The PlayStation Vita has two analog sticks. They are positioned symmetrically below the console’s face buttons and directional pad, giving the handheld the dual-stick control layout familiar from home PlayStation controllers.
This was a major hardware change from the PlayStation Portable, which had only one analog nub. The Vita’s second stick made it better suited to 3D action games, shooters, racing games, and ports designed around two-stick movement and camera control. Sony paired the sticks with a D-pad, four face buttons, L and R shoulder buttons, and touch controls.
The Vita also includes a front touchscreen and a rear touchpad, but neither counts as an analog stick. The redesigned PS Vita 2000, often called the Vita Slim, retained the same two-stick arrangement even though it replaced the original model’s OLED display with an LCD panel. The PlayStation TV, a television-connected Vita variant, likewise supports the Vita control scheme through a separate controller.