The PS Vita was designed to combine a smartphone’s multimedia capabilities with the no-boundaries fun of handheld console gaming. It didn’t do very well commercially, estimated to have sold some 15 million units compared to the 3DS which sold over 75 million. However, the PS Vita is a much more powerful handheld than the Nintendo 3DS.
With all this power, does PS Vita run 60 FPS? It depends on the game, but most are capped at 30 FPS in the interest of preserving battery life and increased visual fidelity. Fighting games and platformers usually run at 60 FPS, because quick reaction times and smooth animations are crucial in such games.
With its quad-core ARM Cortex A9 chip, the Vita was equivalent in power to a flagship Android smartphone of its time. However, it was equipped with a 2210mAh Li-ion battery. While this was quite large by 2012 standards, it wasn’t enough to support more than three to five hours of gaming.
Does PS Vita Run 60 FPS?
Yes, but only in certain games. On a PS Vita, users cannot change framerate limits by themselves. It is something that the developer implements from their end, based on performance and gameplay testing.
If you talk about shooters and racing games, most of those are capped at 30. That’s because visual fidelity is a priority in AAA games, and the Vita isn’t a full-size console with no power restrictions. But fighting games like Street Fighter, Tekken, Injustice, Guilty Gear, etc. are all designed to run at 60 FPS.
They don’t have giant levels, with lots of characters on-screen at any given time. Usually, it’s two fighters on a stage with a background. Plus, 60FPS helps a lot in fighting games because you can react faster.
Does PS3 Run At 60 FPS?
While the PS3 is a much more powerful console than the Vita, it still runs most of its games at a locked 30 FPS. Once again, this comes down to console developers prioritizing eye candy over gameplay. Because consoles cater to a very wide range of gamers- and this includes the people who have kids and a job.
And most casual gamers aren’t too particular about ensuring their games run at 60FPS. This was even less of a priority back in the early 2000s and 2010s when the PS3 and Xbox 360 were the two major consoles. If you look at the types of games released on the PS3, it’s mostly AAA action-adventure stuff or open-world games such as GTA.
With games like these, you need to process a ton of polygons, lighting effects, shaders, etc. Because the worlds are massive and there are a lot of objects on the screen. This puts immense pressure on the CPU and GPU, so developers have to choose between 60FPS or worse visuals.
On a PC, you are given the choice. You can manipulate individual settings based on the game, and your preferences. But consoles need to come with one preset that works for the majority of people.
How To Get More FPS On PS Vita?
You can’t unless you’re running Vita games via emulation. On an unhacked Vita, you can’t even see the FPS in real time. So you have no way of knowing if the game is running at a locked 30 or 60 (framerate dips will still be noticeable).
There are some settings you can tweak in the emulator if you want to get more FPS from your Vita games. Like anti-aliasing and shadows. If you want more FPS from Minecraft on Vita, you can turn off fog and cloud rendering.
Other than turning off graphical options in games that allow you to turn them off, there is no way to get more FPS from your Vita. You can check out fan communities and forums to find Vita games that run at 60 FPS (here’s a Reddit post).
Is PS Vita Stronger Than PS3?
No, it isn’t. The Vita is a handheld console powered by a quad-core ARM SoC from 2011. The base architecture for this CPU was designed in 2007.
In contrast, the PS3 has a much older processor (designed in 2005). However, the PS3’s Cell is a proper high-power chip that runs faster and has more cores. The PS3’s RSX GPU is significantly more powerful than the PS Vita’s PowerVR SGX543MP4 (400 GLOPS vs 38.4 GFLOPs, single precision).
If that wasn’t enough, the PS Vita can’t even run its SoC at the theoretical maximum clocks for more than a few seconds. Otherwise, it will overheat. And the battery life will become even worse.
Does PS Vita Have Better Graphics Than PSP?
Yes, but that is a given. Since the Vita is a next-gen handheld compared to the PSP, which was initially released in 2004. The Vita has significantly more processing power and memory, combined with a superior display resolution which makes everything look better.
Is PS Vita OLED Better?
The initial PS Vita (PCH-1000) was equipped with an OLED display. A later version, called the PS Vita Slim, ditched this OLED panel in favor of a regular LCD (same resolution). However, the LCD cannot recreate the perfect blacks and deep contrast levels of the OLED panel (the PS Vita Slim is also cheaper than the fat model).
Conclusion
If you’re looking to buy a handheld that can consistently do 60FPS in every game, just get a PC. Because no handheld console today can promise a solid 60 in every game. Not even the Switch.
Developers on consoles will always favor graphics and battery life over smoothness. Even if the console is capable of outputting 60FPS, they would much rather have it run a few hours longer. Or, you could get yourself a Steam Deck and decide how you want to play your games.