The Playstation Vita Catch-All

Blind_Evil wrote:
Bottle wrote:
Dyni wrote:

I can't speak to the validity of this statement, but regarding attach rates from the comments in the Gamasutra article: "On average, each Vita owner is buying 1.66 games, whereas the 3DS, that number was 0.95."

Wow, .95?!

I mean, I knew the 3DS got a lot of flack for not having enough strong launch titles, but I didn't think the average would have been less than 1 game per console. I guess enough people thought the AR cards alone were enough to keep them occupied.

It was actually people planning to resell for a tidy profit. Disappointment abounded.

Good point. Anticipating the rush on Nintendo consoles like with the Wii or DS.

I don't remember the DS being half so hot as the Wii. The Wii was still hard to find without trying in late 2008, two years after launch. Then again, I wasn't in a position to buy my own stuff when it came out so I may have just missed the phenomenon.

I bought the Ghost Recon game for 3DS today, not knowing I would have a Vita a few days later. It was £5 new, in a bargain bin. That brings my total to 4 3DS games, which is my lowest total 4 months into ownership for any system that I have ever bought for myself.

My Attach rate is 4 I guess... I bought Uncharted and downloaded Escape plan, Super stardust, Mutant blobs and Rayman. I'll consider Little big planet and gravity rush when they come out.

I'm finding room in my life for this thing, it fits ok in my pants pockets and I can whip it out during down time at home to play a quick level. We'll see in the long term if it has legs for me, or whether I'll gravitate back to the PC/console.

I never had a PSP, so I'm pretty unfamiliar with the library. There are probably a few I'll eventually get to downloading, but for the majority I'm pretty meh on the offerings available in the store. It doesnt help that its a pretty terrible store to find out anything about the game. But I hope the Vita can broaden the offerings. I'm just not that into japanese RPGs, of which there seems to be an abundance. I would love to see Bastion offered (on the pile of shame), or Borderlands (would buy in a heartbeat). I wonder how feasible converting something like those games would be from a programming and financial perspective.

Porting any game is feasible from a programming perspective if you've got enough money. No clue on the financial perspective.

wait for it....

PS Store update. No new games, but a couple demos. Except for novelties sake, skip Reality Fighters as I've heard nothing good about it in the games press.

The only touch modification I really like for Uncharted is the touch climbing. It's great that it's %100 optional and it is actually pretty convenient when you are in a relatively long section of climbing and you can swipe your finger to do all of it.

Aiming is nice, but I find myself trying not to use it often because enemies tend to move around a lot and if I need to follow them I get messed up as I start moving the Vita around a bit. Although it is quite good for sniper rifles.

Super Stardust Delta isn't what I expected. I expected it to be like an expansion pack for Super Stardust HD. Instead you get a game that is essentially built from the ground up. Delta has a number of changes to the scoring mechanics as well as a number of new weapons. The bosses in Delta can be drastically harder compared to HD. When you beat HD you would start over from the beginning with harder enemies, fewer pickups, and your score and multiplier would come with you. So far in Delta once you beat the game that's it. I hope that there is a mode that is the same for Delta, otherwise the leader boards will end up being nearly the same score.

Escape Plan is pretty awesome. I really like the aesthetics and think that the devs have a good handle on touch gaming. However I'd love to see these devs make a game that takes advantage of all the control inputs.

I am a filthy skimmer.

Has anyone tried playing PSP games online with their Vita? When I pick mine up in the next week or so, my first order of business is to play some PSP games I missed out on. Before I encourage others to buy one, I need to know if I can play some Phantasy Star Portable 2 with some friends in the same room.

SuperDave wrote:

I am a filthy skimmer.

Has anyone tried playing PSP games online with their Vita? When I pick mine up in the next week or so, my first order of business is to play some PSP games I missed out on. Before I encourage others to buy one, I need to know if I can play some Phantasy Star Portable 2 with some friends in the same room.

Phantasy Star portable 2 isn't compatible yet

I caved as well... My resolve wasn't great to begin with, watching the reviews of the hardware itself and some of the games. But then I listened to this week's podcast AND I saw a Vita in action; tried the Wipeout 2048 demo in a store aaand I was sold... I got a nice 25 euro coupon upon purchase of the Vita itself (wifi version) and a game (I chose Wipeout 2048). Got a 8Gb memory card for the coupon, so I'm all set... Logged into the PSN store with my US account and downloaded the 2 PSP games tied to my account: Persona 3 Portable and Patapon 2. I also have Little Big Planet and some other game I got for free with the welcome back program, but it won't allow me to download those titles for some reason... Doesn't matter, I'm very happy with Wipeout 2048 and P3P. I will get Lumines as well, but I have to add some cash to my account first.

Oh, added my name to the PSN google doc! Would love to play some Wipeout and try to beat your Lumines scores (and fail...)

Keep playing Lumines. I'm trying to carve out my part of the world in Katamari.

estorino wrote:

I caved as well... My resolve wasn't great to begin with, watching the reviews of the hardware itself and some of the games. But then I listened to this week's podcast AND I saw a Vita in action; tried the Wipeout 2048 demo in a store aaand I was sold...

Hopefully this is what will happen to most people who buy the Vita. They hear about it, try it and BAM. sold.

It really is a wonderful machine and I was expecting it to sell out. I was surprised it demand was met on launch day but that's me. A lot of people think that iDevices suffice but I think when you put your hands on Uncharted, you just get it and the Vita finds its purpose in this new intelligent phones filled landscape.

[snip]
* oh, wait you said played online - woops - never mind. Carry on. Nothing to see here.

stevenmack wrote:
SuperDave wrote:

I am a filthy skimmer.

Has anyone tried playing PSP games online with their Vita? When I pick mine up in the next week or so, my first order of business is to play some PSP games I missed out on. Before I encourage others to buy one, I need to know if I can play some Phantasy Star Portable 2 with some friends in the same room.

I downloaded Persona (the first one) and it works great. Can't speak for how it performed on the PSP but it zips along nicely with negligible load times on the Vita.
* oh, wait you said played online - woops - never mind.

Yeah, I'm looking to get my multiplayer action-rpg fix on. I'm even looking at Monster Hunter Freedom Unite with curious eyes even though my experience with the original Monster Hunter was moot due to playing it alone.

Someone posted a few pages back that playing MHFU online is an ordeal to set up, and might even require a PS3. I'd look around for a guide to setting that up on Vita first, before you go buying the game.

SixteenBlue wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

I'm sure it would be larger if the games weren't pricier, memory didn't cost so much and the system launched at a lower price.

This is what has stopped me from purchasing a Vita. I can probably swing a $250 console at the moment but the memory + games ends up being way too much of an up front investment for me at the moment. Once the prices for all of these things gets lower (which will definitely happen) I think the Vita might take off more than expected.

If you're willing to buy your games retail, you can probably get by with whatever memory card will likely come with the system. Many retailers started offering a 4GB card with the purchase of the Wifi version, and the 3G version comes with a 8GB card for now.

Oh boy, I just sat down to try Lumines: Electronic Symphony and was sucked in inmediately. Just like the first one on PSP did. Never did like the second one, but looking at the names on the soundtrack list for this one, I can't wait to unlock all the songs. I sat down to try it at 5:30 PM thinking "I'll give this a shot and then I'll start making dinner.". Yeah, well, now it's 8PM, so there you go. Pasta water is on the stove right now, so I did manage to be a responsible adult in the end.

I'll invite some of you guys on PSN later tonight, perhaps we could expand the Google Doc telling which games we are playing?

You mean we aren't all playing Lumines, Stardust, and Hot Shots Golf?

I suppose not. My attach rate includes only Uncharted ans Shinibido 2 thus far.

I used content Manager to backup my 8GB Memory Card and restored it to the 32GB memory card.. it was surprisingly fast and completely painless. All I had to do was re-sign in once. All my downloaded content seemed fine as I launched a game no problem. Sony got this process down thankfully.. and they even have a Mac version of the software.

Hard cases. What's the skinny? I loved the Logitech hard case for the original PSP. Anyone using anything similar? I see Madcatz has something, but that company scares me.

Slumberland wrote:

Hard cases. What's the skinny? I loved the Logitech hard case for the original PSP. Anyone using anything similar? I see Madcatz has something, but that company scares me.

I just grabbed a softcase for travel.

I got the "official" Sony $19.99 soft case for travel.. its a bit bulky but not too bad.. its all Target had and I needed something quick to throw in my backpack for travel.

I am using my old PSP case; it's a little snug but it seems fine.

TheGameguru wrote:

I used content Manager to backup my 8GB Memory Card and restored it to the 32GB memory card.. it was surprisingly fast and completely painless. All I had to do was re-sign in once. All my downloaded content seemed fine as I launched a game no problem. Sony got this process down thankfully.. and they even have a Mac version of the software.

Thanks for reporting back with your experience, GameGuru. It's good to know that that works.

Added myself to the doc and made an extra sheet for finding co-op / multiplayer people to play with / against.

Sony's First Edition case has served its purpose well enough. It does have a separate flap that was designed too long. I almost always have to move the thing myself if I want to access the other side of the case.

I've purchased 5 games for the system: Mutant Blobs Attack!, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, Ys: The Oath of Felghana, Crush, and Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! I'm really disappointed the music app can't run during PSP emulation, I'd love to listen to podcasts while playing, as I've been doing with MBA!.

Ooohhh, music while playing? Didn't know that was an option.

cyrax wrote:

Sony's First Edition case has served its purpose well enough. It does have a separate flap that was designed too long. I almost always have to move the thing myself if I want to access the other side of the case.

I've purchased 5 games for the system: Mutant Blobs Attack!, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, Ys: The Oath of Felghana, Crush, and Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! I'm really disappointed the music app can't run during PSP emulation, I'd love to listen to podcasts while playing, as I've been doing with MBA!.

How much are old PSP games on the PSN store? The PSN website doesn't list prices.