In their pre-TGS conference last week, Sony announced, amongst other things, a substitute for those who want to play Vita games on their TV, without the portability, at a much cheaper price, the PlayStation Vita TV.
The Vita TV is a micro-TV based tiny console box with the internal circuitry of the Vita — so naturally, you can plug it into your television, and with a DualShock controller, enjoy playing on the big screen. It’s tiny, at about 6x10 cm, can be kept anywhere and you can even carry it pretty easily if need be.
What’s more is that the Vita TV has been designed for not only the PlayStation 3, but also the upcoming next-gen contender, the PS4, as well. This means that you’ll also be able to hook up your Vita TV and PS4 via Remote Play (albeit with Dualshock 4), and use memory cards and video streaming services like Hulu and Netflix to enjoy a partial streaming box kind of service. Interestingly, the library of PSOne classics and PSP games available for the Vita is also at hand for this device.
At its price point ($95, or about `6,111), the Vita TV is a confusing product — but it can find a place in the hearts of those who’ve wanted to play some of the more nuanced Vita titles, without breaking the bank, and don’t care for portability. It remains to be seen how big that market is, as of now, and whether this move can save the handheld console.