Hands-On with PlayStation Vita
One of the last things I got before leaving Sucker Punch was a PlayStation Vita 3G. They had a nice employee purchase price, so I decided to bite. I ended up getting a PlayStation Vita 3G, Vita Starter Kit which came with a 4 GB memory card, and Uncharted: Golden Abyss.
Upon opening the Vita, the first thing you notice is how light it is. Even with the size, which much bigger than a typical cell phone it is similar in weight. I’d almost say it is lighter than a iPhone 4S, but that could just be my mind playing tricks on me. The packaging is clear, fold out instructions, power cable, USB cable, some AR cards, and large manual. Clean and simple.
The build is quite solid. Feels solid. Analog sticks feel right, the buttons layout works. The back panel touch works well. My only issue is the guards for the memory and cart slots is really small and I couldn’t open it with my thumbnail. I ended up using a pin that was at my desk, but my index finger worked. Just really small/snug.
Turning on the Vita you see how large and pretty the screen is. It is gorgeous. I mean really clear. Setup is pretty basic. I did find it annoying when I put in my PSN SEN account, it would connect and force me to take a firmware update, but then prompt me to enter a guest account. Why do I need to add a guest account? By pressing next, it just skipped it I guess. Just confusing. The bubble interface is quick, but a little strange. Very functional and easy to use, but if you press home twice you are presented with pages. Seem redundant, but it works.
First up was Uncharted: Golden Abyss. When you put the cart in it takes a couple of minutes to get it setup and then you can launch it. First up, the game is pretty. Very similar to its PlayStation 3 brother. The characters are well done, the environment hold up quite well, and animation looks identical to its big brother. The controls take a little bit to get used too, but I put more blame on not playing a handheld system in ages. The gameplay gestures take a little to get used too, luckily I didn’t find anything that you couldn’t just use the normal buttons for. I’m only about an hour into the game, and it is a strong fun game. Still falls into my issue with the PSP though, which is I want to play this on my TV, not on the bus on my couch with my huge TV laughing at me.
I had to wait a day for it to unlock, but today I picked up Escape Plan, which is made by my pals over at Fun Bits. This is a motion puzzle game, where you push the characters through each environment puzzle using both the front and back touch sensors. First thing you notice is the game is black & white, which gives it a very distinct look. It is great looking. It is clean, the characters look great, the world is charming, and animation is top-notch. One thing to note is the game was built using Unity, which is gaining support from developers around the world. I started the game up and it is the perfect type of game for a handheld. You plan each room and are rated by how many touches you use to complete it as well as time spent. It is very similar to Cut the Rope and Angry Birds. The gameplay is pretty basic where you tap the character to move. Tap an object to get it out-of-the-way. You only use the analog sticks to move the camera. I worked my way through the first couple levels and it is pretty fun game. Perfect for a handheld.
Well those are my first impressions of the PlayStation Vita and the two games I had access too. It is a pretty neat device. One thing that would make it amazing is more applications, like Skype, Google Voice, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and others. Sony could have a trojan horse on their hand if they can provide a device on 3G network without needing a cell phone plan. I’d gladly pay the $20 a month for the AT&T data plan and get text messages and phone calls via Google Voice. Who knows if they will make application development open enough to allow such apps.
More later. Back to playing.
