Getting to Know the PS Vita

So I finally got the PlayStation Vita after a long period of time completely ignoring the system and now, after almost a week of owning the system, I must say that I really do like this Next Generation Portable. No, I would never, ever call it a "game changer" - a game changer in the portable gaming world would be a handheld system that can run games in native 1080p on its screen and has an internal memory of no less than 1TB with all of its titles delivered exclusively via digital means. The Vita would not be that device I just described of course but it is still, fortunately for me, a capable little handheld.

 

Of course my Vita lock-screen is League of Legends related... Sakura Karma for the win!

 

I am actually quite surprised at how much I am enjoying my Vita. I really like how easy it is to open and close applications. The Vita's dashboard and overlays feel a lot more responsive than on the Playstation 3. Checking your gamer profile on the PS3 can be a traumatizing experience because of the extremely slow synchronization process between the console and the server but that problem surprisingly doesn't exist on the Vita. Hitting the "PS" button also doesn't result in the frequent hang ups you normally encounter on the PS3. All I can say is that if things could be this smooth on the Vita, Sony better get their act together and fix things on the PS3.

 

I have inducted two digital PlayStation Portable games via the Vita already.

 

Sure the interface is slick but how's the gaming experience? It's actually quite satisfying. The tiny analogue sticks can be somewhat flimsy but after a while, I got really used to it. I still don't understand why they didn't just use the standard analogue sticks found on the PS3 controller - or a slightly smaller variation - on the Vita itself. The OLED screen may not be high definition but the clarity and sharpness of the images produced are unlike anything that I have seen on a handheld gaming device before - that is if you don't consider the iPad as one. It is obvious that the Vita is not even close to being as powerful as the PS3 - some of those low resolution textures are quite atrocious - but it does its best to trick you into thinking that you are seeing something extraordinary on the screen until you notice the blemishes that are just too easy to spot.

 

Dynasty Warriors Next looks almost as good as DW7 on the PS3. Almost.

 

My favorite game on the system right now is Dynasty Warriors Next, even though the touch screen implementation in the game is rather contrived. Sony is probably mandating developers to include touch controls for all Vita games, which is a terrible mistake because when they are just tacked on, they can easily ruin a game. I am also enjoying the digital download only shooter  Super Stardust Delta a lot and I can see myself playing it for a long time to come. I haven't downloaded non-gaming apps for the Vita as of yet. I really don't see myself tweeting or using Facebook on the system. If I want to watch Netflix while away from home, I rather just do that on my iPad 2. The system comes pre-installed with an app called "Near" that allows connected user to see each other within a 2 mile radius around them. Sure, the program doesn't pinpoint where exactly the other users are located but I think it's pretty darn easy to figure that out if you are using it in a residential area. This seems a bit unsafe. Perhaps Sony should have just limit the access to the list of users on a City/State level or allow users to use an alternative ID separate from the PSN user ID so that the users can choose who they want to reveal their actual PSN IDs to. There seems to be a lot of fun things you can do with this app like giving and receiving gifts with other players but you can't participate in them without revealing your PSN ID and I'm not willing to do that at the moment.

 

Super Stardust Delta is the best looking of the bunch.

 

I am glad that I got the Vita. I am using it a lot more than I thought I would. The Vita also encourages me to head to the bedroom sooner than usual these days because I don't mind looking at the OLED screen versus staying in my Game Room and gaming on the big screen. The scary thing is that I was even considering getting games that I already own again like Mortal Kombat because it's cheap now even though the Vita version doesn't even come close to looking like the console version just so that I can play it while being away from my Game Room. Looking at the big picture however, there are a lot more digital PSP games I wanted to get than actual Vita games so that is a little troubling when justifying the system's necessity. Hopefully, there will be more exclusive games coming for the Vita to make it a thoroughly worthwhile investment.