The Vita Is Only An HD PS2

Cheatcc says - "Ever since Sony announced the PlayStation 4, people have been inexplicably merciful to the Vita. I'm not sure if it's because gamers are secretly pulling for Sony's troubled handheld as if it were a character in Mighty Ducks 2, or if we're all just in a forgiving mood because Sony has a new flagship on the horizon. Either way, the mountains of Vita hatred have been replaced with cautious optimism. The unfortunate truth, though, is that very little has changed."

[MariaHelFutura]

You make that sound like a bad thing....

[Abash]

The Vita does textures and graphical effects like lighting that the PS2 could never do. It isnt as powerful as the PS3, but it's damn near close

[Yodagamer]

He was referring to the fact it gets ps2 ports. Which makes no sense to me if anything it gets more ps3 ports than ps2 ports.

[Statix]

I wouldn't say it's close. I don't see the Vita achieving Last of Us graphics fidelity in the foreseeable future, if ever. It can certainly approximate the look and feel (i.e., art style) of a Killzone or Uncharted game, albeit at much reduced detail levels.

[Apocalypso]

Reduced details on a much smaller screen makes it look almost as good!

[andibandit]

If worlds apart is close, then yeah it's close

[xk77]

HD PS2 is the best description of the Vita, but now it needs games like those of the PS2

[UnwanteDreamz]

Yeah a handheld version of the best selling console in history is a win.

What's this guys problem?

[TongkatAli]

The PS2 will never be topped PERIOD.

[Blaze929]

except it doesn't have the games that made it the best selling console in history. In fact, the LACK of games is the problem.

[UnwanteDreamz]

How old is the Vita?

I can remember when they said PS3 had no games.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Yeah, I'm not seeing the problem here. For the record, the highest-selling handheld of all time (the DS) was basically a portable SNES/N64, in the sense that it had a lot of ports from those systems and lots of its games felt like they came from that era of gaming. And the DS is awesome.

If the Vita is like the PS2 (both in terms of ports and the "feel" of its games), I'm not going to complain.

[StrawHatPatriot]

The Gameboy was a portable NES (in black and white, and color)
The Gameboy Advance was a portable SNES with slightly updated Mode 7 effects
The Nintendo DS is a portable N64 that is not as smoothed out visually(making it look closer to a PS1) but has the detailed backgrounds of PS1 games
The Nintendo 3DS is a portable Gamecube

The PSP is a portable PS1 that is very smoothed out
The PSVita is a portable HD PS2 with an increase in polygons, making it close to PS3 but not there exactly, thus making be essentially launch PS3 games

dats my take

[BlindGuardian]

Not really, the vita is not HD

[oONinjavitiSOo]

Well...."Blind" is part of you're user name.....

OT. The vita is amazing. Definitely my favorite handheld thus far. I would be extremly happy if they released tons of ps2 games for the vita. Looking forward to many of the games for it in 2013. Soul sacrifice is right around the corner on the 30th..... Awesome!

[TenkoTAiLS]

I dunno why you are getting so many disagrees, it's not true HD, or full HD. It can only display a max resolution of 960 × 544 qHD. One quarter the resolution of full HD. So technically it isn't HD.

[jivah]

@BlindGuardian @TenkoTAiLS

There is no such thing as true hd or full hd. It is just a term made up by manufacturers to sell a product. OOOooooOhemGee fullz hd gotz to get it rites naoww cuzz mine didnt says it O.O

High definition starts at 920x576 +1 which people seem to have forgotten over the years. Which comes out to 414720px +1. The vitas lcd at 960x544 comes out at 522240. Well above the minimum for hd. So it definitely qualifies Whether you like it or not. Whether you can tell a difference or not, it still qualifies

So learn ya tech and stop trolling

[kupomogli]

@oONinjavitiSOo

The name BlindGuardian is a band name. I actually wouldn't have known that if it wasn't for Sacred 2, but I would recommend listening to the song on Youtube. Great song that they made just for the game. Some of their other music is good as well.

[illustratedDEO]

you sir must not own a PSVita smh tsk tsk

[GamersRulz]

It's a complement considering that PS2 is the greatest console of all time.

[NeoTribe]

In all reality the ps3 is the best. If ps2 were the best id still be playing it and games wouldnt look like complete blocky crap. Ps4 will soon be the best.

[Irishguy95]

Ps2 was the best for it's time, it had the best list of games ever. Ps3 did not match it, less variety(despite having alot). Ps4 might...we'll see...wouldn't be surprised looking at the launch line up already

[Patm82]

lol thats what i was thinking :)

[GamerToons]

The 3DS is probably more or less on par with a N64.

What is the argument this story is trying to make?

[blastcorp64]

You mean the DS? The 3DS looks a hell of a lot better than the 64.

[jcnba28]

That's because it is. It's just a portable PS2, no wonder no one is buying the damn thing.

[Snookies12]

"or if we're all just in a forgiving mood". The hell are you talking about? The Vita is a beast of a handheld and is fantastic in so many ways. I own both a 3DS and Vita, and they're both wonderful, but I have to say I play my Vita a lot more than I do my 3DS.

This article is making it sound like the Vita was a disappointment. That's just complete idiocy. I think I can speak on this pretty well considering that I've been through just about every handheld since the original brick GameBoy. The Vita is no doubt my favorite handheld ever, shoot, it's one of my favorite consoles period.

[nix]

since i've picked up Vita, i want every PS3 game on Vita because it's such a great system to hold and play.. plus the graphics are just amazing. it's like PS3 on the go. truly amazing console.

[PSNintyGamer]

The Vita is nowhere near the PS2.

[Thirty3Three]

You are really stupid PSNinty.

They showed us a graph of the Vita's power, and it went something like this:

x-------------------------X-- ---X
PSP----------------------Vita --PS3

Anyone remember this...? (sorry if the graph is messed up. Anyway, point is, its very close to PS3, in power)

And also it's very underclocked right now...

[Kratoscar2008]

I think he means when it comes to softaware and sales wich sadly i dont see the Vita comming even close.

[Th4Freak]

Actually PSV and PS3 aren't that close, PSV polygons count is 133M polygon/s and PS3 is 333.3M million polygons/s and if we also take in count that PSV have half VRAM of PS3 we can say that PSV is as half as powerful as a PS3.

[TongkatAli]

What Kratoscar2008 meant to say is

http://global3.memecdn.com/...

[Ritsujun]

Thirty3Three failed to understand PSNintyGamer.
I think Thirty3Three ranked bottom at his schools.

[PSNintyGamer]

I don't see a PS2 level library yet

[kayoss]

Actually if Sony didn't screw up so bad with the ps vita. The vita could have been the only hand held console with the largest library of games ever launched. If ps vita could have played all ps1, ps2, psn, and remote ps3 game out the box like Sony some what promised it would have hundreds of games at it disposal.

[GribbleGrunger]

There's so much hatred out there. Sony must be doing something right.

[Mustang300C2012]

Just like MS right?

[Good_Guy_Jamal]

No you got it all wrong. ONLY SONY hate is because they are doing something right! SONY love is also because they are doing something right!
Microsoft hate is because they are wrong and evil. Microsoft love is because they are wrong and evil and have indoctrinated you.
N4G in a nutshell. - you're welcome.
I also teach Spanish and Home Ed.

[Hicken]

What Sony does right: Gaming.

What Microsoft does right: Making money unapologetically off its customers.

[CommonSense]

Wow! Now here is a clearcut example of what we've been saying all along. Sony guys are such unbelievable hypocrites. Look at the agrees/disagrees here.

Sony gets some hate, so they're doing something right. MS gets a ton of hate, so wouldn't it stand to reason, then, that MS is doing even MORE right?

These apologists are such children.

Mustang, great point. +bubble.

[Donnieboi]

@Mustang:

Nobody even wants to muster up any energy to hate Microsoft. Instead, we disregard MS altogether. For there to be hate, one would have had to felt love at one point. There never was any love for Microsoft, just a short, fleeting moment in time when people enjoyed when MS used to be dominant. But that was for only HALF of the current generation. No one could feel loyalty for a company that hasn't done much for gaming (other than online for consoles), has no new IP's, and is greedy. Sony been dominant since 1996, with a slight hiccup earlier this gen.

So if Sony was 3rd place this gen, and is now creeping to FIRST place, then hell yeah--I'd definitely say Sony MUST be doing something right to make such a seemingly impossible comeback like that.

[Blaze929]

lol the agrees to disagrees on Gribble's comment compared to Mustang's is simply golden for anyone wanting to prove a point...

[porkChop]

Calling the Vita an HD PS2 is actually a compliment.

[CommonSense]

Uh...what? No it isn't. They aren't saying it has the massive library that it had, which was essentially the only thing that PS2 had going for it.

BTW, I have a Vita that I NEVER use. So if anyone delusional enough to think it's a worthwhile console to own, please contact me about purchasing.

[Mr_Writer85]

I do and already have one. For the simple reason Playstation Plus.

[Protagonist]

@CommonSense

Please sell your PS Vita as soon as possible.

[Ayabrea123]

You don't have a Vita. Stop with the illusion. If you don't like it then sell it and leave. No one cares about the hypocritical so called handheld that don't appreciate the little things. The many that have a Vita consider it worth while and will disagree with you in a heart beat.

[yewles1]

It's actually a QHD PS2.8...

[PopRocks359]

"An HD PS2"?

Author, I have one thing to say... bullcrap. It plays PS3 AND PS4 games (that's what I call future proof), ya nimrod. No way it's near the power of a PS2 when it can play games of that magnitude.

[sherimae2413]

i think he says it an hd ps2 is because these games
-metal gear solid hd collections
-final fantasy x and x-2 hd (upcoming)
and the rumored...
-jak and daxter hd collections

well all of these games are also coming to ps3 so that is.....
the ps3 is an hd ps2 too, lol
dont forget the ico and sotc hd collections too!

like you said this article is a... bull... lol ^_^

[izumo_lee]

If the author thinks the Vita is an HD PS2 than what does he consider the 3DS than?

Actually if you think about it, this is really a compliment for the Vita. We all know how great the PS2 did, if he thinks the Vita is a PS2....i think Sony would love that comparison.

[Godmars290]

Correction: a portable PS2.

Now if it can only be displayed again on a regular TV.

[Drummerdude41]

PS Vita is a decent handheld. Personally I just use pcsx2 and rip my old ps2 games to play them in hd on my comp. I prefer that library over the current vita one but the vita is getting better games so you never know.

[ziggurcat]

story quality? WTF?

like this website? no

[blackbirdi]

its an xbox 1 :p

[CoryHG]

Ahem:: Uncharted.

[imXify]

Sports games really aren't PS2 quality.

[Williamson]

Haha nah(no disrespect to the ps2)....The vita is more of a portable ps3 than anything. The games built exclusively for the vita like gravity rush(of course), uncharted, ac liberation, and soul sacrifice look amazing. Ports like sly 4, need for speed, and psabr took a little of a downgrade but if they were made from scratch on the vita then they would no doubt look even better than they do now.

[BitbyDeath]

Uncharted and LBP were awesome PS2 games... oh wait

[joel_c17]

lol horrible article

[sherimae2413]

an HD ps2?! -_-
i dont know what are the full specs of ps2, so i cant say...
and i think the vita is still not in its full potential guys.. dont just judge it too early, let just say, compare uncharted 1 to uncharted 3 or last of us youll see the big difference right
besides the vita is still underclocked, its like a wild beast that are still bind in chains, unleash it and you will see...

i hope guerilla's vita game is the one that can do it ^_^

[ApolloTheBoss]

If we're going by that logic then PSP was an HD PSOne.

[specialguest]

The Vita is to the PS3 as what the PSP is to the PS2. PSP displayed graphics near identical to the PS2, and it's somewhat the same with the Vita being close to the PS3, but not quite.

[Imikida]

So what if it's a HD PS2? Which it isn't for the record, but it's portable. That's the whole idea, so it would be a portable ps2, except with completely different games and technology. I kind of just contradicted myself lol.

[whamlollypop7]

Is that a complaint or compliment?

[dennett316]

I think Vita would be a better proposition if it WAS a handheld PS2 with a nicer screen...what a library of games that would have been available on the go.

[Soldierone]

I remember when I had a PS2 and the idea of PSP was those same PS2 games being in my hand, and I loved the idea. Why would I not like it now?

Vita has games at levels that the top Phone games have not once come close to touching yet..... The fact its playing direct ports says a hell of a lot for a handheld.

[Veneno]

It always easy to tell who actually owns and plays a Vita and who doesn't. This author clearly doesnt.

[TongkatAli]

^
THIS! Hearing about the Vita lack of software is the biggest crock of shit and suprise suprise it's from the people who don't own one. It has games for every genre there is no excuse not to own one except if you're cheap as ####.

[TronEOL]

I can't agree with this. Although it really depends in which way you mean.

For example;

The Vita, graphically, is much, much better than the PS2. Even though games like Final Fantasy X, MGS3, Bouncer, God of War 2 and such looked fantastic on the PS2, there are Vita exclusives that look much, much better. Even when compared to their HD PS2 counter-parts.

The Vita is much closer to an Xbox, graphically, than it is to a PS2. And I find it's capable of even more than the original Xbox could do.

Good examples are Assassin's Creed: Liberation, Gravity Rush, Uncharted, Littlebigplanet, Killzone, Atelier Totori, etc. And this is just the beginning of the PSVita's life. Wait until it hits it's prime.

And when you take into account how much more is going on in these games when compared to those games on PS2, you'll see the jump is much larger. There's more to a game than comparing screenshots. Like how they run for examples, and how the game looks in motion. Uncharted: GA's animations look far beyond ANYTHING done in the entire PS2/Xbox/Gamecube generation. Same goes for games like AC:L and Gravity Rush.

[Kingthrash360]

Trash articles from haters are funny as hell. This foo was trying to make the vita look bad by comparing it to the ps2? Wow good job hater the ps2 was the shit!! Your saying the vita is a better ps2 which makes the vita also the shit. Thanks for confirming this captain obvious.

[WitWolfy]

Where is my remote play?!?! AND THATS WHY I HAVENT BOUGHT IT YET!

[THC CELL]

Happy with the vita and gunna be even happier when ps4 comes.

[andrewsqual]

And the 3DS is N64 HD, what is your point??

[AlphaJunk]

It is definitely more powerful than a PS2! However, it's screen isn't HD, it's 960x544.

[Rohered]

I love my Handled PS2!!!!!!

960x544 is HD for a Handled.
All other Handled is sub-DS and PS2 is only 640x480

Vita ave NextGen shaders impossible on PS2/360.
-------

I want more PS2 ports on my Vita. Especialy PS2 RPGs.

[Dj7FairyTail]

more like Indie Machine with PS2 Ports.

[Amsterdamsters]

The Vita's screen isn't even HD though, as it's 960x544 resolution."HD" is 1280 x 720 and "Full HD" is 1920 x 1080. The screen on the Vita is "ED".

[violents]

But on a screen that small there is no point to make it 1080 because you would barely be able to tell a difference. The smaller the screen the less pixel count you need to make something look good. I realize on paper the screen resolution doesn't look as good as they might have you believe but since the screen is so small the pixels are more tightly packed together giving the illusion of something closer to "full hd"

Unfortunatley that's as hd as your going to get with a screen that size unless you want that handheld to double or triple in cost.

[FlyingFoxy]

When i play games on my 15.6" 1080p laptop screen, then on my 120hz 27" 1080p screen the only difference i notice is text is not as clear on the bigger screen, when looking at games the difference is negligable unless you stare at a corner of an object, even then it only seems to be a small difference of "pixelation" because i've ran both side by side and compared, and that's a screen almost 2x the size.

Basically if you're constantly typing and never gaming, obviously go with a better screen resolution.. but honestly for games it does not matter and they still look great.

[violents]

@flyingfoxy

The screen on the vita is what like 5 inches or something. Any higher pixel count on that screen would be wasted, just like you said with your 15-17 inch screens, the difference is negligible. How much difference could you make with a screen as small as a vita right.

[-Gespenst-]

I think it's a wee bit more powerful than that. But it really doesn't matter.

[GeckoPutt]

Number 1: Describing the PS Vita as a "HD PS2" isn't a bad thing at all.

Number 2: If they actually released a slew of decent new games (new IPs) for the console, then it wouldn't have to rely on the amazing HD remakes/remasters that are keeping it afloat. I love my Vita regardless...

[kupomogli]

The Vita is far from an HD PS2. It's not PS3 either. It's more like half way between the Wii and PS3.

Then again, the Vita is really just past its first year where the PS3 and 360 have been out for seven so quality might increase exponentially further along in the systems life. Here are some Vita/PS3 comparisons that look better on the PS3 but still look great for the Vita.

DOA5 http://www.youtube.com/watc...
NFS:MW http://www.youtube.com/watc...

I couldn't find a good offscreen video but if you compare Assassin's Creed Liberation to Assassin's Creed 2 the game looks much better with better detail in the areas, better textures, etc. Also, areas that are outside of town on Assassin's Creed 2 look terrible, where as the bayou and such on Liberation look very good.

Since AC2 isn't one of the earliest titles on the PS3 but it's also not the newest, it's a good comparison when Liberation came out less than a year after the Vita released.

[TheKayle1]

the vita ..is....is ...just a trash bin for sony money hahaha

"Ok getting serious...vita cant NEVER reach the power of the ps3....

but is better than the ps2......but dosnt have games....so is worst than the ps2 and the ps3....

but is an good piece of tech.......but...is too expansive for the tech theres in.....
it can do a lots of stuff..and is portable....ok i know u got the last iphone or s3/s4...and they can do the same thing and are also MORE portable and u can do ur calls with that too.....what? ...u got a console at home too and u cant be bored to play vita just when u r on the wc doing ur poo coz the ps3 is too distant? ah and also u dont have enough space in ur pocket to take with u the mobile and the vita...yeah i think u r right"

so ...at end...

if u got a ps tattoo on ur body...buy it...

if u dont....just dont lose the time to find out what vita..is.....the world will forget about this HH very soon

[violents]

How is the vita too expensive for what it is when people will dish out 600 plus for a phone on a daily basis. 250-300 dollars for a portable gaming platform that you can technically use online anywhere you have wifi or a 3g signal is not too much in my mind. Especially when it pulls off graphic quality that is so close to ps3 standards. People were saying this same kind of crap about ps3 when it came out (ie, no games, shitty ports, blah, blah, blah) But look where it is now, beating xbox in sale and everyone praising sony for services like ps+, and there are lots of games.

[Smokingunz]

The vita is wack!!! But its far from an hd ps2! Sony's biggest mistake was advertising the vita as a portable ps3.they need to advertise the vita as nust a handheld and make creative and original games on it.you dont see Nintendo advertising the ds as a portable wii!

[profgerbik]

Well TronEOL pretty much said what I was going to.

[violents]

I bought a vita at launch and I have put countless hours on it since, Its my favorite handheld to date and totally crushes any other handheld in graphics and gameplay. the only problem right now is games are too few, however people said the same for the ps3 the first year it came out and look at where we are now. Be patient people there are some awesome looking games on the horizon and if the vita follows sony's usual slow burn mentality it will only get exponentially better as time goes on.

And calling it an HD ps2 is stupid, you cant pull off Uncharted golden abyss or gravity rush on a ps2. Just because there is a market for older games doesn't mean its the only thing it can do.

[Mister_G]

PS2 was very successful, so been like PS2 isn't a bad thing surely :)

[Superkarga]

please dont write any articles from now on.

[FlyingFoxy]

What a stupid article, how can this even exist when we have PS3 PORTS! that are practically up there with it graphically?, i'm almost certain the Vita is closer to the PS3 than the PSP was to the PS2. you only need to look at Uncharted, or the new DOA game to see how close it is to PS3.

Also don't argue about the 3DS next, the graphical style of well made games like Luigi's Mansion 2 prove it can pull off more than good enough graphics for a handheld.

[YoloSwag]

How can you even compare the two systems?

[chukamachine]

I've seen all the top titles on the 3ds, none of them come close to vita's graphics.

Not saying it's a bad machine, both are good. But PS2 could not do pixel shading. Vita does.

[killerorca258]

Stupid article, "Until he gets a little drunk, he (Vita) won't be popular with the other kids (devs)." That is a horrible unprofessional statement. Firstly, my brother never drank, never smoked, never bullied people, never did drugs, and never had a girlfriend, and he was the most popular guy in our school of 200+ students. He went on to get married, become an avionics technician in the RAAF (80,000 a year), duxing his training classes, and going on to serve Australia in Afghanistan. Don't stereotype like a tunnel-visioned moron, writer. Secondly, unlike 3DS, the PS2 games that were ported to the console are cult classics, MGS check, Persona 4 Golden check, FFX and X-2 (probably not cult) CHECK. I would rather play a brilliant ps2 game than a crummy brand new 3rd party game.

[abzdine]

what is bad about it? and buy yourself a new pair of glasses, that's my advice to you

[Dan_scruggs]

I remember when the plan for the Vita was to have all games released on the PS3 have a hand held counterpart that could go anywhere. That shared the game data over the PSN network. In reality what we got was a poor mans PS3 with cheap versions of out favorite games. Why was there no port of Uncharted 3 or Killzone 3 or God of War: Ascension? Where was the cross play for all the games being released on the PS3? What the hell happened to that Call of Duty game? It sucked ass. Vita can still live but the hand held port has to be worked into the pipeline of the AAA games currently in production for simultaneous releases. More games that people know and want to play. Wasn't that the original promise. When I think of Sony all I see is that huge E3 banner for the MOVE of Kevin Butler with the slogan "THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING" but in reality it changed absolutely nothing and neither did the VITA.

[Jirachi]

except it's not hd,it just LOOKS hd because the smaller the screen,the easier it to "look" high res.
a gameboy micro would look hd with sub ps2 graphics