Why You Should Buy a Vita in 2015

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The Uncharted Golden Abyss demo alone gave me at least half a dozen "too good to be true" moments. It's incredible just how close to console play these Vita games are.

I went into Gamestop around the launch of Vita with a lot of skepticism. In general, most PSP AAA titles were not even close to console quality. Killzone on PSP wasn't even a legit shooter. It was a top down game you'd expect on iOS. Star Wars Battlefront and Socom on PSP were terrible graphics and needed auto aim to make up for the single analog stick. Ratchet and Clank games looked decent, but had odd camera controls because of that single analog stick that made them hard to play sometimes.

So I was expecting to be let down by the "console quality" of Vita. After playing that Uncharted demo, I left the store thinking "MUST BUY"! It played identically to the PS3 games with the same voice actors and everything. In fact, I ended up playing my Vita instead of my PS3 haha. The "too good to be true moments" just kept coming with games like Unit 13 (think Socom), Gravity Rush, LBP Vita, NFS Most Wanted, Ratchet and Clank Collection, and even COD Delcassified.

Declassified's single player is terrible which accounts for most of the bad reviews, but the multiplayer is some great COD fun. It reminds me more of COD4. It even has the Shipment map from COD4 and Nuke House which is half of the popular Nuke Town map from the console games.

Unit 13 is from the Socom developers and plays just like a Socom console game. You can coop online every one of the 40 or so single player missions

NFS Most Wanted is the legit full open world game that was on PS3. I found my corvette in exactly the same spot as on the PS3 game. It also carried over my experience totals from PS3 so I had the special cars unlocked.

Gravity Rush is a full open world super hero type game similar to Infamous. Just incredible. Ratchet and Clank Collection play identically to the console versions on Vita.

Killzone Mercenary is not just a legit Killzone Shooter, IMO its better than Killzone 3. It looks outstanding and plays just as good. In general, the shooters on Vita are identical to playing on a PS3 and far above anything you will find on another mobile device (including PSP).

There's two years worth of AAA goodness waiting for any new Vita owner, and it's well worth the price of admission.

Signed up to post on this as I don't feel the article is all that good at answering if you should buy one. I bought a Slim Vita earlier in the year so I'll give you my thoughts. It's a very good machine capable of some amazing games and I genuinely have enjoyed it when I play it. However, it feels like i bought a 'dying' console in some ways.

I have 5 vita games, all japanese and niche. They are great games in my opinion, each is the quality of a great ps2 or basic ps3 title. I also have 3 or 4 psp games which are around the ps1-ps2 level. Again most are japanese and niche.

It's great for that sort of thing, but i can't see too many original vita games or american vita games on a level that i'd like to buy. Persona 4 golden is amazing and competes with any JRPG on any console, but there's no equivalent to say, Skyrim. I'm also seeing a lot of games on the DS that I wish would be ported over, but it feels like the vita library is almost 'complete'. They don't seem interested in utilising the vita to its full potential which is a shame as it could have years and years left, the hardware is really good but sony seem almost done with it, as are more top devs.

Honestly, I'd buy a DS unless you really want to play persona and hit up on JRPGs that you may have previously missed.

The other thing is the price. I think I paid too much for this console at this time and £39.99 per game is a little steep when most aren't AAA titles. Like yes, you pay £39.99 for Zelda or Xenoblade, but not for Neptune Hyptunia happy rythym saga you know?

Not trying to bash it because I own it and I do like it. But Sony should review it, and hopefully support it. For now, I wouldn't bother.

It's unfortunate that so many Nintendo fans are absolutely vile towards Sony's handheld, yet the 3DS's hardware is archaic in comparison and the controls aren't nearly as good. Even the D-pad is miles better than the 3DS's. I think the real reason the Vita is suffering is the negative attitude towards it. Nintendo fanboys are always saying "But the Vita has no games". What they really mean is there are no games THEY want to play on it, ie: Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, etc. That's cool if they only have interest in those games, to each their own, but they don't need to be destroying the Vita because it has games they're not personally into.

when the vita is overflowing with exclusive games instead of ps3 ports, then and only then will i consider buying a vita.

Spyro, Crash Bandicoot and Silent Hill PS1 games on the Vita store is all I ask.

"Hit up some << LINK REMOVED >>in bed or on the toilet--just make sure the wifi connection is sturdy to minimize lag." Playing in the same room using the PS4''s built in Wifi still results in minute amounts of lag rendering FPS and Racing games unplayable, I'll admit it's pretty close but unfortunately I feel there will always be an inherent lag. For example, GTA V when driving through the city at high speeds you cannot make adjustments in real time resulting in erratic driving from constant correction or over compensating for those corrections. Now imagine that in Gran Turismo at 160 Mph or in Need for Speed, it's just not going to be playable. The same issue arises with shooters, by the time you take the shot the enemy has moved or even killed you making the genre unplayable, factor in Destiny's horrible kill timing system and it's over. Also the lack of L2/R2 L3/R3 and you end up with such a mess, the touch screens just never always work, or even worse, self trigger at times, overall a very frustrating and unsatisfying experience.

Sadly Sony has turned their attention away from the Vita and instead favor the PS TV with updates Vita owners would kill for, considering the hardware in the PS TV is a Vita without the screen and buttons, why can't I use my PS3 controller with my Vita but you can with the PS TV? I know it may not be the most practical thing to carry around, but in all honesty I rather that then have my hands cramp up or just generally lose interest do to the clumsy controls (I have large hands making it difficult to hold the Vita and not touch the rear touch pad all the time) Borderlands is a perfect example of a game that would greatly benefit from the use of a controller.

Games wise the Vita has been getting better but it's still lacking in several areas. If you like RPG's you seem to be in luck, or crap indie games that are ported from the android universe you'll be more than satisfied with the Vita. However if you want to play a decent Racing game, they simply don't exist, besides Wipeout, but that's not for everyone. Is it too much to ask for to have a Burnout made for the Vita? Or Gran Turismo, this will likely come out just before the Vita is obsolete, thanks Polyphony. Arcade games seem to be the most popular genre right now, but have we not moved past that fade yet?

If Sony can find a way to keep software support for the Vita going and somehow miraculously boost sales (as unlikely as that is), I'd like to see another hardware refresh:

-Either include a decent amount of built-in storage, like 16 or 32GB, or support MicroSD cards.

-Add a small rumble motor. It might impact battery life but every smartphone has these, and firing a gun in a Vita game feels weird when you're so used to rumble in console games

-Make the sticks click-able and add L2/R2 triggers in some form. If they can't build these into the hardware, put them on some kind of detachable add-on, and advertise it as essential for PS4 Remote Play

Lastly, to anyone who thinks the Vita is already dead, check this out: << LINK REMOVED >>

Great article, but you neglected to mention the superb Disgaea ports, most likely because I am the only person who cares about that (and I already know about them).

Recommending the Vita in 2015 is about the same as recommending the SNES in 2015. Both have great games to play but nothing recently and nothing coming.

I buy consoles to play games. therefore exclusives are the main reason for me to chose a console over another.

O lot of the indies listed here can be played somewhere else. The next big games coming for the console are not exclusive. Not to mention that Bandai Namco and tecmo Koei are releasing theirs next big installment(God Eater 2 Rage Burst and Toukiden Kiwami) not only on vita but PS4 as well. Wich means you can choose to play a better version of the game if you have a PS4.

Only reasons to get a Vita are Uncharted golden abyss, Gravity Rush, Freedom Wars and Soul Sacrifice Delta.. the few great exclusives. But with Sony droping suport on various apps for the Vita sure in no time they will drop it altogether and release remastered versions of the biggest hits for the PS4. Just be patient.

WTFrag with all of these "why you should buy" articles? Makes it look like everyone has you in their pocket.

Disclaimer: I think Zorine Te is awesome and realize that she has to do her job.

I have had a vita since day one, and sadly would never recomend it to anyone. Sure there are a few good games, but the future looks bleak. It seems as if sony gave up on the system a while back and is not going to release any more first party games on the system. They just expect it to be a streaming device for the ps4. If more first party AAA games would come out for the vita I would buy them day one, but for now it will continue to collect dust.

Since when Minecraft is a triple-A game?

Great piece, Zorine! Oreshika looks amazing (just Binged it - yes, I use Bing). Let's hope that DrinkBox won't load Severed up with tons of stale and outdated memes. Those sort of ruined their last two games for me.

well I'll be damned, streaming to Vita actually works well

Sold my Vita within a year of buying it. I was an early adopter but it became clear, early on that it wasn't going to deliver the games. The hyped games that were promised weren't delivering, the psp and ps3 libraries weren't coming available and there was little on the horizon to get excited about. I sold it while it still had value. 2nd time Sony burned me on a handheld. Great platform, no games, deja vu.

You should buy one to understand true disappointment first hand! Love my PSP and still use and buy stuff for it but the Vita is a joke. Only a third of the PSP library mostly due to no UMD support, it can't even get all the PSOne classics, it only has all of a handful of exclusives worth playing and then it's back to the dust pile. Third parties abandoned it, including the ones that traditionally support Sony and then even Sony gave up on it and said no more support and that it will just get indie games, things everyone else gets that are cheaper and better on their platform and in the case of phones and tablets completely takes away Vita's portability advantage.