As a father of two teenagers, a wife, 2 pug dogs, and a cat that I never see. My gaming time has been neutered to almost a nonexistent time frame. My Virtual time is relished to my iphone. If I can stay awake, the time when all of the above finally fall asleep, is when the PS3 and Xbox finally cheer, gracing a game inside its players, instead of Netflix, or being used as some other form of media player. To put my gaming time in perspective, I have about 70 hours clocked into skyrim in a four month period, without one other game gracing the disc reader. It was last month, when the wife and I were planning my daughters dance competition, in which is a weekend affair at a hotel, that my wonderful wife said after watching the MLB 12 the show game changer commercial, why don't we get you that so you have something to do at dance?
http://www.youtube.com/user/PlayStation?v=rXRfSgXAmoM
Now at first, I really thought, that no way would I enjoy a 5 inch screen, most likely playing kiddy games, it's for kids etc. Ironically while thinking this, I was in the middle of a Draw Something match where a penis was being drawn into a vagina for the word snuggle.' At this point I realized that, you know what, let's see what this is all about. With youtube at my beck and call, I wanted to see what the PSVITA was all about.
http://www.youtube.com/user/PlayStation?v=yoOK7xrSP7w
I picked up one of these handheld beasts, in which the sale also included a 4 GB memory card (which is not included, and the memory format is proprietary to Sony) Now I didn't have any extra cash, unit was $249.99 + tax, but I did have some PSN point's cash, so my first game was Attack of the mutant Blob:
Here are the Specs of this piece of kit:
CPU - ARM Cortex A9 core (4 core)
GPU - SGX543MP4+
Screen - 5 inches, 960 x 544 (16:9), Approx. 16 million colors,
OLED Multi touch screen, capacitive
Memory - 512MB
VRAM - 512MB
Cameras - Front 120fps@320×240(QVGA), 60fps@640×480(VGA)
Rear - Up to 640×480(VGA)
o 3G (On 3G model only)
o 802.11b/g/n wireless
o Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (A2DP/AVRCP/HSP)
Ports - Vita slot, memory card, SIM (3G model only), multi-use port, audio, serial data, headset jack, accessory port
Dimensions - 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm WHD
Music - MP3, MPEG 3, MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC), WAVE (Linear PCM)- Videos - MPEG 4 (AAC), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High/Main/Baseline Profile (AAC)- Photos - JPEG,TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG
I fired this beast up, and had no issue connecting to my PSN account, and my wifi, Etc. and was blown away at how rich and vibrant the OLED screen really is. The Dual Analog thumb controllers felt awesome, even with my big Hands (6'4 tall), but after playing for awhile, I did start cramping a bit, so I just ordered a case that has preformed hand Grips. Touch screen on the front and rear responds well, and the cameras (front and rear) work flawlessly, and are as good as my iphone 4 camera. The Netflix App works flawlessly, including my entire instant que, and searchable variants as seen in all other Netflix apps. The twitter app works, and the facebook app works good as well. It does need the internet browser redone, it works and handles most websites with ease, but the Vita is sorely missing a youtube app. It also sports a Near App that allows you to see other people in your vicinity that is also playing via the Vita, and allows you to message them like a forum, showcase your games and Trophies, including your trophies for PS3, which are linked together. I really haven't messed around with the other OS apps that come with the vita though as a gamer, the Games are my priority.
Onto the PSN store, I was happy to find out that Sony and Scion teamed up to launch Motorstorm RC as a free game to compliment the PSVITA launch, and I must say, it's a great game, that I probably would of paid for. Controls are wonky at first, until you realize you have to control a RC Car, and not to drive it like a real car. Just throwing it out there that I have destroyed everyone on my Friends list with my track times. This is also set up like Trials HD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItXzMMFttIM
This past week, I went with the Sony 1st part juggernaut titles, MLB 12 the show, and Uncharted Golden Abyss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVdoyJwBB6s
These two games alone are incredible in detail, controls, and mechanics. Honestly these games being like launch titles, begs the question, what will Vita games look like in a year or two? Proving that it's almost like having a mini PS3 in your hands. But if that is what you were expecting when you bought the Vita, you will be disappointed.
When the Vita was first Announced at E3, and then really shown to the public last year at TCS Expo. Also Right on the heels of the wiiU announcement that the wii u will have a tablet controller, with a 6 inch screen that will interact with the console itself. Sony Not to be outdone, said that we have already done that, the future is now, and began playing Killzone 3 via the Vita linked to the PS3. Known as Remote Play, will give you the power to take control of your ps3 via wire link or Wifi, and play ps3 or PSN games. That in of itself put me over the edge and put me into the Vita investment corner. As some of you know, my game library is quite untouched, with a slew of games begging to be played. This backlog, I thought would be easily brought down via this Remote play. Sadly it is not working. Barring two or three games that do work, most do not, including killzone 3. Sony has issued only one statement on the matter, Saying Stay Tuned, more information will follow Whatever that means, but of interesting note, they are introducing Cross play. Cross play is that the ps3 version of a game, will allow cross playing to the vita version of the game. Save files, rosters, etc, are compatible in both versions. Cool feature, but with a side effect that you have to actually buy both versions. Now Sony did offer a $20 discount if you bought the ps3 version and Vita version of MLB 12 the show. But to me, it is overkill. Again going back to my limited playing time, why have 2 versions of the same game, as if Remote play worked as Sony announced, then I could just buy the ps3 version and remote play it via the vita. As already stated that isn't active so I settled on just the Vita version.
Other Complaints I have is that they say the battery will last 6-8 hours, but as you will see below my times were different and different games greatly influenced battery life:
All fields below are shown from a full charge to Low battery Warning
Netflix movie watching- 4 hours 7 minutes
PSN Downloadable game Motorstorm and Blob- 4 hours 32 minutes
Disc based Game - MLB 12- 3 hours 58 Minutes
General mix of facebook App, Netflix movie, Internet Browsing, and Motorstorm- 5 hours 2 minutes
So about 4 and half hours doing anything on the vita is about all you get. You can play while the Vita is being charged though.
All in all, I'm happy with my purchase, but wish there was something that the mainstream public would see as a console seller. This review will probably not influence any of you to go out and buy one, as most of the games, are already out on your console and TV. For my scenario, my situation, it couldn't be a better buy. Sitting down after a long day of work, dinner is all ate, house is cleaned, and Kids are getting their homework done. Sitting, with my favorite Daddy refreshment, a snack, and a loving wife, who really needs to watch that last episode of Desperate Housewife's, I sit and say No Problem. As I grab my Vita, then fire up my pre made Starting Pitcher in MLB 12, and Glance over to my wife, wink and smile, knowing that I'm happy I'm gaming, and she's happy watching whatever train wreck TV show that women love. Thank you Vita that is
A #gamechanger.
Actual Screenshots:
