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PlayStation Vita


Newt
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With the Vita dropping in a week or two (depending on whether you have an early pre-order), I figured we should start talking about it.

The launch line up looks surprisingly good. I'll probably be grabbing Gravity Rush day one. I'm also looking forward to playing some of the PSP games I've missed out on, notably Valkyria Chronicles 2.

Is anyone else going to be grabbing one of these soon-ish?

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I've got a preorder on the way. I haven't really looked at any of the launch titles. I'm more worried about transferring games and save data from my PSP. I'll have to look up what's out there.

I'm really excited for the ability to message your friends on the Vita. From what I understand it's a PS3 in your pocket, so there should be no reason as to it not being capable for the same features.

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I'm more worried about transferring games and save data from my PSP. I'll have to look up what's out there.

Unfortunately, the UMD transfer program isn't being extended to the US for <arbitrary reason>. They've announced a list of 'officially supported titles' downloadable from the PSN, but I've heard that it's not all-inclusive.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/02/09/how-to-download-psp-titles-to-ps-vita/

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Given its capabilities and current app load out. I want this over a smartphone. Especially since i work mainly around wireless connections all day. I'd have to talk to someone about the 3G thing if anyone could explain that in detail here i'd appreciate it. A hell of alot cheaper than a proper conversion to be able to properly play a PS3.

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Absolutely want one but I'm still paying off all the holiday gifts I gave everyone and typically stay away from Sony Systems the first few months while they work out the kinks (though since it's technically been out since December hopefully some of those are worked out already).

I'm completely torn though as to whether I want to download the games or get the boxed versions. I love the convenience of the downloads but I love the collection aspect of the physical copies and the idea that 6 years down the road I can pack all of the games in a box and put them with all the other games I never play anymore. So many tough choices....

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I'm interested in trying one out, but right now I have no desire to buy one. I hardly ever play my PSP, and the only games I have for it are Rachet and Clank size matters (got the bundle), Final Fantasy 1 and 2, Wipeout Pulse, Lemmings, Gradius Collection and Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles. I also have Patapon 2 and 3, and Jak and Daxter lost Frontier, but I haven't played them yet and only got them cause they were $5 each new.

Aside from the new Wipeout game, I can't think of a single Vita game I want. I waited until way late in the PSPs lifecycle until there were actually games I wanted for it, then bought them, played them, and was done.

I bought a 3DS at launch, not because there were great launch games for it, but because I knew the awesome games were coming. With a Nintendo console, you have that assurance that you will be getting the Marios, the Zeldas, the Metroids, the Donkey Kongs, the Kirbys, the Pokemons, the Smash Brothers, etc etc etc, but with a sony console I just don't have that guarantee. I'm sure there will be good games for the Vita, but if it ends up like the PSP, then it would be wise to wait a few years until the 3rd revision comes out and all the games are $5 new.

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I had my fun with the PSP (there were quite a lot of good games on it). Instead of getting the Vita right out of the gate like with the PSP, I think I can wait on this for a while until something irresistible comes out(I loved me my PSP GTA games, though they were ported to other systems later :E) and the price comes down. The system looks amazing though.

That said, I really hope the system does well, if it will help the people who are incessantly spouting that dedicated handhelds are dead and can't coexist with mobile gaming see that we can have both (as the 3DS has done recently).

Overflow, great point about the 3DS being a sure-thing for exclusive titles that are great for anyone to play. With the Vita, it seems like a lot of titles will come out on BOTH the PS3 and Vita, but I see this being remedied when the PS4 comes out (and the PS Vita can take over to receive the "lower-end" titles for the next gen).

Edited by ocre
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Granted the initial title lineup doesn't have the branding of say a pokemon. And wipeout's been gone for so long most people don't remember it.

BUT There are some real fun games right out of the box including the return of Ridge Racer. I also need to bring up the Apps again. The PSP was more like an old school current gen handhold.

The Vita however is going to war with SMARTPHONES!

Camera, Chats, The ability to operate their PS3 consoles with their vita, VIDEO! (paired with netflix and potentially HULU!) A fully functional web browser. Music player.

The entire mainstream social networking suite: Facebook Twitter 4square SKYPE Flickr.

These are what's available at LAUNCH. The Vita is not just a game machine. It's a game machine that does everything else. The Skype news is very nice as it will allow you to make phonecalls from damn near anywhere.

Oh i almost forgot: Playstation store and the ability to get PSOne games. I'm going to enjoy having one of these i think. I would love to see certain titles immediately available, but i'm going to enjoy buying games off the store and get some nostalgia going before i worry about future stuff.

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Given its capabilities and current app load out. I want this over a smartphone. Especially since i work mainly around wireless connections all day. I'd have to talk to someone about the 3G thing if anyone could explain that in detail here i'd appreciate it. A hell of alot cheaper than a proper conversion to be able to properly play a PS3.

I believe the only bonus feature is GPS. 3G service is through ATT, and requires a subscription; the limits on the service seemed a bit small to me. It's hard for me to concretely say if the capacity is adequate; but it's fair to say that it is intended only for playing games, not downloading them. I would assume this will result in a larger amount of lag than connecting to some random wifi point.

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they have display units!?
I went last Tuesday and my local Gamestop had a demo unit in the back of the store next to the back door where all the xbox 360 used games are. I read (I think on joystiq) that Gamestop was getting demo units and I was shocked that they had one. If i wasn't specifically looking for the demo unit, I would have never noticed it.

So, how do you guys feel about digital Vs retail games on Vita? I prefer retail, since it feels like you "own" that game more than just having a license to play it. Apparently the retail games do not come with paper manuals for Vita (at least the 4 or 5 that were released early).

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None of the PS1 or PSP games released through the PSN had manuals, so I doubt that will change here.

For me, whether I buy it retail or not is about replay value and convenience. I'm not a game collector: if I'm not going to play a game once I finish it, I trade it in, so if I'm not sure that I'm going to want to keep coming back to a game, better to buy it retail so I'm not stuck with it forever.

As for convenience, some games have a more-or-less fixed path and I like to play them through in a block, without doing much with other games in between (think RPGs, Tomb Raider, Uncharted, etc.) Others don't necessarily have any fixed completion and can be more easily picked up, because what you accomplish in the gameplay in an hour or so is pretty standalone (fighters, racing games, etc.) - games where coming back after a few months of not playing isn't going to leave you to remember where you are in the plot. The former, I'll often buy retail, while the latter, I'll buy through the PSN so I don't have to be switching memory cards all the time to play a fighter for an hour.

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uhhh all of the PS1 games released through PSN had scans of the original manuals

I misread Soma, and shouldn't try to quickly post with a one-year-old trying to play with me. I meant to say that nothing released through the PSN had paper manuals, but they provided scans and it worked out just fine, so they could do something similar with Vita games, whether PSN or retail.

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To be honest, Steam has inured me to digital distribution; and if the retail release things end up just being cases with download codes in them, I think I'll end up getting everything off of PSN anyway.

I still prefer physical media if it exists for the system (I buy UMD games for my PSP Go, for example), but I'm definitely okay with digital only.

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So I tried out the Vita at a GameStop yesterday.

It was a lot lighter than I expected, even when tethered to the wall. It was also pretty comfortable to hold, but the buttons would take some getting used to. The D-pad is nice, but the smaller face buttons and the larger shoulder buttons were kind of weird.

The analogue sticks were tiny! They hardly moved at all in any direction! However, they are incredibly sensitive: In the uncharted demo, you hardly have to breath on the sticks to make him move, so that makes up for how little they move, I guess. I still prefer the slider pad on the 3DS.

The screen was nice, big and colorful, and the games looked great. But I didn't like how all the games and menus demand you use the touch screen for navigation. Seriously, and people accused Nintendo of being gimmicky when they added a touch screen? I don't want to let go of the system with one hand and smudge up the screen just to change a setting or two. Plus, they put all the menu options in the middle of the screen so you have to let go with one hand. That would get annoying fast.

I didn't have a chance to use the back touch panel, but I'm sure it works fine.

The system was outputting sound through some external speakers, but I could already tell the speaker placement on the system is terrible. While playing I constantly covered up the speakers with my thumbs while using the buttons. That was a stupid design idea.

Overall, the system is really nice, but I wouldn't pay $250 for one.

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The screen was nice, big and colorful, and the games looked great. But I didn't like how all the games and menus demand you use the touch screen for navigation. Seriously, and people accused Nintendo of being gimmicky when they added a touch screen? I don't want to let go of the system with one hand and smudge up the screen just to change a setting or two. Plus, they put all the menu options in the middle of the screen so you have to let go with one hand. That would get annoying fast.

This right fucking here.

Mandatory touchscreen menus were low on the list of things I liked about the DS when it first came out and that still hasn't changed.

I was mashing buttons for two whole minutes on the display model I was trying before I figured out it wanted a touch input.

I'm still going to get one because I'm a techwhore like that, and I'll probably end up paying full price for it; but damn if this forced-touch-contol shit isn't getting annoying. Touch controls are cool; button controls are cool; forcing the user to use touchscreen contols when there are perfectly serviceable buttons is not cool, even infuriating. How bloody difficult can it be to program mixed input for fuck's sake? The system has two control systems, use both!

This was the biggest reason I was never able to get into the DS Zelda games: there are buttons; why the fuck can't I use the buttons?

Edited by Gollgagh
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