Producing an accurate list of what does and doesn’t work on the PlayStationTV is a time consuming task. The official list provided to gamers by Sony Computer Entertainment on both the American and European blogs is woefully inadequate. Not only is it missing a large number of compatible titles, but it has seen little in the way of updates since first being published last year, makes no reference to PlayStation Mobile (just as the console’s packaging itself) nor is there any comprehensive information in their listings – just a simple collection of titles that work.
When it came to producing our guide for Vita Player, we weren’t satisfied with giving our readers this basic information. After using the PlayStationTV at length it was clear that while many games DID run on the system there were issues that we felt people needed to be aware of and Sony simply weren’t giving gamers the full picture and so our guide was born.
As gamers we tried to look at things from a players perspective. Not only do people want to know what games work on the PSTV but when games are missing from a list it just leaves the unanswered question as to whether they do or not so gamers want to know about games that don’t as well. In the case of the official list with so many compatible games not included it casts doubt on the reliability of their list so we felt that a different approach was in order.
With that in mind work started on our guide and it’s been a big undertaking. Rather than compiling a list from reference sources or information provided to us, we are working through everything internally as a team and testing every PS Vita title at our disposal. If it runs on a Vita and its in our collections then we’re checking it and at the time of writing we’ve tested over 800 games and apps. Whether it’s a native PS Vita release or PSP, PS One, Minis or PlayStation Mobile game, we’re putting them all through their paces but this does have its drawbacks. Unlike some listings that have compiled their data from a range of sources to provide guidance on what does and doesn’t work, we have only listed games and apps that we have hand tested on the PlayStation TV and titles that have been released in the EU. We are taking this approach for several reasons.
First, with regards to the territorial issue, we are aware that there are discrepancies when it comes to compatibility with the PlayStation TV. There are games that work fine in the US but for no reason whatsoever are incompatible with PSTVs in Europe. The game itself is identical but the title simply doesn’t appear on Sony’s approved “White List” for the EU and as such, the games simply won’t run. Bearing that in mind we’ve made the conscious decision to focus purely on European releases which is what all of our team have access to when it comes to their PSN accounts so these are the titles that we can directly verify.
This brings me onto the key part of our compatability guide – verification. While there are almost a thousand recognised titles that work on the PlayStation TV, our list currently ins’t that large. There are also titles that we have been told about that work on the console but that we haven’t currently listed, but why not? It’s our intention to only include titles in our guide that we have tested personally so we can not only let you, our readers, know if a titles does or doesn’t work but also provide you with additional information about titles where appropriate. Rather than following a list that someone else has prepared and copying information from this, we know that there are people who are likely to buy games based on the information in our guide and as such we want to be able to say with 100% accuracy that a title is compatible before we say yes. If a game needs touch controls again we believe that this information is essential to know and something where a simple yes or no just doesn’t suffice. In the case of some games, it can be the difference between needing a DualShock 3 or DualShock 4 to make them playable so for those gamers who do not own a PS4 this could be a deciding factor in making purchases – so we believe that this is all crucial to the listing.
One final thing that we also do when it comes to all games with the PSTV is to re-check them on a regular basis. Whether it’s checking the PSM section of the PSN Store for updates to older releases or checking native Vita games for compatability patches, we are continually monitoring every title on the list and we are updating the guide accordingly as new games are being made compatible on a regular basis. While we don’t expect every title to become compatible with the PlayStation TV overnight more games are becoming PSTV friendly which is only going to be good for everyone.
Please don’t be offended if you contact us and notify us about a title’s compatability and find that we haven’t updated the guide accordingly. It doesn’t mean that we’ve ignored you, it just means that we haven’t been able to verify it ourselves. While three of us on the team own PlayStation TVs right now (and with our fourth system awaiting shipping) we are able to test an incredible number of titles but we are still unable to get everything released. We are trying to source more games as quickly as funds allow but we will try to increase our software collections as rapidly as possible.
If you do have any questions or suggestions for our guide or if there is anything you need to know to get the most out of your PlayStation TV, please do not hesitate to ask as our team are only too happy to help!
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