Upgrade complete, Vita slim in my hands

Due to money/life stuff, I've rocked my day one Vita OLED through thick and thin. But, with life getting better and the risk of prices going mad, now Vita production has ended, I finally grabbed a good-looking piano black LCD Slim model from eBay.

It arrived in the post today and is everything I hoped it was, having been well looked after! I set it up with a US PSN account to grab games that no longer come to Europe and to access Netflix. Plan on picking up a blue/orange one from Japan to round out the family soon, but for now my Vita investment, both in time and money, feels safe.

Comparing the two, old news to most, but all exciting for me, naturally the LCD doesn't have quite the sparkle that the OLED had. The design really evolved well, so slick and a billion miles ahead of how the Switch feels.

The new model is also very shiny and slippery, really want to rush out and buy a protective skin for it. On the plus side, it seems a bit louder, which might just be me and the WiFi seems to be faster/stronger - at first glance without measuring anything.

It's fun was going back and setting up a new PSN account with the icon and background, playing Welcome Park, but what's really impressive is how much better the US Vita store is than Europe's. I know games aren't come our way as PEGI charges make it uneconomic, which is why I've gone US - but the US store is better looked after, more up to date, has smarter sections and feels a little loved! Sony Europe is a damn disgrace for a major entertainment business.

A shame we can't merge or have a universal account, and a shame Sony US has totally stripped out the movie element from the store. I wonder how long even the basic store will last, but for now I can play

Aside from the US exclusive games, the current timing makes this seem like an ideal opportunity to go all the way back to the start, from Welcome Park to launch day games and so on.