I played the Vita again today. I had some hands-on time with Golden Abyss, Little Deviants, Wipeout, and Gravity Rush (I played FIFA yesterday). First, some problems I have with the Vita:
- Not a big fan of the analog sticks. While they are a step up from the nub, I surprisingly feel more comfortable using slider pads.
- system is really big, which is awesome for gameplay but not so much for Portability
- holding the system without touching the rear pad is still cumbersome and uncomfortable
- Had some trouble with the touch screen menus. Uncharted's option menu requires LARGE swipes to get from each selection to the other. No large touch buttons or D-pad support is stupid. I know that is more of a software problem, but it stood out to me.
- Load times are pretty horrible. Wipeout took over a minute to load up a level. I felt like I was downloading the darn race to the system. Also getting into games is longer then I would like for a portable system.
Now the awesomeness:
- love the simplicity of the menus. It felt very welcoming.
- screen is amazing :0 makes my eyes want more from my 3DS's screens
- system is super light, lighter then my 3DS
- rear touch pad is an amazing innovation for handheld systems. FIFA and Little deviants make great use of it already.
- launch line-up is amazing, lots of good games. But Gravity Rush is the killer App. The game is simply brilliant.
- Gravity rush makes amazing use of the gyro camera. Nice to see one of my favorite features of the 3DS being used so well already.
- if Gamestop prices are correct, they have a variety of great price ranges that really fit each game nicely. $50 for Uncharted, $40 for Gravity Rush, $30 for Little Deviants.
Basically the system is pretty darn impressive. It has it's problems, but they are well outweighed by the awesomeness. I was buying at launch but my GF wants to pick it up for my birthday in April, which is fricken amazing. I'll be day one on Gravity Rush and Uncharted for sure! Can't fricken wait!