The PS Vita handheld gaming console is due to launch in SA and other regions on 22 February, bringing with it a much needed update for the rather tired PSP. If you were a bit sceptical of the Vita’s capabilities, then news about a new hack might just change your opinion.

YouTube user homer49 has uploaded a number of videos showing PS3 titles running on the PS Vita via Remote Play. These include Red Dead Redemption (video posted below), Battlefield 3, Alice Madness Returns and Batman Arkham Asylum, amongst others.  

Eurogamer.net believes the footage is legitimate, with the games being streamed from PS3 units with hacked versions of Sony’s 3.55 firmware. The Vita is not registered on the PS3 as such, but rather as a “mobile phone”. Although the titles take fairly long to load, watching a few of these clips left us pretty impressed, and we have no doubt that, if managed correctly by Sony, Remote Play will be the Vita’s major selling point.

Remote Play is one of the Vita’s stand-out features, allowing one to stream PS3 titles on the handheld. Unfortunately as it stands now there are only a selected number of games that  support this, carefully managed by Sony.

At last year’s Tokyo Game Show, Sony demonstrated remote play with current PS3 titles such as Killzone 3 and LittleBigPlanet 2.

Eurogamer has previously reported that a future PS3 firmware update should enable remote play of all PS3 titles, at a resolution of 480 x 272 and not the Vita’s 960 x 544. Developers of future PS3 titles could add support that would activate a Vita specific 480p mode.  

The Vita launched in its home country Japan at the end of last year, selling 321 400 units in two days, but also forcing Sony to release a firmware update to help with crashes and touchscreen problems experienced by users.