The PlayStation Vita launches in
roughly three weeks (two weeks if you got the First Edition
pre-ordered) and I got to go hands on with the system at work. I was
already interested in the Vita, but being able to go hands on with it
made this device even more desirable. In addition to the trailers
I've seen and the games that have been announced for it so far have
had me sold on the Vita since it was unveiled last year at a special
PlayStation event. Before that unveiling I really felt my excitement
for new hardware was never going to improve. I didn't want any new
game consoles and I thought my DSi XL and PSP were doing just fine
with the game libraries they had. The stuff I saw on the 3DS didn't
excite me and even after the Vita was unveiled in early 2011 my
overall feeling didn't change when Nintendo started talking about the
Wii U at E3.
Granted I still bought the 3DS last May
in my excitement for the release of Star Fox 64 3D in the following
September. So I guess my excitement for new hardware has increased
and I'm ready on the handheld side of the business. But, has my
opinion changed on wanting new home consoles? No, not one bit.
Nothing I've heard about the Wii U is changing my mind. Sony and
Microsoft don't even need to release a new home console either.
Nintendo needs to, but not Sony or Microsoft. That is of course a
completely different topic for another time. So let me get back to
the Vita.
First things first, the dual analog
sticks are actual sticks. They are small, but they are responsive and
sensitive in all directions. So despite the size of the sticks they
handle very well. My time with the system was about forty-five
minutes long and the longer I played the more my hands started
falling into their positions around the system. One of the natural
things (for me) happened when I first picked up the brand new
PlayStation device. My fingers went all over the place (became
natural after using the Dualshock controllers for over 16 years) so I
was holding the Vita along the track pad on the back and that is a
no-no with this design. Of course not every game uses the back track
pad, but when playing games like WipeOut 2048 and Gravity Rush I
wanted to use the system like it was meant to be used. Over my time I
went from all over the place, to comfortably holding/gaming on the
system using the designated grips on the back and my thumbs resting
nicely on the analog sticks. Throughout my entire time with system in
my hands, they never cramped up.
Next up is the screen. It's big, crisp,
responsive and gorgeous. I could not believe how durable this 5-inch
OLED screen felt. It was wonderful playing WipeOut and Uncharted on
PS Vita because the games ran smoothly. WipeOut had no lag despite
all the fast-paced action that was going on everywhere; and while
Uncharted: Golden Abyss was a little laggy when the game was
introducing me to the level I was about to play, but that lag went
away when I took control. Both of these games are incredible
graphically and show off the screen wonderfully.
One thing that surprised me was how
lightweight the PS Vita is. When I saw it in person I expected it to
be fairly heavy. So I almost lost my grip and threw it when I picked
it up from the stand it was on. Once I have my Wi-Fi unit I will do a
comparison between the Vita and the 3DS for weight. As of right now I
believe the Vita is lighter than Nintendo's 3D machine.
The track pad on the back of the Vita
is the same size as the front facing touchscreen. It was also
incredibly responsive just like the touchscreen around the front.
Only Little Deviants used this for my time with the Vita, but in that
game I had to do several things that wasn't even part of the game to
test out how good the track pad was. The reason for me having to do
that? Little Deviants was very bad. I don't know if it was just the
demo, but when trying to do things in the game I was always getting
caught on everything. In addition to that it was very laggy and
unresponsive while trying to do what the game was asking me to do. I
might have just sucked at accomplishing the goals set in LD, but I
think it was the game itself.
Unfortunately the unit I was gaming on
wasn't able to output audio. I'm not sure why that is, but with that
I can't give any impressions on how the games or trailers that were
pre-loaded on the unit itself sounded. Sorry.
Overall I believe Sony has struck gold
with the Vita. If you've been following the systems early life in
Japan you'd think the system was doomed. However there isn't really a
title out there that sells systems yet in the unique Japanese market
yet. Uncharted, WipeOut, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and
LittleBigPlanet Vita will be the system sellers in the North American
and European markets. With the Vita selling very well here I'll be
able to test out some online functionality and compare the 3DS and
PSP to it. At my conclusion I'm very impressed with the Vita.
Anyway, my impressions would place this
system as a:
Score:
9/10
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