PS Vita Impressions! Vita Digital Purchases Beating PS3 - no NA price cuts

[Hetz]

Hetz76

[Hetz]

Got to play Wipeout, Hot Shots Golf, and Uncharted on a Gamestop demo unit this afternoon, and finally confirmed my decision to wait on a Vita for a while.  While the games certainly looked great and controlled very well, I just can't see the current lineup being worth the $350'ish price of entry.  Down the road, maybe, but certainly not at this point.  Will be keeping an eye on it, and hoping developers support it.

This fall there is going to be a ton of big name games out for the Vita. Call of Duty and Assassins Creed are confirmed as coming this year.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/ps-vita-sony/726995

This video talks about it and they confirm that Call of Duty will be out this Fall for the Vita.

As for price of entry...it's really $249 + Memory Card ($19.99) so $275.

[Hetz]

Also, for anyone thinking of getting a Vita this week, there are some HUGE deals on the system and games.

At Target:

Get a $20 GC with purchase of the system (if you preordered) and a FREE 4GB Memory card for everyone, regardless of preordering. Also buy 2 get one 1 free on all Vita games.

Toys R Us:

Buy $50 in Vita Games and/or Accessories and get a $20 GC

Best Buy:

Get a Vita for as low as $149.99 when you trade in a DS or PSP. I assume the $149.99 applies if you trade in a PSPGo or 3DS. Also, you get a bonus 40% trade in credit when you buy any Vita game.

Gamestop:

Buy 2 get 1 Free on all Vita launch games.

[Bullwinkle]

Best Buy is bumping their trade-in prices for this, apparently.  So a PSP will get you $75 off the Vita.

My plan is to do this and use some banked rewards points.  Then get the games at TRU with some more GCs.  Unless Costco magically has Vitas, but I'm not expecting it.

However, I never was able to get to BB this week and pre-order, and it seems they're not taking pre-orders any more.  So I'm crossing my fingers that they'll have enough, but I'm not hopeful.

[The Grue]

Just fixed my Near problem by doing a factory restore of the system.  I guess the lighter format support had me do wasn't enough.  It was obviously some corruption of my Near data, since doing this harsher reset actually reset all those settings and lost my history.  Would be nice if you could reset that separately.

[Hetz]

Just fixed my Near problem by doing a factory restore of the system.  I guess the lighter format support had me do wasn't enough.  It was obviously some corruption of my Near data, since doing this harsher reset actually reset all those settings and lost my history.  Would be nice if you could reset that separately.

Glad to hear that you were able to fix your problem. That sucks that you had to do a factory restore though.

[msduncan]

Cool Near experience for me:

Saw some dude on my radar screen about 6 miles away.    I messaged him and discovered that he was across the lake from me.   We exchanged a few words about how awesome the system was and that was that.   I still see him on periodically.

It reminds me of those Zombie apocalypse books where another survivor is close by and we have contact every now and then.....

[The Grue]

Cool Near experience for me:

Saw some dude on my radar screen about 6 miles away.    I messaged him and discovered that he was across the lake from me.   We exchanged a few words about how awesome the system was and that was that.   I still see him on periodically.

It reminds me of those Zombie apocalypse books where another survivor is close by and we have contact every now and then.....

Now hunt him down and make a dress out of his skin!!!!

[Gratch]

Maybe he means system plus games.

Correct.  I was thinking system ($250) + decent memory card ($35) + a couple games ($50-80), which is $335 at a minimum before tax.

Any of those without the others is a bit worthless, no?

[The Grue]

I must be blind because I am having a hell of a time finding relics in Rayman.  Even the one where they introduce the concept to you took me forever to actually notice.  Have any of you guys with Rayman found any others (like maybe the second one on the first level that has them) and can spoil them?  I keep going through that first level that has them over and over and just cannot find the stupid thing.

[Hetz]

Cool Near experience for me:

Saw some dude on my radar screen about 6 miles away.    I messaged him and discovered that he was across the lake from me.   We exchanged a few words about how awesome the system was and that was that.   I still see him on periodically.

It reminds me of those Zombie apocalypse books where another survivor is close by and we have contact every now and then.....

Now hunt him down and make a dress out of his skin!!!!

 

[Hetz]

Maybe he means system plus games.

Correct.  I was thinking system ($250) + decent memory card ($35) + a couple games ($50-80), which is $335 at a minimum before tax.

Any of those without the others is a bit worthless, no?

If you get the system at Target next week, you get a Free Memory Card and a free game if you buy two. So, the full cost would be $310, which includes 3 games and a memory card. Would be even less if you preordered and got the $20 GC. Not a bad deal at all.

[CeeKay]

Maybe he means system plus games.

Correct.  I was thinking system ($250) + decent memory card ($35) + a couple games ($50-80), which is $335 at a minimum before tax.

Any of those without the others is a bit worthless, no?

If you get the system at Target next week, you get a Free Memory Card and a free game if you buy two. So, the full cost would be $310, which includes 3 games and a memory card. Would be even less if you preordered and got the $20 GC. Not a bad deal at all.

from the price he mentioned I think he's looking at a bigger memory card than the free 4 gig.  are you planning on going the download route with games Gratch?  if so I'd say in the long run it might be better to grab a bigger memory card.

[Hetz]

Maybe he means system plus games.

Correct.  I was thinking system ($250) + decent memory card ($35) + a couple games ($50-80), which is $335 at a minimum before tax.

Any of those without the others is a bit worthless, no?

If you get the system at Target next week, you get a Free Memory Card and a free game if you buy two. So, the full cost would be $310, which includes 3 games and a memory card. Would be even less if you preordered and got the $20 GC. Not a bad deal at all.

from the price he mentioned I think he's looking at a bigger memory card than the free 4 gig.  are you planning on going the download route with games Gratch?  if so I'd say in the long run it might be better to grab a bigger memory card.

Yeah, but I was just pointing out that for a point of entry (three games and a basic memory card) $310 is not that bad a deal....certainly not the $350+ that was mentioned before as an entry point. From a basic play standpoint you don't need a bigger memory card, but if you do it's only $10 more for an 8GB one. The only reason that you would need a bigger than 4GB card is if you plan on downloading lots from PSN. If it's just for saved games, 4GB is plenty.

[Hetz]

Good article up on the best PSP games to download for the Vita at launch.

http://www.gamesradar.com/15-best-psp-games-download-your-vita-launch/

[Ridah]

Maybe he means system plus games.

Correct.  I was thinking system ($250) + decent memory card ($35) + a couple games ($50-80), which is $335 at a minimum before tax.

Any of those without the others is a bit worthless, no?

See, you and I have a difference of opinion on the meaning of "price of admission". Think of it like going to a lounge/club. The $20 cover charge would be considered the price of admission. Anything else you buy, whether it's a drink at the club or a game for the Vita, falls outside of that   

[Ridah]

I must be blind because I am having a hell of a time finding relics in Rayman.  Even the one where they introduce the concept to you took me forever to actually notice.  Have any of you guys with Rayman found any others (like maybe the second one on the first level that has them) and can spoil them?  I keep going through that first level that has them over and over and just cannot find the stupid thing.

You might want to ask for help in the actual game's thread, I hear it becomes mighty difficult when you try and collect everything.

[msduncan]

I'm trying to figure out how the heck you leave gifts and discover gifts on the Near app.   I've yet to find one, and I have no idea how to leave them?

[BuckeyeShane]

Are there slow downs in dungeon hunter alliance in the full game?   The demo seemed to have slow downs when there was alot going?

[Ridah]

1UP has a PS Vita to PSP comparison video.

Wow, PSP games look much better on the Vita, and the load times are quicker.

[Hetz]

Are there slow downs in dungeon hunter alliance in the full game?   The demo seemed to have slow downs when there was alot going?

Yeah, I've noticed some slowdown when there are a lot of enemies on the screen. Its not horrible though.

[Dante Rising]

I'm absolutely thrilled that you can map the Vita's second analog stick to take over the functions of the old PSP games directional pad or face buttons. That will make playing games like MG Peacewalker and Monster Hunter MUCH nicer.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ2TsPhsWTA&feature=relmfu


Would someone who owns a PSP be willing to compare how a PSP title looks on the Vita versus the original PSP?  I've heard the upscaling is excellent from some people and that PSP games actually look better. Then I've heard PSP titles look like a$$ due to the higher Vita resolution.

One particular person stated:
"The Vita has exactly 4 times the amount of pixels as the PSP. It's emulations works by converting 1 pixel into 4 on the Vita. 1 black PSP pixel turns into 4 black Vita pixels making the games look exactly the same as on the PSP. You can also engage bilinear filtering on any PSP game via a menu on the Vita."

[EngineNo9]

Would someone who owns a PSP be willing to compare how a PSP title looks on the Vita versus the original PSP?  I've heard the upscaling is excellent from some people and that PSP games actually look better. Then I've heard PSP titles look like a$$ due to the higher Vita resolution.

If you go up two posts, Ridah posted a video comparison of Mega Man X playing on a PSP and the same game on a Vita.  In the video they mention that everything looks much better on the Vita, even without the filtering options turned on.  And of course the Vita's OLED screen is going to be much more colorful and vibrant than the PSP's washed out screen.

[Dante Rising]

Would someone who owns a PSP be willing to compare how a PSP title looks on the Vita versus the original PSP?  I've heard the upscaling is excellent from some people and that PSP games actually look better. Then I've heard PSP titles look like a$$ due to the higher Vita resolution.

If you go up two posts, Ridah posted a video comparison of Mega Man X playing on a PSP and the same game on a Vita.  In the video they mention that everything looks much better on the Vita, even without the filtering options turned on.  And of course the Vita's OLED screen is going to be much more colorful and vibrant than the PSP's washed out screen.

If this is true of 2D games like Tactics Ogre and Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, as well as 3D titlles, I'll probably sell both of my PSPs immediately.

[Hetz]

Would someone who owns a PSP be willing to compare how a PSP title looks on the Vita versus the original PSP?  I've heard the upscaling is excellent from some people and that PSP games actually look better. Then I've heard PSP titles look like a$$ due to the higher Vita resolution.

If you go up two posts, Ridah posted a video comparison of Mega Man X playing on a PSP and the same game on a Vita.  In the video they mention that everything looks much better on the Vita, even without the filtering options turned on.  And of course the Vita's OLED screen is going to be much more colorful and vibrant than the PSP's washed out screen.

If this is true of 2D games like Tactics Ogre and Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, as well as 3D titlles, I'll probably sell both of my PSPs immediately.

Yes, it is the same for 2D titles. I have both the Capcom Classics Collections and the Sega Genesis Collection and they look STUNNING on the Vita. Much better than the PSP.

[Hetz]

Here is a update on the popularity of games in NEAR in my local area:

1) Super Stardust Dela - 442 times played  (no suprise there)
2) Lumines Electronic Symphony - 362
3) Dungeon Hunter: Alliance - 327
4) Wipeout 2048 - 250
5) Uncharted - 237
6) Little Deviants - 203
7) Rayman - 192
8 ) Michael Jackson - 136
9) UMVC3 - 78
9) Welcome Park - 78

So, kind of shocking results. I can see Super Stardust as the #1 game....but Uncharted is #5 and UMVSC3 is #9? No FIFA at all. Will be interesting to see how the charts change once everyone else starts getting their Vitas this week. What do everyone elses charts look like? Similar?

Oh and the highest BUZZ rating is Super Stardust with 3.0, followed by Dungeon Hunter with 2.8 and then Michael Jackson with 1.2. BUZZ, for people that don't know, takes into account time played, not just number of times people have played it. So, the longer people play the game the higher the BUZZ rating will be.

[TiLT]

I'd guess that Uncharted ranks lower for now because people want to dedicate some time to that game, whereas most of the other launch games are more of the variety where they can play a bit here and a bit there.

[MonkeyFinger]

Would someone who owns a PSP be willing to compare how a PSP title looks on the Vita versus the original PSP?  I've heard the upscaling is excellent from some people and that PSP games actually look better. Then I've heard PSP titles look like a$$ due to the higher Vita resolution.

If you go up two posts, Ridah posted a video comparison of Mega Man X playing on a PSP and the same game on a Vita.  In the video they mention that everything looks much better on the Vita, even without the filtering options turned on.  And of course the Vita's OLED screen is going to be much more colorful and vibrant than the PSP's washed out screen.

If this is true of 2D games like Tactics Ogre and Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, as well as 3D titlles, I'll probably sell both of my PSPs immediately.

Yes, it is the same for 2D titles. I have both the Capcom Classics Collections and the Sega Genesis Collection and they look STUNNING on the Vita. Much better than the PSP.

But what in the heck would I do with all of the UMD games that I own, sell them as well? I've read that Sony's "UMD Passport" program isn't coming over here, so what options (if any) are there for one to play those games other than by keeping the PSP or buying them all over again? 

[Bullwinkle]

Would someone who owns a PSP be willing to compare how a PSP title looks on the Vita versus the original PSP?  I've heard the upscaling is excellent from some people and that PSP games actually look better. Then I've heard PSP titles look like a$$ due to the higher Vita resolution.

If you go up two posts, Ridah posted a video comparison of Mega Man X playing on a PSP and the same game on a Vita.  In the video they mention that everything looks much better on the Vita, even without the filtering options turned on.  And of course the Vita's OLED screen is going to be much more colorful and vibrant than the PSP's washed out screen.

If this is true of 2D games like Tactics Ogre and Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, as well as 3D titlles, I'll probably sell both of my PSPs immediately.

Yes, it is the same for 2D titles. I have both the Capcom Classics Collections and the Sega Genesis Collection and they look STUNNING on the Vita. Much better than the PSP.

But what in the heck would I do with all of the UMD games that I own, sell them as well? I've read that Sony's "UMD Passport" program isn't coming over here, so what options (if any) are there for one to play those games other than by keeping the PSP or buying them all over again? 

You could tell yourself you love Sony to make the experience more pleasant.

[msduncan]

Would someone who owns a PSP be willing to compare how a PSP title looks on the Vita versus the original PSP?  I've heard the upscaling is excellent from some people and that PSP games actually look better. Then I've heard PSP titles look like a$$ due to the higher Vita resolution.

If you go up two posts, Ridah posted a video comparison of Mega Man X playing on a PSP and the same game on a Vita.  In the video they mention that everything looks much better on the Vita, even without the filtering options turned on.  And of course the Vita's OLED screen is going to be much more colorful and vibrant than the PSP's washed out screen.

If this is true of 2D games like Tactics Ogre and Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, as well as 3D titlles, I'll probably sell both of my PSPs immediately.

Yes, it is the same for 2D titles. I have both the Capcom Classics Collections and the Sega Genesis Collection and they look STUNNING on the Vita. Much better than the PSP.

But what in the heck would I do with all of the UMD games that I own, sell them as well? I've read that Sony's "UMD Passport" program isn't coming over here, so what options (if any) are there for one to play those games other than by keeping the PSP or buying them all over again? 

Your option is to sell them, keep a PSP and play them on that, or take a poop on them and send them to the Sony offices.

[corruptrelic]

Any multiplayer impressions?

If there's one thing the PSP needed most (other than a second analog stick) was a better online community. Very few multiplayer games took off on the PSP, SOCOM is about the only one that had a decent amount of people playing (amazingly the first SOCOM on PSP - from about 7 years ago - still has people playing online) but due to cheating and 'glitches' that the developer never addressed, most people ended up leaving. Even SOCOM 3 is filled with cheaters these days and the good players since left.

Fat Princess on PSP has about 4 people playing at any given time.

Is the PS Vita any better with people playingn online?

[msduncan]

BTW -- Much to my amazement, the 4GB memory card I got with the First Edition Bundle is indeed WAY too small.

I have 4 demos and 4 wallpapers installed.   I have save games from one cart installed (Virtual Tennis).    I just checked my available memory on the card and it's down to 688 MB.

So with almost nothing on my memory card I'm almost completely out of space.

[Clanwolfer]

I would love to speculate on how multiplayer is doing, but it appears to be nonfunctional on my console. Every time I go into multiplayer for Wipeout 2048, it gives me a couple of 'Connecting...' screens, then kicks me back out to the main menu. Combine that with NEAR not working, and I sort of think my unit might be FUBAR - it downloads, and does Super Stardust scores that's fine, but that's about it.

[The Grue]

I would love to speculate on how multiplayer is doing, but it appears to be nonfunctional on my console. Every time I go into multiplayer for Wipeout 2048, it gives me a couple of 'Connecting...' screens, then kicks me back out to the main menu. Combine that with NEAR not working, and I sort of think my unit might be FUBAR - it downloads, and does Super Stardust scores that's fine, but that's about it.

If you are getting that "An error occurred" error on Near, I fixed it by doing a complete restore of my system.

[Clanwolfer]

I would love to speculate on how multiplayer is doing, but it appears to be nonfunctional on my console. Every time I go into multiplayer for Wipeout 2048, it gives me a couple of 'Connecting...' screens, then kicks me back out to the main menu. Combine that with NEAR not working, and I sort of think my unit might be FUBAR - it downloads, and does Super Stardust scores that's fine, but that's about it.

If you are getting that "An error occurred" error on Near, I fixed it by doing a complete restore of my system.

Yep. That fixed it for me as well. Now I'm restoring all my games from the PC so I can see if that fixed Wipeout as well.

[msduncan]

Any multiplayer impressions?

If there's one thing the PSP needed most (other than a second analog stick) was a better online community. Very few multiplayer games took off on the PSP, SOCOM is about the only one that had a decent amount of people playing (amazingly the first SOCOM on PSP - from about 7 years ago - still has people playing online) but due to cheating and 'glitches' that the developer never addressed, most people ended up leaving. Even SOCOM 3 is filled with cheaters these days and the good players since left.

Fat Princess on PSP has about 4 people playing at any given time.

Is the PS Vita any better with people playingn online?

Per your request, I jumped online in Virtua Tennis.  It was smooth.  No lag.   I got owned twice and then won a thriller tie breaker over another dude.    The game has built in messages to the left and right buttons you can use throughout the game.   You set these situational messages in the menu.  

For instance:    after winning a volley, you might hit left button to say "That was skill!" or the right button to say "That was intense!".    And there is one for all situations where you can preset choices.

Anyway... took me about 10 seconds to be matched up in a game and it was smooth and responsive.

[msduncan]

I would love to speculate on how multiplayer is doing, but it appears to be nonfunctional on my console. Every time I go into multiplayer for Wipeout 2048, it gives me a couple of 'Connecting...' screens, then kicks me back out to the main menu. Combine that with NEAR not working, and I sort of think my unit might be FUBAR - it downloads, and does Super Stardust scores that's fine, but that's about it.

Maybe it's game dependent?   My Virtua Tennis is working very well via multiplayer.

[The Grue]

BTW -- Much to my amazement, the 4GB memory card I got with the First Edition Bundle is indeed WAY too small.

I have 4 demos and 4 wallpapers installed.   I have save games from one cart installed (Virtual Tennis).    I just checked my available memory on the card and it's down to 688 MB.

So with almost nothing on my memory card I'm almost completely out of space.

The good news is you can reclaim that storage by finishing up the demos and deleting them.  With a 4G card, you're not going to go very far for downloads.  Since I decided to go all digital, I bought a 32G card.  Although, right now I am screwed because my PSN account is locked because I bought too much from Sony.  Really sucks as I very much want to play Marvel vs. Capcom and BlazBlue.  Hopefully it clears up by the 21st when they post the Blob game up because I am really looking forward to that.  It sucks that there seems to be no way for them to manually unblock me and sucks even more that if this was a security measure, they didn't at least send me an email telling me about it.  If it really was fraud, I would want to know about it and they should have a recourse for getting me out if I can prove things were legitimate.

[TiLT]

Online functionality has supposedly not been completely enabled for all games on the Vita yet, which may lead to problems or even crashes if you try to play that way. Things will probably work better once the official release date has passed.

[Hetz]

Time Magazine reviews the Vita:

http://techland.time.com/2012/02/13/sony-playstation-vita-review-beautiful-expensive-and-worth-it/

"Beautiful, Expensive and Worth It"

My thoughts exactly.