Ok so some of you may remember my "first impressions" review of the
Vita from about half a year ago, but that wasn't really the full story.
Back then the Vita had just came out, and all I could really do was
check out the demo Vitas set up in a few different stores. Although the
Vita has been out for quite some time now, that doesn't change the fact
that not everyone has actually gotten a chance to play it, or really
know what it is like. So anyway if you're one of them people who doesn't
know much about the Vita/you bash it because it's a Sony system without
knowing about it/you're someone who want's to get one but haven't yet,
then I hope this post will help you make up your mind about it and fully
understand it's features.
The System's Build:
The
first thing everyone will notice about the Vita is how it's actually
built. The PSV is in fact a lot like a PSP, but there are a few major
differences that can easily be seen. First of all, all of the buttons
are built a bit differently, a PS button has been added below the left
analog stick, a right analog stick has been added, the screen is larger
and is now in fact a touch screen, the L/R buttons are rounder and
easier to press, the d-pad is more of a rolling d-pad like you would see
on older video game systems, the face buttons are smaller and more
spread apart, the start and select buttons are under the right analog
stick, the volume controls and power button are on the top of the
system, and a back touch panel has been added. Really all of the buttons
are placed in a very nice position making all of them very easy to use,
and it just feels natural; however there are two major improvements I
would like to point out about the system's buttons. The analog sticks,
and the d-pad.
One of the biggest complaints about the original
PSP was how it's analog stick, or nub, and d-pad were set up. The analog
stick was a little nub with a plastic grip and strong spring to keep it
in place. The thing was very small, you had to reach your hand down in a
funny position to use it, and it just flat out could make some games
hard to play. Although over time you do in fact get used to it, a lot of
people would actually pop off the top plastic part and use the little
stick instead simply because it worked better; however that is NOT a
problem with the Vita! The Analog sticks on the vita are in fact analog
sticks and they are in a good position/very easy to use. Movement feels
natural, they are very sensitive to give you that 1:1 control you would
expect from a console game, and they have a nice rubber grip to make
moving them nice and easy. Now don't get me wrong, it might still take a
bit of getting used to due to the fact they are so small and you really
don't have to push them that far, but that doesn't change the fact that
they work great, and they're a major improvement over the PSP's nub.
The
D-pad is also another major improvement Sony made for the Vita. If you
have ever played using a PSP D-pad or even a PS1-PS3 D-pad, you would
know that it's kind of trapped under a plastic shell. The actual D-pad
is a type of rolling D-pad with the four edges of it sticking up through
the slits in the plastic cover of the controller, and when you push
down on them your thumb basically pushes till it's touching the plastic
case. Well that's not the case at all with the Vita D-pad! Just like on
older game systems such as the SNES, the Vita's D-pad is a solid piece
made out of hard plastic which sits on top of the system's plastic
casing. The D-pad is VERY easy to use, it stays mostly flat instead of
rolling over the top of a ball, and it is very accurate (which is VERY
nice when it comes to playing fighting games with it). In short the
D-pad is one of the best D-pads you'll find on a video game console in a
long time.
Although the Vita does have a very nice build, there
is one problem that I can't help but point out, and that's the back
touch panel. The thing about the back touch panel is that it basically
takes up the entire back of the system, and that really leaves little to
no room for your hands. Sure there is in fact two little oval shaped
spaces on the back for your fingers to go, but they are so close to the
edge of the system that you actually have to try to get all of your
fingers in it. Now if a child is playing the system, ok it's fine, but
since the main audience of this system is in fact teens and adults,
there's a little bit of a problem. The good news is that not all games
make use of the back touch panel, and games that do use it aren't so
touchy that pressing it will mess things up, but it can be a bit of a
pain.
The LiveArea:
When you first turn on
your Vita or wake it up out of sleep mode the first thing you'll see is
the date and time on what seems to be a type of sticker covering up your
system. If you have ever used a tablet or smart phone before, this is
something you should be used to seeing, and it works like you would
expect. At the top right of the "sticker" you can tell that it is ready
to be pealed off, and that's exactly what you need to do. Just peel it
off with the touch screen, and you'll then find yourself looking at the
Vita's LiveArea.
The LiveArea works just like the desktop of a
computer, home screen of a tablet, or home screen of a smart phone. It's
got a background wallpaper/theme, it has icons for your apps spread out
across a few different "pages," and it is COMPLETELY touch controlled
(yep that's right, no using buttons). By sliding your finger up and down
you can shift through the "pages" of apps that you have installed on
your system, and by sliding left/right you can switch between the
LiveArea and the apps that you actually have up and running; this is
another major improvement from not only the Vita, but the PS3 as well.
On
most other game systems you can only have a few things open at a time,
and that's normally the game you're playing and your messages/friends
list. For example, if you're checking the PSN shop on your PS3 and you
want to play a game, you'll actually have to back out of that shop, wait
for it to close down, scroll over to your "play game" icon on the menu,
and then start up the game. Well on the Vita, that is no longer the
case!
Since the Vita is like a mix between a smart phone/tablet
and a video game system, it barrows a lot of features from smart
phones/tablets. Every app/game you open can actually STAY open and can
be switched to on the fly. For example you could open up your friends
list to see who is online, then open up the voice chat party app and
open up a room so people can join you, then you could open up your
"group messages" text chat room to see if you have any new messages,
then you could open up your trophy list to see what trophies, and
finally you could then open up your game and start playing. Everything
you opened will STAY open, and can easily be switched to by tapping the
PS button, and swiping your finger left and right to switch between the
tabs. This set up is fast and easy, and saves a LOT of time since you
don't always have to close every single app just to open a new one to
check something. When you're actually ready to close an app, it is just
as easy as opening them, all you have to do is peel the edge of the
"sticker" or "page" down and off the screen.
Really I would LOVE
to see a system like this being used in the next major console releases,
but only time will tell if it'll really happen. Then again Sony already
did it, and Microsoft has Windows Phones out there now, so who knows,
maybe more of that will carry over!
The Apps:
Before
I really get into how games work, including the "Welcome Park" which
comes preloaded on all Vitas, I would like to take the time to talk
about the apps due to the fact that they play a MAJOR role in making up
what the Vita is. All Vita systems come with quite a few preloaded apps,
but there are also quite a few free ones up for download as well.
Either way every single program on the Vita, including the games,
actually run in an app like form, so they are very important to the
system. Since the screen can be customized, you can move apps where you
want, make as many pages as you want, and even change the background for
each page, I'll be going through each of these apps in the order I have
them on my system. Although I mostly left the layout unchanged, some
things have been moved around. But anyway...
Content Manager -
The
Content Manager is a lot like the USB mode the original PSP had. By
using the Content Manager you can connect your PS Vita to either your PC
or PS3, and well, manage your content! From dlc, to pictures, to music,
to full games, this basically allows you to transfer files from system
to system and keep things in order. Although it is a great tool, the
only downside to it is that it does NOT run off of the Media Go PC
program which was a major part of the PSP and PSP Go. If you want to
back up your game saves/move files around on the PC, you'll actually
have to download a brand new program...
Party -
The party
app is what one might call one of the best apps on the Vita. As a lot of
you may know, the Xbox 360 has been using a party system for years now
which allows you to create a room, have friends join, and then you can
use voice chat to talk to each other no matter what games you are
playing or what apps you have running. While a lot of people use this
system simply to just talk, it could also be used to actually FORM a
party to play games with. Want to be on the same team as all your
friends in a first person shooter? Simply form a party, invite them, and
start the game! The thing is although this party system was a great set
up, Sony announced that because the way the PS3 was built, they could
not do anything like it. They could use a text chat room, but that's
about it.
Well the Vita is brand new and things have changed! Just
like on the Xbox 360, the party app on the Vita allows you to create a
party room, invite players to your room, or join others so you can
either talk or play games together. Since the Vita also has a built in
mic, everyone who owns a Vita can actually use this party system, and
the app is very simple and easy to use. Simply click on it, either click
to create a new party (after you give it a name that is), or click and
join one of the parties on your list.
PS Store -
The PS
Store is what you would expect it to be. It's the PS Store! Basically
here you can buy full games, buy PSP games, buy PSN only games, download
DLC, download movies, and even download music. Basically everything PSN
offers on the PS3/PSP/PC can be accessed right here. The only problem
is that not all features were up and running during it's first few
months of launch, so a lot of people actually had to use their PS3s to
download what they actually wanted.
near -
near is a little
app which basically tracks everything you do and your friends do, think
of it like the Twitter/Facebook of the Vita. Whenever you walk by
someone who also has a PS Vita near will pick that up and actually add
them to your friends list, and sometimes even add bonuses. These bonuses
can range from free gifts in games like Uncharted, to exp bonuses in
games like Resistance. It's a really nice gift feature, and it also
works with your online friends as well (so fear not if you're someone
like me who lives in the middle of nowhere where NO ONE owns the systems
you own). You can also check what your friends have been doing on their
Vitas (game progress, online progress, friends they've added,
achievements they've earned, comments on progress they've made, what
they've downloaded, etc), and you can also check/rate games that you and
your friends have played.
near flat out tracks everything that
goes on, on your system and your friends systems as well. It records
levels you've completed, time attacks you've beaten, and well... It just
records everything! Just like with Twitter or Facebook you can also
comment on other peoples progress as well, and even hold a full
conversation in each post. It's a really nice feature, and it's the
perfect way to stalk your friends!
(Note: near's community feature
can also be accessed on each app its self. By scrolling down on the
"start" screen of each app you can actually read each update for that
app. While near throws everything into one, this allows you to see
what's going on ONLY in that app/game, and makes it easy to sort through
the 100s of posts that will soon build up.)
Friends -
Friends
is simply your friends list which is in fact connected to PSN. Since
the firends list uses PSN instead of a friends list made for the Vita,
this allows you to view what ALL of your friends are doing on both the
PS3 and Vita. Although the firends list is only there to view your
friends/add and accept new ones, it is closely tied to the next two apps
I'm going to talk about, and it'll even open them for you.
Group Messaging -
This
is basically the standard chat system from the PS3. Basically you can
open up a text chat room, and then talk to your friend or friends using
it. The layout works a LOT like smart phones, which use a bubble like
chat system, and all messages are saved. In short you can open up a chat
room, send a message to someone, and come back later to see what they
replied. Its a nice simple little message system, and it works well.
Trophies -
Just
like on the PS3, the Vita uses Trophies and is tied to your PSN
account! In short, not only does the Trophy app allow you to check your
Vita Trophies, it allows you to check all the trophies you've earned in
your life time. You can check progress from your PS3 games, your Vita
games, and you can compare trophies to your friends. Although every time
you earn a new trophy the Vita still has to upload it to the server, it
is actually MUCH faster than the sync operation on the PS3 and only
takes a few seconds.
Remote Play -
Remote Play is the basic
Remote Play most of us have become used to with the PSP. In short this
allows you to connect your Vita to your PS3 to control different
features of it, and interact with different games. Each game and app
actually uses this feature differently, and it can range from using your
Vita as a controller, to actually controlling the system by turning it
on/off.
Settings -
The settings app is just what it says it
is. By opening the settings you'll be able to change different settings
such as wi-fi settings, 3G settings (if you have the 3G model), display
settings, and so on. This is just a general tool that allows you to
customize/set different features on the Vita.
Browser -
The
Web Browser is just what it says it is, and is closely tied to many
other apps on the Vita. Anything that opens up a website, most apps have
a tutorial/manual that's actually online, will actually launch this app
for you and load the page. The web browser uses fast and and each touch
controls, and it also allows you to have quite a few webpages open at
the same time (which was a problem the original PSP struggled with). The
browser is easy to use, it loads fast, and it is a nice addition.
Videos -
The
Video app allows you to access/watch videos that you have downloaded on
either the Vita or PS3 (which can either be free, bought, or even
rented).
Photos -
The Photo app is just what you would
expect it to be, a camera. The Vita has the ability to take high res
photos with both the front and back camera, and you can take in game
screen shots by pressing the PS button and start button at the same
time. Either way, this app allows you to both take pictures and view
pictures you have taken already, and it also allows you to sort them out
as well. There are also a few quality/picture size settings as well,
but nothing too fancy.
Music -
The Music app is what allows
you to play songs on your Vita. Just like with the PS3 you can actually
play a song, open up another game/app, and keep the song playing. Songs
can be either downloaded from the PS Store, or you can put them on the
system yourself.
Maps -
Although it simply says "maps," it
is in fact Google Maps. Basically all the features of Google Maps is
just a touch away to help you find your way, or just to simply play
around with.
Other Apps:
As I said before
there are also quite a few other apps out there as well, and most of
them are free! Here's a quick overview of a few of the apps I've
downloaded/most popular ones out there.
Netflix -
Netflix is
a great video/movie service which allows you to watch 10,000s of videos
just for 8 bucks a month. It can be accessed on your computer, tv, your
Wii, your 360, your PS3, your 3DS, your Smart Phones, your Tablets, and
now it can also be accessed on your Vita and it looks great! Although I
actually haven't gotten around to watching too much on the Vita myself,
I did check out a few shows and they looked great. Since I did a review
of it not too long ago, I'll actually use El Cazador for an example.
Despite the fact that El Cazador is animated, the Vita's screen made it
look flat out amazing! The picture was very clear, the screen never
blurred, all of the colors were nice and bright, the HD sound was nice,
and the video opened up and loaded in a matter of seconds. In other
words, it couldn't have looked/been any better, and that was for
something that was animated! Just think about how great a live action
movie looks!
niconico -
Yep niconico which has been famous
for bringing us a lot of crazy Japanese videos is on the Vita with both
the US and Japanese library of videos and live streams! Since niconico
requires you to have an account to actually fully use it, the app WILL
take you to the website to sign up (luckily I had a Japanese account
from years ago so I was able to avoid this step), but it really doesn't
take too long (however it would go much faster if you simply signed up
on your PC). The only down side to niconico is that since it's a live
stream the quality isn't always the best, and unless you use the paid
for service you'll always get the shaft. If a room is full or there is
high traffic, you'll be either kicked out of the room or be forced to
watch the lower quality. Still the paid for service isn't really needed,
and the app works well.
Paint Park -
Paint Park is just what it says, a drawing tool which allows you to draw either alone or with your near by friends.
LiveTweet/Facebook -
LiveTweet
and the Facebook apps work just how you would expect. They allow you to
access your Twitter/Facebook, read the latest posts, and talk to your
friends. Sure you could also access these features with the web browser,
but these are built in easy to use apps that I'd strongly recommend
using if you're into the whole social network thing.
Others -
There
are also other free apps for download such as Skype and Foursquare
(which is basically a location updater), but they really aren't apps
that I've used so I can't really comment on them. Either way they are
out there for you to download, and they are all nice additions to the PS
Vita!
Welcome Park:
Welcome Park is a free
mini game like game that comes preloaded on all Vitas and is there to
help you get used to how the Vita Works. When you first load up the game
you'll find yourself looking at a screen with a few balls floating
around and the game telling you to start a "tutorial." Each tutorial is a
mini game which focuses on different new features the Vita uses, and
each mini game also has a target time/trophy to go along with it!
Although for the most part these trophies are easy to get, there are
quite a few that WILL give you a challenge, and the mini games can be
quite fun as well.
Although some mini games are basic such as
"touch the numbers," they really do show off the Vita's features quite
well. Since the Vita can track more than one finger at a time, some mini
games require you to actually tap two different locations on the
screen, while others require you to tap the back touch pad at different
times to send a ball flying. There's also a mini game which uses the
tilt censor to dodge balls on a skate board and jump, actually reminded
me a lot of them old Game Boy games such as Kirby Tilt 'n Tumble, and
there's also the picture square sliding puzzle mini game. The last two
mini games aren't really much of mini games though, one brings objects
in the world that look like a face to life and the other just has you
recording sounds that play when a circle touches it, but they are there
for you to mess around with.
Really I wouldn't call Welcome Park a
great game, but it is a good way to get started and it does give you a
few easy trophies. Still if you're looking for some real games to play, I
recommend downloading other free games such as MOTOSTORM RC, or Table
Soccer which actually uses the AR cards to create a virtual soccer field
to play on.
In the end, the PS Vita is a great solid system which
has the power to play "console" quality games. There are a lot of cross
PS3/Vita games out there, there's great games like Uncharted Golden
Abyss and Gravity Rush, and the system has made a lot of improvements,
not only over just the PSP, but over the PS3 as well. Although it's a
bit too bad that the system doesn't play VMUs, you can still download
PSP games from the shop, and other games as well.
The Vita is a
great piece of hardware, and is a major step forward for portable games.
Even so due to it's price tag and it's current game library, I can only
recommend it to those who are either interested in the games,
interested in the PSP games/PS1 classics that are up on the shop, or
those who do not have a PS3 but would like to play great games like
BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, and
WipEout. The only real downside to the system is it's few hour long
battery life, however by lowering the screen brightness and turning off
the wi-fi you can greatly increase your battery life so it really isn't
that big of a problem. (Besides the thing charges fast!)