Sony PlayStation Vita (Pre-owned) $120 or Less + Free shipping

Quote from proppat : I disagree, it was the price, initial lack of quality games, expensive Sony memory sticks, and the terrible UMD format that killed the PSP. The only thing they fixed with the Vita was the game format. Sony's stubborn like that. You could fit a hundred games on an SD card and play them on the DS and it's basically the most successful game system of all time. Don't get me wrong, I have a Vita and love it, but Sony doesn't seem to learn from their mistakes very often. Here's hoping they finally wised up with the PS4, because they really screwed themselves over on the PSP, PS3, and now Vita. It's almost like they don't want to succeed.

Most people who played the ds though weren't tech savy enough to use an R4. The majority of psp owners were much more tech savy. So the hardware sold but the games didn't. Developers see the psp as a dead console in America. In Japan they still make brand new psp games even today.

I'm ashamed to say I am also to blame for this. Rampent piracy on the PSP in America is the main reason IMO that Final Fantasy type 0 and Valkyria Chronicles 3 didn't get a release here.

Quote from webculb : Actually it kinda does. There is a way to run them using the Uno game I believe. I hope they never fully find a way to hack these though because that's what killed the psp.

The software update took care of this.

Retro City Rampage actually had more sales for the Vita than Xbox or PS3 so it does show some promise for digital developers.

I love the PSP. So many good games, and I can run just about every system before it through emulation.

Quote from wizard7926 : I feel the issue with the cards is that once you make a cheap card for a hackable system (ie generic Memory Sticks and the PSP), more and more people start to get their hands on it to try hacking it. Sony could have easily priced the cards lower but wanted to try as hard as they could to keep the Vita out of pirates' hands. They made it a high-end console but it's not selling like one, and that hurt them. But don't expect them to ever come out with cheaper cards. They really screwed themselves over on the PS3? How? Yeah, it started too expensive and cut out OtherOS, but.. where else? It's been the highest-selling console the past two years, outsold 360 worldwide for four years, and leads the 360 in install base in every demographic except North America. I don't really see how that's a failure.

Sony has just recently shipped more PS3s than Microsoft has actually sold 360s. By all means, Sony should have dominated this generation but they're still struggling against the 360. This was 100% because of their launch price. The poor Vita adoption has been a combination of launch price and memory card price. Even the poor PSP sales can be attributed to high price. Nintendo made the same flub with the 3DS and quickly fixed it. The issue is that Sony doesn't fix it, they just ride it out.

Sony loves packing their consoles with features that no one really asks for. Had Sony gone the DVD route instead of the Blu-Ray route, used a more reasonable processor, and matched the 360s price, Sony would have basically shut the 360 out in all markets. The failure is that it's only matched installed units of the 360 when, by all means, they should have dominated the market.

Microsoft has xbox live though, I pay 30$ a year and feel like I am getting a good deal. I pay nothing for psn and feel like I am getting ripped off.

Quote from proppat : Sony loves packing their consoles with features that no one really asks for. Had Sony gone the DVD route instead of the Blu-Ray route, used a more reasonable processor, and matched the 360s price, Sony would have basically shut the 360 out in all markets. The failure is that it's only matched installed units of the 360 when, by all means, they should have dominated the market.

That's the thing, though - Sony is REALLY good at future-proofing their devices. They went all-in on Blu-Ray, and they won that battle. In fact, at one point it was one of the most affordable and updateable BR player for sale. Just as they backed DVD with the PS2, they succeed in anticipating where the market will go in terms of technology. To say they should have gone the DVD route for their games is just silly. Absolutely silly.

Blu-Ray, HDMI, gigabit ethernet.. none of these things were on the 360 at the time. Sony doesn't let the PS brand pander down to what other companies are putting out just to compete on price; they put out the best product they can put out and let the consumer decide. It sucks when they fail, but at least they don't put out an inferior product just to get it out the door cheaper or quicker.

It's also matched 360 installed units with a year's headstart to make up.

Quote from jbrns7 : The software update took care of this. Retro City Rampage actually had more sales for the Vita than Xbox or PS3 so it does show some promise for digital developers. I love the PSP. So many good games, and I can run just about every system before it through emulation.

That's because retro city rampage has cross buy between ps3 and vita. So it was cheaper than the other systems. Great game btw.

Quote from MotorolaX : Microsoft has xbox live though, I pay 30$ a year and feel like I am getting a good deal. I pay nothing for psn and feel like I am getting ripped off.

$30 a year is an extra game a year, seems quite silly to pay for a service that just subsidizes the cost of your hardware. It's as silly as buying a cell phone on-contract.

As others have said, the Vita does have some amazing games. Persona 4 Golden has gotten me back into JRPGs and is a super-deep and long game. I've 50 hours in and about half way through. It's been engaging the whole time.

Gravity Rush, Retro City Rampage, and Super Crate Box are some other awesome games. MLB the Show is a great baseball game for the Vita, but Madden is a huge disappointment and could have used optimization. Uncharted is also pretty great, and the PS+ subscription really makes the Vita shine.

I'm primarily an XBox/PC gamer, but the PS+ subscription has had me playing my Vita and PS3 more lately. Hoping for some cool things with the PS4!

I bought one of these last Friday for $129.99. It was complete (even included the manual) and rated a 6. Since it had not shipped yet, I contacted Cowboom this morning to see if they would offer a $10 price adjustment to account for the new lower price. Because it was a 6 I had ordered, which are no longer available, I didn't want to cancel and re-order. They offered me a $10 coupon valid for 30 days. Since they actually have a $10 item I've been intending to order from them anyway, I was satisfied with that resolution.

UPDATE: Apparently Cowboom changed their minds, because I just got an email telling me they will be issuing me a credit instead of the coupon. Works for me!

Been tempted to buy one but wont on principle because of the high memory Prices

Quote from wizard7926 : I feel the issue with the cards is that once you make a cheap card for a hackable system (ie generic Memory Sticks and the PSP), more and more people start to get their hands on it to try hacking it. Sony could have easily priced the cards lower but wanted to try as hard as they could to keep the Vita out of pirates' hands. They made it a high-end console but it's not selling like one, and that hurt them. But don't expect them to ever come out with cheaper cards. They really screwed themselves over on the PS3? How? Yeah, it started too expensive and cut out OtherOS, but.. where else? It's been the highest-selling console the past two years, outsold 360 worldwide for four years, and leads the 360 in install base in every demographic except North America. I don't really see how that's a failure.

Lol don't kid yourself, Sony using proprietary cards has nothing to do with piracy but everything to do with trying to push their own proprietary formats. Sony has a long history of doing this and that didn't change with the Vita. Sure, the cards may be more expensive but nowhere expensive enough to keep them out of the hands of most pirates.

Quote from wizard7926 : Nope. You mean the one thing that killed off the original PSP? ...

I definitely would not say that homebrew/emulation killed the PSP. I know many people who purchased a PSP just for those purposes that never would have purchased one otherwise. What killed the PSP was the lack of quality games and I'm pretty sure, unless things make a major turn-around soon, that will be what also kills the Vita.

Quote from DrRad : $30 a year is an extra game a year, seems quite silly to pay for a service that just subsidizes the cost of your hardware. It's as silly as buying a cell phone on-contract.

360 also has way better servers, and doesn't take years for things to download.

If it wasn't for the fact that i got a 32 gb mem card for 10 bucks plus all first party games for 10 each, i wouldnt have picked one up .. but i enjoy it. I like the fact that if you power the screen down you can instantly start your game from where you left off .. great for when you only have 5 to 10 minutes to play here and there.