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[CoffeeJanitor]

Nintendo, take note.

 

[gofreak]

Something tiny like that is possible. For me that's still practically nothing, though. I'd want at least 16GB.

Me too. And Sony might be thinking 'well, for most people, putting 2 or 4GB in the box is not very meaningful as they'd want more anyway, so let's not put any in'. But like I say, I think it would be nice to have a little bit to go on, for a while, to avoid extra expense on day one.

 

[Hex]

What does that mean?

It means that games are on custom flash carts.

 

[Rollo Lawson]

sorry im just not seeing a reason to buy this now

 

[Songbird]

A: No. Users cannot use commercially available Bluetooth keyboard / mouse or a PS3 wireless controller on the PS Vita.

Q: Can you access the Internet by connecting PS Vita to a Bluetooth supported cell phone?
A: No.

Thanks AT&T.

 

[falastini]

Q: PS Vita supports 3G network connectivity, does this mean PS Vita will be sold through cell-phone providers?
A: Partnering with AT&T, which powers the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network, who will serve as the exclusive service provider for PS Vita in the United States. By having both Wi-Fi and 3G/Wi-Fi models available, PS Vita will enable infinite possibilities for you to "encounter," "connect," "discover," "share" and "play" with your friends wherever they are.

wtf... did they just ask themselves a question, and not answer it?

The question is whether or not they will sell the Vita through cell-phone providers. The answer is a bunch of marketing speak that has nothing to do with the said question.

 

[Dead Prince]

the FAQ is a bit premature. doesn't answer much really.

 

[Dunk#7]

Why would they not include bluetooth support for DS3 controllers or other bluetooth devices?

Bluetooth chips take up very little room.



Also why not include an output with multiple pins so that you could add video output into a later firmware if necessary?

 

[Zee-Row]

This seems to suggest the Vita is shipped sans any sort of internal memory for saves and downloading games, not so sure that is a very good idea

They can still save to the cart.

 

[Grimmy]

Don't understand why some people are surprised by the details from the FAQ. People expected internal memory when the darn thing sells for just $250??? Or video out when it basically means the Vita could compete with the PS3 as a console? Or swappable battery after the Pandora fiasco?

then I'll never get it.

Too bad for you then.

 

[boingball]

Q: I have UMD games but do I need to buy them again from PlayStation Store to play the same game on PS Vita?
A: We will consider every possibility for support on bought UMD games but we have nothing to comment at this point in time.

Flasback to the PSPGo announcement...

 

[Zee-Row]

Even without the Video Out this thing packs a lot of value for its price.

 

[Kiriku]

Q: What game format will the PS Vita use?
A: PS Vita will utilize the new game medium.

not even new game+? disappointing if true

 

[gofreak]

Why would they not include bluetooth support for DS3 controllers or other bluetooth devices?

Bluetooth chips take up very little room.

Bluetooth is supported. They presumably don't want to support DS3s because DS3 can't fully support Vita controls...so it's simpler to not have people trying to use DS3s to play Vita games.

Also why not include an output with multiple pins so that you could add video output into a later firmware if necessary?

Some have speculated the multi-out port on the bottom could do this, and sony's just not enabling the functionality. But that's rather speculative - that port may not be rigged up internally to allow video out. Shuhei Yoshida said video-out would cost more and didn't make the cut. It would be nice if it was technically possible with a future update, but Sony doesn't want video out on this thing anyway, for now.

 

[Ikkarus]

Translation: Black or black. Also, black.

Don't forget Piano Black.

 

[DarkPanda]

Q: Will Youtube, Flash content and files like PDF be viewable on PS Vita?
A: We are evaluating the opportunity to offer non-gaming applications/content and will announce details at a later time.

Does this mean no web browser then, or just a flash-less one?

 

[Dunk#7]

I wonder if you will be able to buy the 3G version without a contract just so you have the potential if you want it in the future. I would buy one if I was not forced to buy the service up front.

I hope AT&T starts allowing you to share your data plan between multiple devices. I better not have to spend $25 for my iPhone 3G AND $25 for my Vita 3G

 

[angelfly]

Does this mean no web browser then, or just a flash-less one?

It includes a browser

 

[gofreak]

Does this mean no web browser then, or just a flash-less one?

It has a browser. It'll probably have flash, since PSP's and PS3's did. I read that answer simply as 'we'll talk about that stuff later'. Yoshida said the same thing, they want to focus on games for now and will talk about other functionality closer to launch (but that it would have a web browser and video playback and photo viewing and all that).

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Could it be that hard to emulate PS2 on a handheld? Because I just don't understand it otherwise. Sony are sitting on an absolute goldmine with the PS2 library, but they appear to be doing absolutely nothing with it.

PS2 is hard to emulate, period. You don't even see the PS3 doing it with the CELL so there's no chance this portable is going to pull it off. Fast PCs with good specs can do it, but the tweaking involved and compatibility problems mean this is not something trivial to do.

 

[NateDrake]

The big question the remains now is battery life. With the 3G model and if you have 3G always on, you have to expect 3DS range battery life maybe. Still a ways to go before hearing about that.

 

[Leon S. Kennedy]

I hope they sell a 32 gb card for around $50 so I can put all the PSN stuff on one card. I just want to get one card and never have to remove it. 64 gb would be better. I wonder if they will make one. Probably be $100 for a 64gb card though.

 

[djtiesto]

Damn, that sucks there's no video-out. Video-out on PSP kinda sucks (only halfscreen), but I am one of those people who prefer to play games on big-screen TVs (yet most of the games I like... come out on handheld, figures )

 

[Negaiido]

there's a good reason why a 4GB xbox 360 is significantly cheaper than a 250GB 360, or a 16gig iPhone 4 vs a 32gig iPhone (100 dollar difference).

LOL Did you know that Hard drives MS and Apple use are really cheap but just because its closed source they can put any price they want

 

[Dunk#7]

Bluetooth is supported. They presumably don't want to support DS3s because DS3 can't fully support Vita controls...so it's simpler to not have people trying to use DS3s to play Vita games.




Some have speculated the multi-out port on the bottom could do this, and sony's just not enabling the functionality. But that's rather speculative - that port may not be rigged up internally to allow video out. Shuhei Yoshida said video-out would cost more and didn't make the cut. It would be nice if it was technically possible with a future update, but Sony doesn't want video out on this thing anyway, for now.

I am perfectly fine with them not supporting things like this out of the box due to possible competition with the PS3, but I hope they include the potential so that as the PS3 ages they could upgrade the firmware and enable DS3 and video out support.

DS3 would still be perfectly fine for some games like PSOne classics, PSP games, PSN games, etc

 

[Hex]

I wonder if you will be able to buy the 3G version without a contract just so you have the potential if you want it in the future. I would buy one if I was not forced to buy the service up front.

I hope AT&T starts allowing you to share your data plan between multiple devices. I better not have to spend $25 for my iPhone 3G AND $25 for my Vita 3G

You can preorder the 3G version from Amazon with no contract or any ties.

 

[Fox the Sly]

Q: What are the specs of the OLED screen?
A: 5 inches (16:9), 960x544 pixels, Approx. 16,770,000 colors displayed

Q: What colors will be available at launch?
A: This will be announced at a later time.

Am I the only one who initially read that as a joke question? Then I realized the question was for the handheld itself, not the screen. >.>

 

[Tobor]

Flasback to the PSPGo announcement...

I don't know why they bother. Just tell people the truth. "Keep your old PSP if you want to play UMD's."

Isn't that what they did when they dropped PS2 support on the PS3?

 

[larvi]

Based on the PSPGo I had assumed the Vita would be PSN DL only as well. I'm definitely more interested now that I know it also supports buying games on "new game medium" flash memory cards as well. That should mean you will be able to pick up games on the cheap eventually similar to UMD games now.

 

[Anony]

PLEASE PLEASE use MS pro duo and not M2

 

[metsallica]

You can't swap battery on 3DS either?

You absolutely, 100% can. Replacement batteries are $15 direct from Nintendo.

 

[Nafai1123]

What does that mean?

Proprietary flash card. Pretty cool that another storage device won't be required for saves or dlc.

 

[/XX/]

This has been known for quite some time.
It is a whole new format, SD will not work.

But I think we can't rule out the possibility. Obviously, they want to sell their own brand card formats, but the "storage media slot" could be compatible with different non-Sony-proprietary ones, like Secure Digital, similar to the card slots used by some models of the Sony 'α' (or alpha) series of Digital SLR cameras.

 

[krae_man]

Q: Will you bring all UMD games to the new game medium or on the PlayStation Store for PS Vita?

A: SCE with the support of third party developers and publishers have been offering select UMD titles on PlayStation Store and will continue our effort to deliver these content in the form of game medium for PS Vita going forward. However, we will need to clear all copyright / legal related issues and due to this not all software titles will become available on PS Vita. We will announce details for each title when ready.

Hey Sony, How about making it more cost effective for developers/publishers to do this. The reason some games aren't on there is you make the devs/pubs resubmit the games to certification and incur all related fees again if the slightest thing is changed in the ROM(EG changing/removing a logo).

 

[yurinka]

Q: Does PS Vita have internal memory?
A: PS Vita is equipped with the storage media slot so that users can choose what memory capacity they want to utilize depending on their use.

So that's a no? Damn, I really wanted to go all digital on this thing instead of juggling around a bunch of cards.

In this case, buy a single huge card.

 

[Aru]

I don't worry too much about replacing the battery. My PSP will turn 6 years old on september and the battery still last about as long as if it was new. Or at least 80% of that, but seriously I can't tell the difference.

Good FAQ by the way !

 

[NateDrake]

In this case, buy a single huge card.

That would work fine but we don't know the format type Sony is using. If they make their own type thing and it's expensive like the PSP cards were at first, then this situation will suck. Don't want to spend $100 on a 32GB card when a 32GB SD card costs hardly anything these days.

 

[Shai-Tan]

I'm guessing the internal storage carts will be ridiculously overpriced

 

[Minsc]

Q: Will users be able to access PlayStation Store from both 3G and Wi-Fi?
A: PlayStation Store will be able to be accessed from both 3G and Wi-Fi.

Wow, with the Xperia Play here in Canada the Playstation suite store is disabled via 3G. Unless the deal with AT&T allows for PSN purchases to not count against you cap, Sony is going to have lots of pissed off people getting massive data overage charges for downloading Vita games over 3G.

The way the rates are here in Canada, the data cost for downloading the Uncharted game would probably cost more then the game itself.

It does say access, not download. They could still potentially keep you from downloading 30GBs worth of games over 3G with either a $300 bill the following month, or a hardlimit (3G users can access the PSN store to buy all games, but only initiate downloads on games / DLC under 100MB or something).

I'm guessing the internal storage carts will be ridiculously overpriced

Wonder what sizes we'll see, 32GB SDHC is $50, 64GB is around $120, do you think it'd be that much worse? Double? 32GB for $100 and 64GB for $250?

 

[Hex]

But I think we can't rule out the possibility. Obviously, they want to sell their own brand card formats, but the "storage media slot" could be compatible with different non-Sony-proprietary ones, like Secure Digital, similar to the card slots used by some models of the Sony 'α' (or alpha) series of Digital SLR cameras.

An adapter may become available, much like the SD to Duo adapter

 

[Stephen Colbert]

Q: Can you use PS Vita as a phone?
A: No.

Aww, why not!? Atleast via Google marketplace and the Skype app or the Google Voice app, it should be doable.

I give it 18 months before they shrink the Vita down using a 22nm process, and start selling it as the Xperia Play 2 as well.

Imagine getting a Vita Xperia Play 2 for $99 by signing a two year contract, and using that as your all in one device, cellphone, internet browser, media player and gaming handheld.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

I actually had no issues with the PSP battery life. I mean, I never had to halt gameplay because my battery died.

Isn't there some silliness where it won't do firmware updates unless you have a certain amount of battery life? So if you were on a plane and opened a new UMD that required an update you couldn't play the game at all... only because your battery was under a certain limit.

I could be wrong but remember some folks complaining about this issue.

 

[kaching]

I realize they've packed a lot into the Vita as is and video-out was probably one of the things they decided they needed to save to make a hardware refresh appealing a year or two down the road, but it's probably one of the few things they could have left out that will likely leave me on the sidelines for the time being. I really wish they'd more strongly embrace the idea of bridging the gap between the set-top and handheld console realms with the Vita.

 

[Stumpokapow]

It does say access, not download. They could still potentially keep you from downloading 30GBs worth of games over 3G with either a $300 bill the following month, or a hardlimit (3G users can access the PSN store to buy all games, but only initiate downloads on games / DLC under 100MB or something).

Apple prohibits downloads in excess of 20MB over 3G (although they allow Netflix streaming over 3G), so I could easily see Sony adopting a similar policy.

 

[Plinko]

64gig Sandisk says hello
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003FVG3PC/?tag=neogaf0e-20
I don't think it proprietary just the game cards are.

No, it's proprietary memory. That has been confirmed both previously and at E3.

The real price of this system is going to be about $299 because of memory.

 

[outunderthestars]

Aww, why not!? Atleast via Google marketplace and the Skype app or the Google Voice app, it should be doable.

I give it 18 months before they shrink the Vita down using a 22nm process, and start selling it as the Xperia Play 2 as well.

Imagine getting a Vita Xperia Play 2 for $99 by signing a two year contract, and using that as your all in one device, cellphone, internet browser, media player and gaming handheld.

The Vita doesn't run android and therefore doesn't have access to the Android Market. Also, why should they spend time making it into a half assed phone in the first place? Don't you already have a phone?

 

[ROBOKITTYZILLA]

Q: PS Vita doesn't support UMD but do you have any plan to introduce peripherals like "UMD readers" for PS Vita?
A: We do not have plans to introduce such peripherals at this point in time.

Bummer. Hopefully they come up with a decent trade in or redemption plan but I doubt it. The lack of video out is also disappointing. Everything else sounds good though.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Wonder what sizes we'll see, 32GB SDHC is $50, 64GB is around $120, do you think it'd be that much worse? Double? 32GB for $100 and 64GB for $250?

I'd say 32GB for $100 is a great guess, especially if the card has some form of copy-protection/encryption process integrated.

I think this could get very messy, especially with saved game data.

 

[test_account]

You can probably take the battery out if it dies and replace it. I'm guessing they just mean it's not a "slide out cover, pop in new battery thing" and more of a "get a screwdriver and take apart your system" thing like the DS/3DS.

I think so too. It is the same with the PS3 controller as well. Officially you cant change the battery, but if you open it, then you can change it. I dont think that the battery in PS Vita is soldered to the motherboard at least.

 

[mr_nothin]

Q: Does PS Vita have internal memory?
A: PS Vita is equipped with the storage media slot so that users can choose what memory capacity they want to utilize depending on their use.

So that's a no? Damn, I really wanted to go all digital on this thing instead of juggling around a bunch of cards.

Get 1 big card and deal with it.