[melman101]

I'm almost done with Uncharted Golden Abyss and I must say it's very good. It's in fact better than UC3 because it doesn't rely on Call of Duty style crazy events. It's more back to basics UC. I love it.

I completely agree with this. This is exactly how I felt with UC: Golden Abyss. I got really frustrated at UC3.

[lunch]

Vita owners, what would you say are the device's biggest "flaws" that could feasibly be addressed in the next model? Also, for those of you who owned more than one model of the PSP, how significant were the improvements made to later versions?

Battery life, speaker placement (my hands cover the speakers), the L&R buttons (which I don't personally like), and weight (it's not heavy, but it could probably be lighter) are the only flaws I can think of.

I owned a PSP 1000 and a 3000, and the difference was like night and day. The 1000's screen was dull and dark, whereas the 3000's screen was much brighter and more colorful, and the Vita's screen is the evolution of that. Even on the lowest brightness setting, it's really bright, and if I could make a complete wild comparison, the lowest brightness setting looks the highest brightness setting on my 3DS.

I don't know how likely a Vita revision is, but unlike with other consoles, I don't think that the Vita's disappointing sales are due to hardware. The hardware is the best part of the Vita, and the reason people keep shouting for more games and port begging is because it feels so great to use, and I want to use my Vita more.

[Carl]

Wallofshame.jpg :(

Nothing shameful about it, son

[lunch]

Nothing shameful about it, son

Yeah, you're fine spats. It's Carl who should be ashamed.

[Mondriaan]

Gods Eater Burst is so much fun. Gave up on MH after two hours :-(

You might want to look for MH tutorial videos on youtube when you're feeling like giving MH another go. There are an astounding number of MH videos, but many of them are not really geared for beginners.

I skimmed through a few, and these videos look reasonable:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MHNoodles

I completely agree with GEB being fun, though.

[Carl]

Yeah, you're fine spats. It's Carl who should be ashamed.

You're so jelly.

[winjet81]

I don't think there's really anything they could improve with a redesign. In my opinion, the hardware is pretty much perfect.

If there is a hardware revision, the one thing they need to do is raise the start and select buttons so you can actually feel and click them easily.

Right now (and especially when playing in the dark) they are a real bitch to find and press while playing Metal Gear HD.

[dsigns1]

I realize that the Vita is only 7 months old, but as a potential Vita-buyer, I can't help but think about the inevitable second model/redesign, which makes me leery of picking one up now. Has anyone read or heard anything that might suggest a time frame for a redesigned Vita? Vita owners, what would you say are the device's biggest "flaws" that could feasibly be addressed in the next model? Also, for those of you who owned more than one model of the PSP, how significant were the improvements made to later versions? Any input is greatly appreciated.

The camera isnt very good, but I never use it anyway. They could possibly do like apple and upgrade that but I dont think anyone would care.

[OmegaTreeFish]

Battery life, speaker placement (my hands cover the speakers), the L&R buttons (which I don't personally like), and weight (it's not heavy, but it could probably be lighter) are the only flaws I can think of. I owned a PSP 1000 and a 3000, and the difference was like night and day. The 1000's screen was dull and dark, whereas the 3000's screen was much brighter and more colorful, and the Vita's screen is the evolution of that. Even on the lowest brightness setting, it's really bright, and if I could make a complete wild comparison, the lowest brightness setting looks the highest brightness setting on my 3DS. I don't know how likely a Vita revision is, but unlike with other consoles, I don't think that the Vita's disappointing sales are due to hardware. The hardware is the best part of the Vita, and the reason people keep shouting for more games and port begging is because it feels so great to use, and I want to use my Vita more.

Its a tough one really. Battery life will always be better if its longer. Saying that its decent with psp games (8 hours or so) and still reasonable with vita games (3-5 hours). In a few years it might get better... dunno.

Top buttons are prob its weakest point, however I find the trigger grips eliminate this problem for me.

No idea how peoples hands are blocking the speakers? You surely cant be talking about gaming, only video viewing and stuff? even then I cant say I have ever had this problem.

Video out would be nice but I prob wouldnt use it.

Honestly its a damn good first model. I cant think of much that would make me want to upgrade if a new one came out.

It would be interesting to see a large poll on what people thought about each thing because everyone obviously has there own opinion on each of these things.

[Hanmik]

only 12 more days.. then I will have my Vita.. so I can finally play Resistance: Burning Skies, Gravity Rush, Wipeout 2048 and MGS: HD Collection, which have been lying around my house for several weeks and mocking me for owning games but not the device needed to play them ..

[The Grim Heaper]

yeah, pretty much this :P

Okay, that makes more sense.

I realize that the Vita is only 7 months old, but as a potential Vita-buyer, I can't help but think about the inevitable second model/redesign, which makes me leery of picking one up now. Has anyone read or heard anything that might suggest a time frame for a redesigned Vita? Vita owners, what would you say are the device's biggest "flaws" that could feasibly be addressed in the next model? Also, for those of you who owned more than one model of the PSP, how significant were the improvements made to later versions? Any input is greatly appreciated.

The shoulder buttons aren't great, the speakers are placed right next to the analog sticks, the battery life is just alright, and the sticks seems a bit too fragile(though I don't believe they are.) It's far from the perfect handheld, but it's still pretty damn good. I don't really remember the PSP revisions much, but I know with the 1000 -> 2000 redesign, the system was smaller and much lighter, but the 1000 also had a kind of crappy analog stick while 2000 had a small nub.

Wallofshame.jpg :(

:3

You're so jelly.

I do believe he is jelly.

[OmegaTreeFish]

Oh yeah my copy of MGS HD collection arrived yesterday.

I havn't played MGS 2 since it first came out and I never completed it. I dont know why. I remember fighting fatman and that was it.

Put it in and it looks and runs great on the vita. Im loving it. I did however forget how clunky the combat is at times. Its really bad lol. But the rest of the game makes up for it.

Never played MGS 3 so that will be extra fun. Apparently it has the classic metal gear 1 and 2 on it but didnt see where the option to play them is. Its prob in the manual bu I havn't checked yet.

Its also pretty amazing how nice ps2 visuals can still look when in HD. HD definitely was a big leap in how nice a game looks. To me at least. I know from PC gaming that a nice resolution without some of the eye candy can still look really nice.

[archnemesis]

Vita owners, what would you say are the device's biggest "flaws" that could feasibly be addressed in the next model?

Almost all my complaints about the Vita are software related. The hardware issues are really minor. It's for instance quite easy to accidentally nudge the right analog stick by mistake while pressing the face buttons.

Also, for those of you who owned more than one model of the PSP, how significant were the improvements made to later versions?

The first revision added more RAM, a faster CPU, video out, and an improved screen. The second revision only made minor adjustments.

[Icicle]

The shoulder buttons aren't great. That's about it. All of the other "flaws" are related to the OS itself, which will definitely hopefully be updated through firmware.

What is wrong with the OS? I recall seeing pictures of the bubble icons on the Home screen that looked pretty bad, but I haven't tried it or anything.

I don't think there's really anything they could improve with a redesign. In my opinion, the hardware is pretty much perfect.

The short battery life is what has me most concerned. An HDMI out would be pretty nice to have too. On the PSP-2000, Sony doubled the RAM from 32 to 64 MB, and more noticeably changed out the screen. I'm curious what an even nicer OLED screen would look like on the Vita, or if they might update some of its components (like the PSP's RAM), in order to keep it from being outmatched by smartphones. I would also prefer the Vita's resolution (960x544) to be a common one, but I'm not sure they can change that now.

[OmegaTreeFish]

What is wrong with the OS? I recall seeing pictures of the bubble icons on the Home screen that looked pretty bad, but I haven't tried it or anything. The short battery life is what has me most concerned. An HDMI out would be pretty nice to have too. On the PSP-3000, Sony doubled the RAM from 32 to 64 MB, and more noticeably changed out the screen. I'm curious what an even nicer OLED screen would look like on the Vita, or if they might update some of its components (like the PSP's RAM), in order to keep it from being outmatched by smartphones. I would also prefer the Vita's resolution (960x544) to be a common one, but I'm not sure they can change that now.

Its got a while till smartphones and tablets get AS powerful and even then I really dont think it will matter. Smartphones don't have the developers willing to make the type of games you get or with big enough budgets to really take advantage of that power.

If you increase the resolution then you increase the power needed and that in turn reduces the battery life. I think the resolution is fine personally. Things at native res look amazingly smooth.

Also compared to the battery life of smart phones the vita is way better. Its also not as good as a tablet... but those things are a lot bigger. Im not convinced battery life will get much better in a revision. I honestly dont think its bad as it is consindering what its doing.

[kidko]

Battery life is way better than it ever was on my PSP-2000, not that it's saying much. I haven't charged mine all week and have played a few hours here and there and it's still got some power left.

Plus there's a few portable chargers, 1st and 3rd party, that add even more battery if you really need it.

[patsu]

Battery life is pretty good, but you can always add a battery pack to back it up further. If you look at the Japanese Vita manual, the battery can be swapped out by following instructions too.

_Every_ aspect in Vita, or for that matter 360, PS3, WiiU, 3DS, can be improved in the future since technology is always improving.

[Solstice]

Battery life is amazing for the amount of power this thing has. Plus, if you're playing PSP games, it lasts all day.

[Carl]

The short battery life is what has me most concerned. An HDMI out would be pretty nice to have too. On the PSP-2000, Sony doubled the RAM from 32 to 64 MB, and more noticeably changed out the screen. I'm curious what an even nicer OLED screen would look like on the Vita, or if they might update some of its components (like the PSP's RAM), in order to keep it from being outmatched by smartphones. I would also prefer the Vita's resolution (960x544) to be a common one, but I'm not sure they can change that now.

A longer battery would be good, but i wouldn't call the current legnth short. I sit and play for hours without charging it, sometimes.

I very much doubt you'll get a HDMI out. Sony's big thing is "buy once, get both" - you wouldn't need both if Vita had HDMI out.

I don't think the RAM would need doubling on Vita, seeing as there's a boatload of it.

Screen is perfect.

As i said, not much they can improve on the hardware, in my opinion.

[archnemesis]

What is wrong with the OS? I recall seeing pictures of the bubble icons on the Home screen that looked pretty bad, but I haven't tried it or anything.

The bubbles aren't very pretty, but they work really well. Everything feels fast and responsive. My biggest gripe with the OS is that you keep getting logged off the internet to save battery life. I mostly use my Vita at home and I would like to have the option of always being connected to my WiFi network. Having folders for your icons would also be nice.

I also don't think there are any technical reasons for why I can't buy and play American and Japanese games on my European account. A unified PSN store with all available compatible games is a dream that will probably not come true.

The short battery life is what has me most concerned.

It's really not that short. If you're playing a PSV game it will last as long as your PSP did, and for PSN, PSP, and likely PS1 it will last a lot longer.

I would also prefer the Vita's resolution (960x544) to be a common one, but I'm not sure they can change that now.

You're right. This isn't going to change.

[Solstice]

I very much doubt you'll get a HDMI out. Sony's big thing is "buy once, get both" - you wouldn't need both if Vita had HDMI out.

It might be possible with a special cable and a firmware update, though. If you look at the Vita's charging port, it has a lot of pins. Those could be reserved for a video out connector down the road. Might be forward thinking on their part.

I would also prefer the Vita's resolution (960x544) to be a common one, but I'm not sure they can change that now.

960x544 is actually common for a lot of smart phones, but it's now getting overshadowed by 1280x720.

[Zeer0id]

What is wrong with the OS? I recall seeing pictures of the bubble icons on the Home screen that looked pretty bad, but I haven't tried it or anything.

There are a few issues. Some examples: you can't operate the system with buttons at all; things like trophies, friends and messages are illogically compartmentalized; the bubble icon sizes are not adjustable (they're way too big, imo); Near is kind of a mess right now.

EDIT: What arch said about sleep Wi-Fi and folders are also good points.

There is a lot of room for improvement.

[olimpia84]

My Vita's in need of some lovin' and that B2G1 sale at Best Buy ends in two days. I've been thinking about picking up Gravity Rush, MGS HD Collection, and maybe Super Mario Bros. Wii. I guess it's just kind of hard to justify considering I'd be quad-dipping on MGS 2 and 3 at this point. :p

Those are popular titles; good luck finding them in store at this point.

Vita owners, what would you say are the device's biggest "flaws" that could feasibly be addressed in the next model? Also, for those of you who owned more than one model of the PSP, how significant were the improvements made to later versions? Any input is greatly appreciated.

Bigger input buttons (just use the ones from the PSP 3000 Sony), better speaker placement and definitely better Start and Select buttons (this is actually my biggest gripe with the system lol).
I really don't care too much about battery life since I hardly take my Vita on the go.

[Zeer0id]

Oh, I'd also prefer analogue volume control, if possible. Changing the volume is pretty slugging as-is, and especially for a handheld you sometimes need to be able to do that instantaneously.


I didn't really think about the Start/Select buttons, but I guess that's true too :/ Hard to believe Vita's are actually tougher to press than the 3DS'.

[spannicus]

I really wish we could truly customize the Vitas OS instead of just swapping wallpapers. That would be sexy

[Carl]

It might be possible with a special cable and a firmware update, though. If you look at the Vita's charging port, it has a lot of pins. Those could be reserved for a video out connector down the road. Might be forward thinking on their part.

Oh it could be possible yeah. But why would they? They're trying to sell you two copies of a game for one price, so you feel you get more "value" and, if you don't own one of the two consoles, you feel as though you should do as you have games for it.

If they added HDMI out to the Vita, there would be no point in doing the Buy One Get Both. You wouldn't need a second copy to play the game on your TV. Just plug your Vita in.

They could do it yeah, but i don't think they will.

[benny_a]

The shoulder buttons aren't great. That's about it. (The biggest problem, memory cards, will never be addressed)

I agree with the shoulder buttons. They could definitely be improved.
Every other flaw I would have to test if a change would be an improvement as for example the distance between analog stick and buttons/digipad.

Edit: Start/Select I agree, but because they do not impact gameplay in the games I play that hasn't bothered me but they are hard to press.

[btkadams]

I really wish we could truly customize the Vitas OS instead of just swapping wallpapers. That would be sexy

i just wish the wallpapers weren't completely destroyed by the compression. the wallpaper/screenshot compression is by far my biggest complaint with my vita. it really looks like trash to me.

[Zeer0id]

Every other flaw I would have to test if a change would be an improvement as for example the distance between analog stick and buttons/digipad.

Yeah any gripes I have about the placement of the sticks relative to the buttons don't seem like an easy fix, anyway. Certainly not without increasing the size of the system, which is a trade-off I'd rather avoid.

[archnemesis]

Oh, I'd also prefer analogue volume control, if possible. Changing the volume is pretty slugging as-is, and especially for a handheld you sometimes need to be able to do that instantaneously.

You're are probably already aware of this, but if you need to mute the sound quickly you can hold down both the increase and decrease volume buttons simultaneously.

[Zeer0id]

You're are probably already aware of this, but if you need to mute the sound quickly you can hold down both the increase and decrease volume buttons simultaneously.

It's an okay solution, but still rather unwieldy and since you have to hold them down for a few seconds it's barely faster than just dropping the volume with (-) :(

[Icicle]

Its got a while till smartphones and tablets get AS powerful and even then I really dont think it will matter. Smartphones don't have the developers willing to make the type of games you get or with big enough budgets to really take advantage of that power.

I'm not so sure, man. The Samsung Galaxy S III seems to have "better" specs than the Vita in every category except GPU and battery size (which Vita only wins by 100mAh). Games like Infinity Blade, which is over a year and a half old, demonstrates just how capable smartphones have become as gaming devices (controls notwithstanding), and the stuff coming out today is that much more impressive.

If you increase the resolution then you increase the power needed and that in turn reduces the battery life. I think the resolution is fine personally. Things at native res look amazingly smooth.

Hm, didn't know this. Is there some significance/reasoning to the 960x544 resolution then, or is that the closest they could get to 720p without absolutely killing the battery or something?

[Solstice]

Hm, didn't know this. Is there some significance/reasoning to the 960x544 resolution then, or is that the closest they could get to 720p without absolutely killing the battery or something?

Probably price. Those 720p OLED's aren't cheap. That, and yeah, battery life. Not to mention performance. It's a lot easier to make a game run at 960 than 1280

[patsu]

It's an okay solution, but still rather unwieldy and since you have to hold them down for a few seconds it's barely faster than just dropping the volume with (-) :(

The "shortcut" panel only works with the built-in (read: basic) music player. We can't control the Music Unlimited player with it. ^_^

The VitaOS is a great start, but they should continue to refine it -- especially in usability (e.g., folders, option to skip LiveArea, make tasks async to avoid putting up so many dialog, a new power mode to allow aggressive use of PSN) and multitasking (snapshot run-time image to storage).

[spannicus]

Things are starting to look up with the PSM release, goodies await us all.

[patsu]

I'm not so sure, man. The Samsung Galaxy S III seems to have "better" specs than the Vita in every category except GPU and battery size (which Vita only wins by 100mAh). Games like Infinity Blade, which is over a year and a half old, demonstrates just how capable smartphones have become as gaming devices (controls notwithstanding), and the stuff coming out today is that much more impressive.

H/w spec is not the full picture. The Android OS takes up resources too, and it will grow increasingly bloated as they try to pack more features to compete with Apple. OTOH, Vita is optimized for gaming. There are still room to grow.

Battery consumption wise, the cellphone will suck up more juice just because there are so many activities going on at the same time.

Hm, didn't know this. Is there some significance/reasoning to the 960x544 resolution then, or is that the closest they could get to 720p without absolutely killing the battery or something?

Probably, but since it's close to Retina display, further increase in resolution without increasing screen size is not going to help much. Your eyes can't tell the difference anyway.

Rather than refining Vita h/w at this stage, I'd rather they introduce new devices that use the next iteration of Vita OS or other Sony stuff. Vita is pretty much optimized and packed. Without major breakthrough in h/w, the refinement may not make much of a difference.

EDIT:
Given a choice, I would want them to refine their software and services instead of h/w.

[mauaus]

Im seeking advice GAF, i have $22 on my psn account, and im itching to buy Virtua Tennis 4, is it worth the $40 asking price? Shall i wait for a sale?

Ive been playing nothing but psp titles, its time to treat my vita to some vita :D

[MrVargas]

I personally love the hardware. I think their main objective hardware-wise should be to focus entirely on making the device more affordable to manufacture and be aggressive with the price cuts. They need to get this baby to 3DS price levels if they can. The core gamer demographic (12-30 year old males) would go for the Vita over the 3DS every time if it was the same price.

I would take a two fold strategy with software. Step 1: Focus on the big dogs (Call of Duty, Madden, Gran Turismo, Assassin's Creed) and make sure Vita versions are AAA entries and not gimped versions. Use bundles to move hardware. A Call of duty Bundle or Madden Bundle should be a given (the game needs to be AAA-calibur though).

Step 2: Focus on Indie devs. They made XBLA what it is and yet Microsoft mistreats them. They work hard and their budgets are cheap. Throwing some financial assistance (dev kits, all-expense paid dev workshops, and publishing deals) their way could go a long way. The budget for a AAA game nowadays is in the 10's of millions. For much less then that the Vita could become the hottest indie platform around and with that comes tons of free positive press on every gaming site, podcast, and message board, not to mention tons of goodwill with gamers.

I would ignore the middle segment (medium budget games from big publishers), that segment will go where there is money to be made. If the big titles are on Vita as well as all the buzz generating indie titles, that middle segment will come as well.

[Ponn01]

Vita owners, what would you say are the device's biggest "flaws" that could feasibly be addressed in the next model? Also, for those of you who owned more than one model of the PSP, how significant were the improvements made to later versions? Any input is greatly appreciated.

I think the Vita has been through alot of its refining process via the PSP models. I can't see them making it any slimmer because of the screen, and honestly I don't want them to. It really has the perfect weight, size, feature balance. Kind of like how the 3DS, sans 2nd analog, is pretty much perfect because of all the DS redesigns. There really wasn't much more they could do with that besides make the screen bigger.

Dpad is great, my hands don't cramp reaching buttons, the sticks feel good I really can't think of anything i'd want changed. As stated before some minor quibbles with OS things, folders, separate saves from games files, etc but all those are firmware fixes not hardware redesigns.

[Hinzel]

I'm not so sure, man. The Samsung Galaxy S III seems to have "better" specs than the Vita in every category except GPU and battery size (which Vita only wins by 100mAh). Games like Infinity Blade, which is over a year and a half old, demonstrates just how capable smartphones have become as gaming devices (controls notwithstanding), and the stuff coming out today is that much more impressive.

Graphics aside, infinity blade is a poor excuse for a game on any platform. With the $40 price of the average vita game, hopefully we get games that look as good and actually have some depth to them

so far quite a few games on the platform are doing a good job of that IMO

[Shinriji]

I realize that the Vita is only 7 months old, but as a potential Vita-buyer, I can't help but think about the inevitable second model/redesign, which makes me leery of picking one up now. Has anyone read or heard anything that might suggest a time frame for a redesigned Vita? Vita owners, what would you say are the device's biggest "flaws" that could feasibly be addressed in the next model? Also, for those of you who owned more than one model of the PSP, how significant were the improvements made to later versions? Any input is greatly appreciated.

Select and Start buttons positioning. Otherwise, an almost flawless device.

[smr00]

I'm almost done with Uncharted Golden Abyss and I must say it's very good. It's in fact better than UC3 because it doesn't rely on Call of Duty style crazy events. It's more back to basics UC. I love it.

You know i went in thinking it was going to be mediocre because everyone i knew was putting it down but i actually thought it was better then both UC1 and UC3, i enjoyed the story more, i really enjoyed the characters and just had a better overall experience.

I still love UC1/UC3 but i just really enjoyed this more and i know this is a tiny thing but the whole backpack thing just made sense, why didn't they give him one in the other games? i know it's stupid but for some reason i thought it was a nice addiction to the character model, that and the machete. I also enjoyed the puzzle stuff, it made me feel like i was a treasure hunter.

I would love to see more UC games from Ben studio.

[BomberMouse]

I realize that the Vita is only 7 months old, but as a potential Vita-buyer, I can't help but think about the inevitable second model/redesign, which makes me leery of picking one up now. Has anyone read or heard anything that might suggest a time frame for a redesigned Vita? Vita owners, what would you say are the device's biggest "flaws" that could feasibly be addressed in the next model? Also, for those of you who owned more than one model of the PSP, how significant were the improvements made to later versions? Any input is greatly appreciated.

I don't think they area going to improve the hardware spec wise (ie, gorilla glass, better screen .etc) to keep the costs low. So IMHO one the start/select buttons and maybe the L/R buttons.

One amusing thing is that the whole OS is touch based, makes me thing that maybe they have a sliding model akin to the PSPGo down the pipeline.

[StuBurns]

Probably, but since it's close to Retina display, further increase in resolution without increasing screen size is not going to help much. Your eyes can't tell the difference anyway.

It's really not close at all. The S3 screen isn't as sharp as the iPhone 4's, and it completely blows the Vita screen away. It's the same size, and notably higher resolution.

[The_Darkest_Red]

Those are popular titles; good luck finding them in store at this point.

Yeah I checked on that awhile ago to make sure it was even an option --- they're all still in stock. I just don't know if I should bite now or wait until the games are cheaper.

[spannicus]

I'd really love to see epic do something for the Vita

[SniperHunter]

I completely agree with this. This is exactly how I felt with UC: Golden Abyss. I got really frustrated at UC3.

You should play the Syphon Filter games by Sony Bend. They were both incredible, two of the best handheld games I have ever played. People say their Resistance PSP game was good too but I don't like that franchise so I never checked it out.

I am guessing both Syphon Filter Dark Mirror and Logan's Shadow are better than Golden Abyss since it was rushed to launch.

[Canis lupus]

I'd really love to see epic do something for the Vita

Fortnite.

[CorrisD]

Playing Dissidia 012 on the Vita, quite enjoying the cheesyness of it.
The only thing that is slightly annoying is being able to see the screen pixels, or at least that is what it looks like, this kinda of grainy blocky texture.

Now if only they could get Crisis Core on the store too I would be a happy man.

[Ein Bear]

The VR missions in MGS2 are such a great fit for the Vita, I'm addicted. I barely ever touched them on the console versions, but I'm determined to get them all this time. 10 hours and 33% in so far...