Pros & Cons
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- Inexpensive for imported electronics.
- Amazingly small.
- Can play some card-based North American games like Persona 4 Golden.
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- Nonexistent support outside of Japan.
- Can only access Japanese PS Store.
- Won't let you access your North American PS Store purchases or PS Plus membership.
Sony PS Vita TV (Japan import) Specs
| Product Category | Game Systems |
| Product Price Type | Street |
When Sony announced the PS Vita TV, it arguably got more attention than the PlayStation Vita itself. Forget having a $200 handheld gaming system; a $99 (approximately, in yen) micro-console that can play Vita, PlayStation Portable, and PSOne Classic games on an HDTV? Brilliant! While the PlayStation 4 competes with the Xbox One and the Vita withers against the Nintendo 3DS, the Vita TV can encroach on the small but growing microconsole space occupied by the Ouya, and with the Vita's media apps it could eat into the Roku and Apple TV markets to boot!
Sony still hasn't announced the PS Vita TV for North America yet. I don't know why. Most of my gamer friends, including Vita owners, have expressed more interest in the Vita TV than the PlayStation 4. It's small, inexpensive, and has a massive retro library thanks to the PSN store and the great ports on the Vita and PlayStation Portable. Add free games with a PlayStation Plus membership and you have a small, gamer-friendly console for a price that undercuts both the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS. We might see a North American Vita TV announcement at E3 this summer, but that's a big maybe. Until then, your only option is to import it.
View All So that's what we did. We purchased a PS Vita TV Value Pack at the import mark-up price of $159.99 from VideoGamesNewYork in Manhattan, and it's as impressive as it is infuriating. Even at an import price that can reach up to $200 on eBay (and over $200 if you want the must-have Value Pack version), it's a downright bargain compared to any current-generation system, and even squeaks under the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in price. Unfortunately, it's also incredibly limited by Sony, despite claims that it's region-free.
Tiny System
The PS Vita TV's small size will surprise you. I can guarantee that. The tiny white box is smaller than many SD card readers I've used. It's smaller than most USB hubs, never mind a Roku or Apple TV. It's a 4.2-by-2.6-inch rectangle that measures just a hair over half an inch thick. It's about the size of the PlayStation Vita's screen, is thinner than the handheld system, and is downright dwarfed by the DualShock 3 controller you use with it. This doesn't leave much room for ports or displays, so it only has a small white power LED on the front and single HDMI, USB, Ethernet, and power ports on the back, between a Vita memory card slot and a Power/Standby button. The right edge holds the Vita game card slot behind a rubber door.