To Update or not To Update, THAT is the question!
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.
There is a solution to the PS+ “free games” issue…
Get the 30 day trial and “buy” the free games on the PSN Store on your PS3 and let them download ready to transfer to a Vita (just make sure they show up in your history). Now they are in your bought history and your PS3.
Once something more is known about the PS Vita firmware you can make an informed decision and you don’t lose out on these new games as you can download them when you like as long as you have a PS+ membership. There might even be a way to transfer them to the Vita using the PS3 at some point like people have been doing with Monster Hunter so don’t give up hope.
The rest of the features are really not much use and the loss of eCFW for them would be disappointing unless you love PSN online play. I don’t like the auto update feature and the save to cloud feature probably doesn’t work without it like on the PS3.
Good luck!
Your idea is not a solution, because the free games change every month. Your idea does not solve anything.
No but if you have a PS3 with PS+ like a lot of users (including myself) do you are not losing anything.
This way as long as you have got them in your history you can upload them at a later date once you know what the state of play is with firmware, as you know Sony cycle these games around and change them every few weeks (if we are lucky) so this way you get all the games ready for when the Vita can be hacked again and then load them up!!
i have psone, dont need ecfw, isn`t the same playing RE3 or SILENT HILL on ps vita, as the psone connected to tv, comodity¿ just a cable between the console and tv, make me sick!
i sold my vita and now i m planning to buy it again but waiting 1 more year will give me new vita which will have update in its hardware more slim more powerful cpu ram and more brightness….
is there any update for phone features? like sending message on my network. bcoz i only recieved text message.. bcoz i want to use it as a phone. so COOL.
Sony will probably never fully update the Vita to work like a phone or send text messages.
To not update until someone gets to know better the new OFW 😉 maybe it can be exploited as well, let’s hope
Wololo, I’d just like to point out that the facebook thing for a free month doesn’t work for US players. I tried it out, as well as many others.
FINALY OMG HTML5
Its HTML5 without video or audio support from what people have been saying, so still not “real” HTML5
Well I’m updating since none of you guys don’t know gamesharing is, and if I did do ut my psvita woulda beeeen hacked. So screw this damn wololo site
I have PSN PLUS on ps3 and sony said if you already have it you will get it with vita no need to buy separately, and i already updated aswell so i cant wait for the 2.00 firmware with FREE GAMES! 😀
The free 30 day games from PS+ kinda bugs me. Please explain further if anyone willing. After 30 days later, new set of games comes in PS+…so what will happen to the recent games that we’ve downloaded? Will it still be playable? Or decommissioned soon after it reach it’s free to play duration (30 days)? Or does it needs to be online everytime we want to play those PS+ games?
From what I’m reading everywhere you have to be online to play the free games, or at least to start them, and the free games become unplayable once the next months games come out. So basically its not “Free Games” which people need to stop calling it, its “Free RENTALS”.
don’t listen to people who say you need to be online to play the free games.
also you can play the free games for as long as you have a psn+ subscription,if you let you subscription lapse the games will be unplayable until you reup you sub.
I’m going to update, the only reason I would want to hack my Vita is to play Vita games which I am sure will happen one day but for now my PSP games can be run on my PSP’s (I have 2 2000’s and 1 bricked 3000). The update will help me since I can get some Vita games to play. I have 3 months of PS Plus left as of now, hopefully this will be worth it so I can continue paying for PS+
“the only reason I would want to hack my Vita is to play Vita games”
Then you are the type of user the scene does not want and need.
agree
no, the scene is for everyone. everybody in the scene wants something different, be it homebrew content, a custom fw or even free games. i know there are a lot of pirates among us, so just because somebody wants something different than you (or different from the majority for that matter) does not mean that they dont belong. dont speak on behalf of the scene.
The problem is that freeloaders just want to freeload for the heck of it. When I was at the end of my piracy, I was only pirating stuff to see if it was good then I’d purchase it, but if it was ***, I wasn’t going to buy it. I’ll give him one thing, at least he is honest. I admit that I want to be able to run Vita ISOs too but for games that I legally own and want to use on another Vita or just not want to keep switching out the chips, or allowing my friend to play against me for a day… But the pirates really do hurt us when all people want is just a free game. Then developers look at the system and don’t want to make anything for it because people aren’t even going to buy it. That’s ultimately why the Vita library sucks as it is, is because of all of the freeloading that went on with the PSP and continues in the PS3. But I agree that we do have people on here like that. But that still doesn’t make it right especially that people just want free games and that’s it. I’m sure they’d be pretty upset if someone was stealing something from them that they worked hard for.
so you’re saying, because the psp and ps3 was heavily pirated, the PSV has so few games, and those games are incredibly overpriced? Judging by your logic, as the PS2 and PSX was heavily pirated before PS3 came out, there should as few games for the PS3 as there are now for PSV? I’m feeling there isn’t really the real reason.
The reason in my opinion for the PSV lack of games is because it’s a niche thing. Very few people i know in RL who could easily afford it are not interested in playing on a small screen, it’s just the way it is. Also Sony is very stubborn on promoting it to devs and the rest of the consumers.
Remember that the PSP was very promoted by other means than internet (tv commercials, ads etc). The PSV is very obscure, and too few people know it even exists.
Again, the games are incredibly overpriced. I’ve payd 300 usd for this console and a single AAA game is 50 bucks. Aw heck no, i’m not paying that much for a watered down game.
are you an idiot ??
the xbox was pirated even more then the ps3 the ps3 piracy is restricted to a few million models world wide
But how many people back in the day were hacking their Xboxes? Compare that number to those hacking their PSPs.
Either way, developers take the stealing into account. If a system is known to have vulnerabilities versus one with next to none (speaking for corporate companies bent on making money), they choose the one with as little vulnerabilities as possible. It’d be suicide to release a product on a system that the majority of people are just stealing from. There are other reasons that the PSV doesn’t have a huge library, but people like Alpha cause the developers to think twice before releasing their hard work for a price on a system like the Vita. I don’t think that things like ISO readers shouldn’t be made just because of a few leeches, but the attitude shouldn’t be encouraged in the scene that we will just use loaders for games we didn’t buy.
I Agree i also want to play Psvita hacked games and psp iso, didnt we do the same with the Psp iso loader…
The only thing I’ve really used the eCFW for was to load DLC for my Dissidia Duodecim PSN title that I normally play through my Vita anyways. I have hope that sooner or later, Sony will get around to letting us use PSP DLC without a PS3, or that somehow I will be able to enable it again – so it’s a very easy decision to update for those nice videos and an improved browser. 😀
How did you do that? Black screen no load? But some homebrew doesn’t load either. I hope they don’t block it either!
How were you able to get DLC on your Vita? I tried and it would not show up or work with my other ISOs
Depending on what the free games are I MAY update,but if the games suck then im staying on 1.81 a little longer
I am sticking with 1.81 and TN-C eCFW!
I am not letting all their hard work go to waste!!
http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/13/3640646/playstation-plus-vita-available-november-19
++ Cons : There would be a disturbing feature called automatic update.I’m not sure how that would work but certainly it doesn’t seems nice
psn+ for the ps3 has this as well, you can turn it on or off at will
All automatic update does is download the update data during whatever time you set the system to check for updates (by default its something like 2-4AM). You still need to manually select “OK” to continue the update the next time turn on the system, or if you don’t want the update installed, don’t agree to it. You’re never forced or tricked into updating without knowing, you are required to agree to it.
I’ll stay on 1.81 I like to play my old psp games and hoping for ps1 support idc for sound great work guys keep it up ^,^
I love my ps vita running N64, SUPER NES,game boy advance , NEO GEO, cap com, mame, AND ISOS psp, i think i need buy this games, my memory has a 32 gb, you need a loot space for this 6 games, may be 25 gb where you can get this only buy a memory of 32 gb but i think is just a strategy of sony to dead the new hacks i don belive any more on sony mail sucks and i dont need mail.
well easy decision to make ,since I own 2 vitas ….
2.0 update will be great is worth it to update and i suggest you guys to get a second vita !!
Wow not a bad idea. Guess I just need some money now lol. I am surprised I did not think of that considering that is what i did w/ the PSP (I have like 6 of them lol).
Not updating I got GC and TN-C so I’m set until Killzone comes out.
I bought my vita for vita games and I already have 1 year of psn+ so this update is too good to pass up. Besides the hack I really want is the UVL
1.81 till next exploit is ccoming to the vita thanks to that wonderful Dev´s Thank thanks thanks i can´t stop to say it
I’m still on 1.67, I only use it for a video player with open cma lol. If gamestop has some good used game deals I might grab a few hard copies and play 100% offline.
My question. After the update to 2.0 Will the web browser support flash? I would like to be able to watch hulu and twitch.tv on my vita.
No.
Thanks for the reply.
And to Sony… You suck. My $20 mp3 player from walmart can play flash videos. Support your damn products.
To be truthful, Flash is on its way out. The new Internet Explorer for the 360 doesn’t support it, iOS devices don’t either, and Adobe is pulling their app from the Google Play Store for Android devices. What we should really be waiting for is HTML5. Sony needs to get with the program and update the browser already with some features people actually want.
iirc, the new browser supports html5.
@Prinny, it doesn’t for me. I am opted in for YouTube’s HTML5 use and it won’t work for my PS Vita or my brother’s 3DS for that matter. If anyone is curious, try visiting http://www.youtube.com/html5 to opt in for the trial and see if it works on your Vita/device.
…You…do know it isn’t sony that doesn’t support flash do you? Before calling them dumb, research that Adobe no longer supports flash on handheld/mobile platforms. Your $20 mp3 player probably has it pre-installed before adobe stopped supporting it.
Well, then Sony should support audio and video in their browser, like any other browser has done for the past 5 years now.
It doesnt matter what comes in the future, or if its adobe supported or not. I just want to watch the flash videos that 90% of all the internet uses, now not later. The vita is definitly capible of doing it.
I dont care if its called flash, or java, or whatever. Is it to much to ask, to be able to watch hulu or twitch on my vita?
Wololo, html5 on the new browser may be (and I say may as I’m not exactly sure.) be able to play youtube html5 videos. Here’s hoping for that. Other websites, I doubt it though.
@Aardy: Of course it does matter. Adobe pulling out does not let you watch those videos. 😐 So it’s not sony to blame but Adobe, once those sites that you ever so want to watch actually supports a html5 video player, you won’t be able to. The vita is capable of doing so no doubt, but it’s kinda hard to do so when the vita was born around the same time adobe pulled back its mobile flash support.
No PS3. No justification for PS+ for me.
I am more then happy staying on 1.81 where I can play all my emulated games.
This allows the Vita to actually have games worth playing instead of the depressing library that is growing at a snails pace with lackluster titles.
i have an old psp2000 with cfw. i liked playing with the ecfw but really i like the vita for what it has. that mostly being psvita games. if i wanted pops games or psp games i have my old psp for that. (it does feel good in the hands having 2 real analog sticks for psp games though.) so i guess to conclude this fact. i’ll be updating to the 2.0 at least till there’s a real cfw for the vita.
“…to be able to play the games we bought for the PSP on the Vita instead of buying them again.”
I laughed hard at that…
Want to compare my collection of legally purchased PSP games with yours?
Its funny in an ironic way. I have a dozzen leagaly purchased PSP games, that are useless to me. UMD hard copys that are just gathering dust. I shouldnt have traded in my PSP to get the Vita.
That is why you own 6 of them 🙂 And I agree w/ Wololo, it is absolutely frustrating that if we want to play our old games on the Vita we have to re-purchase the same games we already bought. It is completely asinine. And i hate the fact that Japan got the UMD Passport program to transfer their UMDs to digital format on the Vita. Completely bogus. I guess Sony figured that the US has so many Pirates that they would find a way to abuse it or something. But not everyone who has been on this seen for a while is a Pirate. Some just want to get the most out of our hardware because Sony does not seem to be doing it. -End Rant- lol
*scene
I would buy a second Vita before updating. No way would I ever give up my eCFW!!
I will surely wait on 1.81, NO Flash-the update is not worth it.
I really dont care about email i can check it with normal Psvita browser.
“Sony” now u can twitt your adress (-_-) i dont give a #”‘% wheres copy/paste?
sony really dont learn,and if the Psvita can play mp4 files why not make the browser
load mp4 video files,1080p good, now what we need is for the video player to accept
Other formats like mkv,rmb,xvid,avi etc,but NO!!! Like always Sony dont get it,so iam staying in FW 1.81 with TN-C for now.
please sony! dont be harsh on us who using ecfw! 😀
my ecfw is just only a month y.o. on me, i don’t update unless they don’t blocked the ecfw 😀
To be or not to be that is the question
-Shakespere
It sucks if you can only start playing the PS+ games via PSN online.. Cause I have the Vita Wifi version.. So basically I can’t play those games while i’m outside from any Wifi-comfort-zone. Seems like I’m gonna stick with eCFW cause I’m pretty confident someone will hack this new firmware. If not, what’s the use of this Forum?
What are you talking about? PS+ games don’t work like that.
@Barton IKR where do people come up with these silly rumers
I think he means… nevermind, i am lost too. Sorry, tried to help you AshTerra lol.
I hope the Vita itself doesn’t get hacked for at least a few years. Let the console actually get some life in it before you do it, which mean third party support, good games and a big fanbase.
The Vita is not dead, but an actual hack to play vita games would really kill it.
The games are only free if you stick with the plus subscription. So when the subscription is over you wont be able to play them. So i consider it as a con to be honest. Let’s see what happens next…
this is the reason why i bought 2 vitas. one to keep legit and one to keep my eCEF. The real question is for me anyways, I cant decide which one I wanna keep eCEF on. I got the black 3g/wi-fi one, and the white assassins creed wi-fi only one. AS of now they are both running tn-c. guess ill wait a few days to read some posts on the new ofw, before i decide what to do. any thoughts on my situation? pls. reply
Do you use 3G? If so, I’d say update that one because you can’t do anything of value (maybe browse the internet) unless the firmware version is update to date.
I agree thats what i was leaning towards was my 3g one. Payed 6 months of the 30$ month plan and never used it, because it couldnt do what i was told by sony that it would do. I have a cell phone that does more than the 3g vita can do, what a waste on my end, i always think of how many games i could have bought with that wasted $ instead. Oh well we live and learn, was always kinda hopin there would be a hack that would unlock the sim card, and basically make my vita my new smartphone. Heres to hope and the future that something of that sort comes about.
So do we get 30 days playstation plus when we update? Coz I already got 60 days because the shipment of the ac3 liberation pre order codes were delayed so an extra 30 on top of my 60 would be awesome.
I really like VHBL and TN-C but honestly…I’m going to update because I just got Black Ops and love playing it online. If there was some way to keep my original firmware and keep playing online, I’d do it. I don’t really care for all that new *** Sony keeps talking about. “New Interface”…blah blah and really nothing else is new about it. If it was just the firmware, I wouldn’t even update. Then for homebrews, I haven’t had much time playing any homebrews or even uploading any ISOs. And on top of it, Sony made it really hard to add ISOs like me adding ROMs to my N64 Emulator. Sony should be glad they got Black Ops because otherwise, I would not be planning to update.
auto update is for PS+ members and AFAIK it will only update if you set it to update like on the PS3. You set a time frame for it to perform the update, and it will automaticaly boot up, sign in, upload all your saves to to online storage, and update your games that need updates
I dont use the vita exploit, i rather use my psp to play the games, and i dont see the 6 free games in the european plus store, but im still going tu update.
i have 2 3g/wifi models i will update my non ECFW one but i hope that there is an update to open CMA so i can still copy homebrews to my 1.81 ECFW vita