Although it never managed to be an incredibly popular system, there's no denying that the PlayStation Vita was an impressive handheld when it launched back in 2012, thanks to its close integration with the PlayStation 3 and its gorgeous OLED screen, among other things. While the system was discountinued a few years ago, Sony's latest proper handheld gaming system ahead of the rumored portable PlayStation 6 is getting revived by modders, who are turning it into a portable Xbox with cloud gaming support, poetically ending the console war between PlayStation and Xbox in the most unexpected of ways.
As reported by French publication Planète Vita, GreenVita, developed by Day-OS, is a native client that allows users to stream games from the Xbox Cloud Gaming service (such as Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5) directly to the PS Vita, taking advantage of hardware H.264 video decoding and VitaSDK. Not every system can run GreenVita, however, as users need a homebrew-enabled PlayStation Vita with VitaShell and obviously an Xbox account that has access to the Xbox Cloud Gaming service via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
As the project is still in early development, and the PlayStation Vita is limited to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, some issues should be expected. However, version 0.1.8 introduces significant improvements already, such as:
- Improved streaming stability and recovery from black screens
- Reduced frame drops and video corruption during streaming
- Improved video frame delivery and responsiveness
Needless to say, the GreenVita project for the PlayStation Vita is more than impressive for a few reasons. Not only does it show the potential of the now dead system and the skills of the system's homebrew scene, but also one of the best use cases for cloud gaming: making old hardware still usable for proper console gaming in 2026. In a market where hardware prices continue to rise, repurposing old hardware this way will allow users to enjoy current games in some ways without breaking the bank.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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