The PlayStation Vita is Sony's second handheld console, and the successor to the immensely successful PlayStation Portable.
While it enjoyed success in Japan, it was otherwise a commercial failure, with one contributing factor being the high price of its proprietary Memory Cards (for instance, a 32GB Memory Card cost $120, half the price of the system itself); adding insult to injury is that with a jailbroken console, regular SD cards can be used through third-party adapters.
The Vita hardware was repurposed for the PlayStation Vita TV (or PlayStation TV in US and Europe, in an attempt for Sony to wash their hands of the tainted Vita moniker).
Despite the Vita's failure, which probably caused Sony to back out of the portable console industry, it's still a good console packed with useful features and fun games.
Sub-Pages#
Unused Apps#
The Vita has something you don't really see on other consoles - unused apps! Unfortunately, all that's left of them is their param.sfo files, icons, and LiveArea graphics.
Topics#
This app is the more complete of the two, having a param.sfo, icon and LiveArea graphics. It's only used on the PlayStation (Vita) TV for PlayStation news, as such, it's unused on the PS Vita. The app's files can still be found on the PS Vita though, as both consoles have the same OS.
User's Guide#
This app has an icon and param.sfo, but no LiveArea graphics. Maybe the User's Guide was originally an app instead of a webpage? This icon appears in the welcome video, suggesting this change was made late in development.
Unused Graphics#
PSP Emulator Icon#
The PSP emulator has this icon which is never seen in the LiveArea menu. This icon originates from firmware 0.930 compiled on September 2010, when the app icons were 2D circles. This icon would be removed in firmware version 3.10.
Revisional Graphic Differences#
PlayStation Store#
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The PlayStation Store app's LiveArea background was changed in 2013 when the PS4 launched.
Music#
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After the PS4 launched, the icon for Music was changed to mention it as well as the PocketStation.
Browser#
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Browser's icon had its glow effect removed.
Trophies#
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The icon for Trophies originally had a shine on it. This was later removed.
PS3 Remote Play#
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The app's name was changed from "Remote Play" to "PS3 Remote Play" so it wouldn't be confused with the new PS4 Link app. The icon was also changed to include the PS3 console.
PS4 Link#
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ALL of the app's graphics were changed after the release of the PS4 Slim.
Package Installer#
This is an app that was used by developers to install FPKG files, but it's disabled on retail consoles. To enable it, you can use Freakler's vita-PKGEnabler or SKGleba's PKGinstallerLauncher (which can also be downloaded from VitaDB).
Package Installer's livearea.xml contains a
<frame id="frame3" multi="o" autoflip="0">
<liveitem>
<text>
<font color="#ffffff" size="32"><b>FakePackage Installer</b></font>
</text>
</liveitem>
</frame>SceCompat Diagnostic#
When developing the Compatibility Layer for running PSP games, Sony created this basic Dolphin test application. Functioning as a makeshift "firmware" that solely contains it and the necessary modules (Including an extra "compat_diag.skprx" module that was otherwise unused.)
A very small number of launch Vita units mistakenly left the factory with this OS still installed, similar to the infamous "Wii Startup Disc" incident, with the EMMC from one eventually being dumped in 2023.
Hidden Copy/Paste Feature#
There used to be a feature that allowed you to copy, cut, and paste in most text boxes. It was present on launch firmwares, but sometime later it was disabled for unknown reasons. It can be re-enabled using GrapheneCt's PasteUnlock.
