoned the platform.

 

[SlashBringingHasher]

shoulda never been made

 

[SALMORE]

unfortunately it will end up like the NeoGeo Pocket , unjustifiably expensive and only appeal to certain type of gamers

 

[Voost Kain]

unfortunately it will end up like the NeoGeo Pocket , unjustifiably expensive and only appeal to certain type of gamers

Actually from what' Iv'e seen online and in stores around by area, it's cheaper to get the NGPC than the original NGP. Go figure.

 

[GribbleGrunger]

Now add Vita games to PSNow and use the new upressing technique they patented for the PS5 ...

 

[Vawn]

Let me guess Voost made this thread...

Click

Yup.

 

[Vawn]

So, what are the must-haves for this system? Persona 4: Golden, obviously. But what else would you guys consider?

 

[DeepEnigma]

I forgot I had this from Plus until I noticed a few trophies on the trophy list the other day when messing with it. Need to download it and give it another go again.

 

[ExpandKong]

Could’ve been great had Sony not bungled it so terribly. Thought they were gonna try and salvage it with the slim but NOPE 1 gig of onboard storage and same shitty proprietary cards instead of switching to microsd when they had the chance.

It’s great for PS1 classics, Ps2 ports, and visual novels at least. Will hang on to mine for those purposes.

 

[Chittagong]

RIP in peace my sweet Persona machine

I’ll always cherish our first morning together, 22 February 2012

but now I must admit, what I really was looking for in the relationship was Switch

 

[CRON]

I regret never buying one. Now even crap-tier used models are going for upwards of $250. All I really want is just a portable PSX/PSP player, but we all know the condition PSP's are in....

 

[ExpandKong]

I regret never buying one. Now even crap-tier used models are going for upwards of $250. All I really want is just a portable PSX/PSP player, but we all know the condition PSP's are in....

Gamestop’s got them preowned for $150 on their site on my end.

EDIT and $50 for a preowned 16 gig memory card, ugh.

 

[Stuart360]

Handhelds are not my thing, but the Vita was an amazing piece of kit. It sold like 30mil or something as well didnt it?, its a weird industry when selling that much is seen as not enough to keep supporting it.

 

[CRON]

Gamestop’s got them preowned for $150 on their site on my end.

EDIT and $50 for a preowned 16 gig memory card, ugh.

I'm trying to get one with a low firmware version, for obvious reasons. Also, I've never bought any used/refurb'd consoles from GameStop and I'm a little skeptical.

 

[Northeastmonk]

It's sad and it's also a bunch of BS. I still buy games for my Vita. I just purchased LocoRoco 2 for it. I sincerely hope they don't try and shut down the store.

I have a 4 and an 8 GB card and I can't go to every single thing I own on both cards.

 

[ExpandKong]

I'm trying to get one with a low firmware version, for obvious reasons. Also, I've never bought any used/refurb'd consoles from GameStop and I'm a little skeptical.

Ahh gotcha. Godspeed, then. I will say as far as Gamestop’s used consoles go, they’re not bad. I bought a used PS2 from them when they announced they were gonna stop carrying them (before they started carrying them again lol), and recently bought a refurbed N3DS. Both were fine. The 3DS in particular is in great shape.

It's sad and it's also a bunch of BS. I still buy games for my Vita. I just purchased LocoRoco 2 for it. I sincerely hope they don't try and shut down the store.

I have a 4 and an 8 GB card and I can't go to every single thing I own on both cards.

In the past you could get a 32 gig card from amazon during the holidays for like $50...still a rip-off but it was about half the original price. That’s what I did.

 

[Voost Kain]

but we all know the condition PSP's are in....

What do you mean by this? Is their some flaw with PSPs?

 

[stranno]

Considering the impact of PSP, PSV was highly disappointing. I still enjoyed some games, like Bend Studio's masterpiece Uncharted: Golden Abyss or Nihilistic's Resistance: Burning Skies.

Heavy underpowered compared to the stock SOC, another stupid Sony storage standard, low support, unoptimized PS3 ports, minimal scene (Rinnegatamente, Libretro and two or three more devs). What a waste of high-quality screen, great design and good controls.

 

[CRON]

What do you mean by this? Is their some flaw with PSPs?

The PSP is getting up there in age, and unfortunately I'm out of options if I want one. I can only get them used via eBay, and many of them are in poor condition.

 

[Saber]

Probably for the best.

 

[Voost Kain]

The PSP is getting up there in age, and unfortunately I'm out of options if I want one. I can only get them used via eBay, and many of them are in poor condition.

Amazon? target has back-stock that they ship to you if you're out of state as well.

 

[BibiMaghoo]

The PSP is getting up there in age, and unfortunately I'm out of options if I want one. I can only get them used via eBay, and many of them are in poor condition.

I don't know where you live but there are a handful of new ones on Ebay. They are not cheap obviously but some of them are reasonable given they are still sealed after all these years.

 

[Harlock]

There is any definitive hack for the last firmware?

 

[dolabla]

Shame it never got the support from Sony it deserved. I loved/love my Vitas. Heck, I own 3. One OLED, one black slim and one Japanese neon orange slim.

Has anybody checked the prices of Vita TV now? They're insane. I have a sealed one (I got cheap during clearance) and one I bought new and have used.

 

[Kagero]

Meh. I liked the PSP more. Not a hater. I actually really want them to make another handheld pretty badly. Switch shows that a handheld can be done properly. A Vita 2 can show how to perfect what the Switch has done.

 

[Shifty]

Pour one out I guess.

 

[CatCouch]

I own 118 physical Vita games!

I loved my Vita! I love niche Japanese games so I got as much out of my Vita as I did with my PS4. Too bad Sony doesn't seem to care at all about niche Japanese games these days, if they at least embraced them a little I would feel a lot more confident about next gen but I feel the Switch will be the home for most the games I want in the future.

 

[Dr.brain64]

I think vita will forever be my go to tetris on the go handheld (and other games such as lumines). I also have a big library of psp and psone games too which are amazing to play on the go as well as home too.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

RIP in peace my sweet Persona machine

I’ll always cherish our first morning together, 22 February 2012

but now I must admit, what I really was looking for in the relationship was Switch

What the fuck are you eating?

 

[Mr Hyde]

Loved the Vita. It was the first handheld that I actually liked and used a lot. Never really got along with handhelds before that. Bought mine solely for Broken Sword 5: The Serpents Curse since I´m a huge fan of the franchise, and it was exclusive at the time. Played mostly indies and oldies but goldies from earlier PS-systems such as PSX and PSP. Tried a couple of blockbusters like Uncharted but it felt mostly like a watered down-version of the console games. It was the indie scene that made Vita what it was. Too bad Sony killed it with their stupid memory card nonsense and poor support. Because of this I will never invest in a handheld from Sony again.

 

[CRON]

I don't know where you live but there are a handful of new ones on Ebay. They are not cheap obviously but some of them are reasonable given they are still sealed after all these years.

I'm in the US. I can't find any used PSP's that don't look like they were involved in a crime scene. Always so scratched up and filthy looking.

 

[Memorabilia]

I didn't even know they were still producing or selling these in the states anymore. Is there anyplace that still sells new stock?

 

[jshackles]

There is any definitive hack for the last firmware?

I think the flow was holding off on releasing it until they were relatively certain that Sony wouldn't be releasing any additional firmware updates. Hopefully we'll get a 3.70 hack soon.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Agreed with hose that say it was a stupid console that shouldn’t have even existed.

Keep to home consoles, Sony has yet to make a dud.

 

[Shmunter]

Those Oled units are going to be expensive in a few years.

 

[triplestation]

Fuck that shit my jam was the OG PSP

Bitch can't you see



Good times

 

[pimentel1]

I probably should see if there’s any more firmware updates.

Favorite games on the system:

Rogue Legacy
Dragon’s Crown

 

[Werewolf Jones]

It gave us Dangan Ronpa. Never forget.

I still play mine a lot while my 3DS sees no usage at all. Been playing Toukiden 2 on it lately on and off along with Super Robot Wars V.

I got SRW X, Steins;Gate 0, Muv Luv and more that I still have to play it.