Custom firmware, installed right
We pick the correct exploit for your firmware version and make the hack permanent wherever the system allows, so it survives a full power-off instead of dying at every reboot.
PS Vita software modding · East Palo Alto
Bring us your Vita. Leave with a better one.
Custom firmware installed properly, your storage set up, emulators configured and everything tested before you get it back. Purely software — your console never gets opened, and nothing gets soldered, swapped or fitted.
- Software only — never opened
- Local drop-off in East Palo Alto
- Your save data preserved
- Fixed-price quotes
- Games loaded before pickup
The work
What you actually get back
A console that does everything it always could, plus everything Sony never let it.
Storage set up properly
Bring an SD2Vita adapter and a microSD and setting it up is part of the price — or add a 128 GB card and adapter for $30 and we'll supply the lot, formatted and ready.
Emulators set up and tested
PSP and PS1 via Adrenaline, everything older through RetroArch, all configured with sensible controls rather than dumped on the card. Optional and free — just say you want it.
Tuned and themed to taste
Volume limiter removed, native resolution forced in games that shipped blurry, overclock profiles if you want them — plus custom themes, bubble layouts and a boot logo of your choosing.
Games on it when you collect it
Your pick of the free homebrew library — hundreds of community-made games, full source ports like Doom and Quake, and public-domain classics — plus backups of any cartridges or PSN purchases you bring us.
Covered for 30 days
If the firmware fails, a plugin misbehaves or the storage stops being recognised within 30 days, bring it back and we'll put it right at no charge. What's covered.
Local service
Based in East Palo Alto
Most of this work takes under an hour on the bench. If you're nearby, you don't need to post anything or wait days — bring the console over and you're often waiting for it rather than coming back for it.
Open Sat–Sun 1–7pm and Mon–Fri 7–9pm, Pacific. Weekend afternoons are the long window, so that's the slot to book if you'd rather wait for it. Weekday evenings are shorter — usually drop off one evening, collect the next.
Drop off or meet nearby
Come to us in East Palo Alto, or we'll meet you in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City or Mountain View. No shipping cost, no waiting on a courier, and you get to ask questions in person.
Sat–Sun 1–7pm · Mon–Fri 7–9pm
Text (650) 279-4039 to book a slot
Included in the $50
Further out in the Bay Area
Outside those five cities we'll still come to you — anywhere in the Bay Area, by arrangement.
$15
Mail it in
Anywhere in the US. The fee covers tracked, insured return shipping — send it however you like, but do use tracking.
$15
Pricing
$50. Two things can add to it.
The work is one flat price whatever your console needs. Drop it off locally — or meet us in one of the nearby cities — and $50 is what you pay. The only extras are delivery further afield, and a storage card if you don't already have one.
Vita modding
Everything the console needs, in one go. Local drop-off included.
$50per console
- Custom firmware installed
- Made permanent, including a downgrade if that's what it takes
- File manager, taiHEN and core plugins
- Quality-of-life plugins applied
- Your storage formatted, mounted and tested
- Save data migrated across
- Your choice of games loaded (see below)
- Emulator suite free on request
- Custom theme and boot logo if you want one
Delivery
Only if you're outside the nearby cities.
+$15per order
- Meet-up anywhere else in the Bay Area
- …or mail it in from anywhere in the US
- Covers tracked, insured return shipping
- Charged once per order, not per console
Free in East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City and Mountain View — that's part of the $50.
Local options128 GB card
Only if you don't already have storage.
+$30per console
- 128 GB microSD card supplied
- SD2Vita adapter included
- Capacity-tested before we trust your saves to it
- Formatted and mounted as the main storage
- Everything from your old card moved onto it
- Arrives with your game picks already on it
Already own a card and adapter? Bring them — setting up your own storage is part of the $50.
Add it to a quoteMultiple consoles? 10% off two, 15% off three or more.
The process
How it works
Four steps, and you only have to do two of them.
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Get a quote
Use the quote builder to price the job in about thirty seconds. It's an estimate you can email straight over — no account, no waiting on a callback.
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Drop it off, or mail it in
Drop-off in East Palo Alto and meet-ups in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City or Mountain View are free and usually same-day. Further out in the Bay Area, or mail-in from anywhere in the US, is $15. Bring the charger and any memory card you want the data from.
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We check it before starting
Firmware version, storage condition and anything already installed all get looked at first. If the job turns out to be different from the quote, you hear about it before any money moves.
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Work, test, hand back
Exploit, custom firmware, permanent hack where the firmware allows, storage configured, software installed and plugins tuned. Then it gets used on the bench, not just booted once.
Games
You don't collect an empty console
Tell us what you're into and it comes back loaded and working — emulators set up, controls mapped, everything tested.
- Emulated systems. PSP and PS1 through Adrenaline at close to native quality. NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Game Boy, GBA, PC Engine and arcade through RetroArch. Set up and tested, not dumped on the card for you to configure.
- The free library. Hundreds of games written and given away by the Vita and retro communities, full source ports of Doom, Quake and the GTA III-era games, and public-domain and freeware titles. A bigger catalogue than most people expect.
- Whatever you already own. Bring your cartridges and we'll dump them to the card. Bring PSN purchases and we'll get them across. Your collection, on your console, without the cases.
Also worth knowing: we don't do hardware work — no opening consoles, batteries, screens or charging ports. If yours needs physical repair, get that done first and we'll happily do the software side afterwards.
Price your job now
Pick a package, tick the extras, see the total. It takes half a minute and there's nothing to sign up for.