It’s amazing what Sony can accomplish when properly motivated. It’s no secret that Nintendo has dominated the handheld industry for over a decade, and the battle between the DS and PSP wasn’t even a contest for Nintendo. PSP, while an ambitious system was riddled with many flaws, in not only the design, but execution of its features. The system was simply a portable PS2. It was clunky, uncomfortable to hold, and didn’t bring anything new or ambitious to gaming. It was no surprise that Nintendo’s DS was the success it was. Times have changed for Sony. Going up against the Nintendo 3DS, Sony has finally released its new handheld, the Playstation Vita, and what a game changer it is.
The first thing that struck us about the Vita was how similar it was to the PSP, yet how much it had improved over their last entry. At first glance, the system even looks like a PSP. In fact it looks even larger, which lead us to believe it’d be just as, if not more uncomfortable than the PSP. We couldn’t be more wrong. Vita is incredibly comfortable to hold. It feels just the right size, never feels greasy, or awkward to hold. Button placement is ideal, and the weight is near perfect.
So what is the Playstation Vita? Vita is essentially a portable Playstation 3, with a Nintendo DS, and Playstation Move built in. With graphic quality nearly on par with the Playstation 3, ambitious motion controls, as precise as the Playstation Move, and a touchscreen interface even more responsive than the Nintendo DS, Sony also managed to fit in 2 analog sticks, 3g capability, and a rear touch panel interface for added precision and gaming possibilities. Vita is a powerhouse of a portable system.
The system feels perfect in your hand. Mimicking the layout of a Dualshock 3 controller, it really doesn’t feel much different. Sure the buttons and analog sticks are smaller than those on the console counterpart, but that doesn’t stop them from feeling great. Our initial reaction to the size of the analog sticks was that control would be difficult, unresponsive, and imprecise. This simply is not the case. After only a couple of minutes using the system, we didn’t even notice the size difference anymore. Controls were fluid and in some games such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss (review coming soon!) the motion control of the system is used to supplement the analog control. Using the sticks we were able to get our aiming reticule in the desired area of our foes, while making slight adjustments by moving the system either vertically or horizontally. This felt very natural, and in no way forced, most of the time we didn’t even notice we were doing it.
The screen on the Vita is also for lack of a better word, beautiful. Sporting a five inch screen, Vita outputs a 24 bit HD graphical experience that rivals any handheld system released to date, and even rivals some of the more powerful Smartphone devices out today, such as Samsungs Galaxy S II. The touch screen technology also feels incredible. Feeling far more responsive and far smoother than its competition the only negative thing we can say about it is be prepared to have an extremely smudged system.
Sony has also introduced a touch pad interface to the backside of the Playstation Vita. While designed to blend in with the back of the actual system, this touch pad will function as not only a left or right trigger for the system, but also a form of second touch screen. In Uncharted for example, players can use this interface to climb up vines or ropes as opposed to using the analog sticks. Want to zoom in with your sniper rifle? Not a problem, simply scroll your finger up, and you’ll zoom in as you go. Seeing as players fingers are naturally placed on this touch pad as they play already, this never felt cumbersome, or like an overuse of technology; it felt fluid and natural.
Many features present in the PSP have also returned in the Vita. The ability to remote play a Playstation 3, as well as the ability to connect to the Playstation Network, to purchase and download games directly to the system are among these features. Like many of the other aspects of the Vita, remote play has been severely enhanced. Gamers are able to play an PS1 game streaming from their PS3 to their Vita, and currently select PS3 titles, such as Killzone 3, are also able to be played remotely on the Vita. The Vita also supports cross platform play. This means gamers who are playing Modnation Racers on their PS3 are able to race against players who have purchased the Playstation Vita version.
If this isn’t enough, some titles will give gamers a two for one. That’s right, purchase the PS3 version, or Vita version of a title, and gets its counterpart version for free. There’s even more than this to add to the cool factor however. Titles such as Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 for the PS3 will support the Vita as an actual PS3 controller. That’s right, the Playstation Vita can double as a dual shock 3. This opens up some extremely exciting possibilities. Utilizing a controller with a built in touchscreen opens up a whole new way to game. Imagine playing Madden against a friend, on the same screen, and being able to select your play on your own independent interface. This is very similar to Segas VMU for the Dreamcast, which sadly didn’t go far.
We’ve said a lot of positive things about Vita in this review so far, and as great as this system is, there are some rather annoying flaws with it. For starters, despite games coming on cartridges, as opposed to discs (a far better median than the failed UMD), gamers will not be able to save their content to the cartridge. These cartridges are extremely small, and every kb available in them are used for the game that comes on it, leaving no room for additional data. Players will be forced to purchase a memory card from Sony.
While this shouldn’t come as a surprise, or typically a negative thing, these memory cards are so close in size and shape to micro SD cards that it is extremely disappointing that they weren’t. Sony will require you to purchase a specifically designed memory card. Already have a pro duo memory card? Too bad. Vita will not take any memory card except for its newly designed Vita memory card. Coming in 4, 8 and 16 gig options these memory cards are not cheap. We recommend shelling out the extra cash for a larger card early, as opposed to having to purchase a second one later.
The system also has no internal memory that players can save to. This will make things even more difficult and expensive for players who prefer to purchase their games on the Sony online store, versus going to purchase a cartridge. With the push Sony had made towards portability, and the gamer on the go, with the Playstation Go, it’s sad to see Sony take such as step backwards and include absolutely no internal memory what so ever. While said, we do realize however, there is a lot of technology crammed into such a relatively small shell, and it would probably be difficult to fit anymore in there.
Some players have also complained about the user interface. Fans of Sonys XMB will shudder to hear, it is not available on PS Vita. Sonys new look is far more comparable to an Android smarphone device. Players have homescreens, with bubbled icons, which can look somewhat childish compared to the sleek and polished look of the XMB found in both the PS3 and PSP. While we didn’t have much of an issue with it some players will find it less favorable. This interface is entirely touchscreen controlled however, and we can’t see the XMB working well as a touchscreen interface at all. It may look silly, but it’s functional, and it works well.
For gamers on the go, this is a bulky system. Yes, we know earlier in this review we said the size of the Vita felt “just right”. Keep in mind however, that our exposure to this system has primarily been in a work and/or home setting. We have done very little gaming on the go with the Vita. The system while portable, is hardly going to be easy to carry around simply in your pocket. Especially after a case to hold the system, and the games, players will absolutely have to carry this in a separate bag such as a knapsack or satchel. Don’t expect to pocket your vita, unless you have some mighty big pockets.
We’ve said a lot about the Vita, and there is so much more we could say. To keep things plain and simple however, Vita is a phenomenal achievement in portable gaming. The technology put into it is functional, works flawlessly. We never felt over encumbered by features, and things always felt well made and natural. Games look beautiful, and have far more ambition than what we have seen in previous Sony portable endeavors. Most importantly, the Vita stands on its own. At no time did we feel as though we could play the same game on our larger TV via a household console. Is this a homerun for Sony? While it could be, everything depends on developer support at this point, and we can only hope to see more than we have in the PSP, and even the Nintendo 3Ds.
Final Score: 9.5/10
