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Takao · Dec 23, 2011

The US PlayStation Blog posted "Five Things We Learned At The Japan PS Vita Launch", and in it they find Takashi Sogabe who's been working at Sony for nearly 30 years, and in fact designed the original Walkman. He also lets it go that the team at Sony had Vita in slider, and clamshell form factors before settling on what they call "the super oval". The blog promises a full interview with Mr. Sogabe in the next year.

The slider design isn't surprising given this was one of the early devkits:

UPDATE:

Full interview posted.

Acrylic7 · Dec 23, 2011

that would have been better. With tweaking

Technosteve · Dec 23, 2011

it should of been a gameboy

[Nintex] · Dec 23, 2011

Technosteve said:
it should of been a gameboy

If Sony had played their cards right it could've been the next gameboy.

Hot Coldman · Dec 23, 2011

Super Oval sounds like an F-Zero track.

Acrylic7 · Dec 23, 2011

[Nintex];33697921 said:
If Sony had played their cards right it could've been the next gameboy.

yup
also cant unsee Mr.Popo eyes.

Razorskin · Dec 23, 2011

Acrylic7 said:
that would have been better. With tweaking

No, unless those are real analog sticks and not slide pads.

crazy monkey · Dec 23, 2011

Takao said:

much much better. They can also use the design in next sony experia play phone

Gravijah · Dec 23, 2011

slider is ugly, they should have went with the clamshell. best form factor ever.

Ultima_5 · Dec 23, 2011

I like the route they went for instead. More sturdy.

Also good to see these guys still sticking around designing stuff.

BurntPork · Dec 23, 2011

[Nintex];33697921 said:
If Sony had played their cards right it could've been the next gameboy.

Let's not get carried away here.

And yeah, this would have been better in some ways.

Grisby · Dec 23, 2011

Cool. I have fond memories of my Walkman,

Glad that guy is still making things.

theBishop · Dec 23, 2011

I hope they do a slider in a few years after a die shrink. It's the most convenient form factor in my opinion.

But it'll probably have to be thick to make room for the sticks. I wouldn't want to go back to psp/3ds style nubs.

Father_Brain · Dec 23, 2011

A slider form factor would have looked better, and retractable buttons/pads would have made it easier to position Vita as an iDevice competitor, whereas the current design makes that basically impossible. I'm not sure the latter was ever a goal for Sony anyway, though.

Takao · Dec 23, 2011

Gravijah said:
slider is ugly, they should have went with the clamshell. best form factor ever.

I really dislike clamshell, or at least Nintendo's clamshell. That stuff gives me hand cramps in no time flat.

SmokedMeat · Dec 23, 2011

Not a fan of the slider idea at all, and I certainly wouldn't have wanted a unit like the one in the photo. Not all of us have the hands of a 13yr old girl.

Lostconfused · Dec 23, 2011

The the psp GO's design is terrible compared to the original. I am glad they went with something that's closer to the PSP and is actually good instead of terrible like the GO.

airmangataosenai · Dec 23, 2011

That looks ridiculous.

Dedication Through Light · Dec 23, 2011

I wonder how the one with touch panels instead of sticks would have worked out.

H_Prestige · Dec 23, 2011

How would the back touch pad work with a slider form?

Grimmy · Dec 23, 2011

The PSP Go was a terrible form factor. Cramped, hard-to-reach L/R buttons, awful d-pad. I have zero idea why people are so gaga over it. I'm very happy the Vita has its current look right now.

jett · Dec 23, 2011

Would've preferred a slider/clamshell design myself, for better portability. If I owned a Vita I have no idea where I would put it if I went out with it.

Hyuga · Dec 23, 2011

FORGET the slider and clamshell version if you want good analog sticks!

SneakyStephan · Dec 23, 2011

Slider wouldn't have had room for raised analog sticks, we'd been stuck with those terrible sliding nubs again like on psp.

I'm glad they went for the current design, gives you something to grip, clamshell should be called crampshell.

BadWolf · Dec 23, 2011

Lostconfused said:
The the psp GO's design is terrible compared to the original. I am glad they went with something that's closer to the PSP and is actually good instead of terrible like the GO.

Same.

Always liked the original PSP's design and Vita looks even better.

Also, the 1:1 back and front touch wouldn't have worked with the slider design.

sixteen-bit · Dec 23, 2011

I wouldn't mind a slider design

S. L. · Dec 23, 2011

i much prefer the solid design over a slider or clamshell

Gravijah · Dec 23, 2011

Hyuga said:
FORGET the slider and clamshell version if you want good analog sticks!

it's a portable system, analog sticks are always going to be flawed in some way. i could probably live with dual slidepads/sony equiv to slidepads.

CorrisD · Dec 23, 2011

I prefer what they have now, having proper (or as close as were going to get on a potable) analog sticks makes a whole lot of difference to me than some sort of stingy small pad, but I have also never been a fan of slider phones and have always preferred candybar like designs.

The less that can be moved and worn out from general use the better imo.

H_Prestige said:
How would the back touch pad work with a slider form?

I can't imagine it would have, at least not in any sort of even slightly comfortable manner.

Takao · Dec 23, 2011

Did we ever learn who designed the PSP?

Anth0ny · Dec 23, 2011

Looks damn uncomfortable.

I prefer the final version.

Jinfash · Dec 23, 2011

Father_Brain said:
A slider form factor would have looked better, and retractable buttons/pads would have made it easier to position Vita as an iDevice competitor, whereas the current design makes that basically impossible. I'm not sure the latter was ever a goal for Sony anyway, though.

But it would make implementing sticks and back-panel nearly impossible. So unless you prefer the sliders (well at least Nintendo's, if you're sensible) and think the back-panel has almost no value then you'll be grateful for the current model.

Funnily enough though, if it wasn't for the slider model's overheating issues, we'd probably not be getting both of those features today. Even Yoshida said the back-panel was added much later, and was about to be chopped at one point if it wasn't for his insistence.

gogojira · Dec 23, 2011

I don't know, I'm not even that interested in the Vita but I find the final for much better than that slider or a clamshell would have been. If nothing else, the Vita looks ridiculously slick which is par for the course for Sony (well, except for the ugly PS3).

Acrylic7 · Dec 23, 2011

Razorskin said:
No, unless those are real analog sticks and not slide pads.

what part of tweaking didn't you get?

east of eastside · Dec 23, 2011

crazy monkey said:
They can also use the design in next sony experia play phone

Bingo. And the Xperia Play successor can be based in Vita hardware too featuring full compatibility with PSVita games with transfarring.

Vita will be the first platform that is both a traditional portable and a mobile.

jump_button · Dec 23, 2011

Oh wow that not a fake blog post to remind you about Gravity Daze and Welcome Park........oh wait oh

Razorskin · Dec 23, 2011

Acrylic7 said:
what part of tweaking didn't you get?

Good luck "tweaking" that, not happening. The device would be too cramped anyway.

Acrylic7 · Dec 23, 2011

Razorskin said:
Good luck "tweaking" that, not happening. The device would be too cramped anyway.

what the fuck don't you understand about tweaking?

How the hell would it be too cramped if the Buttons are on a separate pad from the screen? explain.

Gravijah · Dec 23, 2011

Jinfash said:
But it would make implementing sticks and back-panel nearly impossible. So unless you prefer the sliders (well at least Nintendo's, if you're sensible) and think the back-panel has almost no value then you'll be grateful for the current model.

i need an unbiased comparison of the slidepad vs vita analog sticks.

Razorskin · Dec 23, 2011

Acrylic7 said:
what the fuck don't you understand about tweaking?

How the hell would it be too cramped if the Buttons are on a separate pad from the screen? explain.

The buttons are too close together.

The Elite · Dec 23, 2011

Acrylic7 said:
that would have been better. With tweaking

They're obviously saving it for a redesign.

Totobeni · Dec 23, 2011

Nice to see Sony using Sony Electronics guys to design Playstation devices these guys are the best, PS systems used to look like cheap fisher price toys so it's good move from them.

Hope they hire Sony Electronics guys for PS4 too.

Takao said:
The slider design isn't surprising given this was one of the early devkits:

*vomit* This thing is ugly as sin.

Also it will sucks since the sticks look garbage like the Go/PSP ones.( and I think it will not work with the touchpad)

Auto_aim1 · Dec 23, 2011

Takao said:
Did we ever learn who designed the PSP?

I think it was Shinichi Ogaswara.

PSP prototype:

Opiate · Dec 23, 2011

I like the slider design. It looks like it can actually fit in my pocket and/or be portable, which is a very big deal to me -- one of my biggest reasons for trepidation regarding the vita is its size.

Acrylic7 · Dec 23, 2011

Razorskin said:
The buttons are too close together.

quick question, Is your Dualshock cramped?

they have tons of space in that thing. Its just needs to be tweaked.

Jinfash · Dec 23, 2011

Re: Slider design,

Had Sony went with that design, how much bulkier would the Vita if they left all the hardware specs of the final model intact?

Gravijah said:
i need an unbiased comparison of the slidepad vs vita analog sticks.

Seriously.

I've asked, like, 5 times in various threads. Everyone seems to love to dodge the question... Either that or they have me on ignore.

[Nintex] · Dec 23, 2011

Meisadragon said:
I think it was Shinichi Ogaswara.

PSP prototype:

That looked so awesome and futuristic, between the Wii U, 3DS and Vita I'm kinda dissapointed in the next-gen hardware designs.

orioto · Dec 23, 2011

But i wonder, based on the difficulties to aim in Uncharted GA, what's so fabulous about sticks ?

PJFJosh · Dec 23, 2011

Yeah, while the slider is a decent concept, people would have complained up and down about slide-pads instead of proper thumbsticks... and I'd probably be one of them.

This also would have made the idea of front and rear touch a bit of a no go as it would be awkward to reach up to that screen along with a mental disconnect between the 1 to 1 back touch screen response.

That's why this was just a concept and it didn't become the final product...

FoxSpirit · Dec 23, 2011

Gravijah said:
slider is ugly, they should have went with the clamshell. best form factor ever.

Preach it bro, so durable yet portable.

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