Hardware After my first week with the PlayStation Vita ...

[masterchan777]

I've got my 3G PSVita on launch day and spent some decent time with it, and I'd like to write down a quick review of it and compare it with its main rival the 3DS.

Hardware:
Design : The system is well-built and looks beautiful. On the overall look of the system I'd choose the Vita over the 3DS espcially with the ugly Circle Pad Pro add on - Winner : Vita.
Specs : the Vita is a very powerful handheld, much more powerful than the 3DS in terms of processing, graphics capabilities and RAM. - Winner : Vita.
Screen : Vita's screen is beautiful and its colours are vibrant and blacks are deep, much better than the 3DS in terms of clarity and size, although it can't display stereoscopic 3D. - Winner : Vita.
Controls : Vita's controls are solid and familiar, although face buttons and the two sticks feel kinda small but they are very responsive, the system also offers a variety of control options and the gyroscope works better with a 2D screen in my opinion, therefore, the vita has better controls than the 3DS, although with the Circle Pad Pro add-on, the 3DS catches up but I believe that two control pads should be built into the 3DS. - Winner : Vita.
Cameras: the cameras of both systems are bad, very low quality from Sony and Nintendo. Both systems offer video and still image capturing functionalities - Winner : Draw.
Connectivity : Vita offers Wifi connectivity, optional 3G, Bluetooth and USB, the 3DS offers Wifi only in addition to Infra-red connectivity - Winner : Vita.
Peripherals : Vita has a good lineup of official peripherals, including cases, pouches, stands, screen protectors, etc . The 3DS on the other hand comes with the cradle and also have some decent third-party peripherals as well - Winner : Draw.
Storage : the Vita uses special proprietary memory cards (remember Sony's Betamax and Memory Stick Duo formats), those cards are NOT cheap, while the 3DS has 2GB of internal storage and uses standard SD cards which are much cheaper - Winner : 3DS.
Battery Life : the Vita's battery has been reported to last between 3-5 hours, that's pretty much similar to the 3DS which runs 3-5 hours in 3DS mode and 5-8 hours in DS mode - Winner : Draw.
Price : the PSVita comes in two flavors, while the 3DS comes cheaper in price and in one flavor (in different colours though) - Winner : 3DS.


Networking:
Social capabilities : the Vita offers a much better social experience than the 3DS, there are social apps already freely available for the Vita, in addition to the social capabilities of PSN (or SEN), the 3DS has limited social capabilities in comparison to the Vita - Winner : Vita.
Online Play : the Vita has PSN while the 3DS "will" have Nintendo Network, well at the moment PSN is up and running and offers a better online playing experience - Winner : Vita.
Online Store : PSN store VS Nintendo eShop - Winner : Vita.

Software:
OS : the vita's interface looks good and familiar, it looks and feels much better than the old XMB, the 3DS home menu isn't bad as well but it's much limited in comparison - Winner : Vita.
Multimedia Playback : Vita's screen is superior and the sound quality is great, the 3DS provides basic media playback functionality - Winner : Vita.
Games : Vita's launch titles are decent, some good games (Uncharted, Fifa, WipeOut), However, the 3DS has much more interesting games (Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart) and a few interesting ones coming soon, 3DS titles are designed to be played on the go, while the Vita aims to give a home console-like gameplay on the go . - Winner : 3DS.
Backward Compatibility: the Vita is compatible with PSP games, but the lack of a physical UMD drive limits this functionality to digital PSP titles only, while the 3DS is fully compatible with DS carts and DSi Ware. - Winner : 3DS.

Conclusion:
The PSVita has loads of potential, it's a beautiful and powerful handheld, however, if you have a decent phone (e.g an iPhone 4) you wouldn't use most of Vita's extra functions, for the high retail price Sony should have included better cameras and a free memory stick with every system. If you have money for one system right now, I'd recommend buying a 3DS as it has a better software lineup for now. But if you have some more cash to spend, then a WiFi Vita is not a bad investment, don't waste your money on the 3G version as you can't use 3G for online play and you'll end up disabling it anyway.

Feel free to disagree with everything I said, I respect every opinion so feel free to share your thoughts and questions, thanks for reading, and happy gaming .

 

[rehevkor]

Sounds like a reasonable conclusion. I only ever buy anything for games, the other features are non-entities for me. I'd probably buy a Vita eventually (after a price drop maybe), but only when there are more games I'd like to play. So far there is just one, but some promising ones on the way.

(the 3DS was an exception for me, but it being fully backwards compatible with the DS helped a lot)

 

[EyeZ]

An Interesting read, i spotted this topic and couldn't wait to get in here for the read as i've been deliberating on whether to purchase a Vita since launch.

To read an opinion like this has helped me make up my mind on a Vita purchase, thanks for posting.

 

[GameWinner]

Good read, I agree with all you mention and how the 3DS has better games out right now.
I'll still probably buy me one in either March or April.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

If you're counting Ocarina of Time as a "highlight" of the 3DS game library this far into the system then that's a problem.

The Vita still has only like what, 20 games right now, not all of them good. It literally just launched, it'll eventually catch up with the 3DS in terms of library, and possibly surpass it.

 

[Hop2089]

The Vita needs firmware with PS1 classics support.

 

[Hells Malice]

If you went by launch library, Vita would be stompin' the 3DS, lol. It's been out for a while, so yeah its library currently topples the Vita. But that's kinda unfair.
Price wise is the same. The 3DS launched at the same price and did so poorly they tore it down.

Currently the 3DS is superior, but the Vita has a hell of a lot of potential. I say that strictly on a game playing basis, since that's all I use a handheld for. Once it gets some game momentum going, it's going to be an epic handheld.

 

[Just Another Gamer]

Nice read and I agree that there hasn't been alot of good Vita games at the moment but its only been launched so until its been released as long as the 3DS has i'm sure the game library will improve.

 

[ProtoKun7]

If you went by launch library, Vita would be stompin' the 3DS, lol. It's been out for a while, so yeah its library currently topples the Vita. But that's kinda unfair. Price wise is the same. The 3DS launched at the same price and did so poorly they tore it down. Currently the 3DS is superior, but the Vita has a hell of a lot of potential. I say that strictly on a game playing basis, since that's all I use a handheld for. Once it gets some game momentum going, it's going to be an epic handheld.

I remember how bad the 3DS launch line-up was; at least with the Vita the game I was most interested in is WipEout 2048, of which I've been playing a lot of recently. Don't know what my next game will be yet.

 

[T-hug]

If you're counting Ocarina of Time as a "highlight" of the 3DS game library this far into the system then that's a problem.

The Vita still has only like what, 20 games right now, not all of them good. It literally just launched, it'll eventually catch up with the 3DS in terms of library, and possibly surpass it.

If the games keep coming and are as good as Uncharted, then it will destroy 3DS if they get better than Uncharted.
I made a blog post today about a week with Vita and posted some screen caps I made if anyone is interested.

Nice post @[member='masterchan777']
Pretty much agree with it all.
Oh and thanks for the trades on Uncharted!

 

[X_XSlashX_X]

That was a pretty fair quickie. I really gotta agree with you on the games (even though the vita just launched) I learned my lesson after buying the 3DS early on. Wait for more games before purchasing.

 

[frogboy]

I totally agree with you. Only bought the 3DS because of it's backward compatibility with DS games, and it was cheaper. Plus, the PS Vita wasn't even out in NA when I decided to buy the 3DS.

 

[Pippin666]

So, this is not about Vita, but again a comparaison with the 3DS. When will kids learn ?? Beside, nothing you said is new.

Pip'

 

[The Composer]

This is a very solid review.

Is there a chance to get this stickied? Because it would help a lot of people.

 

[RoMee]

You need to change the title, this is not a first week impression, it's a (opinionated) comparison to the 3DS.

Anyways, it's only been about 2 1/2 months, games will come.
2 1/2 months, the 3DS was released @ $250 with a even crappier line up of games, and only had half of it's software.

So yeah, it's kinda unfair to compare some thing that was just released to something that had a more than a year head start.

 

[Chaosruler]

You are wrong at a few spots, I'd like to note Connectivity as 3DS offers infra-red connectivity and the Vita offers USB

 

[masterchan777]

You are wrong at a few spots, I'd like to note Connectivity as 3DS offers infra-red connectivity and the Vita offers USB

Thanks for your addition, this has been added and I would appreciate it if you can refer to the incorrect spots so they can be corrected.

 

[Chaosruler]

Design : The system is well-built and looks beautiful. On the overall look of the system I'd choose the Vita over the 3DS espcially with the ugly Circle Pad Pro add on - Winner : Vita. Its opinion based but if you include design comparison you gotta include the clampshell design comparison, while PSP and PSVita design allows them to have a wider screen it's less protective of the console itself, while we must consider it a portable console being vulnerable to physical damage the 3DS design has a slight advantage over the Vita, not to mention the dual-screen design which lets us have easier time using the touch screen without covering the stereoscopic screen (main screen), of course we must consider the Vita's back-panel touch panel, but it's nowhere as easy to handle as front touch screen
Storage : the Vita uses special proprietary memory cards (remember Sony's Betamax and Memory Stick Duo formats), those cards are NOT cheap, while the 3DS uses standard SD cards which are much cheaper - Winner : 3DS. 3DS got built in storage
Peripherals : Vita has a good lineup of official peripherals, including cases, pouches, stands, screen protectors, etc . The 3DS on the other hand comes with the cradle and also have some decent third-party peripherals as well - Winner : Draw. Have you included the mysterious ports to the left of the volume buttons on the vita?
Online Store : PSN store VS Nintendo eShop - Winner : Vita. Gotta disagree, Nintendo is pushing the eShop with more third person involvement than Sony does... it's what important to a console - 3rd person support
OS : the vita's interface looks good and familiar, it looks and feels much better than the old XMB, the 3DS home menu isn't bad as well but it's much limited in comparison - Winner : Vita. Do you like forced touch screen support? does it has another function such as Gamecoins and pedometer that the 3DS does have? Vita is not as far as win here
Games : Vita's launch titles are decent, some good games (Uncharted, Fifa, WipeOut), However, the 3DS has much more interesting games (Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart) and a few interesting ones coming soon, 3DS titles are designed to be played on the go, while the Vita aims to give a home console-like gameplay on the go . - Winner : 3DS. you have to point out Vita's ability to let us buy digital copy of a game instead of an hard copy
Backward Compatibility: the Vita is compatible with PSP games, but the lack of a physical UMD drive limits this functionality to digital PSP titles only, while the 3DS is fully compatible with DS carts and DSi Ware. - Winner : 3DS. Vita does support PS1 games, it supports Suite which is like Sony-DLDI, it's not vita specific, if you paid more attention to a few games you'd even smell the PS2 ports there, 3DS has GameGear support, NES support SNES support, Gameboy/Color and Advance, Game & Watch, the potential library IS bigger.
Online Play : the Vita has PSN while the 3DS "will" have Nintendo Network, well at the moment PSN is up and running and offers a better online playing experience - Winner : Vita. You have to note Near and Streetpass\SpotPass and the games supporting it, imo 3DS wins atm

 

[freaksloan]

Can you really compare the 3DS with the Vita? In my opinion the answer is no.

I have a DS Lite, DSi XL, 3DS and PSP. I want the PSP Vita, but I am not buying one at the moment. Maybe I will get one during the holiday shopping season or sometime next year.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Can you really compare the 3DS with the Vita? In my opinion the answer is no.

They're same generation consoles that play video games. They're absolutely comparable.