PS Vita : Anyone intrested or getting one?

[Reefsmoka]

Hey all,

Anyone getting a PS Vita then? I'm definitely interested, the price tag is a bit steep at around £220/£230 for the wifi model and £260 for the 3G/wifi model. You HAVE to buy a memory card separate which are specific Sony ones at 4gig around £15, 8 gig £28, 16gig £40 and a 32gig card around £60.

The battery life is pretty good for a hand held console capable of "PS3" quality of graphics at between 3-5 hours.

If I do get one I highly doubt I would be using outside the house though, can just play on the sofa while she watched Hollyoaks

The games I want are Everybodys golf, Disgea 3 and a title called Little Deviants which takes advantage of the Vita features like touch screen.

 

[Reefsmoka]

Seems like no one on here is getting one then .

Just ordered mine now from amazon, £236 delivered on the day (22nd Feb) with an 8gb memory card and Dungeon Hunter game. Cant wait, might even book some time off work for it

 

[V_R]

Am tempted, but i cant see me using it enough...

 

[Abarbarian]

Eyesight is not good enough for me to be able to use one..An I would rather spend the money on a 32" telly.

Looks like a neat toy though.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Not for me. The original PSP never appealed to me either. Only portable entertainment I have is iPod which has a few games on it including Sonic The Hedgehog 1 and films as required. Plus music of course

 

[Reefsmoka]

Amazon delivered on there promise and got the PS Vita I ordered to my house on the release date (22nd Feb)

As soon as I got it out the box I could feel it was a quality piece of kit, and a lot lighter than I imagined it was going to be for such a powerful device. The analogue sticks and buttons are tiny, but in your hands the layout is perfect.

Heres some pictures of it next to a PS3 pad and DSi XL:

Its about as thick as a closed DSi XL aswell, though the analogue sticks stick out a wee bit more:

The game cartridges and memory card are both tiny, heres some comparisons next to a standard DS cartridge and standard SD memory card (the smallest item is the PS Vita memory card):

And just the DS Cartridge (on the left) and the PS Vita cartridge together:

Heres the PS Vita game box next to a standard DVD and a PS3 game box (Vita game box at the bottom):

And the back of the Vita has a touch pad which is simular to a laptop touch pad, I've got a picture of the back of my Vita to try and show but you cant really see, the whole touch pad is covered in the Playstation X, O, square and triangle symbols which a high gloss finish:

So far I'm very impressed with it. It uses "apps" like most things do today (ipad, ipod, iphone, android, xbox360). You get an app already installed called "welcome park" which showcases the Vitas touchscreen, dual cameras, rear touchpad and motion sensors in some mini games which is quite alot of fun to be fair, I've been playing them more than any game so far.

Theres a seperate trophy scheme on the Vita just like the PS3 and Xbox 360 which always helps you get the most out of games because you'll always want to put that extra time in and earn the trophy even if its a pointless waste of time .

The camera quality isnt great, you'd like to have seen a 10mp+ on such an expensive device. I'm pretty sure its only a measly 1.3mp. Also the charging lead should of been made with the same adaptor as a PS3 controller, but instead a Vita specific one, which is just a complete waste of time and yet another lead laying around my house.

The memory cards are expensive and Vita only which is abit of a rip off. 4gig card will set you back around £15, 8gig £27, 16gig £35 and 32gig £55-£60(not available in UK yet but can order from america as region free). They cost way too much considering they are only compatible with the Vita.

 

[Silverhazesurfer]

I have to ask a question. How does it integrate with the PS3? I thought about picking up a PS3 but I am not sure if I want that investment only to have to do the same in a few years with the new systems coming out. The problem I find with this technology is that it is so expensive and then becomes obsolete after a while. Just as I get to use it for something cool, it's not longer cool anymore.

 

[Reefsmoka]

There are some games you can remote play from your PS3 with your Vita. Also any videos or pictures you have on your PS3 you can view on your Vita as long as your PS3 is on standby and you have an internet connection on your Vita. You have to pair your PS3 with your Vita and then it doesn't matter where you are as long as you have an internet connection with your Vita. You just go to remote play on your Vita and it will turn your PS3 on and use the Vita as a screen and controller.

Most technology is dead money to be fair, PC gaming is really expensive, then your PC is out of date in 3-4 years time. Consoles do last a little longer to be fair the PS3 is still an awesome gaming machine and its been out in the UK since early 2007 and still going strong 5 years on. The new next gen beasts might be bout in 2013 but don't quote me on that!

 

[EvanDavis]

Hey all,

Anyone getting a PS Vita then?.

Not for me. I have a frustration level of a brick. And anything I own that might get me frustrated needs to e big enough I can't pick it up with one hand. Or it just ends up hitting the wall

 

[floppybootstomp]

Most technology is dead money to be fair, PC gaming is really expensive, then your PC is out of date in 3-4 years time. Consoles do last a little longer to be fair the PS3 is still an awesome gaming machine and its been out in the UK since early 2007 and still going strong 5 years on. The new next gen beasts might be bout in 2013 but don't quote me on that!

Thanks for the introduction to the Vista, good to read about new stuff

As for the above quote my PC I built in November 2006 based on an Intel Core Duo 6600 was still going strong in Sept '11 and still cabable of running every new PC game release with an Nvidia GTX560 which to be honest was an upgrade on the original video card.

As for games, some Xbox 360 & PS3 games are now hitting the shops at £45+ which imo is an absolute ripoff. PC Games on the other hand rarely cost more than £30.00 on release and usually soon drop in price. Plus Steam regularly sell PC games at silly money prices.

I recently traded in my Xbox 360 Elite 120Gb for the newer Xbox 360 250Gb which now has built in Wi-Fi. Cost me £75.00 at a GAME store and I also got a copy of Need For Speed The Run thrown in. I thought that was pretty good value but it's rumoured there will be a new Xbox to supercede it within the next 12 months.

In short, 'PC Gaming is really expensive' not entirely factual imo, plus, of course, the picture quality is better on PC.

 

[Reefsmoka]

PC gaming used to be cheap, but PC games are hitting £40 today. People blame call of duty for that, as that was the 1st game on PC to hit the £40 mark, knowing people would buy it at that. PC gaming used to be cheap, but the sad fact is that it is not any more. You cant even trade in most PC games, but you can easily trade in there console counter parts. Skyrim for my PC I bought for £35 on the release day, some places were doing it cheaper on console, Dues Ex I paid £35 for, could of paid the same for console version. Call of duty £40, same price as on console.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Disagree. I use both a PC and Xbox for gaming and in my experience PC games are definitely cheaper overall.

Good point about the trade-in value though, most hard copy PC games are now virtually worthless thanks to tougher DRM measures.

Of course, it's all down to tactical buying, I would never (well, rarely) buy a PC game for £40 or even full price for that matter. CoD_MW3 started out at £40 but I waited just five weeks and picked it up on Amazon for £20. As far as I'm aware I cannot currently buy the game for Xbox 360 as low as £20.00.

And did I mention Steam? I did, didn't I LA Noire cost me around £6.50 for PC recently on Steam.

Same rules apply for me with Xbox games, I rarely pay full price but they seem to take a lot longer to drop in price than their PC game equivalent.

 

[Silverhazesurfer]

for me...it's stuff like this..

 

[Reefsmoka]

Disagree. I use both a PC and Xbox for gaming and in my experience PC games are definitely cheaper overall.

Good point about the trade-in value though, most hard copy PC games are now virtually worthless thanks to tougher DRM measures.

Of course, it's all down to tactical buying, I would never (well, rarely) buy a PC game for £40 or even full price for that matter. CoD_MW3 started out at £40 but I waited just five weeks and picked it up on Amazon for £20. As far as I'm aware I cannot currently buy the game for Xbox 360 as low as £20.00.

And did I mention Steam? I did, didn't I LA Noire cost me around £6.50 for PC recently on Steam.

Same rules apply for me with Xbox games, I rarely pay full price but they seem to take a lot longer to drop in price than their PC game equivalent.

Its alright waiting weeks/months after a game comes out to get it cheap, but what if you cant wait? If there's a game you've been wanting for along time and its due to be out in a week or so your not going to think to yourself that your going to wait longer for it in a hope that it goes cheaper, and what if it doesnt go cheaper? (Starcraft 2 a prime example, held its £35 price for over a year!)

Tactical buying can work with consoles too, supermarkets quite often to good deals on games when you spend so much on shopping or just cheaper overall.

You can get some killer deals on PC games every now and then, especially through steam. I've fallen victim to a steam sale before spending nearly £100 in a winter sale (well spent no doubt )

PC games are still slightly cheaper on release most the time, but your already down on your £1000 gaming rig.

 

[floppybootstomp]

At this stage in life I've learnt to wait

Only recent game I bought as soon as it was released was Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for PC which cost me £28.99 from Amazon and well worth every penny in my opinion, endless hours of entertainment, but I digress.

...but your already down on your £1000 gaming rig.

That's very true if all you're using a computer for is gaming, surfing, audio and video playback but most folk use their PC for a whole host of other activities such as video and audio editing to name just a couple.

And for your £1K you do get a better presentation for your gameplay, not to mention the mouse/keyboard combo being better for most games than a controller.

A lot of it's swings and roundabouts, pros and cons if you will but my personal opinion is that the PC is a marginally better gaming platform than any of the consoles.

As for Sony, because of their vast back catalogue of crapping on the consumer (thought you could run Linux on your PS3 did you? - think again) I boycott them. I'm not so anal though that if Sony made a product I wanted badly enough I'd buy it. But luckily for me I mostly have choice, hence the Xbox and all my non-Sony Optical drives, TV, camera et al.

With the prices Sony are charging for the Vita memory cards seems to me they've shot themselves in the foot once again. There's a news article at Games site Gamespot where consumers have been quick to condemn Sony and express disappointment at the memory card pricing.

Sorry, but as fine a product as the Vita may be it's made by Sony and if I wanted a handheld I'd probably opt for a DS, old as it may be.

Having said that, as I mentioned before, the Vita looks like a great piece of kit and I hope you're happy with it.

 

[floppybootstomp]

PS: Yes, Starcraft II did hold it's £35 price tag for ages and by the time it came down in price I'd lost interest so didn't bother purchasing. There's probably a moral or summat there but blowed if I can figure what it is

 

[Reefsmoka]

Pretty bored with the VIta to be honest, but I'm bored with gaming on a whole so its probably down to that.

Also my vita wouldn't turn on earlier so i looked through the manual and couldn't find anything to help me so done some googling and found a little fix by giving it a hard reset which just involves holding the power button down for around 30 seconds. Not good when its only a day old and I've only played it twice!

I used to think PC gaming was a million times better than console gaming but then I got rid of my gaming rig many moons ago got into console gaming then come back to PC gaming and have been dissapointed so far. I think I've just got crap at gaming or my inner mind is telling me to stop! I think console gaming ruined me maybe

 

[floppybootstomp]

Pretty bored with the VIta to be honest, but I'm bored with gaming on a whole so its probably down to that.

Also my vita wouldn't turn on earlier so i looked through the manual and couldn't find anything to help me so done some googling and found a little fix by giving it a hard reset which just involves holding the power button down for around 30 seconds. Not good when its only a day old and I've only played it twice!

I used to think PC gaming was a million times better than console gaming but then I got rid of my gaming rig many moons ago got into console gaming then come back to PC gaming and have been dissapointed so far. I think I've just got crap at gaming or my inner mind is telling me to stop! I think console gaming ruined me maybe

Or maybe the games just ain't so good anymore. I sometimes feel like that, there haven't been many games that have really entertained me recently.

I can remember actually rushing home to play a bit more Quake and the few games I've really enjoyed recently have been over in ten minutes, or it seemed like it.

Plus there's loads of games I just find too difficult now and at first I thought it was me getting crap at gaming or getting too old and my reflexes weree knackered but no, seems I'm not alone.

Save points too far apart and lack of ways and means to get round the really hard points have meant I've abandoned many games. With PC games I just swallow the loss but at least I can take the Xbox games to a GAME store and part exchange them.

Don't want to sound like a moany old git but I yearn for the day when games were difficult but playable and you played the game for the sheer enjoyment, not just to get some poxy achievment 'unlocked'. Achievments are just a lazy way of propping up a crap game imo.

So what am I playing now? I haven't finished Skyrim so that's still a contender; Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 is good but it's full of bugs and if you want custom key settings they have to be set every time you play the game; Warhammer Space Marine has just got hard on me about half way through so I've put it on hold; Batman Arkham City either has a bug in it or I'm doing something wrong cos I just ain't going anywhere, have looked at the walkthroughs and well, it just doesn't do what it's supposed to do; CoDMW3 SP is great but I'm a third of the way through at 3 hours - ripoff; BF3 is lacklustre, imo; and... I could go on but there ain't much setting the world alight atm, I have played loads of old games in the last year, inc both Unreal SP's and all the Quake games.

Sorry to hear about the Vita - what games have you got for it?

 

[V_R]

for me...it's stuff like this..

http://i.imgur.com/BsltM.png

Yep, typical Sony proprietary crap again.... Even the charger is a proprietary connection....

 

[Silverhazesurfer]

Yep, typical Sony proprietary crap again.... Even the charger is a proprietary connection....

I have been wrestling with the thought of buying one. On one hand it's Sony, with all the things that they stand for that are just like Apple in a sense. Then, on the other, they do make a pretty good unit that should be worth the investment at about 10 years of life. Whether the equipment lasts that long, who knows. I have seen many people end up with paperweights after various failures.

I don't play that many games to see the investment value. But with things like Netflix, the console has the chance to be good. By the time I make the decision, the next big one will be ready and the process starts all over again.