PS Vita - Timeline
Thursday16th Jan 2025
News Shuhei Yoshida Reels Off List of Reasons the PS Vita Bombed
Vita still means life, though
Shuhei Yoshida, a now-former PlayStation executive, has gone over a few reasons why the PS Vita wasn't as big a success as the company hoped. Talking on Kinda Funny Games, he goes over a handful of technical reasons the handheld console failed before delving into what he believes is the main contributor to its...
Wednesday18th Sep 2024
News PS Vita Fans Want Soul Sacrifice to Return on PS5, PS4 Next
Grotesque but great
There was a period when the PS Vita was new where Sony was desperate to secure a Monster Hunter-style hit on the system. You may recall that Capcom’s series had been extremely kind to the PSP, effectively securing it a second wind in its native Japan. But it’s widely rumoured that Nintendo swooped in and bought Nintendo 3DS...
Monday19th Aug 2024
News As Hohokum Turns 10, the Game's Developers Celebrate with Special Anniversary Livestream
Tune in today
Update: The stream is over, but you can watch the VOD on YouTube, embedded above. Original story: Somehow, Hohokum is now 10 years old. This artsy, zen-like game released for PS3, PS4, and PS Vita back in 2014, and though it isn't everyone's cup of tea, its laid-back design and timeless art direction mean there's little else like it...
Friday5th Apr 2024
News Unicorn Overlord Development Began in 2016, When It Was Originally Planned for PS Vita
Alongside 13 Sentinels
As it turns out, Unicorn Overlord was in development for a lot longer than people probably realise. The gorgeous strategy RPG, which released just last month on PS5 and PS4, was first conceived by developer Vanillaware all the way back in 2016. What's more, it was originally planned as a PS4 and PS Vita release — but it...
Wednesday22nd Nov 2023
News Tearaway's Wonderful Music Coming to Streaming Services as Series Turns 10
Sounds good on paper
Between LittleBigPlanet and Dreams, Media Molecule made Tearaway — a brilliant, whimsical platformer where everything was made of paper. Initially released for PS Vita and eventually ported to PS4 in Tearaway Unfolded, the game is a truly joyous adventure, each version making the most of its hardware to provide a super tactile...
Thursday9th Mar 2023
News Widespread PS3, PS Vita Issues Preventing Fans from Downloading Games
It only does nothing
Sony’s legacy systems, the PS3 and PS Vita, are throwing a wobbly it seems. There are widespread reports, right around the globe, of purchased games not downloading properly from the PS Store. It’s unclear what the exact cause is: PS3 received a firmware update recently, which could potentially be related – but that...
Saturday12th Nov 2022
Random Kendrick Lamar Fan Goes Viral for Recording Concert on PS Vita
Vita means life
American rapper Kendrick Lamar is in London for a three night headline show at the O2 arena, but while the gig is attracting rave reviews, one fan is attracting all the limelight. A photograph showing someone in the crowd filming the concert on a PS Vita has gone viral, and it’s certainly an amusing sight to see the handheld being...
Friday7th Oct 2022
News Mortal Kombat Celebrates 30 Years of Fatalities with Mind Blowing Montage
Get over here and watch it
Mortal Kombat is celebrating 30 years of brutality, and while fans had been hoping for a new game announcement – or, perhaps, a compilation of old ones – this montage trailer will have to suffice. To be fair, it’s impressive: it segues between classic retro footage of the old arcade Mortal Kombat games and modern...
Friday12th Aug 2022
News Killzone Shadow Fall, Other Guerrilla Games Now Stripped of Online Play
Killzone Mercenary, RIGS too
PS4 launch game Killzone Shadow Fall and its standalone co-op mode Intercept, PS Vita title Killzone Mercenary, and PSVR experience RIGS: Mechanized Combat League have now all been taken offline. Guerrilla Games
Friday22nd Jul 2022
News Killzone Shadow Fall PS4 Servers Will Shut Down, Three Other Games Too
Being turned off next month
Guerrilla Games has announced the online servers of Killzone Shadow Fall, standalone co-op mode Intercept, PS Vita game Killzone Mercenary, and PSVR title RIGS: Mechanized Combat League will all be turned off on 12th August 2022. This will leave only the singl
Monday4th Jul 2022
News This Is the Closest You'll Ever Get to a PS3 Devkit
Early PS Vita devkit also showcased
Here’s a fascinating video from Linus Tech Tips: a PS3 development kit pulled apart and showcased in all of its enormous glory. The giant 2ft behemoth was used by developers to create games for Sony’s last-last-gen console, and the clip even includes development build footage of titles like Life Is Strange,...
Wednesday1st Jun 2022
News Do You Really Love the PS Vita? Now You Can Get One Framed
Or a PSP, if you're old-school
The PS Vita was dealt a pretty unfair hand. Launched at a time when the handheld market was facing stiff competition from smartphones, Sony's last portable had power, ability, and some great games – but it simply couldn't find the mass market penetration it needed to succeed against Nintendo's 3DS (and even that...
Tuesday24th May 2022
News Sony Confirms Content Can No Longer Be Transferred Between PS3 and PS Vita
Closed connections
For a couple of weeks now, PS Vita owners have complained that it’s no longer possible to transfer games between PS3 and Sony’s handheld system. The error appeared to coincide with a batch of new firmware updates that deployed around 11th May, 2022, which were released to strengthen account security. Unfortunately, that has...
Tuesday10th May 2022
News New PS3, PS Vita Firmware Updates Strengthen Account Security
Two-factor authentication required
Sony has improved account security on two of its legacy machines through new firmware updates deployed today. For PlayStation 3, we're looking at update 4.89 while PS Vita is now on version 3.74. Essentially, the two console patches remove the ability to create a PSN account on the systems themselves, now requiring...
Friday29th Apr 2022
News PS Vita's Worrying PS Store Issues All Resolved
Working as intended again
Update: Sony has promptly solved problems with the PS Vita’s PS Store, which worryingly suggested that content was “no longer for sale”. As of the time of reporting, service has been resumed, and is operating as intended again. Original Story: PS Vita’s built-in PS Store is busted, and there’s been no word from...
Friday22nd Apr 2022
Video How Telltale Nailed The Walking Dead's Opening Scene
A quiet start to the apocalypse
Telltale’s The Walking Dead is 10 years old this week (welp!) and we’ve been reminiscing on its fantastic post-apocalyptic story. Within a span of just five episodes, players around the world came to love the wholesome father/daughter relationship between survivors Lee and Clementine. There are a lot of memorable...
Monday11th Apr 2022
News Classic Games Including PS1 Curiously Expiring on PS3, PS Vita
Seems to be a bug
It looks like Sony has yet another bug to plug. Fans returning to the PS1 Classic re-release of Chrono Cross on PS3 and PS Vita this week – presumably propelled by the recent PS4 re-release – have discovered that a PlayStation Network bug is rendering the legendary RPG unplayable. And it’s not an isolated incident: while...
Tuesday29th Mar 2022
News PS Vita the Only Console Snubbed in Sony's New PS Plus Premium Subscription
Vita vetoed
Ah, the poor old PS Vita. Sony's second generation handheld was largely abandoned just a few years into its life following rather dismal sales and a lack of dedicated software support. But as with any gaming system, the Vita certainly has its hardcore fans — and for what it's worth, we always thought that it was an especially slick...
Wednesday16th Feb 2022
News Could PS3, PS Vita Closures Be on the Cards After Wii U, 3DS Announcements?
Sony's got a good excuse now
Sony tried, and failed, to close the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita storefronts last year – after an enormous social media backlash convinced the company to change its mind. PlayStation boss Jim Ryan took to the PS Blog with his tail between his legs, statin
Tuesday1st Feb 2022
Random This Is How PlayStation Consoles Would Look if They Rendered Themselves
Inception
This is brilliantly random: how would each PlayStation console look if it rendered itself? Electronics Hub sought to answer that exact question, and came up with this stunning infographic. Effectively what you’re seeing is each Sony system – from the PS1 all the way through to the PS5 – rendered within the boundaries of its own...
Saturday29th Jan 2022
Poll We Want You to Rate Your Favourite PS Vita Games
Help us build a definitive list
Can you believe that the PS Vita is almost ten years old? Next month, Sony’s impossibly pretty handheld platform will double its digits, and we’re hoping to mark the occasion with a list of the Best PS Vita Games – as decided by you! We had a lot of fun polling you on the PS3 recently, and now we’re eager to...
Monday17th Jan 2022
Poll What's the Best Uncharted Game?
Drake decider
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, which remasters Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy for PlayStation 5 and eventually PC, is now less than two weeks away. Maybe you can't wait to return to the adventures of Nathan Drake and Chloe Frazer, or maybe you're planning to experience them for the first time...
Friday17th Dec 2021
News The PS Vita Is Now 10 Years Old
Initial Japanese release was a decade ago
Ah, the PlayStation Vita. A beautiful handheld gaming device with oodles of potential, Sony's successor to the PSP was — and still is — a cracking little machine. While most of us didn't get our hands on one until February 2012, it was originally released in Japan on 17th December, 2011 — 10 whole...
Thursday16th Dec 2021
News PS5, PS4 Users Are Still the Biggest W*nkers in Gaming
PS Vita usage drops massively
PornHub has today shared its 2021 Year in Review stats, revealing that PlayStation users are once again the ones using their systems the most to beat it. In fact, traffic to the site actually increased by 17.6 per cent compared to 2020 from PS5, PS4 consoles. Overall, PlayStation makes up 60.6 per cent of overall...
Saturday27th Nov 2021
News PS Vita Exclusives Freedom Wars, Soul Sacrifice to Have Servers Shuttered
Sacrificial
Two high-profile PS Vita exclusives, Freedom Wars and Soul Sacrifice, will have their servers deactivated on 24th December, 2021. Both titles, published by Sony in response to its loss of Monster Hunter exclusivity, were built around co-operative play, and maintained relatively dedicated communities to this day. While you can still play...
Thursday25th Nov 2021
News 400-Page Hardback Book Documents PS Vita's Ten Year History
Vita means life
With the PS Vita approaching its tenth anniversary, author Sandeep Rai has launched a Kickstarter for a 400-page book documenting the entire history of the now-discontinued device. Vita Means Life – which was targeting a goal of £6,000 but has already surpassed £15,000 at the time of writing – promises to “take a look back at...
Monday15th Nov 2021
News PS Store on PS Vita Facing Wide-Spread Issues Around the World
NP-2244-2 error ongoing for almost a week
Sony has agreed to keep the PS Store online on the PS Vita, after previously announcing plans to discontinue it – but make no mistake, maintenance for the system’s storefront is at the very bottom of its list of priorities. Perhaps that would explain why error code NP-2244-2 is persisting after almost a...
Sunday14th Nov 2021
News GTA Vice City's Fan PS Vita Port Pitted Against Nintendo Switch Remaster
Stacks up
PS Vita may have been a bit of a commercial blunder from Sony, but it will go down in history as one of the more revered handhelds ever released. In addition to its likeable hardware and software library, modders got a lot of mileage out of the device, and one prolific piece of homebrew prepared by Rinnegatamante and The Fl0w enabled you...
Monday8th Nov 2021
News Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 HD Removed from PS Store Today Temporarily
PS Now version pulled too
Multiple HD versions of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater are being temporarily removed from the PlayStation Store starting today as Konami works to renew "the licenses for select historical archive footage used in-game". This means the games in question will no longer be available for...
Thursday4th Nov 2021
News Sony's PS Vita Trademark Partially Revoked in Europe Because It Isn't Being Used
Awkward
Vita might mean life, but it seems Sony's interest in the handheld is practically dead. The platform holder almost shut down the device's PS Store, but backlash from fans forced it to walk back the decision. Now, the company is losing some of its rights to the term 'Vita' due to "non-use", which would be funny if it wasn't so tragic. Yes,...
Wednesday3rd Nov 2021
Video PS Plus Games Not Working on PS Vita? Try This
Fix up
While PS Vita support may now have ended almost 10 years after the console originally released, we're convinced that there’s still life in the portable yet. That’s why it came as a bit of a shock recently to be greeted by two error codes when trying to play PS Plus games on the device. Both of which may prevent a certain sect of players...
Thursday14th Oct 2021
Video 5 Ways PS Vita Was Ahead of Its Time
Sony's handheld system switched it up
With developers working tirelessly to take advantage of its unique feature-set, the PS Vita should have been a portable primed to succeed. Looking back, though, Sony’s second handheld never felt like it realised its full potential. It all started with that beautifully bright OLED screen, of course, presenting...
Wednesday6th Oct 2021
News PS3, PS Vita to Remove PS Store Payment Methods
You'll need to top-up your wallet elsewhere
Sony will keep the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita storefronts open, as previously promised, but it seems that the compromise is that it will remove most funding methods from the devices natively. What does this mean, then? Well, from 27th October you won’t be able to purchase games using a credit or debit...
Monday19th Jul 2021
News New PS Vita Releases Pegged for 20th July as Sony Ceases Submissions
One last hurrah
While the PS Vita storefront will remain open for the foreseeable future – following a dramatic U-turn from the Japanese giant – Sony is sticking to its original plan of ceasing to accept submissions for the handheld’s PS Store from 20th July, meaning a final batch of new releases will deploy tomorrow. A couple of indie...
Saturday17th Jul 2021
News With the Steam Deck Announced, This Is What a Next-Gen PSP Could Be
Alternate universe
Sony is, quite clearly, done with the handheld market. While there’s no question Nintendo has enjoyed enormous success with its hybrid hardware Nintendo Switch, the previous portable PlayStation failed to capture the imagination of gamers – even if the PS Vita is considered something of a cult classic these days. But...
Tuesday6th Jul 2021
News PS Vita Trends on Twitter as OLED Screen for New Switch Is Revealed
The handheld that could
Here we are once again reminiscing about the PlayStation Vita. Sony's second handheld gaming platform never really caught on like the PSP did, but the gizmo continues to prove how it was ahead of its time. Case in point is today's news from Nintendo, where it has confirmed an updated Switch model will sport an OLED screen. It...
Monday28th Jun 2021
News PS Vita Messages Wiped and Functionality Disabled
Closed communication
PS Vita’s Messages app has officially shutdown today, as per a prior announcement by Sony. It means you can no longer communicate with your friends or potentially even invite them to online games. Furthermore, any historic messages you may have had saved on your system will be wiped from the format itself – although you’ll...
Saturday5th Jun 2021
News PS4, PS Vita Games Can Be Purchased for As Little As £0.16/$0.19 on PS Store Right Now
How low can you go?
PS Store prices have been falling harder and faster than ever before, but the latest round of indie deals on Sony’s storefront has brought with it some of the lowest prices we’ve ever seen. Right now, you can pick up games for as little as £0.16/$0.19 apiece – we’re talking back of the sofa stuff. Obviously, many of...
Saturday8th May 2021
News New PS Vita Games Will Sadly Cease This Summer
Despite the PS Store remaining open
Sony will cease accepting PS Vita software for submission this summer, as despite reversing its decision to remove the portable’s storefront, it will still enforce policies that will effectively bring an end to new releases. Despite nearing its 10th anniversary, titles have continued to deploy on the device with...
Monday19th Apr 2021
News Sony Backtracks PS3, PS Vita Online Store Closures
PSP storefront still closing in July
Sony has officially confirmed it will be backtracking its decision to close the PlayStation Stores associated with the PS3 and PS Vita consoles. The PSP online storefront will still close on 2nd July 2021, but the ensuing closure no longer affects the PS3 and PS Vita. Confirmed in a PlayStation Blog post, Jim...
Friday16th Apr 2021
Feature 10 PS3, PSP, PS Vita Games You May Not Realise Had a Physical Release
Plug the gaps in your physical collection
After the news that Sony is closing down its older PlayStation Stores, we’ve been taking a look at the PS3 and PSP/Vita games you won’t want to miss out on. Players can continue re-downloading t
Tuesday13th Apr 2021
News PS Plus Oversight Is a Bummer for PS3, PS Vita Owners
Issues everywhere
The PlayStation 3 is almost 15 years old, so it’s hardly surprising it has some irksome quirks – but with the closure of the system’s store on 2nd July, subscribers to PS Plus should probably be aware of a potential problem. While your downloads will be retained, you’ll only be able to play any titles you claimed through...
Friday9th Apr 2021
Feature 10 Digital-Only PSP, PS Vita Games to Buy Before the PS Store Closes
Grab those handheld games before they disappear
By now, you’ve likely seen Sony’s plan to close down the PlayStation 3 and Vita stores this Summer. We had our suspicions for some time — after last year’s redesigned PSN web store dropped both sets of games — and news officially came through earlier this month. You can still re-download...
News Ex-Sony Employee Sheds Light on Thinking Behind PS Vita's Proprietary Memory
Platform holder was petrified of hacks
The great PlayStation Network hack in 2011 had a huge cultural impact on Sony, and may have played a part in its decision to controversially utilise expensive proprietary memory in the PS Vita, according to a former employee. As part of an AMA on Reddit – moderators verified the ex-staffer, although their...
Friday2nd Apr 2021
News Around 2,200 Digital Games on the Chopping Block When Sony Closes PS3, PS Vita, PSP Stores
Rough analysis reveals scale of shutdown
Just how many digital games will be lost when Sony closes the PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and PSP storefronts? According to VGC, we’re looking at some 2,200 titles that will not be available to purchase on PlayStation in any form once the PS3 and PSP servers shutdown on 2nd July and PS Vita servers close on...
Wednesday31st Mar 2021
News Many PS Vita Devs Cancel Projects After Sudden PS Store Closure
Others rushing to finish titles in time
Sony’s closing the PS Vita’s storefront on 27th August, despite new games being in development for the platform. The short notice – and poor communication from the platform holder – has resulted in the cancellation of numerous projects over the past 48 hours, while other indie developers are scrambling...
Tuesday30th Mar 2021
News ScourgeBringer Will Be the Final PS Vita Game Released Digitally
Available for just 128 days
When it releases next month on 22nd April 2021, ScourgeBringer will become the final PlayStation Vita game to be made available digitally on the platform's storefront. That is before it is pulled just 128 days later as Sony closes the online shop. Director Thomas Altenburger confirmed the unwelcome news over on Twitter...
Monday29th Mar 2021
News The PS Vita Messaging System Is Also Going Offline
Starting 28th June
Sorry PlayStation Vita fans, this is a bad day for you. As well as taking the handheld's built-in storefront offline, Sony is also pulling support for the device's messaging system. Starting 28th June 2021, PS Vita users "will no longer be able to use the messaging service", an email from the Japanese giant reads. We can't imagine...
Reaction Sony's Storefront Closures Put PS5, PS4 Backwards Compatibility Efforts Back in Focus
It hurts to see PlayStation's history left behind
Alongside long overdue confirmation of the closure of its PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and PSP storefronts today, Sony noted that the changes will allow the organisation to “refocus our resources for PS Store on PS5 and PS4, which will enable us to enhance the customer experience even further”. It’s...
News Sony Confirms PS3, PS Vita, PSP Store Closures, Downloads Will Be Retained
Shifting focus and resources to PS5, PS4
Sony has officially confirmed the closure of its legacy PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and PSP storefronts. As previously reported, PS3 and PSP will be closed on 2nd July, while PS Vita will shut on 27th August. While you will still be able to download all of your previous software and video purchases – including...