By Carl Laron on February 16, 2012 in
Though it's been available elsewhere for a couple of months now, this week the Sony PlayStation Vita portable gaming system finally drops into the hands of eager game players in the U.S. Those who could not wait had a chance to pick up a special $349.99 First Edition Bundle (which includes the game hardware, a 4 GB memory card, the game Little Deviants and a special carrying case) at selected GameStop stores as well as the flagship Sony store in Manhattan at midnight on Feb. 15 (that bundle is also available for mail order from Sony's site). Everyone else can pick up the handheld video game system starting on Feb. 22, either as part of the $299.99 PlayStation Vita Launch Bundle (which includes the game system, an 8 GB memory card, one month of 3G connectivity and a PlayStation Network game) or as a stand-alone, Wi-Fi-only hand-held console for $249.99. Reviews thus far have been mostly -- but not completely -- positive. That said, many experts openly wonder if it matters. Given the growth of mobile devices that provide great gaming experiences -- and a whole lot more -- does a dedicated portable gaming system make any sense anymore?
Smartphones killed the portable gaming system star
With apologies to The Buggles, lots of experts think that's exactly what's going on. As The New York Times notes, the PlayStation Vita is facing "a digital landscape of mobile phones that do nearly everything, like taking photos, playing music and, of course, allowing for video game applications like Angry Birds." The article cites research from eMarketer that predicts that 42.5 percent of the population of this country will be playing games with their mobile phones by 2015. The open question, of course, is how many of those will find the need or desire to also have a portable video-game-only device?
Add to that the relative value of the gaming experience. For sure, many serious gamers are not going to be that impressed with mobile-phone gaming. For everyone else, the value proposition could make platforms like the Vita a hard sell going forward. One issue is the price of the games: $9.99 to $49.99 for the Vita, as opposed to most mobile-phone games, which sell for much less or are even free, according to The Times. That leads analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities to wonder, "Would you rather have a 10-hour immersive experience for 40 bucks, as opposed to 400 10-minute experiences for free?"
Obviously aware of the competition it faces, Sony has crammed a lot of extra functionality into the Vita, but many say that those extra features fall short. Gizmodo provides the most unflinching commentary, saying, "everything non-essential about the Vita feels so very non-essential," with Sam Biddle criticizing the browser as being "slow," the music store as being "clumsy," and the Maps apps as being "incomplete."
Biddle also has few kind words for the Vita's operating system. "Sony's newest UI isn't awful, but when it's spread over the marvelous graphics and gorgeous screen, it's so relatively bad as to be onerous," he writes. Joshua Topolsky, writing in the Washington Post, notes that the Vita OS "kind of looks and feels like a smartphone's -- though it's more childish and far less cohesive." Others, however, have a far different take. For example, CNET writes: "The Vita's operating system is smartly designed, easy to use, and ultraresponsive." Some, such as Taylor Martin at Phonedog.com, say that once its shortfalls are improved, porting the Vita operating system to mobile devices might be what Sony needs to do to make its tablets and smartphones more relevant, and there are indications that such a move is at least in the back of Sony's mind.
Okay, but what's it like as a gaming system?
Many of the major reviewers have now had a whack at the Vita and have reported in. When game play --- and only game play -- is considered, the majority opinion is that the Vita is a game enthusiast's dream come true.
ArsTechnica.com is among those to note the cornucopia of control possibilities. Those include twin analog controls for "hardcore gamers," something ArsTechnica calls a first for a portable system. All gamers will enjoy the 5-inch high-res OLED touch screen display, which comes in for praise even among the Vita's harshest critics, and which CNET says is as responsive as the one on the Apple iPad. There's also a touch panel on the rear of the console, which allows for some unique game-play possibilities; for example, in the Little Deviants game included in the First Edition bundle, pressing on the rear panel can change the contours of the playing surface.
With a 5-inch screen, it's no surprise that the Vita is on the big side (measuring 7 inches by 3 inches), yet reviewer after reviewer can't help but comment that it isn't too much of a load to use or to carry. "Despite its size the device is actually surprisingly light, thanks to a reinforced plastic chassis that's difficult to bend or flex," says Alex Wawro at PCWorld.com. He adds that it is comfortable to hold for extended game play, and at just under 10 ounces, it's not too heavy to tote around on a daily basis -- though the protruding analog controls make shoving the Vita into a pocket a bad idea.
Even critics have nothing but raves for the PlayStation Vita's game play, with Joshua Topolsky saying, "As it stands, the Vita is the best handheld gaming console I've ever used," though he also says that game play "is not mind-blowingly better than really killer smartphone gaming experiences."
Others have no such reservations. Time Magazine's Matt Peckham says that even in a tablet/smartphone world, the Vita is worth its cost if you "want to play serious, console-style games (with console-style controls) on the go." CNET's Jeff Bakalar says that "The Vita is easily the most impressive portable gaming device that I've ever handled." Unlike many just-launched gaming consoles, the Vita is blessed with a line-up of available games that CNET and others call impressive for a new system.
Other than questioning the need for a dedicated portable gaming system, experts do have a couple of oft-repeated gripes. One is battery life, which is relatively short -- only four hours when using Wi-Fi in the tests at DigitalTrends.com. The other is Sony's ongoing love affair with proprietary media. Though they look the same as standard SD memory cards, only a Sony flash media card will work in the system, and one is required to play just about any game. The rub is the cost, which experts such as Time's Peckham say is tough to justify ($20 for 4 GB in a world where standard cards of the same capacity can be found for $5 or less, for example). A card is included in the bundles avaliable at launch, but you'll need to budget extra for one if you opt for the stand-alone version.