Graphics
I can’t mention sound and not talk about graphics as well. While not offering HD visuals (or even 720p), the Vita could still deliver great visuals, but combine that with the breathtaking OLED screen and there’s no denying that a lot of Vita titles looked remarkable.
The Switch Lite, in contrast, is a strange beast. It offers a higher resolution, the physical resolution of its screen is higher. Yet games often looked washed out or suffer from motion blur thanks to its screen. When identical games are running on each machine side by side, the Vita is the clear winner even being older technology.
Vita – 5
Switch – 4
Game Prices
When I talk about game prices here, I don’t just mean the cost of buying physical titles. Both have a diverse range covering all budgets. With the Switch having more AAA games available it’s understandable that it will have more showing up in store at the higher £50+ price point. So in theory you would think that being a Vita gamer would be more affordable.
However the Switch has an incredible array of titles on sale on the eShop every week with discounts of up to 95%. The day I wrote this saw over 900 titles with price reductions alone. It makes a digital collection very appealing. The only digital sales we have now for the Vita are of Cross Buy games so our options are extremely limited.
But physical games are also an issue for the Vita. As the console is gaining almost cult status, demand is growing for game cartridges. With the exception of some of the bigger releases Vita games are slowly rising in price. The retail bargains available to Switch owners are certainly nowhere to be found on the Vita!
PS Vita – 2
Switch – 5
Storage
Now when you take a cursory look at both consoles, at first the Switch Lite looks to be a clear winner over the Vita when it comes to storage. With 32gb of internal space and the ability to use industry standard MicroSD cards, it’s clear that storage on the Switch is much cheaper. In fact, my own Switch has a 512Gb card installed that cost just over £60. The PS Vita’s proprietary memory cards, in contrast were expensive and low capacity. Even when they were first available the largest 64Gb card was around £70 and had to be imported from Japan.
But it’s not that simple… on average Switch games are larger. The recently released Apex Legends uses over 20Gb of storage space and games needing 10Gb or more are the norm, not the exception. The largest on the Vita only uses 4Gb and that’s a rarity with most being significantly smaller. The ability to swap memory cards also makes things easier to expand storage whereas Nintendo recommends Switch owners stick to a single card. Finally, the Vita has access to Content Manager allowing use of a PC to transfer games for temporary backups to free up space.
I won’t talk about those who have chosen to hack their Vita in this particular instance. Otherwise it would be another game changer completely. A PS Vita with a MicroSD adapter becomes a formidable force with storage the Switch simply can’t compete with.
PS Vita – 3
Switch – 5
continues…
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