One of our biggest gripes with Sony’s PlayStation Vita was (and continues to be) its ridiculously over-priced storage. Although the newer slim models have a built-in 1GB memory, the default Vita required a specifically designed card, ranging from 4GB to 64GB in size.
Half a decade after the handheld’s launch, these higher storage cards are still hard to get hold of. Although 64GB should be enough for all your gaming needs, you’d be hard pressed to find one for under £100 here in the UK and Europe.
One Vita hacker, Yifan Lu, is currently working on a solution. As some of you will remember, the original OLED screen models had built-in 3G, allowing Vita users to go online wherever, whenever. Lu has devised an adapter that replaces the 3G modem, allowing gamers to use a MicroSD card instead of Sony’s own range of cards. The immediate benefit here is the cheap cost of MicroSDs, prices starting from just a few quid.
Of course, there are caveats to this exploit. The adapter will only work on hacked 3G-capable Vita units running HENkaku, meaning those running on firmware 3.60. Installing the adapter also requires users to take apart their console and replace the modem manually. Although Lu is confident the adapter will work, it’s still in its prototype phase.
For more information, you can visit the project’s official Indiegogo campaign where it recently passed its initial funding goal.
TheShepanator
Interesting idea. I just hope sony don’t use propitiatory crap for their next rumoured handheld. (http://gametradersusa.com/rumor-sony-will-reveal-new-handheld-e3-2017/)
TSBonyman
New handheld? TSA bingo is going to be tricky this year! :)
ron_mcphatty
Whoah! Good rumour, I’m excited, and yep the bingo will be uber tricky! Can we play guess the name?
Avenger
A new handheld would make me laugh. Bless ’em, they have such short memories.
Tuffcub
Utter tosh.
ron_mcphatty
I had a go at using Henkaku on my PSTV to get around the pointless blocking of Wipeout and Uncharted. Very clever, but while the Vita machines can sync trophies and use multiplayer I think I’ll stick to genuine firmwares. Handy for storage though, even the tiny 4 and 8GB Vita cards are climbing in price on fleabay these days, you’d need a second mortgage for a 64GB one.
The Lone Steven
Wait, the Vita is 5 years old? It felt like it was older then that and it is deader then the Wii U. Annoyingly, once I sorted out a permanant job, I will want to get my hands on one due to Valkryia Chronicles and a few other portable tites but needing a memory card just to be able to do so? What. The. Hell. Sony.
I’m guessing Sony will issue a cease and desist soon before going back to pretending the Vita never happened along with pretending that the Move never failed and it was their plan all along to use the move for VR.
drd7of14
They, being SONY, totally dropped any development support for the system, and it seems to 3rd party partnerships as well. They just let whomever makes games for it now. That being said, it was never “deader th[a]n the Wii U.”
The PSV has sold more than that Wii U worldwide. And unlike that console that launched after the VITA, it still does get a decent amount of 3rd party support outside from SCE.
SONY had good intentions with the Proprietary memory cards, but they should have just opted for built in storage options if they were edging for security, even though I personally hate it.
People tend to gloss over the ridiculous prices for 32GB vs 64GB when it comes to iPhones. That’s $100 for 32GB. Crazy, even though the VITA’s pricing in that respect was for reasonable, but it still couldn’t compete with the mindshare of cheap microSD cards…Even though again, the quality of those cheap cards is deplorable and will likely just corrupt any content it receives, especially if it’s a slow card.
PlayStation had to standardize it, and I get that. But again…Should have just been built in if they were going to go that route…More secure, and less confusion for consumers. Maybe offer a MicroSD card slot as well, but not for games. Just music/video/pics/apps, and possibly PSP/PS1 games.
They could have done so much better to the handheld, but they made poor decisions…And it came out too close to the PS4’s launch to be Frank. But it certainly, regardless of all their mistreatment, is not dead.