PSTV Whitelist Hack Play almost all games

[kai123]

I know there are few people out there like me that haven't used their PSTV in a long time but a hack recently released that lets you play almost any PSP or Vita game you may own. It is super easy to do and only took like 5 minutes total. The only downside is it goes away after you turn it off. I have tried Dracula X Chronicles and it worked fine and a few of my other Vita games and they all load perfectly. I recommend checking it out. It has breathed some life into a system I kind of regretted buying into now it is what it should have been from the start. Let me know if it works for you. I made a separate email just for this so it would be easier.

http://wololo.net/2015/09/26/pstv-whitelist-how-to-play-all-vita-games-on-your-ps-tv-with-simplified-steps-video/

[Tanooki]

Wow now that's great news, figured it would hit when I'd just have to drain my whole paypal and put a little added on my card because my stupid nexus 7 committed suicide and I had to replace it.

Shame you have to reload it if you ever power off the PS TV, but sleep mode is encouraging. I'm guessing sony isn't rampaging out updates on the thing like PS3/4? I would not even bother if I had to reload that each time, it's annoying, and hopefully a real hard perm-hack can be done that doesn't have to get reloaded into memory each time the power is cut off in the future.

I'll have to keep my eyes out for another of those $20 fire sales on the thing again and get it. Uncharted, Hot Shots Golf, Touch my Katamari, and Lumines I used to own and didn't like I couldn't run most of that...Uncharted and secondarily Golf being the deal breakers.

[PreZZ]

Thanks for the link where you enter your adress! I can finally play castlevania chronicles on my tv! So stupid that sony vlocks fully functiinal games and apps like netflix

[PreZZ]

Thanks for the link where you enter your adress! I can finally play castlevania chronicles on my tv! So stupid that sony vlocks fully functiinal games and apps like netflix

[Satoshi_Matrix]

This sounds great, but every time I try, it doesn't work.

Please you guys try and actually do this exploit... I get an error every single time. I was able to set up the email client through my gmail, but the Vita TV rejects the #0 file as a ? and the workaround with writer.eml ALSO doesn't work. That too gives a ?. I've tried emailing the author but he hasn't responded in days, so I'm not expecting a reply. Doesn't work for me. What about you guys?

If you guys get it working, please please help me out. I would love to play games like Hyperdimenion Neptunia Re;Birth 1 that are not playable on the Vita TV for no other reason that Sony's laziness.

[kai123]

I am not sure what your error actually is but you are supposed to get one and press the home button and exit the email app for each one and you have to do the actual hack email first. The attached files are corrupted and make the pstv vulnarable to the hacks. Sorry that may not be much help but I just followed the tutorial I linked and it worked first time.

[kupomogli]

So you're able to just put the PSTV to sleep and you don't have to keep redoing it every time? Also what about Netflix and Hulu, does this work for those too? I saw this earlier and pretty cool that they let you, glad that there's an automated email now. Vita whitelisting, the lazy way ^_^.

[Tanooki]

I am not sure what your error actually is but you are supposed to get one and press the home button and exit the email app for each one and you have to do the actual hack email first. The attached files are corrupted and make the pstv vulnarable to the hacks. Sorry that may not be much help but I just followed the tutorial I linked and it worked first time.


I don't follow, you have to do this hack every time you load another game? I thought it stayed resident in memory even when sleeping, only lost when you flip the power off. I'm going to try and snap up one of these PS TVs if it stays in memory while sleeping. I have no issue saving a file to my computer or whatever and just throwing it through email twice to confuse the hell out of their asinine pointless lockout. So many games don't use the touch feature and still yet some that do aren't required (uncharted) unless you're a 100% completion type person.

[megasdkirby]

Well, it worked for me. And Netflix works too, at least testing it with Garfield and Friends.

However, the menu is slow and sluggish. Lots of lag.


But it works.

[kai123]

I don't follow, you have to do this hack every time you load another game? I thought it stayed resident in memory even when sleeping, only lost when you flip the power off. I'm going to try and snap up one of these PS TVs if it stays in memory while sleeping. I have no issue saving a file to my computer or whatever and just throwing it through email twice to confuse the hell out of their asinine pointless lockout. So many games don't use the touch feature and still yet some that do aren't required (uncharted) unless you're a 100% completion type person.

No sorry it is confusing but there are three files you have to load to get the hack working. It does stay in memory after that though no matter how many games you load just powering off gets rid of it then a reload is needed. I wish Sony would just unlock it and quit being stupid but at least the community is fixing their mistakes.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Ah okay, now it works. It didn't before. I'm not sure what's changed.

I got Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles, Gradius Collection, and Ys Memories of Celceta working. These are all games that normally don't work with the Vita TV.

But Hyperdimenion Neptunia Re;Birth 1 still doesn't work. Hopefully someone will figure out how to get it working too.

[kai123]

Glad to hear you got it working. It seems Sony is pushing out a new firmware for vita tomorrow and I am sure it will take this away on the pstv if it gets a firmware update too. I am just not updating. I don't know of any new games coming out soon that I have to play so I don't want my pstv to become "useless" again.

[Tanooki]

What all is still coming out physically on card really for the thing anymore as they more or less threw it under a bus earlier this year.

I agree don't flash the firmware, and if it heckles you, close it. If you have no care of using PSN on it, it shouldn't be a problem. Netflix and things will whine indirectly about PSN< but that nag can be closed to use it anyway as I've done this for years on both PS3 and PS4. I don't waste time on hacker blocking update crap that locks down exploits as it does me no service. Real updates with value sure, but not '...stability...' excuse updates.

[BetaWolf]

Ah okay, now it works. It didn't before. I'm not sure what's changed.

I got Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles, Gradius Collection, and Ys Memories of Celceta working. These are all games that normally don't work with the Vita TV.

But Hyperdimenion Neptunia Re;Birth 1 still doesn't work. Hopefully someone will figure out how to get it working too.

Memories of Celceta works... that's great news. Xseed has been trying to get that working (without hacks) for some time.

[kupomogli]

I don't follow, you have to do this hack every time you load another game? I thought it stayed resident in memory even when sleeping, only lost when you flip the power off. I'm going to try and snap up one of these PS TVs if it stays in memory while sleeping. I have no issue saving a file to my computer or whatever and just throwing it through email twice to confuse the hell out of their asinine pointless lockout. So many games don't use the touch feature and still yet some that do aren't required (uncharted) unless you're a 100% completion type person.

Vita has an email app kind of like Outlook Express, so all you have to do is create a new folder and move the emails into that folder. Then just open the files when necessary. If the program backs up emails or you can save emails for offline use, then even with no internet you're good. Otherwise you atleast need internets. Shouldn't take more than a minute of your time if you want to play a game that isn't compatible whenever you load up the system.

[Niku-Sama]

kinda makes PSTV worth getting if I find one cheap

[LaughingMAN.S9]

Main thing holding me back from trying it is Sony all of a sudden banning my account because of this, I'm going to sit and wait on this one

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Well, it's a temporary thing. Turn off the system and it resets back to default. I don't see Sony banning people because it's not like this lets you play .isos or something - you still need to have purchased the actual games via retail or through psn.

More to the point, Sony has already patched this exploit out with the PS TV's 3.55 firmware.

This kind of thing will progress through and I hope that eventually Sony will step up to the plate and make these games compatible as they should be in the first place. Anything that doesn't essentially require the camera or gyroscope should be completely playable on the Vita TV no excuses. If you can play without using those features, you should be able to play on the Vita TV.

C'mon Sony. fix this.

[Tanooki]

Sony has some inexcusably lame reason I'm sure, but it makes no sense to me at least with anything that is a standard game or requires touch seeing that PS4 pads have the same general sensor capability, just on the front instead of the back. The other two possibilities, yes I agree, block them as it limits the game or is unplayable entirely. Stuff that works out of the box with the controller capabilities of the PSTV should not be barred and it's amazing they'd do it as really their best Vita titles are greatly removed from the list.

I've said it plenty enough before, but if they'd unlock the games I'd buy it as it kept me from paying $100 when it came out. No Uncharted = No BUY.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Well, uncharted golden abyss was the game shown to work in the demo of the whitelist hack, so if that's what's stopping you from getting a vita tv, then you ought to go buy one now. any vita tv on store shelves won't be rocking the 3.55 firmware sony just released, so all you need to do is get it and not update the firmware.

you have an actual portable Vita right? use that to sign in and downloaded whatever to the memory card, and then just use the vita tv without psn and play your uncharteted or whatever in an offline way using the existing firmware.

Vita TVs are only about $40 USD nowadays so it's a good time to buy one.

[Leo_A]

Anything that doesn't essentially require the camera or gyroscope should be completely playable on the Vita TV no excuses. If you can play without using those features, you should be able to play on the Vita TV. No Uncharted = No BUY.
Well, uncharted golden abyss was the game shown to work in the demo of the whitelist hack, so if that's what's stopping you from getting a vita tv, then you ought to go buy one now. any vita tv on store shelves won't be rocking the 3.55 firmware sony just released, so all you need to do is get it and not update the firmware.

Even some of those that technically require such features should be allowed in certain circumstances.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss actually requires the camera. Apparently it's fully playable except for one brief moment where the camera is required to progress. So you actually need the handheld if you're to finish it. But much like how Super Mario 3D World allows alternate controllers to be used despite the gamepad's touch screen being necessary in 2 or 3 of its many levels (Granted, every Wii U owner is guaranteed of having what they need on-hand), they should enable it and just provide a warning.

Someone with a Vita handheld could enjoy 99% of Golden Abyss on their HDTV so there's no sense in preventing it when a simple acknowledgement on compatibility lists and the PSN store page for it would serve as a warning for those that only own a PSTV.

Better yet since we know many people don't read warnings, lock out purchases of such games from PSN from a PSTV and make it have to be purchased digitally from the handheld to ensure that the individual has the hardware on hand for the job. Then, they can only grab it on their PSTV via their download history.

Why Sony doesn't just patch the gimmicks out of the Vita's flagship (And that's all they are), I'll never understand. It's quite clear that this could be converted for full Dual Shock support without harming the experience in the slightest.

[Tanooki]

Huh I didn't know Uncharted used the camera, crap. That's unfortunate.

I no longer have a Vita and haven't for over 3 years now. I got rid of it around the time Gravity Rush showed up, just before if I remember right. I'm also quite surprised they left that Uncharted game out of the collection going to PS4 in about 2 weeks. It shows Sony is supremely lazy and just doesn't care if it takes any level of work no matter how small to cash in on something. And yes if I got one Uncharted is the deal breaker for me so if it won't ever be able to completed I wouldn't even buy it at $20, screw it. I'd rather buy an after market vita as cheaply as possible vs quality when the money is there for it (just had to replace my tablet) instead. I wouldn't care of it's the first or second version as it would just stay home anyway and be comfy chair fodder for fun. It's a pity Sony is that damned lazy it really is. The one thing I can say going for it is that I can readily between 2 Half Price Books and 2 Book and Music Exchange (local store) chains in the area I can pick off much of the library for ebay or less pricing along with Target that seems to like to do purges too.

I know I'd first grab Uncharted, a given there and Hot Shots would be second since I liked that too. Touch My Katamari was ok but also a wee bit annoying so maybe not, and Lumines I would, but it would be used/cheap since I can't sit on puzzles for long anymore. After that Dragon's Crown would be the biggest grab since I don't have a PS3 setup for gaming anymore. Beyond that I'd need to fire up the wikipedia, search for list of vita titles and go down it. I'd likely grab those Neptunia game as they look interesting as does Hatsune Miku.

[PreZZ]

I love the ps tv, its a fantastic micro console, but sony never really supported the thing, this whitelist full of playable game is proof. They could have killed apple TV, chromecast etc. if they had done everything right, like 1080p, netflix, new os, 32gb internal memory,etc. Playable playstation vita games, psp and psone is just icing on the cake! overpriced memory like ipad, vita memory card has got to stop, you can buy 32gb sd cards for 15$ and they still make a profit!

[kupomogli]

It almost seems that less than a year after release Sony pretty much left the Vita for dead, and day one they sent the PSTV out to die. If they actually put the effort into the Vita like they did with the PS3 when it was pretty much a failure for the first couple of years, they could have had a respectable portable. Or maybe Sony just saw how much effort Nintendo was putting into the Wii U and people still didn't buy it, so they figured why bother? Still. Big slap in the face to those who purchase the system for sure.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

It's too bad that Sony doesn't officially support the Vita TV more, but it's still something worth owning due to the high number of RPGs and Visual novels. As much as it angers me that this or that isn't compatible with the Vita TV, the truth is that there is more than enough it does play that makes it a worthy purchase, especially at the $40 USD asking price that includes the system, a really nice HDMi cable, a new DualShock 3 and an 8GB memory card. Plus some lego game or whatever.

Yeah Sony should do more with it, but I think you'd be foolish to refuse to buy it based on the fact that x or y game doesn't work with it. Incompatibility sucks, but it isn't the end of the world. It plays Persona 4 Golden perfectly and using a DualShock 3, it feels like playing a Persona 4 HD on PS3 that never got released. plus there's a lot of other games too. It isn't true to say the Vita doesn't have games. It totally does.

[kupomogli]

It's too bad that Sony doesn't officially support the Vita TV more, but it's still something worth owning due to the high number of RPGs and Visual novels. As much as it angers me that this or that isn't compatible with the Vita TV, the truth is that there is more than enough it does play that makes it a worthy purchase, especially at the $40 USD asking price that includes the system, a really nice HDMi cable, a new DualShock 3 and an 8GB memory card. Plus some lego game or whatever.

Yeah Sony should do more with it, but I think you'd be foolish to refuse to buy it based on the fact that x or y game doesn't work with it. Incompatibility sucks, but it isn't the end of the world. It plays Persona 4 Golden perfectly and using a DualShock 3, it feels like playing a Persona 4 HD on PS3 that never got released. plus there's a lot of other games too. It isn't true to say the Vita doesn't have games. It totally does.

If you look at it what it plays as ports that work well, then sure, but if you look at what it plays as exclusives, the Vita is one of the worst consoles worth owning despite having a good library. The Vita has less than 30 exclusive games that aren't on another console and with all the games it's actually lost to the PS3 and PS4 lately, who knows if it even has that. It might be less than 20 now. The games that aren't exclusive don't look as good and don't perform as well as the multiconsole counterparts either, even the ones that do perform well. 30 games sounds like a lot, but that's not 30 games I'm interested in of a library of 200 exclusives, that's 30 total exclusives.

The Vita TV is a console so if you already have a PS2, PS3, and PS4, you could point out that a lot of these games that the PSTV does offer that you can play them elsewhere. With Persona 4 Golden and Muramasa(Wii,) you're getting the best version on the PSTV, but just about everything else that's multiconsole you're getting the best version on the other console.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

If you look at it what it plays as ports that work well, then sure, but if you look at what it plays as exclusives, the Vita is one of the worst consoles worth owning despite having a good library. The Vita has less than 30 exclusive games that aren't on another console and with all the games it's actually lost to the PS3 and PS4 lately, who knows if it even has that. It might be less than 20 now. The games that aren't exclusive don't look as good and don't perform as well as the multiconsole counterparts either, even the ones that do perform well. 30 games sounds like a lot, but that's not 30 games I'm interested in of a library of 200 exclusives, that's 30 total exclusives.

The Vita TV is a console so if you already have a PS2, PS3, and PS4, you could point out that a lot of these games that the PSTV does offer that you can play them elsewhere. With Persona 4 Golden and Muramasa(Wii,) you're getting the best version on the PSTV, but just about everything else that's multiconsole you're getting the best version on the other console.

I see people saying this kind of thing and I cannot understand it at all. The Vita has good library but is one of the worst consoles because most of its library is also on other platforms?

Why do exclusives matter so much to people? Generally speaking, I don't like the idea of exclusives. If I own console x and my friend has console y, we can't each talk about the same game we're playing if it's exclusive to the platform. Also exclusive to the platform means that there is no basis for comparison to determine if one console has a superior version vs another. And even if the PS4 version or Steam version of something on Vita is superior, I'll generally speaking still want to get it for Vita because it's portable and offers physical buttons. The Vita TV is useful for playing those same games on a TV without having to re-buy them for a separate platform since it's all tied to the same account. It also serves the purpose of allowing me to record Vita footage via my capture card.

As someone who always actively has between 6-10 consoles hooked up to my TV at any given time, I would love it if that number could be reduced to two or three max. I want exclusives to stop happening. It doesn't make good business sense unless you're dominating the market or have a game that absolutely can't work on other hardware because of the interface design or something. But generally? I'd like to see virtually everything that the PS4 gets come to Xbox One and vise versa. I want games to continue to be for Vita and for other things too. For as long as there is software, I will continue to choose the Vita as my first platform of choice, even above the PS4. It's simply what I prefer to play the most. To me, it doesn't matter at all if something on Vita is also on Steam or iOs or whatever. I don't want to play games in that format. I want them on Vita.



The way I see it, the only thing that exclusives do is force you to go out and buy yet another machine. If so many of the games on the WiiU weren't exclusive, I wouldn't own it. I'd instead want to get those games for Vita and PS3 and PS4.

[kupomogli]

I see people saying this kind of thing and I cannot understand it at all. The Vita has good library but is one of the worst consoles because most of its library is also on other platforms?.

If you own a PS3 there's no reason to really get a Vita because you have access to just about every single game the Vita has other than those 30 exclusives of varying quality. The Vita versions of the exact same games have worse graphics, worse framerate, and no local and sometimes no online multiplayer, being altogether a worse version of the game. If you don't own a Vita or a PS3, and you look at the library and see the PS3 has every game the Vita has plus 1000 other exclusives. Now if you're a huge portable fan, then cool but how many people purchase portable consoles and sit at home playing the games? Most people don't use portable consoles as portable consoles, and even if they did, if they were someone who liked both consoles and portable consoles, then get a PS3 to have all access to those and use the PSP, 3DS, or DS with a much higher quality library of games as they're games that are new, not games that you may have already played.

I actually like playing new stuff, and with the Vita having no identity of its own, just endless ports of PS3 games, then the system lacks just that.

Look at the PSP. Yes it had a lot of ports, but it had a lot of exclusive titles that set it apart from other other system as well. With Nintendo portables, most games couldn't be played anywhere else but on that portable. I'm not going to get done playing a game on my home console and then look at the list of releases for the 3DS and be like, damn, I've played all the games that interest me on console already.

Without exclusives a console is nothing. It's the reason why people choose Xbox over Playstation or Playstation over Xbox. I have no interest in Halo, Forza, and Gears, and while the Xbox 360 and One do have a few exclusives that interest me, 99.999% of the games on the consoles are games that I either don't want or I could play on the PS3 and PS4. This exact sentiment goes towards the Vita. I purchased a Vita day one because it did have a good launch line up and launch window, but then it never went anywhere so I buy games for the console that I'm only even the very very slightest of interested so I can actually feel the system was worth the purchase, and I was somewhat fine although disappointed with what the system had, that is until over the last few years the systems best games started being ported over to the PS3 and PS4, which my disappointment for the system grew. Basically I could play these games on better hardware rather than stuck to a weaker portable that I'd rarely ever play outside of my home. I sometimes play at work or at a friends, but very rarely. Not enough time to actually complete a game in any sort of reasonable amount of time because I'm either, well, working, or hanging out with that friend.

So yeah. The Vita is a terrible system because it has no identity of its own, all the games on the console are pretty much on the PS3 with a few scattered games elsewhere, either the PS2, Wii, or PS4.

[Tanooki]

I don't understand why this "The Vita has good library but is one of the worst consoles because most of its library is also on other platforms?" is so hard to get.

Exclusives make people buy a system over another. Do you buy a PS4 if you want Halo? Let's line up for a WiiU to get the latest Uncharted game. NOPE. That's the beef with the Vita, a vast amount of the games for it are brought up from the PS3 if not PS3+360. So then you're left with the uniques, and the few that exist are very scatter shot on quality as there's some pretty bad ones, and there are some really good. A problem Sony makes worse is some of the best of them they seem happy to stuff onto the Playstation such as the upcoming HD version of Gravity Rush along with its sequel in one well priced package. Yet another reason not to buy the Vita, right along with them carrying over Tearaway and more.

If you don't have a PS3 in particular, then sure you have a somewhat better selection as you can throw stuff like Dragon's Crown in to the mix...and if you have a 360 you're even better off then if it's not a multi-console port. Exclusives matter because they steer you to one system or another, it's really just that simple. Remember how many of us who own PS4s were pissed off when MS lied and called the new Tomb Raider exclusive and then turned to hammer Crystal Dynamics over it given the better Sony sales to then have them cave and throw MS under the bus about it being timed (which was still infuriated.)

[kai123]

They maybe on other platforms but I can't throw thos e systems in a jacket pocket and play them whenever I want. I want my portables to be convinent. I want almost all my games to be on it. Whether it is a port or not isn't really a reason to hate on a portable system. The VITATV is just an extension of the Vita. I was hoping for more from it and now I have it. Anyways comparing a portable to home console is kind of dumb to me. I see the VITATV as the super gameboy for the Vita.

[Tanooki]

Well my beef with the Vita is how Sony refuses to properly support it and then treats the TV version of it how they have. That's why I *had* and not have one. I liked it, a lot, but I liked it less for getting dusty.

[theclaw]

An important factor is the ability to play all the games in one place. The major Dreamcast games may be mainly ported, or already ports (if you count arcade), except you'll have to buy multiple consoles to get them all.

[kupomogli]

Don't get me wrong. I love my Vita for what it is, as I have around 20 games on it that I own or am planning to get at retail both ports and the rare exclusive, and I do like that the system can play a lot of my favorite Playstation, PSP games, and a large list of indie games of varying quality. I have a second Vita at lower firmware so I can play emulated PSP custom firmware so that I can play any PSP game, not just those on the PSN, but games that never made it to PSN as well as import games.

So as for what it is, yes, I do like the Vita and I think it's good, but at the same time, I'm disappointed in how the Vita has been handled and how it lacks its own identity. The fact that I paid so much money for a console that I'm doing nothing more than playing a compilation of other games from. From not being able to play all PSP games and PSX games, to too many poor third and first party ports or multiconsole titles that at times hit in the single digit frames per second, etc. Sony left the Vita to die not long after release and since day one for the Playstation TV.

So even though I like it, if I'm at home and it's not an exclusive game, am I going to play it on the Vita? No. I'm more than likely going to play it on my PS3 or PS4. If it's a PSX game I'll more than likely play it using my own physical copy on my PS3. If it's an indie game, it's playable on the PS3 or PS4. For PSP games, I no longer use UMDs and I don't care much for purchasing the games I own again. It's less of a hassle to download them and play them on the PSP, but I have put forth the effort for playing several games on the Vita over the PSP so there's that.

[kupomogli]

SaGa Scarlet Grace coming to the west? The Vita is saved!

We know nothing of the game, but as long as it's better than Unlimited Saga it'll be something worth playing imo. If not for the reel system and the crappy way of leveling up, Unlimited Saga had the potential of being one of the best games in the SaGa franchise. The board game aspect of your movements seemed really stupid when reading about it, but when playing it, it worked incredibly well. They tried too many different things for this game and while the board game idea worked and did well, the combat and the leveling up were bad, resulting in a bad game with what's clearly some amazing potential.

http://gematsu.com/2015/10/square-enix-trademarks-saga-scarlet-grace-europe#EuypwXFBhIFjjXZd.99

[kupomogli]

Dracula X Chronicles is $2.25 digital on PSN if you're a PS+ member. Probably a little bit more if you're not on plus. Best game on the PSP that doesn't work on the PSTV, playable thanks to the whitelist hack.

[Leo_A]

How would you buy it and download it without updating your PSTV?

[kupomogli]

How would you buy it and download it without updating your PSTV?

I actually never thought of that. Maybe there's some work around to do it. I know the Vita had a work around to get it from your PS3 to your Vita without updating your Vita. I'd recommend checking out Wololo.net. You could always buy it for $2.25 and if it's ever found out that the whitelist hack can be used again at a higher firmware, just update it then.