Gaming Playstation Vita - My Impressions

[Rock Raiyu]

Today opened the Playstation Vita Social Club in downtown Atlanta. So I thought I'd go check it out myself, since I only live 20 minutes away from Atlanta anyway. I wanted to get a little hands on with it before I own one come February 22nd.

-The Wait-
My friend and I arrived at the Social Club at around 5:40, ten minutes after it had started and there was a line. I was surprised because I wasn't expecting much of a line but I was wrong. We stood in line for almost an hour, we didn't get in till about 6:30-6:40. It was colder than I expected. There were many people still in the building, some wouldn't leave and they pretty much had to shoo away the people that were already playing the Vitas though they said they could get back in line. I passed the time talking to some other guys in line, one of which went to E3 last year and we even talked about the Wii-U for a little bit. When we finally got in, I was excited not only because I could warm up but because I finally get to try it out.

-First Impressions-
The first thing I asked was "Where is the power button?" I'm use to a sliding power button on the side of a handheld, so I was surprised to see the power button being on the top next to the slot.The screen is pretty nice, I wasn't as "Wow'd" as I thought I would be, but it was pretty nice. The colors on the screen were very vibrant, and it was a very solid build. It was surprisingly light. When they said it was lighter than a 3000, they weren't kidding. One thing I didn't like about it is that the speakers aren't loud enough, even with my Sennheiser headphones in the headphone jack. I wish they were louder. The touchscreen is very fast and fluid. When I pealed back the little welcome screen when you turn it on and flip through the pages, it was just so fast and there was little to no lag when you went from different applications or games unlike the 3DS. (Don't get me wrong, I love my 3DS.) The dual analogs felt a little weird but I got use to them pretty quickly. They do not click unfortunately so I don't know how that would work for FPS. The buttons are small, but again I got pretty use to them quickly. I couldn't take any pictures, listen to any music, or play any videos since the Vitas didn't have any memory cards.

I accidentally dropped one of the Vitas I had played with on the floor from quite a distance but it remained unscathed so for those that are clumsy, you shouldn't have any problems. Like I said earlier, the system itself has a pretty solid build. They had several games for show: Wipeout 2048, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Reality Fighters, Sound Shapes, Hot Shot Golf, Little Deviants, LittleBigPlanet, and Modnation Racers. I only had time for the first three so lets get to it.

-Reality Fighters-
I really don't have much to say about this game. It's a nice AR fighting game for those that want some fun in short bursts, I don't think it can keep many attentive like a full game would. I love fighting games, but for a "fighting game" it seemed rather limited to me. From what I played, there weren't many combos in the game. Before a match you have to set where the match takes place on the stage, which is kinda irritating. I wouldn't pay $40 for it, I'd wait for it to drop to at least $20 before purchasing.

-Uncharted: Golden Abyss-
Let me say this: I'm not really an Uncharted fan. I do buy them and play them but they are not the kind of games where they have to be a day one buy. But I was really impressed by this game. You can tell Sony Bend put there sweat and blood into it. The graphics were really well done, almost akin to maybe Drake's Fortune which is impressive for a handheld. I thought it was a neat feature to be able to trace where Nate could climb and such but I'm glad that its optional. Some of the features such as slicing through areas is touch screen only. I had no problem with platforming with the game but shooting on the other hand is another story. I had a difficult time trying to snipe so I can save Marisa (the new female sidekick) using the dual analogs. It was one of the few major gripes I had with the game which I feel needs to be fixed. Using the gyroscope fixes the problem but I'd much prefer to use the dual analog. As for the price I'd pay $50 for it, but I'd definitely buy it if it were $40.

-Wipeout 2048-
Before I go further, let me say that I hated Wipeout. I tried Wipeout HD on the PS3 and I had such a horrible hard time with the game that I hated it. I'm usually pretty good at racing games but HD almost made me throw my PS3 controller at my screen(*Note: I've never been that mad at a video game before.) I was a bit hesitant about playing 2048 but I thought I'd give it another shot. I'm glad I did, cause I absolutely loved it. Sure I lost a few times but after a few races I got the hang of it and even came in 2nd place in a few races. I loved the music, and the game controlled very nicely. The load times can be a bit long but they are not too long, maybe 30-40 seconds max. The tracks are very large. I just had a grand time with the game, it quickly rose to a must buy launch game after I tried it out and can't wait to play it again. It's definitely worth $30, hell I'd pay $40 for it. I just had that much fun, I haven't had that much fun with a game in a long time.

Unfortunately we had to go as my friend had class at 8 but he enjoyed the Vita too. He plans on pre-ordering or buying it soon. One of the hosts said that at the beginning or so of next month that they'd be getting more launch titles and launch window games so I'll be going back with some friends again soon. Going to the Social Club pretty much got me even more pumped for February 22nd.

 

[s4mid4re]

The psp is also pretty low on volume, but it could be remedied by plugins that boosts the volume. Is it worse than the psp? Not like the volume will be a deal breaker, but just wanted to know.

 

[Jennyfurr]

Seems like a lot of good first impressions of the Vita. I'm really looking forward to getting one, just hoping for some other games soon (besides the launch games).

 

[Rock Raiyu]

The psp is also pretty low on volume, but it could be remedied by plugins that boosts the volume. Is it worse than the psp? Not like the volume will be a deal breaker, but just wanted to know.

I think the PSP speakers are a bit louder than the ones on the Vita. I had made sure to crank the volume to max but they were already maxed.

Seems like a lot of good first impressions of the Vita. I'm really looking forward to getting one, just hoping for some other games soon (besides the launch games).

I quite enjoyed the system. There were a few things that I wish they'd fix like maybe the dual analogs and the speakers but its a sold handheld nonetheless. As far as games, I hope so too. I'd really like a few JRPGs sometime soon.

 

[gameandmatch]

Good first impressions on this system. I still going to wait on buying one though (money is low)

 

[Jennyfurr]

The psp is also pretty low on volume, but it could be remedied by plugins that boosts the volume. Is it worse than the psp? Not like the volume will be a deal breaker, but just wanted to know.

I think the PSP speakers are a bit louder than the ones on the Vita. I had made sure to crank the volume to max but they were already maxed.

Seems like a lot of good first impressions of the Vita. I'm really looking forward to getting one, just hoping for some other games soon (besides the launch games).

I quite enjoyed the system. There were a few things that I wish they'd fix like maybe the dual analogs and the speakers but its a sold handheld nonetheless. As far as games, I hope so too. I'd really like a few JRPGs sometime soon.

yes =D I'm most looking forward to JRPGs as well.

 

[dgwillia]

Man, all these first impressions are making the month wait so much harder.....

Either way, i cant wait to get mine along with UMvC3 and Katamari

 

[AceWarhead]

Grr, Sony is mocking me for having no money.

 

[Rock Raiyu]

For anyone that's interested, I did take a few photos of the event.

Spoiler

 

[Satangel]

So you let a PS Vita showcase model drop on the floor?! In a store?

Ballsy move, that's for sure
Glad to hear it's so light though, must be that pesky UMD drive.

 

[Rock Raiyu]

So you let a PS Vita showcase model drop on the floor?! In a store?

Ballsy move, that's for sure
Glad to hear it's so light though, must be that pesky UMD drive.

Haha, it was an accident. I had brought my Sennheiser headphones with me so I could test the sound (and maybe try a little Sound Shapes). I was getting up to move to a new station to test a new game when I felt a tug on my headphones and I realized that somehow the cords were tangled up (they had the Vita sort of "chained" to a table with a cord) and it dropped on the floor. I was kinda embarrassed and expecting the screen to be broken or something but it was totally fine to my surprise.

 

[DarkStriker]

PSV price drop = Instabuy. I wait this time. Im not going to ever do a console launch day buy again in my life. And no i totally feel those 20 free games was not worth it for the 3DS becasue i only like about half of them, and i still have my old consoles for those game. Not to mention. NO CONTRA!

 

[djricekcn]

I have Vita and 1000, 2000, 3000, go PSP but I think Vita and PSP volume level is pretty much the same but the Vita one has better quality (maybe because it's not worn out as much).

 

[chris888222]

Well... General impressions seem to be the same as mine.

I will be doing a full fledged Vita review soon. So... yeah. Planning in progress. (Maybe Day 2 of Chinese New Year)

 

[xist]

Can you go back to the Demo unit and check how it's screen is holding up? Some Japanese Vita users have reported screen burn in already (minor and only visible in black static images) and it'd be interesting to know how prevalent an issue this is.

 

[djricekcn]

if you use it normally there won't be screen burn. i would say the demo ver. have screen burn is because ther'es the blue-ish background (the live area, or the main os) that's constant on all pages, including icon placements. Your Vita normally goes to sleep in 1, 3 or 5 minutes if nothing has been done but if people constantly touching it but in that live area for a long time, you have that icon places + that blue (with some design) in a constant place...leaving those portions for possibel screen burns. It's also possible to make this happen in games with a static background in the games. This is the cost / risk of using a OLED for any device, they burn easily compared to LCD

 

[xist]

if you use it normally there won't be screen burn.

This is the cost / risk of using a OLED for any device, they burn easily compared to LCD

I asked because normal usage of the Japanese Vita's by early adopters had already resulted in burn in (for static images only it's been observed that their are after images seen in dark areas of the screen, and black mottling/staining). I've even experienced it myself on my DAC so, whilst i doubt it's going to be an issue for many as the burn in is something that you'd rarely see even if you do have it, for those that get a little OCD about that sort of thing it's a definite negative point.

 

[djricekcn]

if you use it normally there won't be screen burn.

This is the cost / risk of using a OLED for any device, they burn easily compared to LCD

I asked because normal usage of the Japanese Vita's by early adopters had already resulted in burn in (for static images only it's been observed that their are after images seen in dark areas of the screen, and black mottling/staining). I've even experienced it myself on my DAC so, whilst i doubt it's going to be an issue for many as the burn in is something that you'd rarely see even if you do have it, for those that get a little OCD about that sort of thing it's a definite negative point.

that's not screen burn, that's the OLEDs material inside the screen. you can only see that ink-blot looking thing on extreme black and it's suppose to be like that. a lot of OLEDs are like that and it's normal. In other words, what your explaining isn't screen burning at all but a normal part of a OLED. Also, I'm an early adopter of Vita and for me, everything is fine so far and haven't freezed on me or anything negative. Use it heavily too, probably already used it for 200-300hrs.

 

[Pong20302000]

i had a play on the Eur vita today (bout an hour)

seemed to not sit nice in my hands

and the switching between the back panel to the touch screen seemed quite annoying

i did like the fact you could use a code to download the games to the memory card but obviosly the memory gets quite full and they aint cheap

and you can have up to 10 games running at a time if you did this method so it was nice to be able to switch quick

the touch panel at the back was strange in games but it worked ok

the screen was niuce but hey thats sony speciality

 

[syko5150]

I had a chance to try out the Vita today at my local GameStop. The buttons are very small compared to the PSP, the dual analog sticks are flimsy and take some getting used to. I only had the chance to play 3 games Gravity Rush, Uncharted and Escape Plan. Gravity Rush took what seemed like forever to load somewhere between 30 and 40 seconds just to start the demo. Uncharted played pretty similar to the PS3 versions, and Escape Plan is just a ton of fun.