When the PlayStation Vita (PS Vita), successor to the PlayStation Portable (PSP), was released worldwide in early 2012 at a price of 299 dollars, it wasn’t quite the headshot Sony Computer Entertainment had been aiming for.

Although consumers and critics alike were delighted by the powerful hardware and impressive build quality, they weren’t as pleased by the lack of ‘killer apps’, with Uncharted: Golden Abyss the only worthwhile PS Vita title on offer. Even less impressive were the device’s hidden costs, which for most buyers proved to be a deal breaker.

An expensive launch

At the launch, Golden Abyss was selling for 50 dollars, which was considered pricey for a handheld game. Worse still were the PS Vita memory cards, which were not only completely different from the Universal Media Discs (UMDs) used by the PSP, but at 100 dollars for a 32GB card, were sold at twice the price of standard memory cards such as the SD card. Here, many pointed the finger at Sony for needlessly introducing new memory cards yet again for a new console in order to maximise revenue.

Ultimately, these factors resulted in the PS Vita requiring an entry fee of around 400 dollars, which proved to be too high for consumers, especially with strong competition from Nintendo’s 3DS handheld console as well as the dominating smartphone games market. In spite of the poor sales, however, it was widely agreed that the portable console from Sony carried enormous potential.

Fast forward two years, and thanks to price cuts, a large growing library of affordable yet high quality games, an evolution of the Sony PlayStation ecosystem, and exciting PS Vita projects in the pipeline, the PlayStation Vita has transformed into a must have device for the gamer on the go. Certainly, the recent sales figures are in its favour. With the launch of the PS4, sales for the PS Vita increased by nearly 70 per cent in the UK, where the Sony handheld outsold Nintendo’s flagship home console, the Wii U.

PS Vita shopping guide for Pakistan

In Pakistan, a country where sales of such devices are lagging due to the ever devaluing rupee, the PS Vita has sold quite poorly. Khurram, who operates a successful videogame store in Saddar, Karachi explains, “Very few people come asking for the Vita. I’d say we sell one unit per month. Recently sales have improved, though.”

Going by such statements, one would think that the Sony handheld console currently isn’t a very good buy in Pakistan. Now, you might think that I’m crazy, but I think that 2014 is the right time to buy a PS Vita, especially if you happen to be living in Pakistan! Here are three steps you should follow as a Pakistani PS Vita shopper:

a) Buy the console and memory card locally, as you are likely to find lower than international prices, and purchase as big a memory card as you can afford, preferably 32GB, although 16GB will also suffice. After the August 2013 price drop, the international price for the PS Vita stands at 199 dollars, while the price of the PS Vita 32GB memory card is 80 dollars. In Pakistan however, the price of a brand new and sealed Vita is only 19,000 rupees, while the price of an original sealed 32GB Vita memory card stands at 7,500 rupees.

Why are the prices lower in Pakistan than they are overseas? Well, because the PS Vita is selling as slow as one unit per month in Karachi’s most popular gaming stores, the prices haven’t reflected the further devaluation of the Pakistani rupee, since these handheld consoles were imported in August 2013 when the international price officially dropped.

In my hunt for a PlayStation Vita in Karachi, I found most stores carrying half a dozen brand new Vitas in their inventory, sporting prices from a time when our currency was stronger. If you would like to test drive your PS Vita before shelling out cash, use the Welcome Park application on their home page, which will also allow you to ensure that the console’s rear touchpad is in working order.

I would also strongly advise investing in a screen protector to avoid scratches.

b) In most circumstances you should avoid buying any game locally, because unlike the hardware, PS Vita games in Pakistan are priced significantly higher than international rates. You should also avoid PS Vita packages which are factory bundled with games, as these tend to be overpriced. Yes, as ridiculous as it may feel, return home from the store only with your PS Vita and the memory card for now.

Now that you have your shiny new console and memory card, it’s time to acquire some games, and at a significantly lower cost than the market! Just make sure you have an available Wi-Fi connection and a credit card.

In what is an amazing deal, members of PlayStation Plus on the PlayStation Network are provided free games every month, as well as monthly discounts for their respective Sony gaming consoles.

For PS Vita owners, the PlayStation Plus membership immediately provides gamers with ‘Your Instant Game Collection’, which is a free download, and offers Uncharted Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, and WipEout 2048, amongst others. These three games are sold at an average of 4,500 rupees each in the local market, but can be availed through a PS+ membership which costs 50 dollars a year, 18 dollars every three months, or 10 dollars a month. The PlayStation Plus membership also provides quality games at discounted prices quite regularly.

In order to buy games on the PlayStation Network, you must register a free account on PSN USA, PSN Europe, or PSN Asia. I recommend PSN USA, because it provides the best deals and the lowest prices. Creating an account on PSN USA isn’t limited to your location, so you can safely create one from Pakistan by simply choosing USA as your location. Although you can’t add funds to your PlayStation Network USA account from a Pakistani credit card, you can use websites to safely buy funds for your PlayStation Network account. My personal recommendation is www.pcgamesupply.com, a website that I have safely used over the years to add funds to my PSN account using a Pakistani credit card.

Hands on the Vita

Fresh out of the box, the first impression of the PS Vita is absolute glee at how sexy it looks with its metallic finish and quality build. The device only grows more aesthetically appealing when turned on.

Earning the PS Vita its sex appeal is the 5-inch OLED touch capacitive screen, which sports a resolution of 960×540, and provides a handheld gaming experience unrivalled by smartphones or consoles, even two years after launch. Playing a game, watching a movie, or simply looking at images is a stunning experience because of the gorgeous screen.

The device is powered by 512MB of RAM and a 4-core ARM processor, which lends it enough strength to render games nearing the visual fidelity of its console sister, the PlayStation 3 – quite an achievement. In terms of battery life, I found myself playing for nearly five hours before the Vita required a recharge.

Thankfully, the sluggish nature of Vita’s GUI has been improved upon since its launch. Today, the Vita’s interface and loading times are as smooth as butter, and the handheld is a pleasure to navigate via its highly responsive touchscreen. The device also carries a rear touchpad, which when applied correctly in applications proves to be more than a novelty. The PS Vita also sports two analogue sticks, a D-pad, motion sensing, an electronic compass, and twelve buttons located at positions similar to the PlayStation controller.

The Vita positions itself as a hardcore gaming device, and doesn’t try to replace smartphones. The social media and email applications I found on it were merely average, and it is a pity that the handheld console doesn’t give me more reasons not to switch constantly back to my smartphones. Sony has improved the PS Vita on the software front tremendously, so there is still hope that they can add Android style applications to their portable gaming console, considering the success they have had on their Xperia Play devices.

If the tremendous library of gaming gems wasn’t enough, the PS Vita has more treats on offer. The portable device is the star of the Remote Play feature, which allows your PlayStation 3 or your PlayStation 4 to transmit audio and video to the PS Vita, so that you can continue your game on your handheld, while your grumpy family can finally get some television time. The feature works at a decent range, too.

The most exciting feature for the PS Vita is the recently announced PlayStation Now videogame streaming service, which has set the internet on fire. The paid service will allow gamers to stream PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and possibly even PlayStation 4 games on to other devices, including the PS Vita. Yes, after a murky beginning, it seems that the Sony handheld may have the chance to see a bright future.