As I'm back in Japan on holiday, I picked up a 3G/WiFi PS Vita pretty much straight away. The hardware itself is very solid and actually a bit smaller than I was expecting. The d-pad and face buttons are really nice and very precise (not like the PSP's and actually better than the 3DS'). The memory card is super tiny and you can totally replace the SIM card very easily.
PS Vita games can either be downloaded or bought on a small game cartridge. The downloaded versions are slightly cheaper than the boxed versions. Currently all games are available in both formats and it will be interesting to see if this continues, as I may never have to import games again at this rate!
In terms of other games in the shop, you can use your PSN account fine so I re-downloaded a bunch of titles straight away. Weirdly PSone games aren't playable on the system as yet, but PC Engine and PSP games are. There's also a UMD passport app available on your PSP that allows you to download discounted PSP games that you already own. Not had much success getting this to connect as yet though.
The touch screen is a lot like an iPhone/iPad and feels very natural, to the point that it feels very absent on a regular PSP. Navigation on the menus feels basically the same as an iOS device, so more forgiving than the DS/3DS screen that really needs a stylus to use properly. The screen is also very clear and bright. The cameras, front and back, are also pretty decent and there's already an AR tank game from Konami that I've been messing around with.
The biggest pitfall I've had with the system thus far is that when you full power it down and then charge it it doesn't turn on very easily again. This threw me initially as I thought my unit was faulty. It seems that charging the PS Vita puts it back into standby mode but I'm not sure. I'm talking with a friend at Sony about this as it's a bit counter-intuitive. I'm currently leaving the unit on standby pretty much all the time now and this is as intended apparently, as the system has a similar Street Pass setup (called "Near").
The games at launch are a mixed bunch. Ridge Racer is admittedly cheap but has very little content, mostly as it's meant to be an online racer. Looks comparable to RR7 though but with some minor framerate issues in places. Also nabbed Marvel vs Capcom 3 and this is pretty damn fantastic. The games on the whole look comparable to a PS3 game and the touch screen is used quite well in some of them, as the Musou Next demo was pretty cool on that front. Will probably pick up the new Katamari game too, as that uses the rear touch pads quite nicely apparently.
Overall, it's definitely a pretty spiffy handheld. Whilst I still think the 3DS is better, a lot of that is down to the software library it's amassed since release. Personally, over time, I think the Vita will be as good (if not better) if only for the fact the system is region free (something that I still can't believe the 3DS isn't). The Vita is very slick though and feels very user friendly (bar the power down issue). I was amazed how well the touch screen worked with a traditional game pad. Really makes iOS devices feel backward in gaming terms.
It sounds great and I have to give props to Sony for going down the more power route. I fear thought that the price is way too high and we'll be seeing a pretty hefty price drop in under a year. Since I don't have a 3DS, this is 2nd in line on my hardware purchase list.
Key question : what is the battery life like?
It sounds great and I have to give props to Sony for going down the more power route. I fear thought that the price is way too high and we'll be seeing a pretty hefty price drop in under a year. Since I don't have a 3DS, this is 2nd in line on my hardware purchase list.
Key question : what is the battery life like?
Better than the 3DS' (with 3D enabled). A LOT better than the original PSP's too.
That's impressive. Sounds like a really nice bit of kit.
This got me thinking, the res of the PS Vita is 960 x 544 which is suspiciously close to the accepted resolution of PAL which is 720 x 576 so in more boring land. This isn't interesting, still, its a crazy out there resolution and the thing has quad cores right so its basically the same spec as the Transformer Prime but half the res sort of. I wonder if Sony will hedge bet and crank out a tablet of similar spec and cross market the games, I mean the Tegra 3 spec is quite close to this out of the gate.
Still, Sony have gone insane, its 16x9 too?
My JP launch day PSP battery now lasts for about 7.5 hours, I don't know how that happened but it'd be nice if it could beat that (doubt it).
It seems to have more capacity the older it gets. I'm expecting it to just drop dead shortly, or explode in my hands.
Now that Amazon have put a decent bundle together, I've caved in on this.
Not really played anything for a few months, but quite fancy WipeOut, MnG6 and seeing what Near is like. Like a chump I've plumped for the 3G model to make sure I get GPS, but no idea if anything uses that yet (Near, hopefully).
Lumines soundtrack looks good:
http://kotaku.com/5881242/lumines-electronic-symphony-is-a-34+track-love-letter-to-electronic-music
2.9 billion dollars?
http://kotaku.com/5881530/sony-is-bleeding-money
Get Gravity Daze/Rush too. The demo is amazing and the premise is really fresh. Think it will be a European release game too.
I was looking at it, I like the style, not sure at all about the game - if there is a demo I'll give that a go.
There's a demo on the Japanese store. You can control the direction of gravity at will basically. Coupling that with a good third person combat setup makes for something very interesting. Famitsu and most of the Japanese press have been raving about it.
It looks cool. We need to meet up as this is the only way I'm going to get a handheld fix in these days of austerity.
Yeah. Also, all Vita's have GPS regardless of the 3G. The 3G model can also easily swap out the SIM card too, as well as turn the 3G connection off in the Vita's options (if you want to avoid charges).
I'm pretty sure Sony have said GPS is for 3G models only - its the same chip I think.
The non-3G version is supposed to use some wifi-network based location service instead.
Pretty sure it was on the back of the Japanese box for both types of Vita. I only bought the 3G in the hope of swapping it out in the UK (which it can do very nicely).
http://us.playstation.com/psvita/systems/ps-vita-3g.html#features
The launch Japanese models were likely different then, as it had GPS written on the back of the WiFi only Vita when I bought mine last year. In any case, it doesn't matter as you've bought the 3G anyway?
Euro launch today, I know Paper is psyched. I am stepping back from this, but both Wipeout and Uncharted look, repeat, look, interesting. You can kinda see them appearing on PS3 in a few year aka PSP titles.
Game aren't stocking certain Ubisoft Vita titles. No idea why. There was a news item on this, but cba to find the link.
I'm not up for £230 outlay. Better options for me are:
1. 3DS
2. Low end Android slate.
Let's face facts here. It's not going to sell well and will be discounted to £160 in time for Christmas. That's probably a good time to pick one up as the catalogue will be decent by then. I think the launch line up is strong though (not seen that before for a Sony release
).
Yeah GAME are screwed, publishers want cash up front for titles now vs however it works normally. This was a similar blip that HMV survived and Woolworths and Zavvi tanked.
3DS would be a much better way to go fiscally that's for sure. Personally I'm not sure I can survive another PlayStation cycle, having got the PSP a few months back, nothing has made me regret my lateness to the "party".
I wouldn't mind getting hold of one of these, but I know for a fact I'll never play it. It's been the same story for every portable device I've ever bought, from my iPod to my mobile phone - I completely forget about them and never carry them about.
Uncharted is meant to be bobbins.
So, Vita... the interface is nice and ropey, launching anything is a faff (LiveArea, some kind of notification screen, turns up before you can actually start something). I imagine that is configurable though. The Wipeout loading times are shocking.
Get this on initial power on:
- stick 3g sim in
- power up, set langauge, time, date, etc
- you must setup a psn account, ok I have one
- cannot find network, please choose wifi, there are no wifi networks I can use
- I can skip this although it isn't clear
- it sets up a vague temporary psn account without any explanation of what that is exactly
Then I look in settings, and it has chosen the wrong APN for 3G, so I fix that (in the same way that most users wouldn't do) and it no longer lets me setup PSN unless I do a firmware update first.
... which it won't let me do over 3G.
A shambles!