Sony Makes PSOne Classics Available for Vita In Most Ludicrous Way Possible

Good news, everyone who has been itching to download classic PlayStation games to their Vita! Now you can! Unless, of course, you live in North America, in which case... Bad news, everyone!

So, here's how this currently shakes out. Sony has announced nine supported PSOne games for North American Vita users...and 129 for European players. Why the absurd dissonance between regions? No idea. Sony hasn't said, and it doesn't sound like they will be explaining it any time soon.

However, here's where things get weird. Reddit users, as they are often wont to do, have compiled a list of games that can be played via a workaround, despite not being officially supported for North American users. Basically, you'll need to have a PS3 to download the games, and then do some transferring from there. You can read about the whole process here.

Undoubtedly, North American players will eventually be able to access all of these games in an official capacity, but until then you may have to do a little working around. Below this paragraph you'll find the full list of officially available games. Bolded and underlined games are officially available in North America, while the rest will be available in Europe once the Vita 1.8 update is downloaded. Reddit's list of unofficially downloadable games can be found here.

Since some people in the comments are confused, let me be super clear. The below list is ONLY officially released games for EU and NA. You'll have to go to the above Reddit link to see stuff that is unofficially downloadable.

• 40 Winks
• A Bug's Life
• A Bugs Life and Monsters Inc bundle
• Abe's Exoddus
• Abe's Oddworld Oddysee
• Airboat
• All-Star Boxing
• Alundra
• Arc Arena: Monster Tournament
• Arc the Lad
• Arc the Lad II
• Arc the Lad III
• Arcade Hits: Shienryu
• Arcade Hits: Sonic Wings Special
• Atari Anniversary Edition
• Atlantis
• Atlantis and Hercules Bundle
• Bishi Bashi Special
• Blockids
• Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
• Bugriders
• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
• Centipede
• Cho Aniki
• Constructor
• Cool Boarders
• Cool Boarders 2
• Crash Bandicoot
• Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
• Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped
• CTR: Crash Team Racing
• Critical Depth
• Destruction Derby
• Dezaemon Plus
• Disney's Action Game ft. Hercules
• Dodgeball
• Driver
• Eagle One: Harrier Attack
• Everybody's Golf 2 (Hot Shots Golf 2)
• Fear Effect
• Fear Effect: Retro Helix
• Fighting Force
• Fighting Force 2
• Final Fantasy VIII
• Final Fantasy IX
• Final Fantasy V
• Final Fantasy VI
• Final Fantasy VII
• Front Mission 3
• G-Police
• Gaiaseed
• Galaxy Fight
• Gex
• Gex 3: Deep Under Cover
• Gex 3D: Enter the Gecko
• Grandia
• Gubble
• Guilty Gear
• Gunship
• Hardcore 4X4
• International Track & Field
• Jet Rider (Jet Moto)
• Jet Rider 2
• Jigsaw Madness
• Judge Dredd
• Jumping Flash
• Junior League Soccer
• Kula World
• Kurushi Final
• Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
• Lilo & Stitch
• Little Mermaid 2
• Little Mermaid 2 and Winnie The Pooh bundle
• MediEvil
• Metal Gear Solid
• Mickey's Wild Adventure
• Miracle Quad Racer
• Miracle Space Race
• Missile Command
• Monsters Inc
• Motorhead
• Motor Toon Grand Prix 2
• N20
• Namco Heritage bundle
• Pandemonium
• Pandemonium 2
• Parasite Eve 2
• Peter Pan
• Pong
• Pooh's Party Game
• Rageball
• Rainbow Six
• Rally Cross
• Rascal Racers
• Rayman
• Rayman 2: The Great Escape
• Reel Fishing
• Re-loaded
• Resident Evil 2
• Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
• Resident Evil: Director's Cut
• Ridge Racer Type 4
• Sheep
• Silent Hill
• Snowboard Racer
• Sorcerer's Maze
• Spin Jam
• Sports Superbike
• Streak
• Street Fighter 2 Alpha
• Super Star Dance Club
• Syphon Filter
• Syphon Filter 3
• Tarzan
• Tekken
• Tekken 2
• Tomb Raider
• Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
• Tomb Raider Chronicles
• Tomb Raider 2
• Tomb Raider 3
• Toy Story 2
• Toy Story Racer
• Toy Story Racer and Toy Story 2: Woody and Buzz bundle
• Twisted Metal
• Urban Chaos
• Vagrant Story
• Wild Arms
• WipEout

That's gotta be a record for the most product links in a single news story, right?

Some good solid games there, still won't make me buy a Vita though.

Haha! Finally, Europe is not the one getting fucked over!

...Bummer for the US guys though, this blows.

while the rest will be available in Europe when the next Vita firmware update launches there tomorrow.

I was able to download the 1.8 Firmware today in the UK. Not tried any PS1 games just yet though, almost zero space on my Vita's memory card.

What a pleasant change that it's not us in Europe getting the short end of the stick!

Interesting list!

How legal is this "workaround"?

EDIT: Apparently it's pretty legal. Cool, I guess?

North Americans have Cool Boarders 2 on their list.... what more do they need?

Wow it is said when people have to get excited over PS1 games on a fucking 300 vita, Sony, what the fuck man?

Oh the irony that European players don't get shit on for once! I actually find this kind of funny. Stuff it American Vita owners! (I don't own a vita and never will so don't yell at me.) :(

God Damnit, I think i'm gonna have to buy a Vita

You can't place economic sanctions on us, Japan! You'll live to regret this!

It's the same with Minis. I expect it's because emulator support and the transfer function is handled by the firmware and QA divisions, while putting them up for download is done by the store team, and the US one is putting a lower priority on this.

I uploaded that Cho Aniki picture to the site. You're welcome, Giant Bomb community.

Suck it yanks!

Most of this list was compiled from by fellow posters over on NeoGAF. Just sayin'... Also, GRANDIA definitely does not work.

Alundra is a great game, everyone should play it.

@Phatmac: Agreed. I feel a sense of.. happiness thanks to this and The Last Story/Xenoblade. We all know america will get the games eventually anyway.

@Sweep: I would imagine 100% legal, as you own a license for the product you're transferring. As for support, you'll probably get none until it's "officially" supported.

Licensing might be more restrictive in America than in the EU.

Tekken and Tekken 2 but no Tekken 3? Yo fuck this list.

Wait... Little Mermaid 2 and Winnie The Pooh bundle? Never mind, sold.

Well... it supports Bishi Bashi Special.

Looks like I'm getting a vita.

@Sweep said:

How legal is this "workaround"?

It's an official function of the the Vita and PS3, so it's perfectly "legal". Vita support for PlayStation Minis has been the same way since launch, with some being downloadable directly, and some having to be transferred until added to the Vita store.

*Cough*

"as they are often want to do"

This is the exact same method to get PSP games on your Vita that aren't officially supported. I don't believe you can really say it was Reddit users who discovered this, when this function was found by NeoGAF and others not associated with the social gatherings so many months ago.

And it's not work. You just download the game on your PS3 and transfer it your Vita. Done. It's not fucking rocket science.

I would like an explanation as to why there's such a disparity though.

Sony!

@Sweep: This is the same thing people have been doing with PSP games on the Vita. Nothing new. Nothing illegal.

@Fudge91: Nope. Not a typo. Look it up. Wont is a word.

No Tomba. /sigh

@Fudge91: Nope, wont is correct in this usage:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wont

What will these cost?

I tried the workaround. Final Fantasy 5 would not transfer over for some reason, and a handful of games have the rear touch assigned to a button and I couldn't turn it off (SotN and RE3 specifically) so that was really annoying.

@Alex said:

@Fudge91: Nope. Not a typo. Look it up. Wont is a word.

This man drops truth.

I think we should rename North America. Call it Cooltown or something.

Really quoting Reddit? They got the list wrong. Games such as the Oddworlds and Final Fantasy V don't transfer. CheapAssGamer is more comprehensive. That's what you get for going to Reddit.

@dekkadekkadekka: @dekkadekkadekka said:

@Alex said:

@Fudge91: Nope. Not a typo. Look it up. Wont is a word.

This man drops truth.

Damnit, english how does it work..

@mrEkli: I didn't post any of the unofficial downloads. You have to click the link I posted to see the list Reddit compiled. The list I posted is just the official releases for EU/NA.

People at reddit didnt figure this out, an Atlus PR guy tweeted it when the update went live last night. Its tye same exact workaround that people use for PSP games on the vita.

@alex said:

Basically, you'll need to have a PS3 to download the games, and then do some transfarring from there.

Fixed.

That's hella dumb.

@Sweep: ALEX IS A COP DON"T DO IT.

Some people so ready to pounce on a little mistake, end up with some great swings and misses.

From what I understand by some people on Twitter, is that you have to download the uninstalled version, transfer it to your Vita, then install it.

So SONY releases a new expensive handheld and expects people to just buy remakes and spinoffs of games they already played on the home console? Is that what handhelds are for? No new IPs?

So SONY releases a new expensive handheld and expects people to just buy remakes and spinoffs of games they already played on the home console? Is that what handhelds are for? No new IPs?

I own all of these games I want to on disc. Not going to rebuy just to play on vita. There should be a way to install a ps1 game and do whatever from there. But oh well

@deskp: They seem to be $5.99 - $9.99.

I bought Metal Gear Solid for $9.99 to test out the transfer (it worked, by the way), as the PS1 games didn't even show up in the store last night. $5.99 across the board would be more of a fair price. Seemed to be that the multi-disc games were more expensive.

This is a pretty crap way to (continue to) treat Vita owners. This is something that should've been available at launch, not trickled out to make the release schedule seem a little more padded. Sony's gambling that there will even be a system to support by the time they get to the end of this list.

I know it's going to sound like I'm justifying here but artificial limitations and stonewalling when people seek answers are quite a bit of the reason people look for ways to hack the hardware so they can do as they please with it. It's frustrating to be hobbled due to some cumbersome corporate system's whims.

Sony hates North America?

Didn't a similar thing happen at the end of the PSP? They put a bunch of old games on sale but significantly less in the US than in Europe. I would claim that it's nice that Europe hasn't been screwed over for once but honestly, any of the games I would want here, I already have on my PS3. So who cares, I guess? I suppose I would be more excited if this were a bunch of older PS3 games. As a soon-to-be Vita owner (I'm delaying the purchase for as long as possible until Persona 4 Golden comes out), that would make me happy. Kinda.

There are some really good games in there.