PS Vita

[Badnik Mechanic]

And how does one figure that?

[Tornado]

Because being angry about the DRM platform the system is saddled with (particularly in comparison to its predecessor) and refusing to buy it on that basis means... paranoid?

Edited August 17, 2012 by Gilda

[Silencer226]

You know, I would happily buy a Vita at it's current cost if I didn't have to jump through a million DRM-related hoops just to use the fucking thing. Lowering the cost... isn't going to change my opinion on that.

Edited August 17, 2012 by Noel Vermillion

[Dobkeratops]

I'm not going to spend that kind of money on a handheld that I have to change the way my laptop is organized so the iTunes ripoff software can work properly with it.

False.

I haven't changed shit. It draws from the windows music/video/image folders by default and you can customize the root folder if you have them somewhere else.

I'm not going to spend that kind of money on a handheld and have it only allow me to copy specific files to the expensive proprietary memory card I had to buy separately.

True.

The specific files here being the ones it can run.

I'm not going to spend that kind of money on a handheld where I have to install a program on my computer for basic file management (hope no one with a Vita uses Linux!).

Every device you've ever connected to your computer has installed something for basic file management. Even USBs have to get their drivers.

If this bothers you that much, here's an equally silly solution: just copy them files from your PS3. Problem solved.

I'm not going to spend that kind of money on a handheld where I have to be connected to the internet when I use it to backup game saves.

False.

I can backup everything to PC or PS3 offline.

I'm not going to spend that kind of money on a handheld where I can't perform file management because I connected to the internet and it just told me that I need to upgrade my system firmware or I won't be allowed to perform file management on it.

False.

You can postpone the upgrade and work normally, unless you're trying to run new software that's been specifically coded for that. If this bothers you, enjoy not ever being able to use a console ever because it's standard practice.

And perhaps most importantly, I'm not going to spend that kind of money on a handheld when it requires me to install forced DRM that constantly phones home

False.

If you don't want one it's fine, there's no need to make uninformed dumb excuses. You have to install a content manager/driver to copy files. SO MUCH DRM HOLY FUCK

[Tornado]

False.

I haven't changed shit. It draws from the windows music/video/image folders by default and you can customize the root folder if you have them somewhere else.

I've seen how it sets it up. If you have all of your stuff in one place, cool beans. If you don't, then you have to reconfigure it each time. So, no, not false.

True.

The specific files here being the ones it can run.

Which means I can't use it as a USB storage device if I need to. Which was kind of my point. Shocker.

Every device you've ever connected to your computer has installed something for basic file management.

Yeah. Generally it's called "Windows Explorer," though.

False.

I can backup everything to PC or PS3 offline.

So they've changed things since the software launched then? Because that's what I was going on.

False.

You can postpone the upgrade and work normally, unless you're trying to run new software that's been specifically coded for that.

Again, so they've changed the software since launch then?

If this bothers you, enjoy not ever being able to use a console ever because it's standard practice.

My response to this depends on the answer to your previous two.

False.

If you don't want one it's fine, there's no need to make uninformed dumb excuses. You have to install a content manager/driver to copy files. SO MUCH DRM HOLY FUCK

Again, need the answer from above.

Nice to know that you know enough about how I use my PSP (and, from your first response, my computing habits) to call my reasons for being against the Vita's connectivity system "uninformed dumb excuses" though.

Edited August 17, 2012 by Gilda

[Dobkeratops]

Sounds like you want an USB drive, not a portable. Transfering music and stuff is an added bonus, not the main focus of the device - and again the hassle is pretty damn minimal.

They haven't changed anything since launch because that's when I got one. How the fuck could you even copy the update file from your PC if it demanded an update to copy? Common sense. Just like on PS3, you'll get a notice to upgrade firmware which you can do whenever you want unless you intend to use software that's been coded for the update in question (ie: a new release or PSN). And joy of joys, you can do it too from a PS3, directly from the Vita or through the very game that asks for it. No need to deal with that terrible content manager. This is present on every platform in the market, btw.

Your Vita excuses are uninformed because you don't have any idea how it works, whereas I've had empirical experience with the system and can indeed confirm they're mostly wrong, as could anyone else with a Vita here.

Oh, and it's not "windows explorer". It's "USB driver", which may be proprietary or pulled from a generic list Windows OS has built in that gets loaded when you first insert a device before the system recognizes it.

[Marcello]

Going back to the cost, I think the biggest problem are the memory cards. The prices need to be lowered more than anything.

[Tailer]

They also need to make 64 GB ones, I have almost run out of space... So much for "Vita haz no games hurr durr"

[LunarEdge]

Going back to the cost, I think the biggest problem are the memory cards. The prices need to be lowered more than anything.

they should have honestly made the memory sticks the psp used the standard. At least this way I could use my memory stick to 2micro SD's adapter for more, cheaper memory space XD. I know they have to recover their losses for the system production somehow.. but come on... more people would buy it if everything you needed for it didn't cost an arm and a leg

[Nintendoga]

Only 2.2 million PS Vita's sold worldwide

Translation:

Sony acknowledged mistakes in marketing the PlayStation Vita as said by Sony PlayStation Germany Chief Uwe Bassendowski at gamescom.

The most important mistake was to lose sight of the younger audience, a mistake they want to make right again. According to Bassendowski they want to change the direction of PS Vita marketing to focus on a younger audience and they want to improve their presence in corresponding media.

Furthermore Bassendowski confirmed that 2.2 million device have been sold worldwide. Specific numbers for Germany were not given.

Those sales are abysmal. I knew they were low, but damn. There's no way as of now that they're going to reach that 12 million units sold expectation by March. Relying on CoD to sell your system seemed like an okay idea before, but now it's going to take alot more then that.

Also I'm not too sure with Sony's plan of focusing on a younger audience. On one hand it could work, but it's going to be incredibly difficult trying to gain a young audience when most of them are either satisfied with their PSPs, or have a 3DS, or ios device. And if they do try something, I hope they don't alienate the rest of us either.

[Silencer226]

Sony needs to get some 3rd party support for this thing, that CoD game looked like trash in my opinion. Granted I do like Gravity Rush and having a portable Disgaea 3 and BlazBlue is nice (despite me hating the d-pad), but there are no standout titles or must haves for this system yet.

I see the Vita ship sinking fast, maybe they should just let the thing get hacked and let homebrew save the day *shot for stupid idea* I mean sure it opens the door to piracy but it also opens the door to new consumers sort of... maybe not the ones they want though

Actually, did they even advertise Gravity Rush, out of all the titles that's what I wanted more than anything. Also it seems most of the games I preordered like Ragnarok Odyssey are getting pushed back.

Edited August 19, 2012 by Noel Vermillion

[Marcello]

Have you tried Soundshapes? I played it at Gamescom yesterday and thought it was really fun.

[Conando]

The thing about Soundshapes is that you can also play it on PS3. That's the thing, most of the good games on Vita are already available on the PS3. Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Gravity Rush are the only ones I can think of, that are worth having, that aren't on PS3.

[Sega DogTagz]

Those sales are abysmal. I knew they were low, but damn. There's no way as of now that they're going to reach that 12 million units sold expectation by March. Relying on CoD to sell your system seemed like an okay idea before, but now it's going to take alot more then that.

[Silencer226]

No one in their right mind would buy a Vita atm. They announced a couple of bundles so far out ahead of themselves that anyone who was even remotely interested in the handheld would hold off until October to see if they could save $$$ with a free memory card and/or game.

[Sega DogTagz]

*cough* Pardon me for being insane and buying it when it launched. To be honest that CoD bundle and the game itself look terrible, I don't have any faith in that pushing as many units as Sony believe it will. But as said, Uncharted and Gravity Rush are currently the Vita's only standouts or games of interest, the rest are ports with a few content updates. I want it to succeed, I didn't invest this large chunk of change on this thing for nothing, hoping Assassins Creed III will be a good game for the Vita.

[Carbo]

I caved in and got the Vita because of Gravity Rush alone and the fact that Sound Shapes and another number of swell titles just looked "kinda cool" to have. But frankly I'll be honest to say that this is the first time I've ever really regretted getting a console. The game was okay at best once you got over the shock that "Vita has a good game", kind of like how I always felt Secret Rings' (and also I guess Unleashed's) impact was overestimated because we had such a slew of terrible games prior to it. The iffy combat and float-ish controls undermined the fact that gravity shifting was the only actual "thing" behind the game, but there's really not much to do in it.

Sound Shapes is also not that amazing. I dunno why it was ever hyped up as a must-get Vita title when it's criminally simplistic in everything it does and when it also exists on PS3.

Tearaway also really didn't convince me. It looks like a decent platformer but nothing else, which I guess is to be expected from Media Molecule when LittleBigPlanet's actual platforming was incredibly generic and the level building was the only good thing about it. The gimmick looks fun but this is the kind of tech stuff I expect to have in a game at launch, and not as a killer app.

At this rate I feel the only real reason I'm going to keep a Vita is to play old PSP games, PS1 classics and a version Persona 4 on the go. As a console there's no reason for me not to enjoy it because it has the best grip, control, feel and capabilities in a portable machine I've experienced, and it could be the best portable if it actually tried to be so. But it's not really doing that.

[Scar]

I caved in and got the Vita because of Gravity Rush alone and the fact that Sound Shapes and another number of swell titles just looked "kinda cool" to have. But frankly I'll be honest to say that this is the first time I've ever really regretted getting a console. The game was okay at best once you got over the shock that "Vita has a good game", kind of like how I always felt Secret Rings' (and also I guess Unleashed's) impact was overestimated because we had such a slew of terrible games prior to it. The iffy combat and float-ish controls undermined the fact that gravity shifting was the only actual "thing" behind the game, but there's really not much to do in it.

Sound Shapes is also not that amazing. I dunno why it was ever hyped up as a must-get Vita title when it's criminally simplistic in everything it does and when it also exists on PS3.

Tearaway also really didn't convince me. It looks like a decent platformer but nothing else, which I guess is to be expected from Media Molecule when LittleBigPlanet's actual platforming was incredibly generic and the level building was the only good thing about it. The gimmick looks fun but this is the kind of tech stuff I expect to have in a game at launch, and not as a killer app.

At this rate I feel the only real reason I'm going to keep a Vita is to play old PSP games, PS1 classics and a version Persona 4 on the go. As a console there's no reason for me not to enjoy it because it has the best grip, control, feel and capabilities in a portable machine I've experienced, and it could be the best portable if it actually tried to be so. But it's not really doing that.

I fear it may take a while before things really get moving, I really hope it does, because as you say, its probably the best handheld console in terms of hardware and possibilities.

[Kuzu]

Wow, this thing is kind of tanking isn't it? Why is it that Sony can never do handhelds properly, this shit happened with the PSP and it was barely able to survive, and even then it didn't have shit on the DS.

[Scar]

Wow, this thing is kind of tanking isn't it? Why is it that Sony can never do handhelds properly, this shit happened with the PSP and it was barely able to survive, and even then it didn't have shit on the DS.

If by barely able to survive you mean chomping out 30% of what used to be effectively a Nintendo monopoly then yes.

But in general terms the PSP was incredibly successful and Sony would be pleased to return sales figures anywhere near that of the PSP's 71 Million.

There is in fact nothing wrong with the way Sony have created and built the PSVita, they've just not done enough with marketing and they just don't have the games needed to shift units.

The Vita is an oddball. Its a very desirable piece of kit, but its had a really slow first 8-9 months, much slower than the 3DS (which had a surge after the price drop and the release of Nintendo classics (in some cases quite literally). Sony unlike Nintendo doesn't have the 25 year old franchises to fall back on. At the moment they have Uncharted and Resistance which can only go so far given that its popularity and brand value is nowhere near that of say Mario Kart, the rest of them (Gravity Rush and Sound Shapes to name the most popular) are good games, but the former isn't really that well established and the latter is very, very simple (and is being canniballised by the PS3).

Sony need a big one that catches the attention of the consumer. CoD and AC: Liberations again can only go so far. It will shift units, but not nearly enough. Price is one thing which would help, making the Memory Cards cheaper (a LOT cheaper) and generally just stop locking the platform down so much.

Edited August 20, 2012 by Scar

[The Kid]

Honestly, the Vita seems to be having the same problem as the PSP. They're having trouble getting third party support for their system, it's horribly expensive when there isn't much available (the big titles announced are all available on PS3, a full console that's the same price as a handheld), and you can't even play PS1 games like you can with the PSP (yet...). On top of that, despite seeing that their ship is slowly sinking, Sony refuses to lower the price.

It just seems like they aren't even trying anymore.

[Badnik Mechanic]

So this just got announced, some kind of MMO app for the Vita based on Dust 514

[Nintendoga]

It’s a companion app to the PS3 game,” explained Payne. “It brings all the customisation, community and commerce features onto the Vita. There’s no direct gameplay but you can use pretty much all the features that the Neocom user interface offers in the main game.

So you need the PS3 game to pretty much play it.

Damn it

[Scar]

Honestly, the Vita seems to be having the same problem as the PSP. They're having trouble getting third party support for their system, it's horribly expensive when there isn't much available (the big titles announced are all available on PS3, a full console that's the same price as a handheld), and you can't even play PS1 games like you can with the PSP (yet...). On top of that, despite seeing that their ship is slowly sinking, Sony refuses to lower the price.

How? They were making a loss on each one at launch and they're planning to lower the price next year when the cost of their SoC drops when the Cortex A15 starts hitting the market en-masse. Unlike Nintendo, Sony isn't building a handheld with cheap internal components which allow for fairly large profit margins and ample space for price-drops, the Vita's hardware is on the bleeding edge and they can't just lower the price at random.

[Conando]

And that hasn't worked out for them this entire generation. I seriously think they need to rethink their strategy because, their systems are not PCs.