5 reasons you may want a Vita

Why get a vita

The PlayStation Vita is a pretty great handheld gaming device that many have overlooked due to its poor sales, expensive memory, and lack of first party support from Sony. However after owning one for more than a year I can say that it is worth the buy if you’re willing to put up with a little bit of crap from Sony. So without further adieu here is my top 5 reasons you should consider owning a PlayStation Vita.


It’s Powerful

  • Now first things first it is widely known that the system is pretty powerful for a handheld device. This however is a minute factor when it comes to gaming on the go because most people prefer to play simple games while mobile. This in now way discounts the system though and so I have listed it as one of the reasons you may want to get one. The Vita is capable of rendering some pretty beautiful graphics, especially if it’s cell shaded or anime styled. This is a great selling point for me because a lot of the titles that get released for the system are anime styled and or use a similar style of graphics. Now it should be noted that there are many Vita games that I’ve played that use blooming effects to help the presentation with hit or miss results. these effects are sometimes over used to give a console style effect, but it never really quite gets there. There are the few that use these effects well like Uncharted, but they are few and far between.
    All in all the PS Vita is graphically speaking a handheld console with a gorgeous screen, great controls and wonderful performance (PS these results differ depending on the game).

 

That OLED screen though 😀

 

Anime Styled Games

  • As I mentioned anime above I thought I’d use this opportunity to state that the PS Vita is loaded with Anime based games. There are tons of them and I love it. 😀 so many of the us gamers are also fans of anime and its nice when you get to experience a bit of the worlds of those anime through the medium of video games. As Sony is a Japanese company and the fact that it’s image is not as kid friendly as Nintendo’s it is more likely that you’ll be able to find tons of great titles based on Anime for the device. There are also titles like Tales of Hearts, Persona 3 & 4 and Akiba’s Trip that candidly use the beautiful style of anime as part of their presentation.
    Persona_4_investigation_team_2 So if you’re a fan of anime it’s really a no brainer to consider owning a PS Vita. 

 

PSN & PS Plus 

  • PSN and PS Plus are two of the best parts of owning a Vita, but I shall mention them as one. The PlayStation network is constantly under fire for service being down, spotty online functionality, slow downloads, Bla, bla, bla…. Heck even I have written about their numerous problems before, however Sony has continued to update the store to make it better for users, given away free games as a sign of good faith/ apology and they have some of the best Triple-A sales when compared to their main rival Nintendo and it’s eshop which is a bit more stingy when it comes to discounting its bigger titles. PSN also comes with the option for PS Plus, a subscription service that allows the user to have access to new free games every month, discounts and more.
    If you are able to shovel out the cash to buy a large Vita memory card then trust me when I say that PSN will be your new best friend. 😉

It’s ecchi friendly woot woot! 😀

Is ecchi so bad?
Is ecchi so bad?
  • Ok, so I’m sure more than 50% of you have stopped reading at this point, but for those that are still here please consider what I’m trying to convey. A lot of us are older more mature gamers and as such our thought processes are a lot more mature (I mean no offence to you younger gamers among us, I’m sure some of you are mature too), or at least I believe so. This is why I added this as one of the reasons. Some of us may prefer a bit more mature content in our games. Now depending on your living situation and you level of pride you may not want to play an ecchi game on a larger screen for everyone to see, and thus this is where the Vita comes in handy. Remember I mentioned before that Sony’s image is less Kid friendly than Nintendo’s? well this is because they are more likely to allow titles like Akiba’s Trip to be published on their devices and I’m very thankful for that.
some other dude (still don't care)
Ecchi for everyone 😉


All in all don’t be ashamed of your interest in ecchi content, you’re mature, you have no one to answer to but yourself, and if you have fun playing ecchi games then by all means play them, and there is no better place to do so than on the Vita.

Ok I wanna just mention Persona 4 and leave it at that. It’s the game that got me to buy a Vita and the reason I mention getting one to most of my friends, but that would be cheating. You signed up for 5 reasons when you started reading this and 5 reasons you shall have.

It’s all about the games

  • So the last and most important reason that you may want to get a Vita is because of the games. This is the most important reason that you should ever consider getting any platform/console. This is because no matter how graphically intense, how great the control scheme, the design, all that other stuff……… at the end of the day what we most want are good games to play. If there are no good games then we’ll have a device sitting there collecting dust. Luckily the PS Vita has plenty great and amazing games, wait, pause for a second. “Remember this is my opinion. You may not share my taste in games and so you may not think that the system has many great titles, and that A-Ok. We are all entitled to our own opinions and we are all different, that’s what makes us all unique and awesome”. OK, we continue from here. The system has a mixture of good and bad games, but I find there are more good titles available for the system, most of which are JRPGs (my preferred genre. The system also boasts a wide array of fighting games, racers, action titles and more so don’t limit yourself, check them all out if you can. Most of the good titles are not widely known and with Sony’s lack of advertising they may never be, but with a bit of research you will find some of those gems.

 

 

In closing: Before getting a Vita or any other console for that matter. Do your research. Read articles, watch videos, check out as many game reviews as you can. This will build you knowledge on the device that you are planning to buy, and help shape your opinion of it, thus resulting in a better buy for you. Also feel free to use our site to research if you like. We have tons of vita content and reviews that may help in your decision(link), oh and if you do happen to get a Vita feel free to add me on PSN (Lpgardian) “just leave a message so that I know where you got my PSN iD”. 😉


if you’d like to hear more of my thoughts about this topic, then I suggest you listen to the Buttonsmashers podcast.

 

Qudduws Campbell

That messy hair bloke: Romantic, Food lover, Gamer, Sports Fan, Manga Reader, Tech Head, Podcaster... Pretty much do a bit of everything.

17 Comments

    1. that it has. I’m hoping to see some more games get localized for it this year and for another price drop on the memory cards. gotta get some more space to save all those good games.

  1. The issue about the memory being overly expensive tends to get blown out of proportion. What people tend to ignore is that the memory cards are NOT standard memory cards. They’re custom built for Sony and have a very heavy encryption on it. So heavy infact that to date it’s still not been cracked.

    As a result there are NO pirated Vita games, something Sony wanted to stamp down on after the PSP and PSPGO were both heavily pirated.

    While i admit i would love to see a price drop, i understand why they don’t drop THAT much. However it is worth noting that the prices of the 64GB (the current highest) have been slashed. When they were initially released in japan you’d be paying anywhere between £100-150 for on in th UK. When Sony finally released them in the UK the price was set at £90 and then a few months later slashed to £60. Even now you can get them for around £45-50, which isn’t THAT more expensive than a normal 64GB card.

    Also worth noting, especially since you listed it as a good reason, the new Vita that’s been out for the past 9months or so does NOT have the OLED screen. It was one of the things they swapped out, for several reasons. Biggest of course being the cost of the screens, which are significantly more expensive than the ones now being used (speculation was the new screens were around 60% cheaper). However another reason was the amount of complaints about the way the screens looked when all black, they looked like they were broken. The screens were TO good essentially.

    Also, PS Plus. I initially got PS Plus because of the Vita, and for a long time it was amazing and i was one of the most vocal proponents of it. Both on the PS3 and the Vita you’d get some damn amazing games for next to nothing.

    However when the PS4 launch PS Plus changed significantly. We no longer have the Instant Game Collection, these were the Triple A Games that were on offer for a long time and got changed once a year.

    It was due for a refresh in October/November, but never came along and dosen’t seem likely to ever arrive.

    Then we have the monthly games, these have been pretty much garbage since the PS4’s release. We went from high quality games, like Tomb raider, XCom, Saints Row, Kingdoms of Amalur, to crappy little indie games that you can pick up for a few quid on their own.

    The Value of PSN has pretty much plummeted, but Sony know they can get away with it now since to make use of the PS4 to it’s fullest, including playing online games, you need the PS Plus. So they essentially have a captive audience.

    My advice is that if all you have is a Vita or PS3, don’t bother with PS Plus anymore. Until Sony revive it to what it used to be it’s genuinely not worth it. Sadly i can’t really afford to let it lapse anymore since i have so many games already tied to it. Which also makes me a captive of them, since i don’t have the cash to buy all the games i’ve gotten from the program over the past few years.

    I genuinely hope that Sony do revive the program and start giving us proper games again.

    As for Persona 4, if you have a Vita/Vita TV you MUST play this game!!

    Hell i bought a Vita TV just so i could play Persona 4 Golden on my 50in TV while lying on the sofa and by god it was worth it!!

    1. Lol you sir really did write one long comment. The memory part of the comment is not valid for me though as here in the US region the price is still above $60 i wish i could get it at $45 or something. If i could i’d buy one today and buy a few new games while i’m at it lol.

      I do however agree about PSN. It has gotten lame lately, but having it does give you a few perks like, discounted prices, and some of the indies are pretty good, but yeah sony need to revive it to its former glory. At least for the vita’s sake

  2. Having been a Nintendo fan for years, I’ve mainly focused on the 3DS and wrote a lot of blogs about them. But a couple of weeks ago I bit the bullet and bought myself a Vita. After all, I love gaming on the go. And I can say, the Vita didn’t disappoint at all. It’s indeed an amazing machine, and the wealth of games that I couldn’t play before is great. What I do miss about the VIta is the friendliness of the forums. For some reason I’ve already seen a lot of animosity there, more, or so it seems then on Nintendo forums. But maybe I haven’t found the right one yet. Anyway, I’m glad I read your blog, a positive note!

    1. Thank you for the kind words. I’m happy that you liked my article. About the vita forums, i’m not sure that i have visited any. Maybe because most of the games i get for mine are single player, but i do add people on mine and chat about those games, because the touch screen makes messaging amazing. Its something i missed on the 3DS after they cut the note app, ability to communicate with people in your friend list, share ideas, ask/give advice on games and such.

      The vita is truly a great device and i’m glad that there are more like you that thinks so too.

      1. I agree, the Swapnote app was so much fun, such a pity that they closed it down. Since then I’ve lost contact with a lot of people on my friendlist. MiiVerse just isn’t the same to me! Good plan, I should get to adding more friends to my Vita!

        1. Add all the BSP crew and we’ll spam you with game recommendations and then cry when you don’t buy our recommendations 😛

          I hear what you’re saying about the forums and agree with you, thee reason is simple though. 3DS forums have a high minor count, so i found them to be more relaxed and friendly.

          With the vita forums though you have a lot more older teens on there who basically just don’t give a damn about anything and spew vitriol everywhere. This sadly is one of the biggest problems with gaming in general, take a look at the Steam Hub’s for example. Spending anymore than an hour in there will lead you to suicide it’s so bad.

          What you want to do is find yourself a gaming community where people play the same sort of games you do, and get involved there. Or start one! Now there’s an idea Q!! Lets start a gaming, anime and manga community built around BSP!!

          1. Bro we already have a community. its on FB, steam, and google plus. Just search for Button Smashers Family.

            the most active one is the Facebook one, but hopefully the other two become as active during this year.

            [note]
            Ryu right now on the FB group we’re talking about curry :p

          2. i refuse to use facebook 😀

            And TBH the fact the community id fractured like that is a bad thing IMO. Running a community forum has always been better since you’re community is all in one place. But meh, i refuse to use facebook since i find them abusive in their T&C, especially for mobile users. Google….is gonna die so don’t see the point lol, and steam, is a cancer killing the gaming world lol

          3. Thanks for your encouragement! You’ve summed it up pretty good, I myself have always believed that taking a positive view in forums and on Facebook goes a long way. No need to spread negativity!

            I have a Ladies&Gaming group at the moment on FB, it’s been chatting about gaming for some four years now, and never had arguments or discord on there, which I believe is rare.

            Making a new Vita forum might just be a grand idea!

  3. It’s great to see that this isn’t a PS Vita vs 3DS post, and if I could afford (both time and money) to have two gaming devices, I’d definitely consider a Vita. But because I’m forced to choose between the two, I’d much rather get the 3DS.

    I do hope that the Vita gets more games in the future, and I also hope that Nintendo becomes a little more ecchi-friendly.

    1. 3DS has one of thee most ecchi games going 😀 Until late last year i would have said THE most ecchi, but last year vita got Valhalla Knights 3, AKA Rub your Hooker, and Monster MonPiece, AKA Masturbate your Vita.

      But it has had some rather ecchi games in it’s past, you just don’t realise them as they tend to get quiet releases rather than all the fluster and publicity of games like Mario or Fantasy Life

      1. Really? Aside from Conception 2 and Senran Kagura Burst, what else is there for the 3DS? Oh, and I’m not talking about Japan-only releases because I don’t understand Japanese. 🙂