Vita Will Play PS1 Classics, But PS2, PS3 Games Are Out

A lot of people are wondering: what can the PlayStation Vita currently play, and what might it play in the future?

This question often revolves around PS1 classics, especially among hardcore veteran fans. The good news is that Sony's new portable should be able to play those timeless titles from two generations past, but at the same time, PS2 (and PS3) games on the go probably won't happen. At least, not right now.

PS2 classics are currently hitting the PlayStation Store for download to your PS3, so some thought Sony might make them compatible with the Vita, too. After posting up the Ultimate Vita FAQ at the PlayStation Blog, Senior Social Media Specialist Sid Shuman addressed the question concerning PS1, PS2, PS3 and even PSP ports:

"Users can play supported digital PSP titles and supported minis. In regard to PSone classics titles, we will announce further details when they are ready. PlayStation does not have plans to make PS Vita compatible with PS3 or PS2 titles at this point."

Given what we've seen of the Vita thus far, that thing would have zero trouble dealing with PS2 games. And of course, you can bet Sony has long-term plans for the new handheld, so maybe in the future...anything's possible. But at least you don't have to worry about playing old games with the Vita when it first arrives; the single biggest PlayStation launch lineup ever will accompany the hardware on store shelves next week.

Tags: vita, playstation vita, ps1 classics, ps2 classics, sony

2/16/2012 8:53:23 PM Ben Dutka

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Comments (43 posts)

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SmokeyPSD
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 9:44:32 PM
Reply

I just don't understand why PS1 compatibility is not ready at launch.

9 up, 0 down

coverton341
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 10:24:49 PM

Nor can I. That was one of the issues I was wondering about and they aren't getting a day one purchase from me due to the Vita not playing PS1 games out of the gate.

By no means am I saying I won't get one, I'm just waiting until it will play the PS1 games before I spend the money.

I imagine also that they are waiting to see just how deep the market penetration is before they go out and start making PS2 titles work on the Vita. Wouldn't really make sense to go through the effort if no one really cares about it or not. PS1 titles just seem to lend themselves to on the go gaming in my opinion and I want that option.

Sorry for the huge reply that only vaguely touched on your OP. Meh, it's late here

6 up, 0 down

Qubex
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 11:17:05 PM

One has to remember that Sony as a whole, has made losses stretching into its forth year. Even-though Sony divisions have their own P&L, it still affects the company as a whole...

My assumption is this, that with any expenditure, whether it is converting PS1 classics to run on Vita or creating the emulation engine that Vita will use to run the PS1 classics, the additional spend has to be justified.

Let us be honest that Sony has seen clearly what happened to Nintendo regarding the 3DS, therefore it is obvious to me that Sony need; a] to see how sales track after the initial Vita launch in the West, and b] try to quantify if PS1 classics would actually sell well and at what price point.

When they have some metrics they can then justify spend on a PS1 emulation engine for the Vita. They can justify the extra manpower needed to get the PS1 back catalogue onto PSN, making it downloadable for the Vita.

Everything extra Sony want to do takes extra resources - therefore costing money.

It is not at all a surprise to me that Vita is not yet "ready" to run PS1 classics... the economics need to be there first!

This should be quite obvious!

In addition, sadly, as an Android user, you can download PSX emulators now for Android Phones and Tablets. I can run PSX game iso's if I wanted... everything is available. This can't be stopped!

So when you consider how many people have Android devices, or jail broken iPhones and iPads (which can also run PSX emulators), you realise that if one wanted to get PSX games illegitimately they can... this in turn reduces the total spend for PS1 classics on the Vita.

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

Last edited by Qubex on 2/16/2012 11:20:54 PM

2 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 10:11:00 AM

Vallarta: I'm really sick of you coming in here and calling everyone fanboys and "girls." As far as I can tell, you know absolutely nothing about this industry or how it operates.

I'm warning you for the last time- if your entire purpose is to bash the Vita and insult anyone who likes it, I'm going to get rid of you. You don't seem to contribute much of anything worthwhile, anyway. Try growing up a little.

Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 2/17/2012 10:12:35 AM

4 up, 0 down

Underdog15
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 12:07:24 PM

Too much emo.

1 up, 0 down

Cpt_Geez
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 10:08:26 PM
Reply

I'm sure the vita will function a lot differently down the road. I remember how the ps3 started out, all it needs is firmware updates.

1 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 10:30:42 PM

Maybe so, but Sony was giving us stuff as it's been coming out.
This is all stuff that's been out, So in my eyes, Sony certainly is dropping the ball here.

All things that already could've been on the Vita, should've already been in the Vita.

It's like seeing a great ad for the perfect car you want......
"BUT", only after you're picking up your preordered joyride, you find out that due to the tires, steering wheel, & gas tank are all coming in separately, and each on different unknown dates later on, that now you'll also need an additional flat-bed to tow it back & forth every day to your job, or such.

Last edited by BikerSaint on 2/16/2012 10:34:41 PM

2 up, 1 down

Cpt_Geez
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 10:36:25 PM

Right. I think Sony is going to do all the right things but they are going to dour over time. Yes all these things should be available at the launch, but down the line we all are going to be happy to be owners of a ps vita.

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 10:21:41 PM
Reply

Just lemme play Vita games on my PS3... yeah right fat chance.

2 up, 1 down

TheIllusiveMan
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 11:48:04 PM

Well, when you get a TV with a front and rear camera, a touch screen on the front, and a touch pad on the back, you might be able to.

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 11:50:41 PM

Hopefully not all the games will require you to use that useless zero attention span stuff.

0 up, 2 down

Neo_Aeon666
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 3:09:22 PM

Talked to Sony rep about this. They won't ever do it again. They did with the PSP and it was a fail feature because it did not support full HD res and you had this little crap square in the middle.

Vita is 960x544 and wouldn't be able to output 1080P. So their logic is: Can't do something right? Then don't do it. And I can tell you so far the Vita is flawless. Runs SO smoothly. Everything is polished. Having a feature that would display a lack of power would not be so nice. And well the 5inch OLED screen is gorgeous and not annoying to look at from the palm of your hands so its not that big a deal.

1 up, 0 down

bebestorm
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 10:31:24 PM
Reply

Well Im not buying a Vita anytime soon so I hope when I do convert ps1 titles are playable and they need a memory card much higher than 32gb.

0 up, 1 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 10:47:03 PM
Reply

Always wait for a few models to go by.

2 up, 0 down

inkme101
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 11:03:37 PM
Reply

i just hope they dont drop the ball on the remote play feature. i would love to be able to play my whole library from the vita.

1 up, 0 down

Palpatations911
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 11:10:07 PM
Reply

In 3 years this will be an awesome device. I got mine via a valentines day gift and I wouldn't have ordered it otherwise. The vita seemed great when we were told about "Remote PS3 Play" and backwards compatibility and as it got closer to the release date, these features were confirmed as false and now the vita is not near as impressive.

I'll probably have to hack the SOB and load a custom firmware just for it to be decent now. Not to mention, I'll probably have to buy a seperate old school PS3 and load a custom firmware on it in order to synch it with this handheld. SMH.

1 up, 1 down

Palpatations911
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 11:12:25 PM
Reply

I'm sure they will optimize the PS2 emulation at some point and we will have select PS2 games available via the Playstation Store. That way Sony can sell us PS2 games that we already own a physical copy of.

1 up, 2 down

playSTATION
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 12:13:41 AM
Reply

been playing golden abyss the past two days. one word to describe it - SWEEEET.
got myself the first edition bundle, only disappointment is there is NO headset included. that wasn't expected

0 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 12:37:03 AM

Hopfully in the near future, Sony will be smart enough to add some kind of optional mini-dongle to their Stereo surround headset, just so that it can also be synched up to the Vita, just like it now does on my PS3.

1 up, 0 down

Fane1024
Monday, February 20, 2012 @ 4:19:28 AM

It does have a built-in mic, though, right?

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 12:35:43 AM
Reply

I'd put money on this being a contractual issue and it will take a month or two to get all the relevant contracts in place through all the regions.

2 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 12:55:17 AM

Highlander,
Man, I sure hope you're right, because it seems every time Sony speaks about the Vita, seems to be creating more negativity bit by bit as of late, towards it's own cause.

As of now so far, I'm still planning to pick up my pre-paid 8GB card Vita bundle next Tues/Weds.

2 up, 0 down

Cesar_ser_4
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 4:07:19 AM

seems like sony coulda taken care of that when they were working on the xperia play

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 10:53:42 AM

Cellphones are made by a different division.

Look at it this way. Vita can run PSP software in real time. PS1 classics running on a PSP are running entirely in software, so the Vita could run PS1 classics in the PS1 emulator inside the PSP emulation. It's almost certainly running PS1 classics in a native mode emulation though since that would be lot's lighter on the battery and CPU use. In other words the technology is not the issue. The Vita is a new platform, and releasing software to a new platform requires new licenses, and contracts and all that jazz.

0 up, 0 down

PAKINIPS
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 1:34:41 AM
Reply

I can play ps2 games on my iPhone

2 up, 0 down

___________
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 2:29:04 AM
Reply

pretty obvious there vita does not have enough power to run ps2 games let alone ps3 games!
i wish they would hurry the ^%$# up with the ps1 emulator though!
just keeping my PSP so i can play my ps1 games, once vita finally gets a psx emulator away goes the PSP!

0 up, 1 down

Highlander
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 3:42:43 AM

The thing can emulate a PSP in real time. The PSP can emulate a PS1 in real time. Therefore the poor man's solution would be to put the PSP version of the PS1 emulator on it. However I think it will be a native one.

That said, I don't think the problem here is the emulation. They already have the emulator working on Arm based devices. I think this is a contractual issue about distribution of PS1 games on another platform.

1 up, 0 down

___________
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 8:49:03 AM

whatever it is, i wish publishers would stop being so stringent with their licenses.
i wish we could see the loony tunes games up on the store but that will never happen because of licensing issues.
if the license was still being used then i could understand, but come on the last loony tunes game came out what 10 years ago?

Last edited by ___________ on 2/17/2012 8:49:25 AM

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 11:05:48 AM

Sometimes it's not the publisher's fault. If a game includes a licensed piece of music, they have to get that license contract extended as well, and if the 3rd party won't cooperate, there's no way past it. It depends on how the licensing of game assets created by third parties is done originally. But it's not always the publisher being strict, sometimes they are desperate to re-release something but are held hostage by a third party. Looney toons will all be licensed from WB, and there my be elements from other parties within the game. Even though it's just a re-release this can cause issues.

2 up, 0 down

___________
Saturday, February 18, 2012 @ 8:02:30 AM

i know your not understanding my point.
point is if the license is so old, why not just let things go?
everyone involved should just say stuff it and let the classic be brought to the store.
sure id be unclear who is owed what of the sales, but surely they can work out a deal.
if a music company owns a song in the game, then why not just pay them what the original deal was?
same game same contract.

0 up, 0 down

Ultimadream
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 5:04:01 AM
Reply

This is pretty bad news, THe main reason I got a PSP other than for Crisis Core was to play the PS1 games I love on the go. I was hoping the Vita would offer this experience for PS2 games at least. I know with theres the transfarring system with the Metal Gears so thats something but in all honesty, I still have yet to see selling point for the Vita over the original PSP.

1 up, 0 down

Highlander
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 12:48:37 PM

Just in case anyone sees the posts now that VB is gone, they look like we're replying to Ultimadream. Let me stress, we are not. There was another user, now banned, who's post we were replying to. Now they are banned and their offensive posts deleted, the comment system rearranged things as you see. Ultimadream is cool.

2 up, 0 down

Underdog15
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 12:08:18 PM

Would being a girl be a bad thing?

Also, they never said you could play PS3 games on VITA. You could always only ever do remote play. That was never changed or ... whatever bad you think happened.

EDIT: And damn, man... use the REPLY button!

Last edited by Underdog15 on 2/17/2012 12:14:27 PM

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 10:38:57 AM

Either that or your ability to be a bit of a jerk. Thinking about it for a nanosecond, I'm going with the later, not the former.

Last edited by Highlander on 2/17/2012 10:39:30 AM

1 up, 0 down

Underdog15
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 12:11:47 PM

I disagree Highlander. It's not his ability to be a jerk. It's his -IN-ability to be anything else. You could also bring up his inability for objectivism. His inability to address any major points raised through avoidance by simply saying "fangurllll". His inability to fathom reason. His inability to contribute...

It would be important to notice, Vallarta, there are plenty of people on this site that consistently disagree with Ben and are skeptical about Sony products and get into arguments with people.... yet, they are not banned, nor are they threatened with one.

The reason? Even if they are wrong, or dislike a Sony product, or disagree with Ben or other members... they at least provide well thought out responses.

You, however, do not. That's worth considering reform on your part.

1 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 12:26:41 PM

You're a child.

And you've violated the no flaming policy countless times. So yeah, get out.

1 up, 0 down

Serakek
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 10:58:35 AM
Reply

I'm not necessarily surprised by this, although the fact that the Vita won't play PSOne titles from day one is. The industry as a whole seems to be moving away from backwards compatibility.

@vallartaboy You're not going to get banned for not liking the Vita. From what I've seen of your posts, you don't really add to the discussion and just seem content to call other people names. This is why Ben is gonna ban your ass. By the way, Sony has never said it would play PS3 games. They have said that you could use Vita to remote play the PS3 games on your PS3.

2 up, 0 down

xnonsuchx
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 3:49:49 PM
Reply

Um..why would anyone think it could play PS3 games???

0 up, 0 down

Palpatations911
Saturday, February 18, 2012 @ 1:38:44 AM
Reply

I have two questions

1) What are our chances of getting some great remote play games? Everyone was salivating over remote playing Skyrim and Uncharted 3

2) If remote play does arrive, how long before we see it in an official firmware?

0 up, 0 down

Amnesiac
Saturday, February 18, 2012 @ 1:05:08 PM
Reply

Hi, I don't understand this comment:
"Sony has never said it would play PS3 games. They have said that you could use Vita to remote play the PS3 games on your PS3."

What does that mean exactly?
maybe I'm wrong here but why wouldn't I just use the PS3 to play games on the PS3 without the Vita?

I should mention I bought a PSPGo and spent weeks trying to get Remote Play to connect to my ps3 so I could play games at work and it never did so I opted instead with a portable PS1.
So I'm a little curious if the Vita is going to be able to connect using the Remote Play the way it was intended?

0 up, 0 down

Fane1024
Monday, February 20, 2012 @ 4:33:11 AM

They mean that the PS3 game is actually running "on your PS3", that is using the Cell and RSX rather than the Vita's CPU and GPU.

0 up, 0 down

Jonesy555
Saturday, February 18, 2012 @ 6:31:38 PM
Reply

I can't fathom why they won't make the PSV play PS2 games. Look at all the great games made for PS2 and you would instantly have the best library of games ever! And we all know this baby has the horsepower to handle it. Make it happen, Sony! NOW! I wanna replay San Andreas when I'm on the can!

1 up, 0 down

Fane1024
Monday, February 20, 2012 @ 4:23:36 AM

Neither PS3 nor PSV likely have enough power to emulate PS2 games, since most PS2 games use quirks of the hardware to improve performance, quirks which are difficult to reproduce via software emulation. Highlander could explain in more detail than I.

The PS2 downloads on the PSN utilize specific "containers" to allow them to run properly. This could also work on the PSV for some games.

Last edited by Fane1024 on 2/20/2012 4:26:45 AM

0 up, 0 down

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