Sony’s first attempt at the handheld gaming market, the PSP (Playstation Portable) was sort of a mixed bag depending on the region. Released in Q4 of 2004 in Japan and Q1 of 2005 in the North America, the little handheld-that-could struggled to find a market in the United States and Europe due to the overwhelming success of the Nintendo DS and the kick start of the smart phone sensation. In Japan, however, the handheld was a whopping success thanks to titles like Monster Hunter. The PSP had sort of an identity crisis, trying to be both a gaming handheld, a smart phone, and an iPod at the same time. The under-emphasis of gaming sort of killed its momentum in the U.S. thanks to the lack of innovation in it’s titles, the infrequency of new software being released, and the true lack of any killer apps for the handheld. Sony wanted the PSP to be the hardcore gamer’s handheld, but with the poor analog nub found on the system, the ho-hum screen, and the intricate controls found on a lot of titles without the proper controls integrated onto the handheld itself (like a second analog nub), the PSP was certainly the black sheep of gaming.
I seriously believe that Sony has learned from their mistakes by the design of their next generation handheld gaming system, the Playstation Vita. Sony heard the cries from gamers this time by designing the PSP’s successor to have not one true analog stick, but two of them! The lack of innovation cannot be the downfall of the handheld this time, since the Vita contains a 5’’ beautiful OLED touch screen, a rear touch pad that interacts with the software, two digital cameras (front and rear) with augmented reality functionality, and 3G support by AT&T (in an optional model) to appeal to the on-the-go smart phone users out there. Sony’s competition this time is a 10x stronger smart phone market, the Nintendo 3DS (which has yet another head start by one year), and now the tablet market. Only time will tell if the PS Vita will outperform the disappointing PSP, but Sony has stated that software is a key focus on the platform and that long droughts of games will not happen this occur around. I have purchased the WiFi only version of the PS Vita ($249) and have spent a lot of time with it in the past week, so lets take a look at it.
Before I start, I want everyone to know that I was a hater of the PSP. I hated the 1000 model’s ghosting-plagued screen (and even the 3000 model’s screen wasn’t too great), I hated the analog nub, and I can not think of one game I can say was a system seller for it. After playing with the the Vita for a week, I can honestly say this device is a huge apology letter by Sony to the fans (which I’ll get into later). The handheld does indeed have it’s fair share of issues, so it is far from perfect, but I can already tell I will love this thing as long as Sony keeps to their promise and supports it with a wide variety of software. I will break down my review into three separate pieces: the system, the OS, and the games.
The System
The Vita packs quite a punch in the graphical department, coming very close to the graphical quality of the PS3 itself. Uncharted: Golden Abyss basically matches the graphical fidelity of the original Uncharted game for the PS3 and Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus looks identical to the PS3 counterpart. Some people claim that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 actually looks better on the Vita compared to the PS3, but I did notice the background aren’t as animated as I was expecting, but since I have not played the console version of the title I cannot confirm that the graphics have been scaled down for the Vita version; it certainly does not look like it has though. The handheld controls very well with both analog sticks feeling smooth and grip to your thumbs quite nicely. The face buttons are a bit small and quite high above the second analog stick, but I have yet to have an issue with them gameplay wise.
The form factor of the handheld feels very nice in my hands and I haven’t encountered any cramping in my hands after long periods of play (unlike the 3DS). There are rubber-like plastic grips on the back of the system where your hands rest with indents that feel pretty good. The rear touch panel lies right in the center of the back of the unit and covers probably 60% of the back. Even though the launch titles I have played do not use the rear panel much, I do feel like using the panel may be challenging if not incorporated well into the game since it’ll make the user have to shift their hand in a way that may position their hands off of the face buttons and left analog stick. The left and right triggers at the top of the handheld feel basically identical to the PSP and I haven’t witnessed any issues with them.
The Vita takes proprietary memory cards, which come in 4, 8, 16, and 32 gigabyte variations; this is probably the biggest complaint I have about the Vita. I would have loved to have some internal memory on the device with a memory card expanding option (like most digital cameras and Android tablets), but forcing consumers to buy memory cards feels like we’re back in 1996 again with the original Playstation. The memory cards are very expensive too, with the prices ranging from $20 (for the 4GB) to $100 (for the 32GB). I can buy a 320GB hard drive for an Xbox 360 for $120, a 1TB hard drive for a PC for $80, or a 32GB SD card for $50 but I have to pay almost half of the handheld’s cost just for a 32GB card (which is basically required for full functionality anyway)? Simply ridiculous on Sony’s part. Even the PSP Go (Sony’s second attempt at breathing life into the PSP) had 16GB of internal memory, but I guess the fact that nobody bought the PSP Go made Sony think twice about not using some physical form of media for the Vita.
The software comes in two forms on the Vita: digital downloads (which also net you a small discount) and physical boxed media cards that can be bought in retail stores. The physical copies look like small, thin memory cards similar in size to the Memory Stick Pro Duo memory cards by Sony. The very thin nature of the game cards concern me due to feeling so fragile, but I haven’t had an issue yet with them. Even though the digital versions of the games cost less and are easier to obtain, the large sizes will fill a small memory card up way too fast and there is no resale value to them, so sticking to the physical copies will be a good idea for most (my self included).
One of the Vita’s shining features is the 5’’ OLED touch screen. The screen is quite gorgeous to look at and the color depth and clarity make the pretty graphics really pop. In a high definition era, the screen does not fail to deliver the goods. The touch sensitivity is as solid as any high dollar smart phone and games utilize it very well. The rear touch pad, even though I’ve had limited experience with it, functions well from what I’ve noticed but my previously mentioned concerns about moving your hands to use it still exists. Both digital cameras work well and snap pictures rather quickly, but do not expect very high quality photos out of either one. I’m not quite sure what the mega-pixels are on the two cameras, but putting the photo quality up against the 3DS makes the Vita look like a small improvement in camera quality and shutter speed, but not by much. Augmented reality games seem to perform better than the 3DS as well, which Sony packed in AR cards like the 3DS. I noticed with the 3DS AR cards that the augmented segments read from the cards can result in jerky performance and can be easy to knock the cards off track and make the images disappear; the Vita did none of that during my short time with the two downloadable AR games.
Overall the handheld is much more impressive than the PSP and the new added controls make more complex games shine easier on a handheld system. The Vita really does feel like the hardcore gamer’s handheld and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this thing shines in the future in terms of software and innovation. For all of its impressive features and tech, the $250 price tag feels very reasonable compared to the 3DS at launch.
*To be Continued...
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