PlayStation Vita: First Look
The successor to the PSP is released in a mere 2 days; 2/22/2012, yet we managed to get a closer look at the system a few days in advance. With this device Sony are no doubt trying to leave the stereotypical portable gaming market behind and instead focusing on the broader market; portable entertainment.
Combining their PlayStation home gaming format with the functionality and portability of your modern day smartphone as well as incorporating a social media factor was going to be no easy task; there is no doubt that this new device faces competition from the likes of the iPhone and Android phones, who both have had years to master the social side of gaming – Apple recently released Game Center for their devices to allow gamers to unlock trophies and achievements.
So how will the PS Vita compete with smart phones? We took a look at the device…
It had to be Social
The device comes with Twitter and Flickr installed from the go, with Facebook, foursquare and Skype all available to download over the PS Store. In an interview with CNN, Shuhei Yoshida explained ”It has Twitter. It has Flickr. Portable music applications. These are here to enhance your gameplay experience. What (Twitter) does as a player is, it lets you take a screen shot of a game you are playing. You beat the boss or you get the high score, (and) you can show the world what you’ve done with that screen shot.”
Users can run all of these devices at once, as well as play their music from their music library while playing a game. How? The PS Vita’s processor allows the user to run 8 processes at once, without any noticeable slowing of the system. This apparent multi-tasking gives the PS Vita a huge advantage over some of its other competition, such as the 3DS.
An application named Party allows users to talk to other users using voice chat, however, restrictions set by AT&T apply; one user must be connected via WiFi. We don’t see this as a major issue though, after all, we weren’t looking to upgrade our phones just yet.
The Metal Gear Solid title for the PSP featured a means of finding other gamers using GPS, though add-on accessories were needed and over all it was an expensive feature to take advantage of. However, Sony have seemingly learnt from this and have included this as a standard part of the PS Vita; if you don’t have any online friends you can use the PS Vita’s GPS system to find ones close by.
Gaming
None of the above would matter if the system failed on its key selling point; gaming. However, do not fear, the system more than delivers on that aspect. Its huge 5-inch OLED screen provides a crystal clear display of your adventures and helps keep your heart racing as you discover your latest clues or walk around that dark corner. The great thing about the screen however is that it was built for the device. What we mean by this is, Sony have no way of knowing what each of their consumers TVs are; what condition they are in, whether or not they are HD, etc. However, with the PS Vita, the screen’s main purpose is to deliver high quality gaming to the user. And it passes with flying colors.
Users will find it easier to move from PS3 to PS Vita, with the addition of the extra analogue stick the layout is much more closely related to its bigger brother.
The PS Vita features a rear touch pad which takes some getting used to, we found it easy to accidentally touch the pad and mistakenly move a character, however Sony wanted this pad to reflect how the user was feeling in game; we believe that Sony plan on using the touch pad to measure the level of intensity in the user’s gaming and use this data for something, to improve gameplay, for example, if you are gripping the system quite tightly, the character might breathe heavier, seem edgy, etc.
Augmented reality is to be made a feature of three launch titles and will make use of both the front and rear camera, which obviously come in handy for Skype and other social applications.
Expect to See
Sony are counting on some of its big guns to deliver in order for their new system to really make waves in the gaming community; titles like Madden, FIFA, LittleBigPlanet and Assassin’s Creed to name just a few. The MLB gaming franchise is also promising some huge features for the PS Vita, with 65 of the 70 updates to be made to its PS3 counterpart featuring in the portable version of the game, one of the notable features will be the use of the rear touch pad to throw the baseball around the diamond.
Designer of MLB 12: The Show, Ramone Russell, hinted at cross-system play being available on the title, which most users will hope is available on all titles; something the PS3 didn’t really use to its full potential with the PSP. Russell said, ”You dump 20, 30, 40 hours into a mode, and it’s time to go on a business trip. You save that file up into a Cloud. Pick up your PlayStation Vita. Take it on the road. Download it from the Cloud and you keep going. And it works vice versa.”
Conclusion
The PS Vita feels more like a next generation home console rather than a portable system; we believe that in a few years we are likely to see gamers being able to take their Xbox or Wii on the road with them and Sony, again, seems to be ahead of the pack.
The power of the system is sublime and we love being able to play our own music while gaming. The ‘touch’ part of the gaming takes a little getting used to and we did forget about the touch pad on the back sometimes, leading to mistimed movements, though after a few hours you get used to it and believe us, you will be playing with this baby for more than a few hours.
The system can be pre-ordered now over at Amazon, who offer a pre-order price guarantee; if the price drops between now and the release of the system you pay the lowest price!
Pre-order/Order PlayStation Vita – 3G/Wi-Fi
This PlayStation Vita comes with WiFi + AT&T 3G.
Pre-order/Order PlayStation Vita – Wi-Fi
This PlayStation Vita comes with Wi-Fi.
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