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?