I love playing on handheld consoles. I consider lying down anywhere, putting the console in front of my knees and playing to be a kind of luxury. That's why I bought a PS Portal for the PS5. Of course, it has some concessions. You can only play in Full HD, the LCD display is also not the best (especially if the game is dark) and the battery life may not be enough for some people. Last week I came across an ad offering a PS Vita with games, original packaging, headphones and two memory cards for a solid price. And I couldn't resist.
The Vita arrived in a few days and literally took my breath away from the moment I turned it on. I have to say that I am a bit biased and have been a fan of all gaming consoles (mostly older ones) for a long time. The PS Vita hit the shelves at the end of 2011. I know that is not a long time. But I was surprised right after turning it on by the style in which Sony guided the user interface and advised the player on how to use the console. Although some of the UI issues are daunting, the steps are generally very intuitive. ProThe interface is smooth, simple, and the console has clearly benefited from the use of a touchscreen, which clearly speeds up the process of moving through the system.
The technical processing is the area where Vita was ahead of its time. The premium body immediately catches your eye when you pick it up. No creaking cheap plastic, but a robust construction with precise fit. The absolute showcase of the original model (OLED version from 2011) is the five-inch OLED display. Even today, in the age of modern panels, it offers rich colors, perfect contrast and black, which is clearly superior to conventional LCD screens. A huge leap compared to the older PSP was the use of a pair of full-fledged analog sticks. These are not flat sliders, but precise sticks with pleasant resistance and natural movement, thanks to which shooters and action-adventure games are controlled exactly as you are used to from large consoles.
Inside, a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor beats, complemented by a PowerVR SGX543MP4+ graphics chip, which at the turn of 2011 and 2012 was an uncompromising hardware beast capable of rendering games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss or Killz.one: Mercenary in a quality that was close to the desktop PlayStation 3. The technological eccentricity is then underlined by the rear touchpad, gyroscope and motion sensors, which clearly demonstrate how ambitious Sony was building the handheld at the time. There is also a camera, which today is more likely to be used only for retro photos.
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But it's mainly about the games. And if you have a similar relationship to older consoles as I do, perhaps the following lines will help you answer whether the Vita makes sense for playing games today. As stated above, I see the PS Vita almost as a PS3 in my pocket and at times I was even surprised by how games looked on this console 15 years ago. It must be said that my testing so far consisted of a few dozen minutes spent on individual games. I have already tried FIFA 14, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Killzone: Mercenary, Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Call of Duty: Ghosts. The graphics and gameplay are absolutely great for me and the console has made a big leap from the PSP. Of course, you can't compare the console to the Nintendo Switch or other modern handhelds, but if you've ever held a PSP in your hand and played Medal of Honor or Brothers in Arms (which I cursed at even the easiest difficulty), then Call of Duty on the Vita is completely different.
As for the controls, if you have some PlayStation experience, it will be no problem. In my opinion, the smaller buttons and joystick are just a matter of habit. I was a little disappointed with the sound performance, because at first listen it seems to me that not much has changed since the PSP. In conclusion, all I can say is that even today you can have a lot of fun with the Vita. If you are modest about graphics and are more interested in the fact that you can play practically anywhere, you will not go wrong with the Vita. You can even buy jailbroken versions at bazaars, so you don't have to worry about buying any additional games. But I'm a boomer, so I like to buy games and I want everything to be the way the manufacturer intended.
