Hardware Thinking of getting a PS Vita, complete noob on modding scene

[the_randomizer]

So, I never owned a Vita, I never had much interest in it during its life cycle, but after seeing Modern Vintage Gamer's recent video about modding it, and Tech Savvy Buyer's video on how to mod it (even downgrading it), I'm seeing it for a pretty decent homebrew/emulation machine. I do have a modded 3DS, but I haven't used it in months, the battery no longer holds a charge and replacing a 2DS XL battery is a royal PITA as it's not user friendly. That being said, I've seen Vita consoles sold for 120-150 refurbished, and most likely on the latest firmware. My question is, is this something I should consider getting? New systems are bloody expensive and I've only seen modded ones on eBay, no new ones, Gamestop is my best bet to get one cheap along with a memory card. That said, I have some questions

- How safe is it to mod it on latest firmware
- Is it safe to use Modoru to downgrade in order to make Henkaku permanent so I don't have to launch the app every time I boot it up?
- Is GBA/Snes (well, 8/16-bit emulation) good?
- I know Adrenaline allows for PSP emulation, I assume it does the same for native PSX emulation? I've been hearing both are excellent emulators.

Like, I don't want to fork out 120 bucks to end up with a paperweight if I screw something up.

This video here:


Seems to be very straightforward to modding the Vita, I don't know of any better tutorials but I want to hear what you guys think

 

[godreborn]

I wouldn't rely on a video tutorial. just use this: https://vita.hacks.guide/ it will walk you through downgrading.

 

[the_randomizer]

I wouldn't rely on a video tutorial. just use this: https://vita.hacks.guide/ it will walk you through downgrading.

As for the rest of the steps? The actual softmod installation portion of it? And would gamestop refurb be a good place to get it on the cheap? Sorry for the questions, just want to be sure I do this right, you know?

 

[godreborn]

afaik, every vita is hackable, but some can't install enso, because their base firmware is too high. I'm not sure of henkaku only, but the latest for enso (coldboot hacking method) is 3.65.

 

[the_randomizer]

afaik, every vita is hackable, but some can't install enso, because their base firmware is too high. I'm not sure of henkaku only, but the latest for enso (coldboot hacking method) is 3.65.

I wonder if it's worth the risk of downgrading, because the guides I see on that official site look way too convoluted and mindnumbing. The non-permanent one just requires I load an app after booting up, which isn't that much of a hassle, and frankly, sounds a helluva lot safer than downgrading. I'll check Gamestop as those seem to have the cheapest, I sure don't want to spend more than 150, downside is I have to get a Vita memory card *shudder* .

 

[godreborn]

there have been some bricks, but most of them seem to be associated with enso ex, which is for advanced users only.

 

[the_randomizer]

there have been some bricks, but most of them seem to be associated with enso ex, which is for advanced users only.

Yeah, I've seen that on some threads around here, I don't plan on doing that, I'd just do the basic semi-permanent CFW and call it good. Not much worse than the CFW on Wii U *shrug*, now the ultimate question is if the Vita is actually worth getting. I never had a PSP, but being able to play emulators (PSP and PSX games) is a big plus

 

[godreborn]

the psp has some great games as does the vita. I kinda prefer the vita's style than the 3ds, which is saying something as a nintendo fanboy. however, the 3ds has far more good games. a lot of vita games are on other systems, and sony pretty much gave up on it. hackers have kept it alive.

 

[the_randomizer]

the psp has some great games as does the vita. I kinda prefer the vita's style than the 3ds, which is saying something as a nintendo fanboy. however, the 3ds has far more good games. a lot of vita games are on other systems, and sony pretty much gave up on it. hackers have kept it alive.

Vita also plays Vita, has higher resolution, emulators run better than on 3DS (well, I think), and I can't be bothered to replace the 2DS XL battery which again, is a royal pain in the butt as far as I know. I'm a Nintendo fanboy too, but I want to give it a shot, but, maybe a regular PSP would be a better route, but Snes emulation on PSP is shoddy at best, same with other 16-bit systems

 

[godreborn]

never messed with emulators on the psp. I think I only have the turbo grafix hucard one and possibly an snes one. one thing I don't like about retroarch on the 3ds is installing the cores. I had read that the only way to play other cores is to install them, so that's like 30 or so cores taking up space for the 300 games that can be on the screen at once. I posted a question about that. that's how it was in the past. I believe you can install just the main core on the vita and not waste space on the livearea (the vita's equivalent of the xmb).

 

[the_randomizer]

never messed with emulators on the psp. I think I only have the turbo grafix hucard one and possibly an snes one. one thing I don't like about retroarch on the 3ds is installing the cores. I had read that the only way to play other cores is to install them, so that's like 30 or so cores taking up space for the 300 games that can be on the screen at once. I posted a question about that. that's how it was in the past. I believe you can install just the main core on the vita and not waste space on the livearea (the vita's equivalent of the xmb).

Okay that's cool, I'd only install a few cores at most, Snes, GBA/GB, etc. And then the PSP and PSX native emulators for those games, some media apps, nothing fancy

 

[godreborn]

I opted to turn my gameboy and gba games into vc versions for the 3ds, so I don't have any experience with emulators. I did have all the retroarch cores on there a while back as well as nds forwards for ds games (now I use twilight menu++). I did ask someone, possibly on here, about retroarch needing all of its cores to function completely. I think it's still needed. though, the only time I mess with retroarch is the nes and snes mini, just to get full screen.

adrenaline can play psx and psp games. you can even turn them into bubbles for quick access instead of going through adrenaline directly. in that case, I decided just to use adrenaline.

 

[the_randomizer]

I opted to turn my gameboy and gba games into vc versions for the 3ds, so I don't have any experience with emulators. I did have all the retroarch cores on there a while back as well as nds forwards for ds games (now I use twilight menu++). I did ask someone, possibly on here, about retroarch needing all of its cores to function completely. I think it's still needed. though, the only time I mess with retroarch is the nes and snes mini, just to get full screen.

adrenaline can play psx and psp games. you can even turn them into bubbles for quick access instead of going through adrenaline directly. in that case, I decided just to use adrenaline.

Hmm, that is weird about RetroArch, and I think there's a standalone Snes emulator, not 100% sure, I'll be sure to do research, and I don't know the diff between the 1000 and 2000 model

 

[godreborn]

yeah, the vita is pretty easy to hack, but it can seem daunting when trying to hack a new system. reading and doing research is definitely the way to go. I just read up on project lunar for the genesis mini. I watched the video without doing the instructions just so that I can a better understand as to what to do. the steps are very similar to nes/snes mini, just with a different program. it could be the last thing I hack in a long time.

 

[Xzi]

Got lucky recently and found an OG Vita for $50 on eBay right as the end of the auction was approaching. Hacking it and downgrading it were both very easy, just follow the guide on https://vita.hacks.guide/ one step at a time. Emulators seem easy enough once everything else is done, though like @godreborn I use it pretty much exclusively for Vita and PSP games. You'll definitely want an SD2Vita card, which can be found on Amazon and elsewhere for like $6. Official Vita memory cards are stupidly expensive.

 

[the_randomizer]

yeah, the vita is pretty easy to hack, but it can seem daunting when trying to hack a new system. reading and doing research is definitely the way to go. I just read up on project lunar for the genesis mini. I watched the video without doing the instructions just so that I can a better understand as to what to do. the steps are very similar to nes/snes mini, just with a different program. it could be the last thing I hack in a long time.

Already hacked my Genesis Mini, very easy to do, no issues for me The Vita seems a lot less convoluted than hacking a 3DS on the latest firmware (which at the time it was back in 2018)

Got lucky recently and found an OG Vita for $50 on eBay right as the end of the auction was approaching. Hacking it and downgrading it were both very easy, just follow the guide on https://vita.hacks.guide/ one step at a time. Emulators seem easy enough once everything else is done, though like @godreborn I use it pretty much exclusively for Vita and PSP games. You'll definitely want an SD2Vita card, which can be found on Amazon and elsewhere for like $6. Official Vita memory cards are stupidly expensive.

Are they reliable? Those SD2Vita cards? If so, I'll definitely get one, I've tried looking on eBay, no luck finding one that's not used that doesn't cost >$200, ugh. I'll check out Gamestop tomorrow as it's my day off from work and see what they have in stock. What's the diff between the 1000 and 2000 model, and don't OLED screens have a somewhat high chance of burn in?

 

[godreborn]

to think, sony was going to release a 128GB memory card. can you imagine how much that would've been? I think the 64GB is Japan only, so you have to consult ebay or something for it.

 

[the_randomizer]

to think, sony was going to release a 128GB memory card. can you imagine how much that would've been? I think the 64GB is Japan only, so you have to consult ebay or something for it.

Yeah, definitely going to get an adapter for sure, and since I never owned a PSP, there are a lot of games I want to play for sure, heh.

 

[godreborn]

I believe the 1000 has a proprietary charging port. it has internal memory, but that memory can't be used. they remedied both things with the slim 2000.

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they're fairly reliable, but pretty much anymore you have Chinese mass-produced cards for mere dollars or even pennies. I guess you get what you pay for. though, I've never had one fail. v3, which I have, bulges out of the console a little bit (only noticeable with the dust jacket closed. I've heard that latest version (5) has formatting problems. I don't own one, so I don't know if that's true. the thing about the v3 is that I didn't notice it didn't fit completely until someone told me. that's how inconspicuous it is. the same person told me about the formatting problems of version 5.

 

[Xzi]

Are they reliable? Those SD2Vita cards?

They seem to be, first one I bought worked fine. Of course, it's largely going to depend on which mSD you use, since SD2Vita is basically just a passthrough adapter for the game card slot.

What's the diff between the 1000 and 2000 model, and don't OLED screens have a somewhat high chance of burn in?

I didn't really research it before buying. The internet seems to like the OLED of the 1000 series better, and thankfully the Vita I bought was in great shape with no burn-in or other problems despite the base firmware being 1.01.