Another article written for Castle Co-Op, a website dedicated to Film, TV, Music and Culture – Published 20-02-2012

I was very blessed to have a short stint with the new entry into the handheld market; the Japanese model of the PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) – unfortunately I’m still relatively uninitiated to receive a sample of the hardware for full-review – but I do what I can.

The PS Vita is the successor to Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) and its second foray into the handheld market. The original PSP – to be generous – was mildly successful in Western Markets that was dominated by the Nintendo DS. Despite this, the PSP had its share of the glory in Japan thanks in part to the Monster Hunter Franchise.

Vita means ‘life’ and Sony has attempted to make an extraordinary all-in-one device to be synonymous with everyday habits akin to your iPhone or Smartphone; seeing the device as a necessity rather than an accessory.

Being an early adopter of the PSP, I definitely noticed through its lifecycle, I was continually disappointed with the static nature of the device in the marketplace. Titles such as Monster Hunter, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep were the only real draw-cards that dissuaded me from listing my PSP on eBay. The console isn’t without its merits, but the lack of support was indeed frustrating, thankfully salvaged by the incredible stagnant trickle of titles that was just reason enough to justify keeping my PSP.

Throughout this preview I won’t be chiming in on the debate surround the existence of dedicated handheld gaming in this age – but instead evaluate this existing console for its innovative merits and few unfortunate flaws.

Hardware and Design:

Compared to its predecessor, the Vita is noticeably larger; approximately 20% its size and possesses just a slight heft – compared to the later generation PSP – that shouldn’t induce fatigue after hours of gameplay. The original PSP was never the ideal ‘pocketable’ device, generously titled as a portable system (I mean, yeah – it has a battery). Proudly, the Vita continues that legacy with its overall size and dual analog sticks that protrude out (albeit not by much), betraying the overall sleek aesthetics of the Vita’s body; a sacrifice any gamer would make to get rid of the PSP’s nub. That being said, the grandeur of this device doesn’t end with its size.

Despite its plastic build, when held, the device feels solid with an intuitive User Interface (UI). The buttons and triggers are well tuned and responsive that depress with a satisfying click. It’s obvious the design team at PlayStation were conscious of the build, minimising its profile without sacrificing power or visual appeal with its high gloss finish. Looking back though, it’d be nice to have a portable PlayStation that didn’t collect all those damn fingerprints (any CSI crew would love this device though).

On paper it’s truly astonishing how much raw power is generated with its quad-core processor. However the device itself is suffering from an identity crisis. Trying to meld aspects of other popular devices to the point where the Vita doesn’t know exactly what it wants to be; a gaming console, a social media hub, a touch-screen MP3 player, a pseudo Smartphone – excluding gaming, it’s the jack-of-all-trades, but master of none.

Without trying to decipher the philosophical nature of the device you can easily claim the greatest element of the PS Vita is its gorgeous 5” AMOLED (960 x 544) screen providing crisp visuals and vibrant colours with a solid frame-rate just shy of the PS3 or Xbox 360 – just don’t linger too long on the screen or else the difference becomes more apparent. This is an amazing feat when you consider using the device for high-end gaming with stunning visuals whilst simultaneously downloading a game from the improved PSN store and have multiple applications running in the background.

Actually in transit with a high-end device like this, I wouldn’t want it to rattling around my pocket with my keys, spare change and all matter of sharp paraphernalia lying in wait to desecrate that beautiful screen – so the wide 5” screen is more of a blessing in disguise, assuming Sony warrants this notion and are fully aware the PSP/PS Vita was never intended to be carried in a your pocket.

Controls and Touch-Input:

The front-touch screen is an absolute pleasure to view. It’s almost a shame that it is a touch-screen consolidating my hesitance to smudge that pristine panel. The screen of the Vita (which I think is plastic) is eerily similar to the Gorilla Glass of the iPhone which isn’t a bad thing, however post-first generation touch-screens have all come to a high industry standard.

The dual analog sticks are something PSP owners have been crying about since the original’s release. Playing the with dual stick makes you often forget your using a hand-held; Nintendo’s 3DS requires a proprietary add-on to use a second stick. The D-Pad and face buttons have been reduced in size and have a solid feedback, as do the L and R shoulder buttons – yet I feel as if the unit’s ergonomic design needs to come into questions.

The dual analog sticks sit under the face buttons and have a comfortable range of motion – however you won’t experience the same precision like the DualShock and 360 Controller. I doubt there would be any issue of cramping since the device calls for continuously changing grip; hand placement shift with touch and motion enabled functions on the front and rear panels. So in summary, if you’re comfortable with the PSP, you’ll be content with handling the Vita.

The UI is a clear example of Sony observing the current Smartphone environment and set out to develop a simple and intuitive navigation and menu for the Vita. The PlayStation Vita does this to a fault. The XMB interface seen in the PSP and PS3 is gone in favour of pages filled with bubble icons. The navigation is touch only, rendering those reflexive buttons and analog sticks moot. The concept behind the bubble icons and their preview pages were intended as innovative ideas that unfortunately seem more gimmicky than intuitive (like peeling the pages back).

This is more apparent when using the rear touch panel – the unique interactive medium used by the Vita. It’s an interactive method implemented throughout most, if not all of the Vita’s launch titles, but there hasn’t been an instance of it being used effectively. The hardware works, but considering the nature of the input, precision becomes an issue as you can only ‘feel’ the panel and see its progress on the screen. It’s an interesting development that’s yet to prove its excellence.

Gone are the UMD’s instead opting for direct digital download or having games loaded on proprietary memory cards new and unique to the Vita (the former the more economic option). These small memory cards are one of the deceptive price points on the Vita somewhat unbeknownst to the general consumer. The Vita has no internal memory and requires the memory card for game data, save files and any additional media you wish to play on the Vita. For the entry level WiFi model – expect to pay approximately USD $250 with the 3G model slightly higher at USD $300. The value of the 3G isn’t justified on launch unless of course WiFi clouds are scarce in your area or you just have to be on top of any social media that’s preloaded onto the Vita.

PS Vita Launch Guide:

The launch roster for the Vita cannot be faulted. The diverse selection of games will keep fans of any genre satisfied on release with titles such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss for action adventure fans, WipeOut 2048 for seizure inducing racing, Super Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 for fighting fans, Lumines Electronic Symphony for rhythm puzzle junkies, Raymam Origin for side-scrolling platformer gamer, Hot Shots Golf and FIFA Soccer for the weird people who like to play sports games (see the irony there?) and Super StarDust Delta for fans of  blowing shit up.

The Vita also has access to the new PSN store that also offers a decent library of back catalogue PSP games and potential PS1 titles to come. The digital PSP titles look amazing on the Vita when compared to the PSP. The only problem I have is only about 50% of PSP titles are available for download, and what I dub as the ‘real PSP’ games aren’t available (Crisis Core: FFVII and KH: Birth By Sleep; not ports but actual games developed for the PSP). It’s here where we open the proverbial Pandora’s Box on the UMD passport conundrum that was promised in North America.

Negatives:

Despite there being backward compatibility with the Vita, it’s disappointing to not see some semblance of a UMD Passport conversion service that was available for PSP in owners in Japan wishing to update their current hardware. This isn’t a tragic loss, but a real nuisance considering PlayStation’s previous attempt to transition from UMD to digital distribution in the same generation life-cycle that subsequently lead to the failure of the PSP Go (yes, I did purchase but then immediately resold my PSP Go).

Both Camera’s suck. Seriously. Save for Skyping (to be implemented soon) or taking advantage of augmented reality, both the front and rear VGA cameras are woefully subpar considering Sony’s long pedigree with digital point-and-shoot cameras. But nobody really uses the camera on their hand-held gaming device – however with Sony’s ambitious device this is a disappointing omission. The Vita may be on the verge of an on-going identity crisis, so I guess it doesn’t have to consider itself a high-end digital camera too.

Battery life is decent when weighing the performance and small profile of the device. The 4-5 hours of continuous play is on par with the PSP and the 3DS. Unexpectedly the idle stand-by time is quite impressive. Overall the battery could be improved, but it is expected.

Bottom Line:

Barely scratching the surface of the Vita’s hardware and software, it is by far the most powerful dedicated gaming system and well-rounded portable handheld on the market. The launch line-up is impressive with first-party titles that are supplemented with a respectable back catalogue of PSP games. Costs associated with the unit is deceptive with the need for propriety memory sticks unique to the Vita, however it seems reasonably priced considering its hardware specs. This would be the perfect all-round device. If only there were an app to turn the Vita into a phone – in addition to an improved battery life and useable camera.

As it stands I probably won’t be an earlier adopter of this new hardware. The current trends don’t paint a positive picture of the devices longevity in today’s 0.99 cent app market. That said, the Vita could be the redefining catalyst for change. The defining positives of the device are its sheer power and potential, which the Vita has plenty of. What it comes down to is investment by the community and industry at large as to whether or not they will support this new platform or see it remain static like the original PSP. It will be interesting to see how the unit progresses in both Western and Japanese markets – hence I see no impetus for me to put down my DualShock in lieu of a Vita – well not yet anyway.