Sony teases 'Slim' announcement, Vita likely

Sony has teased a PlayStation announcement that will be the "slimmest," which likely means that the redesigned Vita announced in Japan last year is coming westward.

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The recently redesigned Vita would appear to be coming westward. An invitation from Sony teases some kind of slim-related announcement, and the Vita-2000 is the only one that has hit Japan but not the west.

A briefing meeting invite sent to IGN reads: "Following the biggest launch in PlayStation history, join us for an introduction to the slimmest." It's too early for a PlayStation 4 revision, and PlayStation 3 has been lost some weight twice already, so Vita seems like the prime candidate. The briefing is set to take place next Thursday, January 30.

The new model was announced for Japan in September and launched in October. It's 20% thinner and 15% lighter, boasted an extra hour of battery life, and included 1GB of built-in memory. It dropped the proprietary cable for Micro USB, and did away with the 3G option completely in favor of wi-fi only. The biggest change came to the screen, though, which swapped out the original OLED for an LCD screen. It was available in six colors in Japan.

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  • reply
    January 24, 2014 7:45 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Sony teases 'Slim' announcement, Vita likely.

    Sony has teased a PlayStation announcement that will be the "slimmest," which likely means that the redesigned Vita announced in Japan last year is coming westward.

    • reply
      January 24, 2014 8:03 AM

      probably referring to their 2014 Vita game lineup LMFAO!

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      January 24, 2014 8:24 AM

      Hopefully we'll also get some information about when PS Vita TV will be coming to the West as well. I really like Remote Play, but I'd rather just stream PS4 to the bedroom TV and use a DualShock3 or DualShock 4 controller when playing at home than mess with the Vita's awkward touch controls. I love my Vita, but when playing complex games that require precision like Battlefield 4, there's no substitute for a controller.

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      January 24, 2014 8:47 AM

      No OLED, no deal.

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        January 24, 2014 9:39 AM

        [deleted]

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          January 24, 2014 9:43 AM

          OLED has burn in?? I haven't noticed anything on my launch vita

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            January 24, 2014 12:48 PM

            I noticed most of the people who did used the internet browser a lot. The scroll bar on the right side definitely got burnt in. I think if people avoid using any single app too often they'll pretty much be in the clear.

            So I'm definitely thinking about grabbing an OLED model before they're phased out.

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      January 24, 2014 9:44 AM

      [deleted]

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      January 24, 2014 10:00 AM

      Does the Vita stream any kind of media from the PC? Have they done any custom firmware for it yet?

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        January 24, 2014 10:14 AM

        No. And I don't think so, but admittedly haven't gone looking.

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        January 24, 2014 10:31 AM

        Not that I'm aware of. Basically have to do PC - PS3 media server - Vita - remote PS3 connection.

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        January 27, 2014 7:59 AM

        Yes, music can be streamed over wifi if on the same network (or vpn I suppose), but only while the music app is open and only as long as the music is inside of the content manager music folder.
        Not sure about video, it might work the same as music, but I'm going to default to assuming no.

        And not that I know of, though I believe there were proof-of-concept psp-side homebrew loading.

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      January 26, 2014 10:07 PM

      Vita is a weird machine. It really only has Tearaway that is worth a purchase for me.

      I will have to check on this a few years down the line when the original Vita can be got used for about 50€. Not kind of ready to drop a lot of money on a console just to play one game.

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