Sony: No Plans To Make PS2 Games Compatible With PS Vita

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By just looking at gameplay videos or even simply screenshots of PS Vita games, it’s obvious that the handheld can do some pretty impressive things. The PS Vita can do a lot of things no other handheld can do, and in terms of graphics power, the PS Vita sits alone at the top (at least as far as handhelds are concerned). To many, this is a reason to get excited about future releases on the PS Vita, but for some, it hints that the PS Vita may be capable of running some great games from the past.

That’s especially true now that the first round of PS2 classics have found their way to PSN. Some potential PS Vita owners were hoping that maybe the PS Vita would be capable of playing these PS2 classics – after all, given the handheld’s specs, it should be able to run PS2 games without any problem – but unfortunately, Sony said in a recent FAQ that there aren’t any plans to make the PS Vita compatible with PS2 games.

The same goes for PS3 games, I’m afraid. For the moment, the PS Vita will only be able to run digital PSP titles and minis, with Sony saying that it will announce more details about the Vita’s PSOne classics compatibility “when they are ready.”

For a company that should like money, Sony seems to be all about restrictions for the PS Vita. I can understand the Vita not supporting PS3 games, but not allowing Vita owners to download PS2 classics just seems stupid. The stupidity is compounded by the fact that the PS2 is one of the best consoles ever released, and has a huge library of truly stellar games. Many people would pay good money to have some classic PS2 games available on Vita, so why Sony isn’t capitalizing on that leaves me scratching my head.

Then again, I guess this is the same as running profitable franchises into the ground with yearly releases or implementing strict DRMs on PC games; it’s confusing to customers, but that’s just the name of the game for publishers and platform holders.