The PlayStation Vita has long been criticized by the general gaming populace for its pricy memory cards, front and rear touch screens and it’s awful UI ( though I find it to be quite charming). However, hardcore fans of Sony’s fledgling handheld know that the Vita is not only PlayStation’s strongest handheld but it is also one of the greatest consoles of all time; with a wide and varied collection of games. From iconic indies to 100 hour long RPGs, hundreds of PS1 and PSP titles, and everything else in between; the Vita has something for any gamer on the go. Even in 2019 the Vita deserves your time and money.

The PlayStation Vita first launched in Japan in 2011 and in Europe and North America in 2012 for $249.99. You could also purchase a 3G model that came with the ability to get a sim card and use data for $299.99 plus the added monthly coast of a data plan. This cost would also exclude the price of memory cards which would range from $29.99 (4GB) to $119.99 (32GB). That detail turned many prospective buyers off due to the memory card prices, and the fact that Sony made you buy special PSVita memory cards instead of the standard SD cards.

At first, the system seemed to be on track and was selling well. In its first week on sale in Japan, the Vita sold over 300,000 units and in North America, it sold around 200,000 units in the first month on the market. Sadly, sales quickly dropped to 50,000 a month. This quick drop off in sales would deter third-party companies like EA, Activision and even Capcom from creating games for it. They worried that the Vita wouldn’t be a worthwhile monetary investment in the long term. For example, EA only published one Madden title (Madden 13) and four FIFA games (FIFA 12-15). These ports were not looked upon favorably for their poor frame-rates and slow gameplay.

Ubisoft, on the other hand, supported the Vita with a few titles like Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, Rayman Origins, Rayman Legends, Lumines: Electronic Symphony and Child of Light. Most of these titles were complete hits (save for Assassin’s Creed) and kept Vita systems everywhere charged up and being played with for a while. Unfortunately western support died off quickly leaving the general audience in the dust. Without a library of AAA games coming down the pipeline Vita was left with one option, all they could do was cater to the niche market.

The niche market was that of visual novels, JRPG’s, platformers and puzzle games. This is where Vita has lived and thrived to this day. Some of the biggest supporters of the Japanese market are companies like Atlus, NIS America and Compile Heart (Love them or hate them), Idea Factory and even PlayStation’s own Japan Studios. These developers have all either published or developed amazing games for the Vita. Games like Gravity Rush, the Danganronpa series, Freedom Wars, Steins; Gate and it’s sequel Steins; Gate 0 as well as Persona 4 Golden just to name a few.

The PSVita also gave us what is, in my opinion, the best place to play PS1 games. I would (and still do,) spend hours playing Final Fantasy VI, VIII and IX, Chrono Trigger, Wild Arms, Suikoden and Suikoden II. The list can go on and on and I play my Vita nearly every day. For a little of my own experience with the Vita, I picked it up in 2013 with the Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation bundle and instantly fell in love with the tiny handheld. I mostly wanted it so I could play PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale in bed when I wasn’t able to play on the big screen; but I quickly discovered my love for JRPG’s and returned to my old home of turn-based RPGs, as they always made me feel an odd sort of comfort.

I picked up Persona 4 Golden shortly into summer break and was instantly hooked! I would play all night and would somehow find myself intending to play for an hour or so before bed; but before I knew it the sun was peaking through my curtains and It was time to start my day. This would go on for weeks until I finished it twice, I was obsessed with the characters and story. I would spend as much time as I could figuring out everything Persona 4 had to offer. What were the best weapons? What was the fastest way to max out my social links? Most importantly was just that I wanted to spend as much time in the world of Inaba as I possibly could. To this day I have put over 330 hours into Persona 4 Golden and I still have yet to obtain the platinum trophy.

What would games be without a stellar piece of hardware? Well, good thing the PlayStation Vita was an absolute powerhouse that came fully equipped with an OLED screen, two analog sticks, speakers, a front and rear touchpad and my favorite feature, remote play. The launch model of the Vita was made with an OLED screen; this screen made for sharp, crisp and beautiful eye popping colors that would make your jaw drop in games like Uncharted and Killzone Mercenary. The 2000 model unfortunately dropped this screen for a regular LED screen that would make the batteries last longer at the cost of those beautiful visuals.

The Vita was and still is the only handheld that utilized two thumbsticks to make playing first-person shooters like Call of Duty Black Ops Declassified and Resistance Buring Skies much more responsive and bearable, as opposed to the Resistance games on PSP. The touch screen seemed to be a very divisive feature especially the rear touchpad. I personally loved being able to tap the top half of the back screen to perform different actions and only found that I hit the touchpad accidentally every so often. I have smaller hands though, so that made it easier for me.

Now remote play was something I always loved the idea of. Remote Play involved being able to stream games from the PlayStation 4 and some select games on the PlayStation 3 to the Vita and play them while the TV is still in use. Now, this all depended on your internet speed, and growing up with a family of five the internet was always in use. Because of this, I didn’t have the greatest time in the world. Though as soon as I moved out on my own I was using remote play left, right and center. I would experiment with different games like Destiny and Shadow of Mordor. Action games that required a fair amount of precision never worked well, but slower games like Persona 5 and The Witness would work perfectly.

Despite all these amazing features that the Vita supplied us with, sales weren’t picking up and it was still considered “a niche” market. Sony then released a PlayStation TV. PlayStation TV served as a set-top box that was the size of a deck of cards. you would plug it into your TV and be able to play supported games on the big screen. I bought this instantly, in fact, I bought two as a few years down the road they were discounted so heavily I got one for $20 at my local Wal-Mart. The list of games has greatly increased throughout the years and almost every new release is now supported on it; so if you’re ever able to find one it makes for a great companion to the Vita.

In February 2018 fans received some grave Vita news. Sony would no longer produce physical releases of Vita games starting in February of 2019. After this news, I remember calling my sister and lamenting about the slow death of the Vita and how it’s strong community will never let it die fully. We would call every few days afterwards to discuss where we found the rare physical games and how many we have obtained, at this point we weren’t worried about the quality of the game, just that we had it for future use and the need to satisfy our collector mentality.

Just over a year later in early March 2019 Sony officially discontinued the PlayStation Vita. At this point, I have two Vitas and plan on picking up a third in the upcoming months; my sights are set on the Persona 4 Dancing All Night edition currently. I was deeply saddened by this news, but stayed hopeful, as our strong community on Vita Island are still developing games. A few people, (though not many,) are still playing often. I will always love my PlayStation Vita and stand by the opinion that it’s not only my favorite handheld but my favorite console of all time.

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