Used PS Vita Games Need to be Reset Before Trophies Can be Unlocked

This bit of news is likely to cause disappointment to players who tend to purchase second-hand games. On the PlayStation Vita, trophies can only be unlocked for the first player that uses the game. If you purchase a second-hand game, all the game data on the card needs to be reset before the second player can earn trophies.

This won’t be much of a problem for players that want to start the game from scratch, but it means you cannot continue your game on a second console without first deleting all your saved data.

The PS Vita will display an unhelpful error message if you try to use a second-hand game, as the screenshot shows, but it fails to explain why. Fortunately, the PlayStation Vita FAQ section covers some of the details around the reasoning:

Information about trophies you have earned is saved on the PS Vita system. You can only earn trophies on the first PS Vita system that you start a game on. You cannot earn trophies for that game on other PS Vita systems. If you sign up for PlayStation Network, you can save information about the trophies you have earned on PlayStation Network servers. When you play the game on a different PS Vita system, if you sign up for the same PlayStation Network account, you can earn additional trophies on that system.