PSVita

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » March 20, 2013, 8:30 am

96 hours on Persona 4 Golden for a single playthrough.

Got the True Ending however. Really enjoyed my time with it. I was considering doing a NG+ play through but even skipping / FF story bits, that's still apparently another 40 hours or so. I may come back and try to platinum this later on. Not sure I have the patience to try and get every single Persona however.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » August 20, 2013, 12:34 am

Online retailer Amazon is matching price drops offered by Target and Best Buy on the PlayStation Vita, listing the lower end wi-fi model for $199.99, a $50 discount off the portable's normal price.

However, Amazon is not matching the more substantial price drop on the PS Vita 3G/wi-fi model, which Target and Best Buy are knocking up to $100 off on. That version of the handheld is going for about $260 on Amazon.

Vita for $200! However there are also rumors of a PS4/Vita bundle on the way for $500. If so that wont be a bad deal.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » August 20, 2013, 1:23 am

Keep going lower Sony.

I'd pay $100 bucks for one, mainly because I have several cross play titles.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » August 20, 2013, 9:18 pm

I'm pretty sure I've played more on my Vita this year than all the other systems I own combined. PS+ with that thing is just a treasure trove.

If you missed my post on the Finished Game List, Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is a gem of a game/Interactive Novel.

Niffoni · Post by **Niffoni** » August 20, 2013, 10:05 pm

Unexpectedly, PS+ and all of the backwards compatible stuff on the PSN has turned this thing from a nice-looking dud into the most played device in my household.

If anyone's interested, just hold off a little and see how much they drop the price of those memory sticks. Physical media games on this thing are nearly pointless with all the free/cheap downloadable stuff, and because of that, I would say that a 16GB card is pretty much a minimum requirement. IF there's a substantial drop in the price of the 16 and 32 GB cards, I'll finally be able to say "Yeah dude, go for it" when anyone asks if they should get one.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » August 20, 2013, 10:29 pm

Unfortunately the memory card price cut wasn't as deep as I was hoping:

Polygon wrote:Sony also said that it would be introducing price cuts for Vita memory cards, with the 4GB version down from $19.99 to $14.99 and the top-end 32GB card down from $99 to $79

I was thinking like $50 for a 32GB. $79 is retail so maybe places will have them even cheaper at least when they have sales.

PS+ is a good deal! Especially with it carrying over to the PS4. I'm set until early 2016 so I wont be short on games to play. Their competition, who shan't be named here, needs to step it up.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » August 21, 2013, 11:38 am

The new prices are really good. Good because now a sale price on the existing lower price will bring it in line with something I might be interested in down the road. I would like to see more on how the PS4 will work with the Vita. Sony has been pretty silent on that front.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » August 21, 2013, 12:04 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote:The new prices are really good. Good because now a sale price on the existing lower price will bring it in line with something I might be interested in down the road. I would like to see more on how the PS4 will work with the Vita. Sony has been pretty silent on that front.

Not that silent. They demonstrated the remote play with AC4 yesterday. And pretty much every game will support that at although I guess it's only 'required' for first party titles but hopefully everyone else will support it as well. Switching between the two seemed pretty seamless.

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » August 21, 2013, 12:07 pm

Now I have to read about what PS+ is

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » August 21, 2013, 12:21 pm

Chidoro wrote:Now I have to read about what PS+ is

PlayStation Plus. It's $50 a year and for the PS4 will be basically the equivalent of Xbox Live Gold since you'll need it to play online multiplayer games. What makes it ten times better than XBLG is that you get free games each month that you can play forever... or until your subscription runs out. In addition you get better sale prices on downloadable stuff.

I was rather critical about it when it came out but I've since come around and it's an expense that doesn't really bother me as I think it more than pays for itself over a year. However it does offer more value if you have both a PS3 and a Vita since some of the free games during the month could be Vita games or PSP games. Having said that if I only had a PS3 I'd still (and did) find it worthwhile.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » August 21, 2013, 12:37 pm

PS+ features are:
Free Games
Mulitplayer Gaming on PS4
Cloud Storage for game saves
Automatic Patching of games you have played at least once (I got burned by this as I had downloaded and installed Sleeping Dogs from PS+ but never launched it. First time I kicked it up I have a 1GB update to apply.)
Automatic Downloading of firmware updates (I believe)

Am I missing anything?

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » August 21, 2013, 12:44 pm

Animalor wrote:PS+ features are:
Free Games
Mulitplayer Gaming on PS4
Cloud Storage for game saves
Automatic Patching of games you have played at least once (I got burned by this as I had downloaded and installed Sleeping Dogs from PS+ but never launched it. First time I kicked it up I have a 1GB update to apply.)
Automatic Downloading of firmware updates (I believe)

Am I missing anything?

Oh yeah there are other benefits than what I mentioned. That sounds fairly complete other than things like 1 hour game trials and early beta access on some things. http://us.playstation.com/psn/playstation-plus/ has more info including what games you currently get.

The only real benefit XBLG has over PS+ is that it's frequently on sale and can be had for $35 rather than the $60 list. Sony sometimes runs 'Buy 12 months get 3 extra months free' but those are fairly infrequent from what I've seen. But that $15 difference is easily made up by all the free stuff and deals you get with PS+

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » August 21, 2013, 11:15 pm

PS+ members will get firmware downloaded but it won't actually run the update without your permission, which is usually the annoying/long part. I wouldn't want my devices auto updating firmware at night without my permission though. the PS3's most annoying thing is the frequency of Sony's firmware updates and how inconvenient they are, especially when they are updating firmware to patch really trivial things like text chat.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » October 3, 2013, 3:04 pm

32GB vita memory cards for $45 (for reward members.. but that's free) at Best Buy. Store pickup only though so good luck with that. None in stock anywhere near me.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 3, 2013, 3:38 pm

I can't imagine not having that 32GB stick in my Vita. It really makes that thing shine.

Also, if you like nice, bright screens, you may want to pick up one of the original VITA's now before the new slimmer versions comes out. Apparently the new LED screen is nowhere near as vibrant, colorful or sharp as the original OLED screen the VITA shipped with.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » October 3, 2013, 3:58 pm

Yeah 32GB is nice. I have one. But I was thinking of picking up another as $45 isn't bad. Too late now!

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » November 1, 2013, 3:53 pm

Best Buy and Amazon have the WiFi version for $20 off. $179. Stock up in time for the PS4 launch!

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » November 1, 2013, 6:54 pm

$149 or bust!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » November 1, 2013, 7:08 pm

Just make sure you're within three feet of your PS4 if you plan to take advantage of that super cool remote play that doesn't seem to work "remotely".

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » November 1, 2013, 7:24 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote:$149 or bust!

$30.. You know you want to. Will get more value out of your PS+ subscription!

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » November 1, 2013, 9:24 pm

Sine Mora is this week's ps+ freebie on VITA. Pretty great sidescrolling shmup.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » November 1, 2013, 9:32 pm

Also now is a good time to buy if you're going to want the OLED screen as it will be/is being replaced by an LCD (LED? Something!) panel. OLED and $20 off what more do you want?

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » November 3, 2013, 9:07 pm

I haven't seen the new Vita LCD screen so I can't do a direct comparison but the original OLED display on it is fucking gorgeous..

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » November 5, 2013, 3:02 pm

Anyone else kinda disappointed Sony didn't take advantage of v3.0 to revamp the UI on the Vita to make it look/act more like the PS4?

I like the Vita but the UI on that thing is an absolute mess.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » November 5, 2013, 3:09 pm

Bubbles are key! At least it's not quite as bad as it was once they added sub-bubbles so you could arrange things a bit better.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » November 5, 2013, 4:03 pm

The bubble grouping has been a godsend. I've grouped games by On-Card, Owned PSN and everything else in PS+. PSN utilities I use are on the 2nd, PSN crap I don't are on the 2nd screen.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 5, 2013, 10:47 am

Newegg, as usual, was excellent and delivered my Vita a day early yesterday. My 32GB card from Gamestop doesn't arrive until Friday so I can't do much right now.

My Vita has Firmware 1.61 which is 15 versions old. (original firmware 1.60). I wonder if these Vita's have been sitting around in some storage bin since launch or something. The battery had 20% on it so wasn't completely dead. I haven't checked for a manufactured date.

Right now, I only plan to pick up Persona 4 and then try out whatever PS+ games come along and mainly use it for PS4 remote stuff.

OLED screen looks great. Touching the actual glass is a little strange. It doesn't feel as smooth as other touch screens I've used. Anyone else notice that?

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » December 5, 2013, 1:01 pm

I'm not sure that surface is glass. I thought it was some kind of plastic.

Try our Gravity Rush. It's a great PS+ game.

I'm really interesting in picking up Y's: Memories of Celceta and am still waiting for Atlus to make Dragon's Crown a Cross Buy title.

If Sine Mora and Rayman Origins are still on PS+, add that to your cart ASAP.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 5, 2013, 1:14 pm

Animalor wrote:I'm not sure that surface is glass. I thought it was some kind of plastic.

Try our Gravity Rush. It's a great PS+ game.

I'm really interesting in picking up Y's: Memories of Celceta and am still waiting for Atlus to make Dragon's Crown a Cross Buy title.

If Sine Mora and Rayman Origins are still on PS+, add that to your cart ASAP.

If I can update the firmware without a memory card I will try and get those later today. I logged onto the internet Playstation Store but Vita games don't show up. I assume I need to register my Vita before I can see them. To do that, I need to update my firmware.

Thanks for the game suggestion : )

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » December 5, 2013, 1:43 pm

Animalor wrote:If Sine Mora and Rayman Origins are still on PS+, add that to your cart ASAP.

They aren't.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » December 5, 2013, 2:07 pm

Aslanna wrote:
Animalor wrote:If Sine Mora and Rayman Origins are still on PS+, add that to your cart ASAP.
They aren't.

That's a shame.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 13, 2013, 4:13 pm

Animalor wrote:
Aslanna wrote:
Animalor wrote:If Sine Mora and Rayman Origins are still on PS+, add that to your cart ASAP.
They aren't.
That's a shame.

These are the games I was able to download for free from PN+

Uncharted
Soul Sacrifice
Wipeout 2048
Gravity Rush
Oddworld Strangers Wratch HD
Hotline Miami

I downloaded them to my 32GB memory thingy but haven't tried them out yet.

I bought Persona 4 and have played that quite a bit. The extensive voiced dialogue and music/background effects make this game a win. The only issue I have is that it's too easy on my setting and you can't change difficulty levels on the fly. I don't want to go through 7-8 hours of story so am kind of stuck with it being too easy.

Aslanna, if you recall we cancelled the 16GB memory cards and went with 32GB. The 16 GB card showed up anyway this week. I was pissed but I've checked all of my credit cars, paypal, etc and don't see a charge for it. It's useless to me but at least I don't have to hassle returning it.

As for the Vita, it's a nice portable. I could see it being useful if you ride public transportation to/from work or something. It appears to work well as a remote for the PS4 as well although not having the triggers might cause some issues even if you can sub the back touch thing for them.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » December 13, 2013, 5:53 pm

I actually ordered my 16GB from Gamestop. After 3 days they finally replied to my cancel email and said "Sorry. We can't cancel your order because we already shipped it." Lame. At least I can just bring it back to a retail location for a refund instead of sending it back. Basically on my way home from work but still a hassle.

The main issue with the Vita, other than the overpriced memory cards of course, is probably the battery life. It's not that robust. And there aren't replacements for it like the PSP had so you're basically stuck with it.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » December 14, 2013, 11:27 am

Try the Tearaway demo. It's Little Big Planet level cute but with an actual game behind it. Makes really clever use of the Vita's touch surfaces.

Looking forward to it being on PS+.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » December 15, 2013, 4:18 am

Animalor wrote:Try the Tearaway demo. It's Little Big Planet level cute but with an actual game behind it. Makes really clever use of the Vita's touch surfaces.

Looking forward to it being on PS+.

I doubt it will be there anytime soon. However Gamestop has it for $20. I'd pick it up if it was free shipping but I'm too cheap to pay $3.50. And that price doesn't seem available if you choose pick up at store. Hopefully Amazon will pricematch.

Edit: Amazon pricematched it so I ordered it.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » December 15, 2013, 1:35 pm

I try to be Digital Only on the Vita. I don't bring it on the road with me often but when I do I don't want to be bringing tiny. easily losable cartridges with me as well.

Sure I lose out on re-sale but on portable games, that's always been kinda negligable anyways.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 15, 2013, 1:56 pm

A nice feature for the Vita would be remote play on the PS4. Playing PS4 games on the Vita is nice but I'd rather be able to play Vita games remotely on the PS4. They need to make a streaming feature like a Apple TV has or something like that. (unless I missed that feature) I see there's a Vita TV device but nothing that can stream directly to PS4.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » December 23, 2013, 9:36 am

Tearaway is 50% off right now on PSN - 17.99$

https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork. ... AY0TRIAL00

I bought it. Great great game.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » December 23, 2013, 11:56 am

Best Buy had these on sale for 174.99, and the 16GB memory cards on sale for 29.99. I picked one of each up, I want to get a 32GB card but the BB I was at didn't have them, and I just wanted to get home so I settled for the 16 for now.

I played a little bit of Memories of Celceta, which I liked and will definitely come back to. But I started playing P4G and got hooked, I think I put 5 hours into it last night. Definitely happy with my purchase, but I will say I'm with Winnow in hoping there is a way down the road to stream to a TV. If the Vita TV thing is the only way, I will get one when they are released here because that would honestly be nice.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » December 23, 2013, 8:16 pm

All you new Vita owners have got to get a Trigger Grip PDP. I got mine for $12 at Best Buy. I consider it essential. It changed the system for me in a big way.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/350944077605?lpid=82

Here are some pics of mine. (huge pics, sorry)

[Show]

Also, Guacamelee for $3 on PSN (cross buy to PS3) is a fucking steal. Get it. You won't regret it.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » December 23, 2013, 8:51 pm

That's primarily why Vita TV interested me. However there are a few issues with it: 1) It has only been announced for Japan area. 2) Games that utilize touch, such as Tearaway, probably aren't playable since you don't have the proper controls. And probably the most perplexing: 3) It uses the Dualshock 3 instead of the DS4. Not really a problem for me but it seems an odd decision. Maybe they wanted to keep cost of ownership down.

Personally I would have been happy if the Vita at least had video out capability like the PSP Go and (I think) later models of the PSP. I realize it's a portable and all and having a long cord to your tv sort of goes against that, but sometimes it would be nice to play Vita games on a larger screen.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » December 23, 2013, 10:37 pm

I've never had a problem with gripping my Vita or using the shoulder buttons personally. Interesting looking grip though.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » December 24, 2013, 6:09 am

Fairweather Pure wrote:Also, Guacamelee for $3 on PSN (cross buy to PS3) is a fucking steal. Get it. You won't regret it.

$3.75 to be precise. There are reports of it coming out eventually for PS4/XBO with new content so that's the only thing that gives me pause. However I doubt it would be that cheap on them anytime soon.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » December 24, 2013, 11:59 am

Animalor wrote:I've never had a problem with gripping my Vita or using the shoulder buttons personally. Interesting looking grip though.

The triggers are the game changer IMO. You can also spread your palms out more. My friend has had a Vita since launch. He picked mine up with the grip and ordered one from Amazon on the spot. It's a huge improvement!

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » December 24, 2013, 12:02 pm

Also, I have no idea why anyone would want to play Vita games on their TV. It would look rough and I would assume you own plenty of other games from consoles to play on your TV!

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » December 24, 2013, 12:49 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote:Also, I have no idea why anyone would want to play Vita games on their TV. It would look rough and I would assume you own plenty of other games from consoles to play on your TV!

No idea? Really? You can't think of a single reason anyone would want to play a game on a 60" screen instead of a 5" screen? You might want to ponder it a few more seconds.

And yeah I think we realize things wouldn't look as sharp since the resolution is 960 × 544. 1280x720 isn't that much more though so I doubt it would look terrible.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » December 24, 2013, 6:04 pm

The first thing I think of is "hey, I have a backlog of a hundreds of games to play on my TV". I can play ios games on my TVs too, but why in the world would I? They look so much better on my ipad. Portable gaming is good for just that IMO. If it was your only system, then I guess I could imagine it?

Hey, more power to you but I wouldn't ever see the need!

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » December 24, 2013, 9:18 pm

Just because you don't see the need doesn't mean the need doesn't exist. Free your mind and the rest will follow.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 25, 2013, 3:06 am

Fairweather Pure wrote:The first thing I think of is "hey, I have a backlog of a hundreds of games to play on my TV". I can play ios games on my TVs too, but why in the world would I? They look so much better on my ipad. Portable gaming is good for just that IMO. If it was your only system, then I guess I could imagine it?

Hey, more power to you but I wouldn't ever see the need!

I have more of a backlog of games than you on the 360 and PS3 ( every single one of them because I Hacked them!) and I still want to play Vita games on my big screen when I'm at home because it's easier to look at a big screen than 5" screen and would be even better if you could use the ps4 controller. Vita controls are ok but not even remotely close to as good as a full sized controller. Persona 4 is better than many 360/PS3 games and it plays like a long ass RPG, not like a couple minute handheld game so it's better suited to non handheld gaming for lengthier sessions.

Even a game like wipeout 2048 would benefit from the big screen. Makes perfect sense that people would like the capability of streaming their vita games to their TV via the ps4.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » December 25, 2013, 12:57 pm

Winnow wrote:
Fairweather Pure wrote:The first thing I think of is "hey, I have a backlog of a hundreds of games to play on my TV". I can play ios games on my TVs too, but why in the world would I? They look so much better on my ipad. Portable gaming is good for just that IMO. If it was your only system, then I guess I could imagine it?

Hey, more power to you but I wouldn't ever see the need!
I have more of a backlog of games than you on the 360 and PS3 ( every single one of them because I Hacked them!) and I still want to play Vita games on my big screen when I'm at home because it's easier to look at a big screen than 5" screen and would be even better if you could use the ps4 controller. Vita controls are ok but not even remotely close to as good as a full sized controller. Persona 4 is better than many 360/PS3 games and it plays like a long ass RPG, not like a couple minute handheld game so it's better suited to non handheld gaming for lengthier sessions.

Even a game like wipeout 2048 would benefit from the big screen. Makes perfect sense that people would like the capability of streaming their vita games to their TV via the ps4.

Don't try and convince me, convince Sony!