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[patsu]

I doubt there is free 3G.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Was it ever confirmed if that free 3G rumor was true?

There is a 0% chance of that happening. They've already announced a partnership with AT&T. You're going to have to pay a monthly fee (the price has yet to be announced though)

I wouldn't be surprised if they do some sort of package deal with PSN + and AT&T 3G though. Maybe they'll even include the 3G costs in their entirety with PSN + and raise the price.

 

[walking fiend]

looks like windows media center, which isn't bad actually. but... there are lots of features!

 

[gofreak]

Wonder if we'll see any cloud gaming apps on this eventually. Was just reading that Gamestop is trialing a service that will stream PS3 and 360 games, as well as PC games - would be kind of interesting to have access to a service like that on a device like Vita.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Wonder if we'll see any cloud gaming apps on this eventually. Was just reading that Gamestop is trialing a service that will stream PS3 and 360 games, as well as PC games - would be kind of interesting to have access to a service like that on a device like Vita.

Well, you've already got remote play support between Vita and PS3. That's probably the closest that you'll get.

You'll never get PC game streaming though. Sony would want you to buy games on their platforms only.

 

[Jinfash]

Hmm... Some interesting suff in the index screen. Singstar and God of war 2?

Also, anyone else getting the feeling that the Bubbles is for open/sleeping applications rather than all your games and stuff.

Im hoping so, seems like it would be a cluttered mess if that is how you're meant to navigate the bubbles for your list of games and whatnot.

seems like theres 2 levels of OS

Index(XMB?)
|
V
Live Area(Multitasking)
|
V
Application/Game

This is pure speculation on my part, but here's what I think it'll be.

When you first start the Vita you access the bubble screen. The status bar indicates what processes you have open. At this point you only have the home screen, and vertical pages of bubbles.

If you click on any of the bubbles, you'll be taken to that game or application. If you choose to exit, you press the PS button, and get taken to the "suspend" pages of said app or game. (you see that in action in the video)

This is the settings app suspended...

Party...

PS Store...

Uncharted...

Etc.

Each of these suspended pages generate an icon on the status bar, as you can see in the above images. You flick between them left and right (with the leftmost being the bubble screen), touch the small window to resume. So it's kinda like Palm's cards.

Now when too many applications are opened, flicking between the suspended pages will become tiresome, so for easier navigation, you click the PS button to access the "Index" page.

Here are all the applications, as tabs (or bookmarks), in one page for easy access. This is a mock-up, but it still serves the explanation since you have 8 bubbles in the status bar and 8 tabs/bookmarks.

So while using the OS, the PS button will help you jump between the Live and Index modes. And according to the video, "holding the PS button for 10 seconds or so will take you straight to the suspended/loaded game."

So maybe now this slide will make more sense to most:

 

[gofreak]

Well, you've already got remote play support between Vita and PS3. That's probably the closest that you'll get.

True, but that's limited to games that explicitly support remote play.

Gamestop's service works differently, for whatever PS3 games it'll support. It'd be a bit weird to be able to play some PS3 games via their service on a tablet - say - but not on Vita. I get that Sony wants you to buy and play games on their boxes, but it makes one wonder how Gamestop is offering this service elsewhere, if Sony/MS are OK with it etc.

 

[Jinfash]

It looks very fully featured and quite intuitive (if a bit cluttered)

It's gotta be taking up a large chunk of that RAM though (Wouldn't be surprised if it was a full 128MB, especially since it can apparantly run apps in the background)



http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-18-sony-why-ps-vita-has-512mb-of-ram

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if all the "RAM cut" rumors referred to what developers had to work with, ie: they lost 256MBs because it was reserved by the OS

 

[plainr_]

Index mode should be the entire front end for LiveArea.

 

[sTeLioSco]

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if all the "RAM cut" rumors referred to what developers had to work with, ie: they lost 256MBs because it was reserved by the OS

LOL

anyway i think its great,i like gadgets as well as games this is going to be awesome.....

My only question:

Is it skinable???

they sell and give as bonus for preordering etc 100s themes for ps3 so its probable...

 

[Jinfash]

My only question:

Is it skinable???

That's a very important question, it's been asked many times, and I think the Vita will desperately need it. Nobody knows obviously, but I don't think Sony will pass up the opportunity of charging users for premium themes just like they did with PS3 & PSP.

 

[CozMick]

Looks like shit!

Bring back the XMB!

It's going the way of the 360 dashboard, utterly cluttered and confusing, more menus than are actually needed...urgh.

 

[Shikoro]

Here are higher res screens of Fb and 4sq
http://www.destructoid.com/elephant/photo-m.phtml?photo_key=194035&post_key=209287

http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...-like-on-vita/vita_Facebook_Login-noscale.jpg
http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...k-like-on-vita/vita_foursquare_me-noscale.jpg
http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...ke-on-vita/vita_foursquare_places-noscale.jpg
http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...-on-vita/Ps Vita_Facebook_Friends-noscale.jpg
http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...ike-on-vita/PS Vita_Facebook_News-noscale.jpg
http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...ike-on-vita/PS Vita_Facebook_Wall-noscale.jpg

 

[OneMoreQuestion]

Looks like shit!

Bring back the XMB!

It's going the way of the 360 dashboard, utterly cluttered and confusing, more menus than are actually needed...urgh.

Throw in some ads and I'm OUT of the Vita party...

 

[Jinfash]

Throw in some ads and I'm OUT of the Vita party...

The only ads we know of so far are ones the pubs/devs decide to push in their own LiveArea pages in order to promote new DLCs, etc.

 

[Takao]

Yoshida's always on Twitter, and Forsquare so I imagine he's quite happy with this, haha.

 

[Yoshiya]

I understand not liking touch for games, but for the OS? For what is essentially a portable OLED slab I struggle to see how cycling through endless options with a dpad is preferable to touch.

 

[Jinfash]

I actually like the "idea" behind this design. It's looks feature rich, touch friendly, and focused on multitasking and seamless integration of features.

But they gotta think of some way to tone down the clutter and distractions. Having a consistent color scheme/wallpaper would be an easy and good start.

 

[patsu]

Wonder if we'll see any cloud gaming apps on this eventually. Was just reading that Gamestop is trialing a service that will stream PS3 and 360 games, as well as PC games - would be kind of interesting to have access to a service like that on a device like Vita.

In its fullest form, I was hoping both Vita and PS3 can have:

Activity-driven navigation
================
* Events (Official and user organized) and items a la PS Home, in Near locations, and/or a PlayView calendar of events
* Spectating like in OnLive's arena of games
* Party system with text and voice chat (done rather well in Vita already). Parties can be formed from friends list, clubs, or ad hoc invitation

User driven navigation
===============
* User profile showing interests, integrated with playstation.com
* Friends list : Closed access-list with Google+ like grouping mechanisms (Good for privacy control).
* Clubhouse : Open membership/group like the XMB chatroom (Anyone in the chatroom can invite their friends over, so on and so forth. Good for infinite number of like-minded gamers like neogaf, Playstation FaceBook fans, RFOM gamers). Since anyone with a clubhouse link on their HDD can enter the room, there is no need to maintain a fixed access list on the PSN server (It'd be token based).
* Location: Users near me (in Near), like the globe in Life with Playstation

Content-driven navigation
=================
* Search via one search engine that index into NetFlix, Hulu+, Vudu, PSN Stores, my own collection, etc.
* Catalog/directory based
- music - songs can lead to SingStar, DanceStar, SoundShapes and other music related games. Like a LiveArea for artists and songs
- movies - similar to above
- ebooks - similar to above
- games - similar to above
* Newsletter based -- integrated with PS blog and video magazines to highlight contents

 

[Ledsen]

Holy shit that looks fucking horrible -_-

 

[yencid]

by the way the vita also has a comic reader (i noticed from the original reveal trailer, will look for it)

 

[GodfatherX]

Vita is a day one purchase but fuck that interface gets uglier everytime I look at if, swear it reminds me of the track selection screen from when you would put a music cd in a PS1

 

[Jinfash]

Does this confirm a system wide screencap feature? Because it should.

 

[gofreak]

Here are higher res screens of Fb and 4sq
http://www.destructoid.com/elephant/photo-m.phtml?photo_key=194035&post_key=209287

http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...-like-on-vita/vita_Facebook_Login-noscale.jpg
http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...k-like-on-vita/vita_foursquare_me-noscale.jpg
http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...ke-on-vita/vita_foursquare_places-noscale.jpg
http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...-on-vita/Ps Vita_Facebook_Friends-noscale.jpg
http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...ike-on-vita/PS Vita_Facebook_News-noscale.jpg
http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/209...ike-on-vita/PS Vita_Facebook_Wall-noscale.jpg

Nice one. I'll edit this into the OP.

 

[gofreak]

Does this confirm a system wide screencap feature? Because it should.

Doesn't confirm it to my eye. Looks like the camera icon is to attach a picture to a message. WHERE the picture comes from? That's the question really. Some games could offer screenshot functionality, others might not. Or maybe it's universal. But this doesn't confirm it, I don't think - merely that you can attach pictures to messages.

 

[yencid]

just realized:

playing different games, all using mics. cross game chat?

 

[Jinfash]

Doesn't confirm it to my eye. Looks like the camera icon is to attach a picture to a message. WHERE the picture comes from? That's the question really. Some games could offer screenshot functionality, others might not. Or maybe it's universal. But this doesn't confirm it, I don't think - merely that you can attach pictures to messages.

No I was referring to "I just played an awesome level, here's a picture of it" and attached image. The camera icon could work like the iPhone: by clicking the icon you could either pick a photo from your library to attach/upload or take a new one on the spot from either cameras.

 

[gofreak]

No I was referring to "I just played an awesome level, here's a picture of it" and attached image. The camera icon could work like the iPhone: by clicking the icon you could either pick a photo from your library to attach/upload or take a new one from either cameras.

Yeah, I imagine that's what the icon does. Hope that screenshot functionality is universal, but not holding my breath.

 

[Auto_aim1]

just realized:

playing different games, all using mics. cross game chat?

Yes, cross-game chat. Mic is in-built in the Vita, so that's a given.

 

[Raonak]

Does this confirm a system wide screencap feature? Because it should.

All that confirms is that on LBP you can take pictures... which you could already do in LBP1 and 2.

 

[Jinfash]

Two other observations:

This looks like a page of an existing party, it features 6 users, all with mics on, and scroll bar indicating that there are more? I thought any given party is limited to only 4 members? Unless these screens are mock ups too.

This a profile page, the amount information displayed in this screen are reasonable, but again, a scroll bar indicating that there are at least two other pages of information. I can' think of anything to add other than a thing or two.

 

[KAL2006]

I've explain the slide before but I will explain it again

When you turn the Vita on you start on Live mode and the home page

You can then select the applications on the home page when you select a application in the homepage, it opens another page and creates a small icon at the top. The more applications you open from the home page the more pages are created. You can flick through the pages (left and right) to multitask through the applications. The imagine below shows 7 pages open in Live mode.

To enter game mode you simply select the game application in the home page, lets say you want to open Unchartedt game you select the game icon on the home page, this would then open Uncharted's LiveArea page.

On the LiveArea page you can see news updates on the game, leaderboards, LiveArea chat feed, DLC and etc. To go into game mode and start the game you simply select start.

Once the game is running you can easily go back to Live mode by pressing PS button. When you go back to Live mode the game gets suspended and goes to the Uncharted LiveArea page. Of course you are not restricted to the LiveArea page when a game is suspended, you can still flick through other pages in Live mode like the home page. To go back in to game mode you can select the game again on LiveArea.To go to Index mode you press PS button when you are in Live mode (I have no idea what index mode is).

 

[Jinfash]

http://i.imgur.com/EZLaq.png[IMG]

I've explain the slide before but I will explain it again

When you turn the Vita on you start on Live mode and the home page
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/fspMh.png[IMG]

You can then select the applications on the home page when you select a application in the homepage, it opens another page and creates a small icon at the top. The more applications you open from the home page the more pages are created. You can flick through the pages (left and right) to multitask through the applications. The imagine below shows 7 pages open in Live mode.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/R0oNP.jpg[IMG]

To enter game mode you simply select the game application in the home page, lets say you want to open Unchartedt game you select the game icon on the home page, this would then open Uncharted's LiveArea page.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/SasQJ.jpg[IMG]

On the LiveArea page you can see news updates on the game, leaderboards, LiveArea chat feed, DLC and etc. To go into game mode and start the game you simply select start.

Once the game is running you can easily go back to Live mode by pressing PS button. When you go back to Live mode the game gets suspended and goes to the Uncharted LiveArea page. Of course you are not restricted to the LiveArea page when a game is suspended, you can still flick through other pages in Live mode like the home page. To go back in to game mode you can either press PS button or select the game again on LiveArea. If a game is not in suspended mode and you press PS button, that takes you to index Mode (which I still have no idea what it is).[/QUOTE]

Did you... did you just repeat everything I previously said? even used my screens [img]http://i.imgur.com/KuGsj.gif

All that confirms is that on LBP you can take pictures... which you could already do in LBP1 and 2.

Ah yes, totally forgot about that. A universal feature would be useful either way, I don't think they're struggling with resources this time around.

 

[seb]

All that confirms is that on LBP you can take pictures... which you could already do in LBP1 and 2.

That part about "album of screenshots" kind of looks like all games have the screenshot functionality:

 

[Murkas]

I'm liking it more but I hope you can customise it, I don't really care about the music/photos part so I'm hoping there is an option so you can hide them. From what I can see the music section is on it's own screen so I guess I'll just not swipe to that direction, I can live with that.

Also the index mode screenshot has Monster Hunter. More info please!

 

[KAL2006]

Did you... did you just repeat everything I previously said? even used my screens

My bad didn't read your post
Just gave it quick look and stole your images

 

[To Far Away Times]

Some parts like the media player and the PlayStation store look good, but other parts like the bubble menu look like they belong on some cheap Chinese knock off.

 

[Übermatik]

Am I the only one that thinks this looks cluttered and over the top? Everything seems cramped and garish. Not what I was expecting at all.

 

[mandiller]

It does look pretty cluttered, but it also looks like it has a ton of functionality. Being able to share things and message friends easily to set up games etc is very next gen (being serious). So with that in mind, sign me up!

 

[Sylver]

All those members not a PLUS members and with a VITA, Sony is cheating us.

 

[Michan]

I personally find this to be the ugliest UI ever produced by Sony. It's terribly inconsistent in terms of shapes and colours, though clearly far more functional as a touch interface than the XMB.

Can't they make it functional and aesthetically pleasing?

 

[KAL2006]

I love the functionality, and how everything is organised. It is nice you can open multiple applications and flick through them with a swipe. If you don't want to flick through various applications and want to go straight to one, you simply press PS button and select the application through index mode. It's nice game invites and are intergrated everywhere. Party function is cool, also other socail aspects like group messaging and LiveArea chat feed (basically a facebook wall per game). Also it is nice you can suspend a game and are instantly back on the LiveArea page. From there you can check messages, ineract with others, sort out game invites, look at trophies and leaderboards, hell I think you get full access to the OS when a game is suspended, so you can flick through other pages includinmg the home page while a game is suspended.

 

[Dr.Palutena]

Hopefully we get skins cause I still don't like the bubbles or the inconsitent background colors for the features. However I love the feature set and the aesthetics of the apps themselves.

 

[Slime]

the track selection screen from when you would put a music cd in a PS1

Ugh, don't remind me. That shit was like the 90's vomited on my TV.

 

[gogogow]

Is it possible to create a second screen and put the bubbles there? So that you only put like 2 or 3 bubbles on the home screen and enjoy your wallpaper, like with all the Android devices out there? Because as it is, there's no way a wallpaper would work, it's really cluttered.

 

[gofreak]

Functionally it does all sound great, but I just hope it's all fast. Specifically hopping from game to app back to game etc. It is/was my big hope for next-gen handheld gaming, and it's perhaps more important in that context than elsewhere.

 

[Übermatik]

I personally find this to be the ugliest UI ever produced by Sony. It's terribly inconsistent in terms of shapes and colours, though clearly far more functional as a touch interface than the XMB.

Can't they make it functional and aesthetically pleasing?

My thoughts exactly. Sony's past GUI's have been stylish, sleek and consistent. It's like the guy that created it this time around was on meth or something.

 

[Jinfash]

Another thing I don't get about the design, which I think is contributing to the offensive clutter, is this giant blue glowing, glass orb in the corner!

It's been there since the original announcement of NGP...

Up until the most recent Gamescom preview, albeit with a tweaked location...

It doesn't correspond to time, date, or page number. Something tells me that this is the Vita's notification(s) counter, leading to the notification center or spotpass-ish menu. I don't mind the "idea," just get rid of the ugly orb. Brings me back to the first PS tutorial I saw a decade ago.

 

[Betta Lines]

Wow. It's like they've gone out of their way to make the UI as inconsistent as possible. Some nice ideas in there, but what a mess!

 

[LiquidSolid]

I personally find this to be the ugliest UI ever produced by Sony. It's terribly inconsistent in terms of shapes and colours, though clearly far more functional as a touch interface than the XMB.

Can't they make it functional and aesthetically pleasing?

Hahaha, someone never had a first gen PS1.