Release Date |
---|
December 16th 2011 |
CPU |
ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore |
Memory |
512 MB RAM, 128 MB VRAM |
Operating System |
PlayStation Vita system software |
Storage |
1GB internal flash memory, PlayStation Vita Memory Card (4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB) |
Sound |
Stereo speakers, 3.5 mm headphone jack, Bluetooth |
Media |
PlayStation Vita Game Card, digital distribution |
Connectivity |
IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, 3G (3G model only), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR |
Resolutions |
960 x 544 |
December 16th 2011
PlayStation Vita's design was created to meld the experience of big budget, dedicated video game platforms with the then up-and-coming trend of mobile gaming through smart phones and tablets. However, in the year after the device's successful launch, sales of the hardware and its bigger budget games stalled, threatening to end its lifespan. A concentrated effort to attract smaller, indie developers in the West, combined with strong support from mid-level Japanese companies, helped keep the platform afloat. While this led to less diversity in its game library, it did garner strong support in Japanese-developed role-playing video games and visual novels alongside a wealth of Western-developed indie games, leading it to become a moderate seller in Japan, and build a smaller, yet passionate userbase in the West. While Sony has not released exact sales figures, late-lifespan estimates in sales fall around 15 to 16 million units. In the platform's later years, Sony also promoted its ability to work in conjunction with its other gaming products, notably the ability to play PlayStation 4 games on it through the process of Remote Play, similar to the Wii U's function of Off-TV Play. Production of the system ended on March 1, 2019, while its physical cartridge games are scheduled to end production by March 31, 2019.
May 5th 2014
The revised model, officially called the PCH-2000 series and commonly referred to as the PS Vita Slim, is 20% thinner and 15% lighter compared to the original model. While it largely maintains the original's overall structure and layout, the original's OLED screen has been replaced with a lower-cost LCD display. The model also roughly added about an extra hour of battery life. The newer model also comes with 1 GB of internal storage memory, although it is not possible to use both the internal memory and memory card concurrently. Upon inserting a PS Vita memory card, the system will offer to copy the existing data from the internal memory to the new card. This model has a micro USB Type B port, which can be used to charge the device along with any standard micro USB cable. The model was released in six colors in Japan (white, black, light blue, lime green, pink, and khaki), although it was only released in black and light blue in North America and Europe.
October 13th 2014
PlayStation TV (abbreviated to PS TV), known in Japan and other parts of Asia as the PlayStation Vita TV or PS Vita TV, is a microconsole, and a non-handheld variant of the PlayStation Vita. Controlled with either the DualShock 3 or DualShock 4 controllers, the PS TV is capable of playing many PS Vita games and applications, either through physical game cards or downloaded through the PlayStation Store. However, not all content is compatible with the device, since certain features in the PS Vita such as the gyroscope and microphone are not available on the PS TV. Nevertheless, the PS TV is able to emulate touch input for both the Vita's front and rear touchpads using the controller.