The PSVita OFW Update version 2.0 is due out soon. It features some very attractive features and updates, the main one being Playstation Plus support for PSVita users and the 6 free titles. But, OFW 1.81 has proven to be the golden firmware in hacking the Vita so far, with the release of the first CFW for the PSP emulator. Chances are that OFW 2.0 patches the KExploit, with all of these things going on I am sure that most users find themselves in a dilemma to decide whether or not to update.

Today I am going to discuss the pros and cons of updating so that it may become clearer as to if you should update or not.

Pros:

• The biggest advantage of updating is Playstation Plus and their amazing introductory offer which gets you 6 games for FREE
• The PS+ 30 day free trial – Combined with the above, you can literally get 6 games without spending a penny.
• The ability to check your mail – This may not seem so important but, to some people like me this matters a lot. Being able to check my mail on a bigger screen than my smartphone on the go is very important to me. It also brings the Vita closer to being a cross between a tablet and a gaming console.
• PSN access – As we have all seen with the previous updates, as soon as a firmware update is issued you lose all access to the Playstation Network unless you update. Chances are this is also going to be a forced update just like all previous firmwares.
• Improved Web Browser – The web browser has been updated with better HTML5 support.

Cons:

• eCFW – The biggest con of updating is the loss of eCFW. Sony would never release any sort of update unless there was some ‘Security Vulnerability’ found, specially not an update packed with so many features, clearly all those features are there because Sony realized that people would have to be enticed to update.
• Homebrew – This actually links with eCFW but because we have had rumors of Sony having to rewrite the entire PSP emulator, there might be a possibility that they might have made big changes to the system in effect forcing us to start from the beginning again.
• Loss of ISO support – This is quite a controversial topic but lets admit it, most of us wanted eCFW for this, to be able to play the games we bought for the PSP on the Vita instead of buying them again.

 

To summarize there is lots at stake with this update, it is a hard decision but, don’t forget this isn’t the end of the scene, we will surely see more exploits in the future. On one hand you have a huge list of new features and on the other hand you have the awesome use of homebrew. So it is down to Update or not to update, that is the question.

How about you, are you going to update? Feel free to answer in the comments below, or in our poll on /talk (thanks to D-TeK-DeV who started it). So far it’s a clear cut in our community, with “only” 20% of votes from people who will definitely update to 2.00 (the remaining 80% are either undecided – 30% – or have no plan to update – 50%). Clearly, there will be a “before and after” Vita’s OFW 2.00.