PlayStation Vita Review

Discover the impressive tech packed into this portable gaming system.

Portable gaming consoles were once vastly inferior to their home console equivalents, but with the arrival of the PlayStation Vita Sony has unleashed a device that rivals the power of the Nintendo Wii and is a worthy on-the-go substitute to the PlayStation 3. Boasting a four-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU as well as a 12.7-centimetre (five-inch) widescreen display, the Vita takes the place of the most powerful portable gaming machine on the market.

The PS Vita is primarily a gaming device, but it can also be used for multimedia purposes, web browsing and Skype calls. Sony has used its own purpose-built operating system on the device that differs from that found on the PlayStation 3, using larger icons and gesture controls to incorporate a responsive touchscreen that is on a par with the most cutting-edge smartphones.

Following on from Sony’s previous PlayStation Portable (the PSP), the Vita – for the first time -brings two touch panels and two analogue sticks to a portable gaming console. The lightweight device is similar in design to the original PSP, while the screen is wider than both of those on Nintendo’s rival 3DS console.

The 12.7-centimetre (five-inch) OLED screen uses capacitive touch technology, as does the pad on the reverse of the console, which allows for further control input. In addition to ten face buttons and two shoulder buttons, the device also boasts motion control in the form of a six-axis gyroscope and accelerometer combination.

While portable gaming was once a low-quality affair compared to home console gaming, there’s enough both above and below the bonnet of the PlayStation Vita to warrant its place as the most powerful gaming device in town as it attempts to break preconceptions of how well gaming devices can perform while on the move.