055PS VITA
PS Vita might have been
a handheld, but it was
reported that the
development kit version
used by studios to make
games had native
HDMI-outs to display
the games on TVs.
While this never made it
into retail features –
possibly because itwould have made it
chunkier – the capability
always lay dormant.
That’s why the eventual
release of the
PlayStation TV made
sense. Essentially a
small box with PS Vita
hardware inside it, you
could hook it up under
your TV to play PS Vitagames on the big
screen, plugging in a
DualShock 3 or 4 to
play using a controller.
All you had to do was
pop out your PS Vita
memory card and put
it into the PS TV to load
up your data, and
almost all Vita games
were compatible.cameras. There was more hardware
power crammed into the little
thing than you could waggle a
Motion Controller at.
The cameras allowed developers
to experiment with augmented
reality games, and the feature
was best used in dedicated games
like Media Molecule’s fantastic
Tearaway. Later ported to PS4 as
Tearaway Unfolded, the team’s
expert use of all PS Vita’s little
quirks means the original version
is nonetheless still the best –
it oozes charm right into the
palms of your hands (so keep
some tissues handy). When used
properly, the system can still offer
something truly special you just
can’t get elsewhere.LIBRARY CARD
That doesn’t mean that all of its
greatest games had to squeeze the
hardware to be excellent. Right
out of the gate PS Vita had a hugeamount of fantastic games, and
one of the strongest launch lineups
of any Sony system – from
first-party titles like Uncharted:
Golden Abyss, WipEout 2048, and
Gravity Rush to third-party ones
such as Rayman Origins, Ultimate
Marvel Vs Capcom 3, and TouchMy Katamari. Beyond that, PS
Vita had, and still has, a library
of bona fide classics thanks to its
powerhouse hardware, which isPersona 4 Golden, an
enhanced port of the PS2
game, releases over here.
This defines PS Vita as a go-to
platform for JRPGs.While not the first portable
Assassin’s Creed’s game,
Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation
offers a truly console-like
experience and a fantastically
fresh adventure on handheld.
PS4 launches in Europe, and
works with PS Vita straight
out of the box, from
cross-buy to PS4 link
features like remote play and
second screen.PlayStation TV hits Asian
markets before it heads west
later in the year, allowing you
to plug-and-play PS Vita on
the big screen.Thinner, lighter, easier to hold
on the go – the PCH-2000
(AKA PlayStation Vita Slim)
launches. It replaces the
OLED screen with LCD, but
still looks and plays a dream.31 oct – 2012 22 feb – 2013 29 nov – 2013 16 jan – 2014 7 feb – 2014“PSVITAHADONEOFTHE
STRONGEST LAUNCH LINEUPS
OF ANY SONY SYSTEM.”
Golden Abyss was the
first portable Uncharted.
“Vita’s best launch title”
we called it in OPM #68.
SMALL CONSOLE, BIG SCREEN
PlayStation TV put PS Vita on your telly