Sony's PS Vita device doesn't come
preloaded with games, but more than two dozen are available for download.
Sony's
PlayStation Vita, which hits stores in the U.S. and Europe coming Wednesday, is
much more than just another portable gaming device.
With the Vita, Sony is trying to
combine the power of its PlayStation home console with the interface,
portability and social media features of a smartphone. With its innovative
touch controls, OLED screen, motion sensors, social apps, GPS capability and dual
cameras, it has most of the bells and whistles that today's gamers could want.
Some industry observers question
whether gamers will spring $250-$300 for another portable gaming device -- plus
potential monthly fees for a 3G data plan -- when smartphones already handle
many of the same gaming functions. But Sony is counting on the Vita's appeal to
hard-core action- and first-person shooter gamers who want a designated mobile
gaming system, not just another gadget on which to play "Angry Birds."
A social device
The successor to the Sony PSP
hand-held console, PS Vita was started three years ago at the Sony
Corporate Design Center by a team led by Takashi Sogabe, who designed the
original Walkman. The goal was to bring richer and better gaming enjoyment than
was available with the PSP.
While members of the development
team knew they'd be making upgrades to the hardware and gameplay, Shuhei
Yoshida, president of SCE Worldwide Studios, said he knew social media
capability was going to be just as important.
"It has Twitter.
It has Flickr. Portable music applications. These are
here to enhance your gameplay experience," You beat the boss or you get
the high score, (and) you can show the world what you've done with that screen
shot."
Other social media applications,
like Facebook, Foursquare and Skype, will also be available for download.
The processing power in the Vita
allows for eight different applications to run simultaneously. During our
hands-on experience, we could download a new game while playing another and
listening to music from the media player. There was no detectible slowing of
the action or the music.
PS Vita also raises the bar on
mobile gaming by offering voice chat and text chat through the Party
application. Party isn't tied into specific games, but allows players to
communicate with their friends no matter what each person is doing.
However, AT&T, the exclusive
broadband provider for the Vita in the U.S., does impose some restrictions. Yoshida
said voice chat will only work if one person is on a Wi-Fi connection and the
other is on a 3G connection. As he reminded us, the Vita isn't a phone.
Don't have many PlayStation friends
online? Vita can help you find new connections with Near, a program that uses
GPS to search your area for other nearby Vita devices. You can see what other
people are playing, maybe join up for a multiplayer match or challenge a friend
to top your high score. If you're concerned about privacy, there are ways to
block your location, yet still see what's going on around you.
Other features
All these additions to the gaming
experience mean little if the core gameplay is lacking. And that's where the
Vita really delivers. The seven-inch device is chock full of processing power,
multiple controls and a 5-inch OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen, all
designed to make games look and play as well as they do on a PlayStation home
console.
The front of the Vita has two analog
joysticks, a first for a portable gaming device, as well as a directional pad
and four buttons. The front screen is also a touchscreen, allowing for direct
control during a game.
The back of the device is a
touchpad, which can create some unintended gaming consequences when gripping
the Vita. Because Sony wanted the back screen to have a one-to-one relationship
with the game action, the rear touchpad takes up the same amount of room as the
front screen. But it takes some creative holding of the device to play some
games without accidentally tapping on the back.
While Vita does have a lot of input
devices and functions, there were many others that didn't make it to the final
design. He said the team focused on three things for the Vita: the size of the
device, the price and its battery life.
"A certain group of us wanted a
stylus," he said, laughing, about one feature that didn't make the cut.
There are also two cameras, front
and back, that are designed more for augmented reality (AR) gameplay than for
taking quality pictures of your vacation spots. Three games that take advantage
of augmented reality -- using a camera to overlay real-world objects onto a
device's digital screen -- will be available at launch next week.
Games
To consumers, all these features
won't mean much if there aren't good games to play. Available at launch will be
25 titles, with many others scheduled for release shortly after.
Sony is counting on some big
franchises to help the Vita make a splash in the U.S. "Assassin's
Creed," "Madden NFL," "Uncharted," "FIFA,"
"Little Big Planet" and "BioShock" are a few of the
powerhouse series that are developing games for the Vita. Some are available
now, and others are coming soon.
Sony also is making some original
games, mainly shooters and action-adventure titles, available at launch.
At a recent demo in Washington, the
new "MLB 12: The Show" showed how gamers can use the Vita's rear
touchpad to throw the ball around a baseball diamond. Designer Ramone Russell
said the PS3 version of the game will have 70 new enhancements and Vita will
have 65 of those as well.
He explained that the PS3 version
and the Vita version of the game were designed with cross-play between the two
consoles in mind.
"You dump 20, 30, 40 hours into
a mode, and it's time to go on a business trip," Russell said. "You
save that file up into a Cloud. Pick up your PlayStation Vita. Take it on the
road. Download it from the Cloud and you keep going. And it works vice
versa."
After about a week of hands-on
experience, the PS Vita feels less like a mobile gaming device and more like a
new gaming console that is also portable. The social features and functionality
are exciting, and their integration into games seems smooth.
It takes a period of adjustment to
avoid tapping the backside touchpad at the wrong time during a game. Even using
the front touchscreen requires a bit of juggling, but it isn't anything that
gets frustrating or awkward.
Overall, the Vita's power, social
integration and presentation make the device worth a look. But the lingering
question is whether developers will create enough great Vita games to make it
worth the money.
The Wi-Fi version of the PS Vita
will cost $249, while the AT&T 3G version will sell for $299 (plus a data
plan). Two monthly data plans are available through AT&T: 250MB for $15 and
3GB for $30. There's also a first-edition bundle package that includes a PS
Vita 3G/Wi-Fi model, 4GB memory card, "Little Deviants" game and a
limited-edition case for $350. The deal expires at the end of March. Memory
cards are needed for some Vita games, but not for all.
