Now’s finally the right time to buy a PS TV
The PS TV (aka Vita TV) was a very promising device when Sony initially announced it. I even called it Sony’s best idea in years, based on what I thought the product would be. I was wrong. The PS TV was, and still is, a nice little device, but it almost seems Sony intentionally crippled it for no good reason.
The main culprit is the game limitations, such as the infamous “whitelist” that prevents people from playing more than 80% of the PS Vita’s game library, despite the majority of these actually playing fine on the PS TV. The same was true of PSP games, with only a fraction of PSP games supported on the PS Vita and its sister the Vita TV, most likely due to licencing issues. The other issue was, of course, the lack of decent video/music services on the device (the PS Vita supports Netflix, the PS TV does not. This almost seems backwards).
The recent release of HENkaku hack for the PS Vita and the PS TV make the device interesting again: the whitelist can now be extended to support a majority of Vita games (and yes, this should support Netflix too in theory), VHBL gives you access to a variety of PSP homebrews (including emulators which vastly increase the game library on the PS TV), and there’s a growing list of native Vita homebrews (including emulators) that work on the PS TV as well. Some people also hope that a PSP Kernel exploit could make the situation even better for tinkerers.
And with the possibility to easily swap PS Vita memory sticks, this gives additional possibilities to run several accounts on multiple devices.
Maybe more importantly, the PS TV is now extremely cheap, and that alone makes it a good reason to get one. A Certified refurbished PS TV will cost you $29.99, less than your typical game! Those who really want it new (I’d personally recommend the refurbished version) can now get a new PS TV for $45 or less.
The PS TV was launched for $99 less than 2 years ago in the US, and you can now get it for $29.99. To put things in perspective, that’s as if you could find certified refurbished PS4s for about $130 today.
For those who were on the fence, now might be the right time to get a PS TV, set it up for homebrews, and enjoy.
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NO, ME NO BUY NO PS TV!
I’m glad I bought it when it was only 20 buckaroonies at Gamestop. Hopefully we get a PS1 eBoot loader so I can play some CTR with my bro.
Damn, I’ll kill to get a black Vita TV (aka PSTV). In where I live it’s only in white.
trade? 🙂
I would like to! But only if there are no annoying fees, like shipping, custom, or smuggling fees, etc. XD
I want the white! We didn’t get that one….
The white one is easier to get dirty. One of mine is getting a little bit brown now , and the backside of controller gets ugly too, it got hand mark. I’m planning to use it for Henkaku if I got another Vita TV.
Agree, that’s what I think as well. Black one is best.
I managed to grab a bundle with an 8GB card and PS3 controller for $50 last year. Henkaku made me revisit the cute device, I can’t wait until the scene matures. It’s going so fast right now, it’s incredible.
I found the PS Tv Bundle for 29.99 at Wal-Mart and just the PS Tv for 19.99
dont you need to login to psn in order to use apps like netflix? If i buy a ps tv, and i do not update it to the next firmware, how im i gonna watch netflix?
i have the same question 😀
You spoof it to the next FW with a proxy, you filthy modasucka
in my country it is to expensice
if i found cheep one i will buy it
It’s cheaper than a PSP
Would I be able to play emulators with two players or one??
Theoretically it should be possible to do two players, if I recall certain Vita official titles have couch co op on the TV, though it would be up to the devs of a given emulator to implement that if possible, not sure how popular it would be to implement
The skogaby CATSFC-libretro-vita port is the first one (other than the official PS1 emulator) I’ve seen that has support, not sure if links in the comments are okay, but it’s currently the top post on the vitahacks sub
Apparently two player support for the TV has been added to all cores that make sense on the latest nightly
when i buy it one year ago, in amazon, i think would be a good deal, later, when i can`t use my mexican ps account, i think, well maybe later, .. and that doesnt happen,now, thanks to henkaku we have the possibility to use it how it was suposed to be used, (later jeje, i dont own a memory card yet)
Maybe someone could port ppsspp as an homebrew if the vita hardware can handle it. and i still wish someone could try to get this one there: http://moonlight-stream.com/
So I have a PSTV running 3.20 with TN-V installed. Is there any reason to upgrade it to 3.60 HENkaku?
any benefits at all to this? I know that if I update I will obviously lose psp & ps1 backups for the system, which would be unfortunate, but what exactly would I be gaining?
Thanks in advance for anyone kind enough to reply.
You gain nothing. Cuz you are nothing.
Snes9xVita runs at 444mhz speed as well as the old psp 333mhz, I also noticed less screen tearing in emulators with Henkaku over Tn-v11. I updated from 3.36 with TN-V on both my Vita Slim and PS TV to 3.60 and I’m not feeling bad at all, sure I lost psp for now but I have a feeling this is the firmware to be on like when the PS3 was on 3.55. Now I’d like to see Movian get ported to Vita!
Is there anywhere that I can get one for a good price in the UK? Amazon charges £49.99 Used and £60 New.
My local ASDA is selling PSTVs for £29.99, I suspect they’re trying to liquidate the stock as they’ve not available online. Check the clearance racks near the electronics/entertainment aisle in your local.
Import it from germany Here its used: 30€ New:40€
I got meine from an amazon reseller for 35€ New 2 month ago.
The new ones have Fw 3.20 Used up to 3.60 so it dosent matter for henkaku
Woooot, 30,-€ for one?
There are several sales (not now) which give you the chance to catch a pstv for only 15,-€ 🙂 (got 2 PSTVs in november 2015)
Okay, why would i want to play *** 480p games on my 48″ plasma tv?
Because jaggies will looks more crisper XD
Because jaggies will look crisper XD
Bought one!
I just wish they had a similar deal on Amazon.ca (so to avoid the cross-border “fee”).
Bought one on eBay for Cad$39.99 with a extra PS3 Controller.
just need PS1 games to work on here damn it…
I have a psp go with a dock a video out cable and a ps3 controller, I also have a cfw ps3, so why w pstv? for homebrewould I want a
was about to buy one, but then i realized you need that ugly ps4 controller to navigate it. no way.
You can also use a PS3 controller :/
Yes, you can. Can must use either ps3 or ps4 controller
I’ve run Henkaku and the whitelist on my PSTV, but digital games are still not working. I’ve heard conflicting reports on the site about whether or not digital whitelisted games can be played using the new exploit. Is it possible to get digital games working, and if so, what am I doing wrong?
bought one today , its on 3.6 – henkaka is installed , but how can I use my vita account with it . I cant link the account without updating the pstv and I don’t have a ps3 for the other method , so is there any way without a ps3 to link my vita mem card and use it.
please help