When we sat down to watch this evening's State of Play broadcast all about The Last of Us: Part II, we can't say we were expecting to be talking about the PlayStation Vita when it was all said and done. And yet here we are with the talk of the town being Sony's forgotten handheld and Hotline Miami.
That's right, during a previously unreleased gameplay sequence, protagonist Ellie sneaks up on an enemy taking some time for herself -- earphones plugged in with the Hotline Miami soundtrack blasting. The situation quickly turns sour as Ellie stabs her in the throat and leaves her for dead, but as the character searches the new environment, Hotline Miami can still be heard in the background. The game's official Twitter account, understandably, took advantage of this cameo to get some free publicity.
Alongside a gory but excellent gameplay demonstration, who would have thought we'd be talking about PS Vita and Hotline Miami at the end of it all? We most certainly did not. However, we have to wonder -- will any other consoles or games pop up elsewhere which have managed to stand the test of time? There's less than a month until we find out.
Comments 42
So great. Just like the Crash Bandicoot section in Uncharted 4. Lovely little tip of the hat.
Just wonderful. Nods like this are excellent
We need answers, Naughty Dog. We need to know how this Vita was kept pristine when the world around it fell apart. We need to know what battery it's running that can keep a charge over 25 years later. We need to know why this girl decided to put earphones in and play the game when survival is of utmost importance, and you need to keep your eyes and ears open at all times.
We also need to know if Sony even recognise that that's a device that they made.
Still love my Vita. Probably played more of that and the 3DS than the PS4 and Switch.
@Crimson_Ridley Vita means life.
@nessisonett The 3DS has horrible controls the circle stick and nub stick are a joke but it has amazing games it's a pity they cant be played well. I got rid of all my 3ds stuff for a switch and with brook can use a ps4 pad or xbox one it much better.
I often think if only the 3DS range of games was on the Vita it would have been so much better as the vita feels and controls so much better.
To think it has nearly been a decade since it came out. Makes me wonder what Sony could pull off now.
Especially since the Switch has been out a few years now so it could possibly compare much closer to a PS4's graphics.
I want a Vita just for Persona 4 Golden. Anyone hear about how Naughty Dog DMCA’d themselves?
Hotline Miami was so good on the Vita with those touchscreen controls.
@Luna-Harmony I liked the circle pad quite a bit more than those fiddly little analog sticks on the Vita, personally. The c-nub sucks, but almost nothing on the system uses it, so it's not really a big deal. I found the lack of extra shoulder buttons on the Vita to be far more of a nuisance, as some games required back touchpad inputs to make up for these missing buttons. And the back touchpad is arguably the worst hardware gimmick I've ever seen.
Thankfully, the system has an amazing D-Pad and a gorgeous OLED screen, so I still enjoy using it.
@nessisonett me too. Its still a beast of a machine. Its one of, if not my favourite consoles of all time. Its a wonderful machine and i couldn't say how many hours of enjoyment i have had out of it.
I've been worried about what i'll do if it ever breaks, but as shown tonight, Vita means life
Also last of us vita port confirmed?
@Luna-Harmony I dunno, I like the circle pad more than the Vita’s stick. The Vita’s stick is a bit slippy for me and I played plenty games perfectly well with the 3DS circle pad.
Still play my PS Vita quite a lot as well.
The Vita is still my favourite handheld (well, maybe just behind the original DS) and I use it often. It's gorgeously made, feels like a premium piece of kit, and that d-pad is almost deliriously brilliant. Best d-pad ever, hands down.
@b1ackjack if we get Hotline 3 because of that...and he is heading up Indiestation5....i could only dream
Hotline Miami and Vita, what a great combo to have seconds before you get murdered.
They’re sending a message:
Play the Vita
“Gggggrrrrrrccckk”
(Makes slicing motion across neck)
Every Vita game is better than The Last Of Us.
@JorbNorb Quite an inaccurate statement
I still remember the first time I played hotline miami on vita (got it free on psplus), I plan to try it just for a couple of minutes before uninstall it, yet 3-4 hours later I'm staring at my dead vita screen while thinking what the heck, this game is really really good.
I preordered the second game the first day it's availabe on psn, not as great as the first one, but still a good game. I wish there's hotline miami 3 for ps5 😃
Edit: Maybe sony should make a $200 - $250 elite controller with new mobile cpu & 720p oled screen, sort of unofficial vita 2 😃
It still baffles me what happened with the Vita. By all means it should have been an awesome little device but Sony dropped the ball so hard. At least they did internationally. It remained relevant in Japan for a lot longer.
Silent Hill on the Vita! It is a wonderful backwards compatibility handheld for legacy Playstation games.
@JorbNorb
JerbNerb
I can’t believe they’ve spoiled the best scene in the Last of Us Part II. There is literally no way they can top that.
@Crimson_Ridley just wait to you play the game or better still don't buy it. No one owes you any answers.
You don't like you don't buy- simple.
@Baz12345
The joke
You
I was playing my Vita last night, it's brilliant. Excellent choice of game there, Hotline Miami was a perfect fit for the Vita.
I'm guessing the scene was meant as a bit of dark humour as HM was all about going on crazy unstoppable killing sprees against evil gangs.
I really thought that Ellie was going to pick it up and play it. I was so disappointed when she didn't that I stopped watching the stream, cancelled my pre-order and made some 'f**k Neil Druckmann' posts on Reddit.
Well... I play more vita than nintendo swith! ? It's a magnificent piece! With lot of games for it, to bad the PSN store doesn't have many sales for it
Great touch done in a bad ass way Love my Vita and Hotline Miami might just be my favourite game I wish they would release the sound track officially, I have it on sound cloud but would happily pay £$ for the real deal.
@Mostik If you've got £150 going spare you can still grab the vinyl release on ebay.
@HUMPERDOO Nice one, I hadn't realised it was released on Vinyl great shout. £150 for 6/7 tracks is pretty steep but quality costs. Cheers for the heads up
@Mostik I think it's actually 20 tracks or so. I didn't realise it had been released either until recently. Wish I'd known. I'm a self-confessed vinyl junkie, but £150+ is still too rich for my blood!
@Crimson_Ridley don't buy it - simple
@Baz12345
Once again, you have missed the point.
It. Was. A. Joke.
I'm not knocking the game in any way, shape, or form. I'm not complaining about anything at all. It was a joke about the PS Vita in the game. Literally everyone that has liked my comment understood, and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too, except you...
@Crimson_Ridley By the look of things it is the 1000 oled model. This matches my experience with vitas. Three vitas: the oled model is still going strong. Two 2000 models: on one the left stick drifts, on the other it doesn't work at all.
@matdub It's more the battery that perplexes me. They have a shelf life, and they certainly shouldn't last over 20 years, especially if it's not been played for an extended period of time. Even if it has had regular play, the battery should only last about 500 charges, so it would still be dead.
The question then is did she have to hunt for replacement parts from a service centre? She's kept it in mint condition, so she must love the device, which means she's probably not above braving the clickers to keep it running. Then Ellie killed her... Stupid Ellie!
I just bought Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen for the Vita Tuesday...it's the first huge new release in a long time, and the Utawarerumono trilogy is an amazing V/N + T/SRPG.
@get2sammyb Hi there! old user of the site, new member. I also used to play a lot on my Vita, but now I can´t seem to be able to connect it oline. Such a shame, love that system. Cheers and happy gaming.
@Crimson_Ridley regarding battery, I'm still on my original PS-1000 battery and it's still usually good for about 3 hours. For years, I used it with a battery grip, which about doubled it. The grip doesn't seem to take charge anymore, sadly, and can't be replaced, but my Vita's battery is still going strong.
@RaZieLDaNtE Thanks for reading!
@get2sammyb Your welcome! Happy gaming to everyone!
@Neolit In Sony's defense, at that time SD cards weren't as cheap as they are now. I'm not saying I like what they did, but it wasn't the standard the way it is these days. As for the clickable sticks VS back touch, that's less than ideal for sure, but I really don't think it was a deal breaker either.
Had the Vita had more software and marketing support, those shortcomings totally could have been overcome.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...