PlayStation Vita

What this platform is

PlayStation Vita, or PS Vita, is Sony’s handheld platform following PSP. It first launched in Japan on December 17, 2011. Physical controls and touch input share one portable device, supporting action games, role-playing adventures, puzzles and independent releases built for handheld play.

Main features

Two analog sticks join a directional pad, face buttons and shoulder buttons. A front touchscreen and rear touchpad give compatible games additional input methods. Original systems use an OLED screen; the later PCH-2000 family uses LCD and a slimmer design. Games can come on dedicated Vita game cards or as compatible digital software. Remote Play can also stream supported experiences from another PlayStation console.

Before you play

There is no UMD drive, so physical PSP discs cannot be inserted. Digital PSP titles also require individual compatibility checks. A game card and a storage card serve different purposes: storage expansion uses proprietary Vita memory cards, rather than ordinary SD cards or PSP Memory Stick media. Remote Play depends on another compatible console and a network; it does not make home-console games run locally on Vita.