PS Vita TV in Asia: is it worth buying?

The PS Vita TV has definitely not received as much hype as the PlayStation 4, but trust me on this one when I say that it’s going to bring you a lot more joy than your next-gen console.

This little console comes in two packages: one, the console by itself, which costs S$149 ($116.60); two, bundled with a Dualshock 3 for S$219 ($171.40). The Dualshock 3 bundle is only good if you don’t already own a PlayStation 3 and its accompanying controller, so the obvious choice for most gamers here is to go with the standalone set.

The PS Vita TV is small, smaller than some handphones even. It is a neat little rectangle with the PlayStation logo neatly emblazoned in its centre, and comes with a power inlet, a LAN cable jack, a HDMI cable jack, a USB port, a memory card slot (memory stick not included) and a PS Vita cartridge slot. It is very compact and easily transported.

And this, my friends, is the true next generation of gaming.

Yup, this unassuming little box is the next gen of gaming.

That little white box costs less than an actual PS Vita console and lets you play PS Vita, PlayStation Portable and classic PlayStation games on your TV. That’s right, your big, fancy, shiny, 42” TV. It’s compatible with your existing Sony console controller and can also stream your PS4 games from your PS4 console. What has the PS4 got that this thing does not, a better user interface and graphics?

Of course, playing Vita games on the TV undoubtedly makes you lose out on some features. Unless your TV has some newfangled touchscreen tech, you’re not going to be able to make use of the touchscreen for certain games. The console compensates for this by letting you make use of the R and L analog sticks and triggers to substitute the front touchscreen and the rear touch panel.

With the exception of Tearaway (read our review here) and this amalgamation of sex and young girls, most PS Vita games don’t make that much use of the touch panels, so while the analog sticks and triggers are not all that comfortable to use, they suffice.

The familiar home screen now in HDTV glory.

Setup of the PS Vita TV is well directed and unimaginably easy, and once you get to the familiar home screen you will see that very little has changed from what you see on the actual PS Vita. If you already have a PS Vita, the learning curve will be nonexistent; if you don’t, well, the PS Vita’s home screen is a little less fancy than the PlayStation 4’s, but it’s no less idiot-proof.

Do take note of the present ‘region lock’, though. Since the PS Vita TV has only been launched for Asian markets, a PSN account created in any other region will not work. While there have been no concrete announcements regarding a region lock, we will have to wait for the rest of the world to go live with the console before we can tell if there really is one. As is the case with PlayStation Network accounts, your stored credit card info can and will be transferred across devices – albeit with you needing to re-input the security code.