PlayStation Vita emulators
| |
| Original model of the PS Vita (PCH-1000) | |
| Developer | Sony Computer Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Sony Electronics |
| Type | Handheld video game console |
| Generation | Eighth |
| Release date | JP: December 17, 2011 NA: February 15, 2012 EU: February 22, 2012 |
| Discontinued | WW: March 1, 2019 |
| Predecessor | PlayStation Portable |
| Emulated | ✓ |
- For emulators that run on the PlayStation Vita, see Emulators on PlayStation Vita.
The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is an eighth-generation handheld game console by Sony Interactive Entertainment, released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America on February 15, 2012, and retailed for $249 ($349 in 2026). It had a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore at 333 MHz (Boosted to 499 MHz when overclocked) with one of its cores reserved for the OS, 512 MB of RAM, 128 MB of VRAM, a quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4+ GPU, which can push 133 million polygons onto the screen every second at a clock speed of 166 MHz, and a custom sound and image processor called Venezia. It also features most of the PSP hardware, but it has been officially used only for backwards compatibility purposes.
Emulators
[edit | edit source]| Name | Platform(s) | Latest Version | Active | License | Compatibility | PlayStation TV | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC | |||||||
| Vita3K |      
|
git | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | Official releases: 62.45% 1287 out of 2061 reported titles Homebrew: 57.14% 144 out of 252 reported titles |
✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile | |||||||
| Vita3K | 
|
git | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ? | ✓ | ✓ |
- Vita3K
- Vita3K, an open-source PS Vita emulator, has seen significant advancements in recent years, particularly in game compatibility. It is the best and only emulator for PC and Android currently.
The RPCS3 developers once considered adding PS Vita emulation support, going as far as displaying a simple 'Hello world' and a basic atomic test sample.[1] However, Vita development was completely halted since then and focused exclusively on PS3 emulation down to the website's branding. A Patreon post admitting as much asked users whether they're still interested in Vita emulation. Significant further developments on Vita coming from RPCS3 aren't very likely considering the general lack of developer interest, and those like frangarcj, who went on to join Vita3K. The RPCS3 project has since removed Vita support from the codebase.[2]
Enhancements
[edit | edit source]| Name | Vita3K | |
|---|---|---|
| Controls | Input lag mitigating | ✗ |
| Mouse injector | ✗ | |
| Turbo button | ? | |
| Graphics | Pre-rendering anti-aliasing (MSAA, SSAA) |
✗ |
| Ray tracing (DXR, VRT and MRT) |
Implementing ray tracing in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be possible soon. However, you can try "Screen-Space Ray Traced Global Illumination" shader using ReShade. | |
| Resizable internal resolution | ✓ | |
| RTX Remix | Implementing RTX Remix technology in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future. | |
| Super-resolution techniques (DLSS, XeSS and FSR 2+) |
Requires access to the depth buffer and temporal data like motion-vectors, so it is quite challenging and unlikely to be possible soon. Besides any GPU that can use DLSS can run Vita3K at 4k native with ease anyway. | |
| Texture replacement | ✓ | |
| Ultra-widescreen hack Widescreen already supported on PS Vita system. But there is no support by system for render games in other ratios such as 16:10, 21:9, or 32:9. |
✗ | |
| Performance | Frame generation technologies (LSFG, DLSS-FG and SM, XeSS-FG, AFMF and FSR FG) |
Implementing frame generation technology in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future, however post-processing techniques such as motion interpolation is quite possible. Input latency will be a crucial factor, but its impact likely varies depending on the specific technique used, it is recommended to use after applying the "Internal Framerate Hack". While AFMF or  LSFG could be used with Vita3K, please be aware that some visual glitches and artifacts may occur at this time.
|
| Internal frame rate hack | ✓ | |
| Overclock | ✗ | |
| Preload ROM image to RAM For users with sluggish multi-platter HDDs or plagued by horrible seek times, this enhancement might offer smoother experience, potentially reduced power consumption; it also shines when images reside on a network drive. Although keep in mind that preloading image would take some time, and it will require additional amount of RAM capacity. |
✗ | |
| Rendering latency reduction technologies (LatencyFleX, Reflex, Xe-LL and Anti-Lag+)
|
While most emulators offer frame pacing or framebuffer latency control options, implementing rendering latency reduction technologies isn't currently feasible. This is likely doesn't offer enough benefits to justify the development effort. | |
| Post-processing | AI-powered filter (Freestyle) |
? |
| Filters | ✗ | |
| Inverse tone mapping compatible | ✓ | |
| Post-rendering anti-aliasing (FXAA, TXAA and MLAA/SMAA) |
✓ | |
| Post-rendering scaling (Sharp bilinear, Lanczos and FSR 1) |
✓ | |
| Shader chain | ✗ | |
| Quality of life | Automatic updater | ✓ |
| Big Picture Mode | ✗ | |
| Built-in cheat manager | ✗ | |
| Built-in mod editor and manager | ✗ | |
| Built-in patch manager | ? | |
| Built-in save manager | ? | |
| Command-line options | ? | |
| Pause/Resume emulation | ? | |
| Per-game profiles | ? | |
| Portable and stealth Useful enhancement feature for non-personal computer use or plug-and-play scenarios. However, the software may still require the necessary prerequisites and dependencies for your operating system if it is not statically linked. |
✓ | |
| Streamable compression format | ✗ | |
| Variable refresh rate compatible | ? | |
| TAS features | Fast forward/Turbo speed | ✗ |
| Macros/Scripts/Lua | ✗ | |
| Movie recording/playback | ✗ | |
| Rewind | ✗ | |
| Save states | ✗ | |
| Misc. | Debug features | ✗ |
| EmuVR support | Exclusive to libretro cores. So there is no support at the moment. | |
| File browser Lets the user look at the ROM's internal files. |
✗ | |
| RetroAchievements | ✗ | |
| Rich Presence (RPC) Allows the emulator to share real-time game session details (e.g., current game title, level, boss, playtime, or custom status) with external applications. This enables features such as displaying what you're playing on your profile, inviting friends to spectate, or triggering join-in-progress functionality where supported. |
✓ | |
| Screen translator Using optical character recognition (OCR) and other techniques, this feature can provide live translation of in-game text, text-to-speech for visually impaired users, and more — either on demand or automatically. |
You can use RetroArch's AI Service or the standalone offline bquenin's Interpreter. | |
Hardware features and peripherals
[edit | edit source]| Name | Vita3K | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware features | Connectivity | 3G | ✗ | |
| Bluetooth | ✗ | |||
| PlayStation 3 connectivity | ✗ | |||
| PlayStation 4 connectivity | ✗ | |||
| Wi-Fi | Ad hoc | WIP | ||
| Infrastructure | ✗ | |||
| PlayStation Network | ~ | |||
| Input | Compass | ✗ | ||
| Microphone | ✗ | |||
| Motion sensor | ✗ | |||
| Multi-touch | ~[lower-alpha 1] | |||
| Rear touch pad | ✗ | |||
| Touchscreen | ✓ | |||
| Rear and front cameras | ✗ | |||
| System software | LiveArea and apps | ~ | ||
| PlayStation emulation PlayStation backwards compatibility (PS1 emulator for Vita). PSOne Classics Not to be confused with the PlayStation Classic dedicated console. |
✗ | |||
| PlayStation Mobile | ✗ | |||
| PlayStation Portable emulation | ✗ | |||
| PocketStation emulation | ✗ | |||
| Trophies | WIP | |||
| Peripherals | Disney Infinity Base | ✗ | ||
| Misc. | Battery | ? | ||
| Power indicator | ✗ | |||
- ↑ There is no multi-touch feature support for PC currently. Steam Deck supports this feature, but it has issues at the moment. Multi-touch feature was implemented with this pull request.
LiveArea and apps
[edit | edit source]LiveArea is a graphical user interface developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. You can launch various applications from this interface as well.
- Vita3K has pull request for this feature at the moment, although it currently doesn't show installed games, only system apps.
Trophies
[edit | edit source]Trophies are PlayStation Network awards presented to players for completing specific tasks in a game. The feature is present in most PlayStation 3 games, and all PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games. Trophies shouldn't be confused with RetroAchievements.
- Vita3K has partial support for Trophies at the moment. See SceNpTrophy.cpp for the current situation. Also, Vita3K has built-in manager for Trophies (Using Vita3K GUI-Trophy Collection application).
Communication
[edit | edit source]Similarly to PSP connection features, PSVita hardware supports;
- Ad-Hoc
Thanks to Ad-Hoc feature on Sony handheld devices, it is possible to play on the same network and local multiplayer over the internet with programs like XLink Kai, also see LAN Tunneling programs for more information.
- Vita3K has pull request for this, which will also helps XLink Kai support. See XLink Kai Vita3k PS Vita Tutorial.
- Infrastructure
Thanks to Infrastructure feature on Sony handheld devices, it is possible to play online multiplayer using private servers on the internet.
- PlayStation Network
See PlayStation Network page for information about PSVita↔PSN connection.
- PS3 communication
Remote play (via the PS3 system's wireless LAN), copying games to play on a PSVita system that can be played on either PS3 or PSVita systems etc.[3][4]
- PS4 Communication
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PlayStation TV
[edit | edit source]
| |
| Developer | Sony |
|---|---|
| Type | Microconsole |
| Generation | Eighth generation |
| Release date | November 2013 (Japan) October 2014 (North America) |
| Discontinued | 2016 |
| Emulated | ✓ |
The PlayStation TV (PSTV) was a microconsole released by Sony in 2013 that essentially served as a home console version of the PlayStation Vita handheld gaming device. It allowed users to play a large library of PlayStation Vita games on their TVs. In addition to playing Vita games, the PlayStation TV offered remote play functionality, enabling users to stream games from their PS4 consoles to their TVs. While the PlayStation TV was initially marketed as a companion device to the Vita, it was discontinued in 2016.
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ PS Vita emulation progress. emunewz (2014-11-02)
- ↑ Remove Vita emulation (Nekotekina). GitHub (2018-02-09)
- ↑ PS3 Remote Play with PSVita
- ↑ Connect PS Vita System Using Network
External links
[edit | edit source]- PS Vita Dev Wiki
- Wiki for homebrew development on PS Vita (Official site)
- Development tools for PS Vita development (APIs)
- PSVita Reverse Engineering Tools (Solely used to aid in homebrew / plugins / hacks development)
