There is only one person on this planet who loves the PS Vita more than I do. That person’s name is Greg Miller—and he’s a maniac. But the man’s love for the PS Vita is something I not only admire but wholeheartedly support and understand. Especially after recently getting back into playing the Vita. Yes, that’s right, it’s 2025 and I’m out here playing the PlayStation Vita. “Why?” you ask. Well, dear reader, allow me to explain. But first, let’s delve a little bit into the Vita’s history and how we got here. 

The Vita is the forgotten middle child in Sony’s lineage of prestige consoles. Released at the tail end of the PlayStation 3’s lifecycle in December of 2011, it’s a console that, though impressed critics at the time in regards to its power and capabilities, quickly faltered to capture the interest of the public. Some of that may have been due to the release of the Nintendo 3DS just a few months prior. Most of it, however, was likely due to the rise of smartphones and casual gaming taking a strong hold of the handheld market, making the need for a dedicated handheld console somewhat moot.

Still, where Nintendo managed to adapt to this changing market and continued to support the 3DS with entries from their exclusive IPs and new models with fun colourways, Sony ostensibly abandoned the Vita only a year after its release, bringing their focus back to the home console with the PlayStation 4. Former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Shuhei Yoshida, was asked at EGX 2015 if Sony had any plans for a successor to the Vita, to which Yoshida responded by saying, “The climate is not healthy for now because of the huge dominance of mobile gaming.”

It’s interesting how much of an impact a decade and a couple of key product launches can have on public perception and market interest. Because now, there’s a huge desire for handheld gaming, much of which has been propelled by the Nintendo Switch and Valve’s Steam Deck. Now, though we can understand that mobile games have their place, we also see the allure of dedicated handheld devices. It’s why we’re getting new PC handhelds releasing ostensibly every other month. These PC handhelds, coupled with cloud gaming and devices like the Logitech G Cloud, are the primary ways I’ve been gaming this past generation.

However, despite my love for my Logitech G Cloud and my recently purchased MSI Claw 8 AI+, there’s one handheld console that I’ve returned to time and again over the past decade. A console whose design has stood the test of time and whose library is deceptively amazing. I am, of course, talking about the aforementioned forgotten middle child—the PlayStation Vita.  

A Timeless Beauty

While writing my Final Fantasy VII Rebirth article from last week, I wanted to get a quick shot of my PS Vita with the icon for the original FFVII on the home screen. As such, I began digging through my drawer and eventually found the little guy hiding away at the back. From the second I picked it up, I couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off my face. The PlayStation Vita, particularly the revised 2000 model that I own, is a sleek and sexy piece of tech that looks and feels timeless. Its curved edges sit perfectly in the hands, and the buttons are all so clicky and tactile. Combine that with how incredibly lightweight it is, makes for a playing experience that’s so wonderfully comfortable. 

Surprisingly, the Vita’s five-inch screen also holds up. Unlike the 3DS’ display, which looks fairly dated by modern standards, the Vita’s near-720p display is still sharp and vibrant enough not to take away from the gaming experience. This, I would imagine, would be doubly true for the original OLED model. Also, having spent the past decade fighting against the smattering of terrible D-pads on controllers, it was nice to finally use one that felt perfect. Seriously, this D-pad made me realize that maybe I’m not the worst at fighting games. I’m still bad, just not outright terrible.

Having been playing primarily on a big and beefy device like the MSI Claw 8 AI+ over the past few weeks—one that has a gorgeous 8-inch screen but within a body that weighs nearly two pounds—it was a jarring experience, to say the least, to then start playing on such a compact and slender handheld. But I can’t say the experience isn’t a welcome one. For as much as I love playing big, modern triple-A open-world games on the Claw 8, some games, like a 2D indie side-scroller, feel more at home on something like the Vita. Not to mention, I don’t have to worry about hand fatigue with the Vita when going on longer play sessions, and have a much easier time plopping the little guy into a bag or sliding him into some big cargo pants pockets when on the go. 

Them Games Tho 

So, alright, you might now be thinking, “Shaz, we get it, the Vita still looks and feels great, but what the heck are you actually playing on a 14-year-old device?” Well, to quote the great Martin Scorsese, “There are no old films and new films; every film you haven’t seen yet is a new film.” And, in that same vein, there were a lot of great games on the Vita that I hadn’t played yet. You see, I had a severe itch to play a good 3D platformer. I was looking at either Astro Bot or Kirby and the Forgotten Land to scratch that itch. However, Astro Bot refuses to go under that $80 Canadian price tag, and all the folks selling the game second-hand on Facebook Marketplace live in Ottawa, for some reason. And getting Kirby would mean I’d have to dust off the ol’ Nintendo Switch—something I wasn’t very keen to do. 

After spending some time perusing Steam and the PlayStation 5 store, trying to find a 3D platformer that piqued my interest to no avail, I got frustrated and stopped my search. Then, to the rescue, came my Vita. When turning on the device for the first time in years—after spending half a day trying to find a damn micro-USB cable—I saw that I had Sly Cooper 2 already installed. I remember the first Sly Cooper never clicked with me when I’d played it for a bit a few years ago on the Vita. However, I’d heard the second and third games were much better, mechanically, so I downloaded them. But, as is the curse for all gamers with a backlog, I never got around to actually playing them. Now, seeing that iconic little round Vita chicklet bouncing in front of me, I decided, “What the hell, let’s give it a go.” 

I spent an entire afternoon, five straight hours, playing Sly Cooper 2: Band of Thieves on the PS Vita. This game, and I’m not hyperbolizing in the slightest here, is one of the best games I’ve ever played—and it feels oh so good on the Vita. I might write an article on this series sometime in the future, but for now, what I can say is that being able to play this game and having it run so well on such a portable and perfectly designed device feels somewhat like a dream. It was now that I’d realized I was going to be spending a lot more time with my Vita than I expected. 

Within the first couple of years of me getting the handheld back in 2012, I’d already played the heavy hitters like Gravity Rush, Persona 4 Golden, Velocity 2X, Tearaway, Little Big Planet, Fez, the MGS collection, and so on. However, there were still so many games, particularly on the indie side, that I never got around to. Games like Hotline Miami, Grim Fandango, Guacamelee, Axiom Verge, and so many more. Then there were Vita exclusives like Soul Sacrifice Delta, another title I’d bought back in the day and had heard so much about, but never got around to. And, of course, I can’t forget about the many more amazing PS2 collections like Ratchet and Clank and God of War, two franchises I enjoy but whose original two titles I haven’t gotten around to playing, but now can in the way that I prefer—portably—thanks to the Vita. It’s because of this library—which is deceptively deep and varied considering Sony’s lack of official support—that I keep returning to this handheld.

Safe to say, this neglected middle child is going to be receiving a lot of love from me in these next few months. And I wouldn’t be surprised if once I’m done with this slew of games, I return in another couple of years because of some other hidden gem I hear about that would play perfectly on the Vita. Here’s hoping this little guy’s heart keeps ticking for the long haul.