So...the PS Vita

Final Fantasy Online Forums > Video Gaming Discussion > Gaming Discussion

02.22.2012 3:09pm

Thread Creator

Big Tall
Taller Than Tall

I had no intention of getting one. I really didn't. Between my 360 and PC, I have more than enough outlets to keep me busy and quench my gaming thirst. I've also never had a handheld. Oh, I've played with pretty much all of them over the years, but never owned one. And then the Vita hit. Well, and through a number of random circumstances I won the First Edition Bundle that was sent to my Gamestop store.

Today is launch day for the Vita. I've had mine for 4-5 days and it's consumed most free hours I've had. The bundle came with Little Deviants and I picked up Uncharted (which is a series I've also never played as I don't have a PS3). Between those and the welcome pack I've essentially just been screwing around with the Vita. Honestly, I think I've spent more time in the menus and settings than anything else.

A quick rundown of what I've noticed so far:

Pros:
- Let's get this out of the way first: The 5" screen is absolutely gorgeous. It has a fantastic resolution. I can't say this enough.
- On that note, the screen responsiveness is top notch. I haven't had any issues with the touch screen.
- While a massive handheld, the layout on the front works for the most part. My only gripe is the Start and Select buttons were put in the bottom right corner which makes them a bit awkward to find by times, but there really wasn't anywhere else to put them either.
- The camera (I'll get to that below)
- PS button + Start = Screenshot. Easy and awesome.
- The game lineup is probably one of the strongest launches I've seen. There's something for everyone there, though Uncharted is about the only one I'd say is a must-buy.

Cons:
- Games are/seem pricey. Maybe it's just having not owned a handheld or really paid too much attention to the prices, but most games in Canada are $39.99. One of those is Lumines. Really Sony?
- The touch screen on the back feel awkward. Maybe I'm just not holding the Vita the right way. I played around with Little Deviants to see how it works and it'll take some getting used to. Apparently with FIFA, it's much improved as the back touchscreen is used to aim your shot and such.
- Memory cards are Vita-specific and, as a result, overpriced. My bundle came with a 4GB card, but with the AR Play games at launch today (three of them), grabbing FFT from the PSN store, and so on...I'll be looking to upgrade sooner than later.
- Love the browser, but there's no Flash update to allow viewing Youtube vids, or doing anything with Flash apps in general. When scrolling, the browser waits for you to stop before it refreshes that section of the page. It's a little thing, but really annoying.

Now then, the camera. Obviously some of the games have that "Look how we've integrated the new features!" aspect, which really comes down to shoe-horning unnecessary things in a game. The camera, from what I can tell so far, is not one of them. I love the fact that in Uncharted, part of the collectibles is to take pictures. It has the reference pic, you have to find where it is while playing (there's a cue that comes up to let you know when if you're close), and you snap the pic and get a bit more background. Love it. With the Welcome Pack of games, you take a pic and then it gets turned into a jigsaw puzzle. There's a camera on the front and back. There's no flash, but it works well. I'm surprised how much it impresses me. Weird.

Overall, I'm really happy with the Vita. Would I have bought one on my own? Probably not, but that has more to do with not really needed/wanting a handheld. Now that I have one, I'll certainly be picking up more games from the store, especially with PSP/PSOne games available.