Last night, Sony graciously made nine whole PSOne games available for North American PS Vita users to download. However, gamers soon discovered that you could transfer a number of games over from the PlayStation 3, greatly expanding the potential library.
Sony hasn’t officially acknowledged this method and it’s not exactly intuitive, but once you know how, it’s simple enough — not as simple as it should be, of course, but we work with what we have. In any case, here’s a quick step-by-step guide on how to get your PSOne Classics to your Vita.
- Access your PS3 and find the PSOne game you want on the PlayStation Store.
- Download the desired game — even if you have it installed on your PS3 already. It needs a fresh download.
- Do NOT install the game on your PS3. It needs to remain in the pre-install “bubble.”
- Access your PS Vita and select “Content Manager” > “Copy Content” > “PS3 System -> PS Vita System” > “Applications” > “PlayStation” > “Applications Downloaded on the PS3 System.”
- Find your desired game/games, hit their checkboxes, then hit “Copy.”
- It is possible to transfer over save files, too. From “PS3 System -> PS Vita System,” scroll down and find the PlayStation Save Files.
It’s worth reiterating that not all titles are confirmed as transferable, though a great deal of them are. Unfortunately, you will have to look online or find out by trial-and-error. Have fun experimenting … rather than have fun playing videogames.
Games currently confirmed incompatible (as noted on GAF):
- Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
- Arc the Lad III
- Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
- Chrono Cross
- Crash Bandicoot
- Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
- Crash Bandicoot: Warped
- Crash Team Racing
- Final Fantasy V
- Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysse
- Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus
- Pocket Fighter
- Spyro The Dragon
- Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage
- Spyro: Year of the Dragon
- Theme Hospital
- Tomba!
