The Playstation Vita! It's a wonderful little handheld device that boasts amazing graphics, intuitive control via it's twin-stick interface, and some really amazing games that you either won't find anywhere else or won't find anywhere else in
mobile form. That last bit is really important for some of us, especially those of us who have children that like to monopolize the TV!
(Special thanks to
@bss for the system information I copied/pasted/edited in this OP)
But enough talk. Have at thee!
The HardwareThe OG
The original Vita model (PCH-1000 series), lovingly dubbed the OG model by some, is the one with the gorgeous OLED touch screen. It launched in 2011/2012 and plays everything Vita. The screen really needs to be seen to be believed, but what you've heard is right --- it looks amazing. In addition to the (multi-press) touch screen, the Vita has two analog sticks, a D-pad, four face buttons, two bumpers, and another multi-press touch pad on the back, in addition to the normal PS button and start/select buttons. Overall, the OG Vita is one impressive (and impressive-looking) handheld. You can find it in black and in white in North America --- the cool colors are reserved for other countries, sadly.
The Vita Slim
The slim model (PCH-2000 series) is the latest revision on the Vita, launched in 2013/2014. It trades the OLED (replaced by a still-pretty-good IPS LCD) screen for a slimmer, more svelte build, better battery life, and USB charging cable. It's probably the easiest model to find retail. Some folks prefer the OLED, others the LCD, but either way you're still getting a great screen with the same great pixel density. The Slim also feels better in the hands by most accounts. Try both and see! The Slim has a variety of colors, but again, other countries get all the fun. In North America you can get a Vita Slim in any color, as long as it is black.
Vita TV (or PlayStation TV/PSTV)
2013/2014 also saw the launch of the Vita TV (named the PlayStation TV in the West), a lower-cost model that essentially tied the Vita internals to an HDMI, Ethernet, and USB port, popped it into a cute little shell, and presented a way to easily play (some) Vita-compatible games on a TV or to have PS4 Remote Play occur on a second TV. Unfortunately, the Vita game compatibility is not 100% --- most (but not quite all, check the guide) PSP and PS1 games from PSN that work on a Vita work on a PlayStation TV, but Vita compatibility is come-and-go. Incompatibility stems from games that rely on Vita features like the integrated camera, or make extensive use of the touch screens. There's ongoing effort to patch games so they can be played on PlayStation TV, but check a compatibility guide. Still though, if you need an inexpensive way to play some PSP or PS1 classics (including up to 4-controller multiplayer for the PS1 games), the PlayStation TV is a great option.
Compatibility Guide for NACompatibility Guide for EUThe Games
Here's a (hopefully) exhaustive list of games (thanks to
@Orivion for providing this)! I'll bold the stuff that's recommended to keep an eye out for:
Dated Releases- 7/14 - Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess (Tecmo KOEI)
- 7/28 - Blazblue: Chrono Phantasma EXTEND (Aksys)
- 7/28 - Lost Dimension (Lancarse/Atlus)
- 8/11 - Toukiden: Kiwami (Tecmo KOEI)
- 8/18 - Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & the Monster Seal (AquaPlus/Atlus)
- 8/25 - Amnesia: Memories (Idea Factory)
- 8/25 - One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 (Bandai Namco)
- 8/25 - STEINS;GATE (MAGES./5pb./PQube)
- 9/1 - Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (Spike Chunsoft)
- 9/15 - Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space
- 9/29 - Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Atlus)
- 10/13 - Corpse Party: Blood Drive (Team GrisGris/Xseed)
- 11/10 - Norn9: Var Commons (Idea Factory/Aksys)
- 11/17 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (Falcom/Xseed)
- 11/24 - Code: Realize Guardian of Rebirth (Idea Factory/Aksys)
Release Window Announced[*]Darkest Dungeon (Red Hook Studios) --- October 2015
[*]Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax (Sega) --- October 2015
[*]Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - Second Chapter (Falcom) PSP --- Sometime before Trails of Cold Steel
[*]Mighty No. 9 (Inti Creates/Comcept) --- Late 2015TBA- A Virus Named Tom (Misfits Attic Inc.)
- Alone With You (Benjamin Rivers Inc.)
- Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer (Playdek)
- Assault Android Cactus (Witch Beam)
- Axiom Verge (Tom Happ)
- Aztez (Team Colorblind)
- Baboon! (Relevo Videogames)
- The Banner Saga (Stoic)
- Bastion (Supergiant Games)
- BigFest (On The Metal)
- Blast ‘Em Bunnies (Nnooo)
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
- Bodycheck (Ludometrics)
- Broforce (Free Lives)
- Chroma Squad (Behold Studios)
- Class of Heroes 3 (Acquire/Monkey Paw) PSP
- Cloudberry Kingdom (Pwnee Studios)
- Cosmic Star Heroine (Zeboyd Games)
- Crypt of the Necrodancer (Brace Yourself Games)
- Day of the Tentacle Remastered (Double Fine Productions)
- Death Ray Manta (Bagful of Wrong)
- Death Tales (Nine Tales)
- Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (Bandai Namco)
- Dragon Fantasy Book II (Muteki Corporation) Cross-Buy Out in NA
- Dragon Fin Soup (Grimm Bros)
- Drifter (Celsius Game Studios)
- EarthNight (Cleaversoft)
- Energy Hook (Happion Laboratories)
- Fenix Rage (Reverb TripleXP)
- Forma.8 (MixedBag)
- Foul Play (Devolver Digital)
- Gravity Rush 2 (SCE Japan Studio)
- Guns Up! (Valkyrie Entertainment)
- Gunship X (Hidden Elephant)
- Hatoful Boyfriend (Devolver Digital)
- Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star (Devolver Digital)
- Heroes of Loot (Abstraction Games)
- HTR+ Slot Car Simulation (QUByte)
- Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
- Imagination is the Only Escape (Nine Tales)
- Klaus (La Cosa Entertainment)
- Kodoku (Carnivore Studio)
- Kyn (Vs. Evil)
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II (Falcom/Xseed)
- Legend of Raven (Nicalis)
- MechRunner (Spark Plug Games)
- MilitAnt (Xibalba)
- Moon Hunters (Kitfox)
- The Muppets Movie Adventures (Virtual Toys)
- Murasaki Mist (Hollow Games)
- Ninjin: Clash of Carrots (Pocket Trap)
- Not a Hero (Devolver Digital)
- Nova-111: A Cosmic Voyage (Funktronic Labs)
- Nuclear Throne (Vlambeer)
- Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee - New 'n' Tasty (Just Add Water) Cross-Buy
- One Way Trip (Beret)
- Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)
- Pier Solar and the Grand Architects (Watermelon Co)
- Rainbow Skies (SideQuest Studios)
- Ray’s The Dead (Ragtag Studio)
- Reaper (Luc Bernard)
- Risk of Rain (Hopoo Games)
- Rocketbirds 2: Evolution (Ratloop)
- Salt & Sanctuary (Ska Studios)
- Samurai Gunn (Teknopants)
- Senran Kagura Estival Versus (Tamsoft/Xseed)
- Severed (Drinkbox Games)
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (Wayforward)
- Shu (Coatsink)
- Skullgirls 2nd Encore (Lab Zero Games) Cross-Buy
- Snapshot (Retro Affect) Cross-Buy
- Soft Body (Bodysoft)
- Son of Scoregasm (RC Knight)
- Squares (Leap GS)
- Starbound (Chucklefish)
- Starwhal (Breakfall)
- SteamWorld Heist (Image & Form)
- Summon Night 5 (Bandai Namco/Gaijinworks) PSP
- Super Time Force Ultra (Capybara Games) Cross-Buy
- Supermagical (Tama Games)
- Sword Art Online: Lost Song (Namco Bandai)
- Tales from the Borderlands (Telltale)
- Teslagrad (Rain Games)
- To Leave (Freaky Creations)
- Tower of Guns (Grip Digital)
- Towerfall: Ascension (Matt Thorson)
- Unmechanical: Extended Edition (Grip Games)
- VA-11 HALL-A (Sukeban)
- Volume (Mike Bithell)
- World of Final Fantasy (Square Enix)
- Zero Escape 3 (Spike Chunsoft)
If there's something on that list you feel needs to be bolded, please let me know. Note that I didn't highlight
Vita exclusives. If it's a good game and it's on the system, it comes recommended, because for a lot of people the experience of playing something on Vita (with portability, system suspend at any time, the amazing screen, twin sticks, etc.) makes it the preferred system for some of these games.
Ye Olde List of Recommended Vita Games- Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed (Acquire)
- Another World (Digital Lounge) Cross-Buy
- Assassin's Creed III: Liberation (Ubisoft Sofia)
- Atelier Ayesha Plus (Gust)
- Atelier Meruru Plus (Gust)
- Atelier Rorona Plus (Gust)
- Atelier Totori Plus (Gust)
- Blazblue: Chrono Phantasma (Arc System Works)
- BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (Arc System Works)
- CounterSpy (Dynamighty) Cross-Buy
- Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Spike Chunsoft)
- Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (Spike Chunsoft)
- Dead or Alive 5 Plus (Team Ninja)
- Dead Nation (Housemarque) Cross-Buy (PS3/Vita)
- Demon Gaze (Experience Inc./Kadokawa Games)
- Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention (Nippon Ichi Software)
- Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited (Nippon Ichi Software)
- Divekick (One True Game/Iron Galaxy) Cross-Buy
- DJMax Technika Tune (Pentavision)
- Dragon's Crown (Vanillaware)
- Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster (Square Enix)
- Freedom Wars (SCE Japan Studio)
- Flower (thatgamecompany) Cross-Buy
- Gravity Rush (SCE Japan Studio)
- Guacamelee! (Drinkbox Studios) Cross-Buy
- Helldivers (Arrowhead Game Studios) Cross-Buy
- Hohokum (Richard Hogg/Honeyslug) Cross-Buy
- Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational (Clap Hanz)
- Hotline Miami (Dennaton Games) Cross-Buy
- htol#NiQ: The Firefly Diary (Nippon Ichi Software/NIS America)
- Killzone: Mercenary (Guerrilla Cambridge)
- Knytt Underground (Nifflas' Games) Cross-Buy
- La Mulana EX (Nigoro/Pygmy Studio)
- LittleBigPlanet Vita (Double Eleven/Tarsier)
- Lone Survivor: Director's Cut (Superflat Games) Cross-Buy
- Luftrausers (Vlambeer) Cross-Buy
- Lumines: Electronic Symphony (Q? Entertainment)
- Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection (Kojima Productions)
- Motorstorm: RC (Evolution Studios) Cross-Buy
- Muramasa Rebirth (Vanillaware)
- Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Criterion)
- Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath (Just Add Water/Oddworld Inhabitants)
- OlliOlli (Roll7)
- Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines (Alpha System)
- Persona 4 Golden (Atlus)
- PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD (Double Eleven/Q-Games)
- PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate (Double Eleven/Q-Games) Cross-Buy
- Plants vs. Zombies (PopCap Games)
- Rayman: Origins (Ubisoft)
- Rayman: Legends (Ubisoft)
- Rogue Legacy (Cellar Door Games)
- Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus (Tamsoft)
- Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games)
- Sine Mora (Digital Reality/Grasshopper)
- Sly: Thieves in Time (Sanzaru Games) Cross-Buy
- Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Sumo Digital)
- Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God (ZeroDiv/Compile Heart)
- Soul Sacrifice (Marvelous AQL)
- Soul Sacrifice Delta (Marvelous AQL)
- Sound Shapes (Queazy Games) Cross-Buy
- Spelunky (Derek Yu & Andy Hull) Cross-Buy
- Stealth Inc. - A Clone in the Dark (Curve Studios) Cross-Buy
- SteamWorld Dig (Image&Form) Cross-Buy
- Super Stardust Delta (Housemarque)
- Tales of Hearts R (Bandai Namco)
- Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (Drinkbox Studios)
- Tearaway (Media Molecule)
- Thomas Was Alone (Mike Bithell) Cross-Buy
- Toukiden: Kiwami (Tecmo KOEI)
- Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Sony Bend)
- Velocity Ultra (FuturLab)
- Velocity 2X (FuturLab)
- The Walking Dead: Season 1 (Telltale Games)
- The Walking Dead: Season 2 (Telltale Games)
- wipEout 2048 (Sony Liverpool)
- Xblaze Code: Embryo (Arc System Works)
- Ys IV: Memories of Celceta (Falcom)
- Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (Chunsoft)
This OP is a work in progress and I reserve the right to go back and change things as they are announced or requested.
Posts
I really want to finish P4G but I keep losing my awesome personas to create new less awesome ones. I will beat this game.
What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? ~ Mario Novak
I never fear death or dyin', I only fear never trying.
It's getting a physical release, but only through Amazon.
I've also been wondering why so many damn places around the internet have been treating it like this is the first time it's been released in English when it was put out by JAST on PC (both physically and digitally) last year. The PS3+Vita versions even use JAST's translation without any changes. It's a port, not a new release.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Also Helldiver's needs a place on that list because it's one of the most fantastic things on the playstation network currently.
Super Earth needs you.
Ah, cool. I'll wait for a pre-order page on that, then.
As for the second part, my own personal anecdote is that I don't play games on my PC at all because it is a hunk of junk. So something coming out on PC generally flies right over my head, out of my purview.
Yeah, the recommended list hasn't been updated for awhile. A few that should probably go on there as well
Helldivers (Arrowhead Game Studios) Cross-Buy
htol#NiQ: The Firefly Diary (Nippon Ichi Software/NIS America)
La Mulana EX (Nigoro/Pygmy Studio)
Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines (Alpha System)
Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games)
Tales of Hearts R (Bandai Namco)
Toukiden: Kiwami (Tecmo KOEI)
I also missed on the dated releases Xblaze Lost: Memories (Aksys) coming out on 8/11.
Updated the OP with this info.
If any of you have something you feel needs adding, please Batsignal me in your post so I don't miss it.
Pick one of:
It's a PC game, so it doesn't count.
It's not on Steam, so it doesn't exist.
It's by JAST and all they make is porn games, so it doesn't count.
It just feels massivly disrespectful, ya' know. Credit where credit's due. The translators and editors aren't even mentioned in the PS3/Vita version credits at all. There's literally no mention of Blick, Steiner or Qaenyin who did the original fan translation the English release was based upon nor any of the JAST editors even though the entire translation is lifted wholesale outside a couple age (increase) changes for censorship.
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Spiritual sequel and story prequel to the Ar tonelico series.
Also a direct sequel to a visual novel game called Ciel nosurge that was never localized, but which you can read or watch the story of here. If you're confused, it's because the vast majority of Ar directly continues character and plot threads from Ciel. The entire game's plot revolves around you knowing what happens in Ciel.
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Also, these games have some of the best music out there.
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...hm...
Song magic is a big part of the setting, and the games have their own created and consistent language (Hymmnos) which the song magic is sung in.
The games also have multiple branching paths in the story. At some points you have to choose what character(s) to follow and help at the expense of others.
Though Ar nosurge is slightly different than the previous three games in that it breaks the tradition that there's a third heroine vastly superior to the first two that joins you later in the game.
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You can do it with a code if you don't wanna do the other three stories first.
Crimson Squad is best squad.
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http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/07/10/crypt-of-the-necrodancer-coming-to-ps4-ps-vita/
Yeah, I don't actually know any spoilers, but I've heard stuff like that too, and that the game "MUST be played to completion!"
But Eeeeeeh, I don't know. I keep on hearing that the game is so secretly great, but ... pigeons. I just don't know if I can deal with the meta-jokey-ness that I'm sure it starts off with. ....and I know this is shallow, but.... Pigeons. I want cute boys to look at! (for longer than the one second intro jokes that I'm told happens.)
......................maybe someday I will become a better person and finally give this game the shot I'm told it deserves. (....or if it goes on super sale. muwaha)
Well, next month has Amnesia: Memories, which has lots of cute boys. Not sure how well the story will be, but it's swimming in bishies.
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But I know quite a few people in this thread do!
Besides, we have The Swindle a week after on the 28th! And Crypt of the Necrodancer at some point! And it looks like we're getting XCOM: Enemy Unknown on Vita too. It was recently rated in Korea. No timeline on that though.
XCOM: Productivity Unknown
Then either a) shit gets serious and/or crazy or b) you get a critical gutpunch to the feels. Sometimes both.
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I really hope XCOM hits Vita! I'll take what I can get, but I would hope XCOM Vita includes the Enemy Within content.
Okay that's a lie, I totally can in a portable format.
In the PC version they let you turn on cute boi pics instead of the birds if you'd like.
I assume that would be in the PS4 version as well.
I really wanted to play this at Prime but it looks like that gloriously vague "Fall" release window will be too far ahead of the event.
Yeah, I heard that's only for their intro scenes though, after that, it goes back to bird.
..............you know, that sentence sounded a lot more normal in my head before I typed it out. Eh, the game is cheap and I'm assuming short ain't it? Maybe I'll buy just to see what all the hubbub is about.
You're guaranteed to get bird puns, at least.
Just the total normalcy with which the main character handles it really made me go bwha????
Then I ended up dating a finely plumaged birdie
Oh, you know already.
Oh my God you guys!!!
That literally explains every Ar Tonelico and Ar Nosurge game that exists. The VN is strong with that series, hell you upgrade your song girls via VN.
For a button based rhythm game, P4DAN on Hard looks much much easier than both Project Diva games on Hard (and that's not even counting Extreme difficulty).
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