Playstation Vita

[Dandy_Sephy]

Question: where do you guys play your Vitas?

I'm always confused about handhelds when a lot of people seem to spend most of their time just playing them at home.

Before the Vita was released I was working alternate shifts, so I was going to largely be playing it at work. At the time I was playing Disgaea on psp at work so it made perfect sense, especially with the port of Disgaea 3 coming two months later. It's also why I picked the 3G model because at the time there was appeal in Everybody's Golf's online tournaments.

However work ditched the night shift and moved everyone onto one shift, so most of the opportunity for work gaming vanished literally overnight. I walk to work so don't have a commute and so play it almost exclusively at home. Not a problem, I play while having the tv on and tend to play in shorter bursts rather than hours and hours. It's not different from how people use the (3)DS. Some play on the commute, others play on their sofa.

I've never really followed the idea that because it's a portable, it has to be played out of the house.

[bradigor]

Question: where do you guys play your Vitas?

I'm always confused about handhelds when a lot of people seem to spend most of their time just playing them at home.

I play it anywhere really.

At home mainly, because I find my time limited at the moment, I just cannot be bothered to turn on a home console. I can just grab my VIta, wake it up and play. There is also the fact I am burned out by the 360 and PS3 at the moment, the Vita still feels fresh and there is a ton of stuff I want to play.

I do play it out and about too, but I find I play different games to when I am at home. It's one of the things I really like about the Vita, the is such a wide choice in the library, I have something for every situation.

Map control to the analogue stick by long pressing the screen?

I tried that, but they didn't work. Will have another look later.

[Dandy_Sephy]

I can just grab my VIta, wake it up and play. There is also the fact I am burned out by the 360 and PS3 at the moment, the Vita still feels fresh and there is a ton of stuff I want to play.

My 360 hasn't been on since Xmas day. My Ps3 has been on a lot recently for Disgaea 4 and some Plus games like Batman. Disgaea 4 is a special case due to the insane depth it has (and I decided to finish it before going back to 3 on Vita), but my Vita is considered my primary machine at the moment as I'm trying to clear through some games. I played through Mortal Kombat recently thanks to Plus (I find it easier to play on Vita's d-pad than with a 360 arcade stick!) and i'm going through Gravity Rush now as I bought it on release and got distracted by other things.

[NEG]

Kind of feels odd but true that had I gotten Sonic Racing Transformed on Vita instead, I most probably would have spent more playing it on Vita then I have (4-5hours at best) on 360. I agree on the sentiment that Vita feels fresh.

[bradigor]

My 360 hasn't been on since Xmas day. My Ps3 has been on a lot recently for Disgaea 4 and some Plus games like Batman. Disgaea 4 is a special case due to the insane depth it has (and I decided to finish it before going back to 3 on Vita), but my Vita is considered my primary machine at the moment as I'm trying to clear through some games. I played through Mortal Kombat recently thanks to Plus (I find it easier to play on Vita's d-pad than with a 360 arcade stick!) and i'm going through Gravity Rush now as I bought it on release and got distracted by other things.

It's great for more than just its own range of games. Playing PS1 games on the Vita feels much better than having them blown up on a 50" TV.

I am currently working through FFVII, but also have Pinball Arcade on the go (buying a table pack per month to catch up) and MLB12. I need to cut down what is on my card, as having choice is seeing me play bits of games too much right now. I also currently have Dokuro and Escape Plan on the go and am looking forward to P4G.

I have completed a fair few games too (Uncharted, Gravity Rush, Mutant Blobs, Sound Shapes, VLR and a couple of others) and have the games I won't complete as such and will play through now and again (Motorstorm, Hustle Kings, EB Golf, Treasures of Montezuma) and others that I started but removed to I can concentrate on games I am playing now (Knytt, Strangers Wrath, etc).

My biggest issue with with the retail cart games. I sold of a lot of them, because they sat there unplayed as it was inconvenient (lazy) having to take one out, then put another in. So I came to the decision to just have one retail game at any one time. Which will be P4G later this month. When I complere that, I will then buy one of the others I had at one point and play that to completion before having to swap it out.

With games like (fake) Trials coming out, the choice is improving all the time. I still want to see more of the sort of games we see on XBLA/PSN/Steam get ported. Not the big AAA type titles, I don't care for a Far Cry, Batman, Call Of Duty or anything like that. I want to see more of the following:

Magic The Gathering (ideal for a handheld)

Super Meat Boy

Limbo

Braid

Binding Of Isaac

Spelunky

Geometry Wars

The Cave

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Joe Danger

Splatters

Renegade Ops

Raskulls

ilomilo

Faster Than Light

Don't Starve

Torchlight

Terraria

etc

There are a crap ton of released games that would work on the Vita. Do Valve and Sony still have that partnership going on from the Portal 2 release? Maybe they could work something out to somehow bring those smaller titles to the system. (in an ideal world, before someone jumps on me about finances, sales and the like).

I honestly think that companies like Sony work on too much of a closed system, trying too hard to protect themselves, where they could work as a pure platform, being open to having more games to be made, especially by indie developers. Why are there so many barriers to PS Mobile? Why are games more expensive on there than on iOS, what does that hope to achieve? Open it up, allow the likes of Rovio to brings their titles to the system, with an identical price structure as seen on iOS, it would see plenty of people double dip. However Sony close themselves off, have too many barriers that stop these things happening.

Oh well, I am very happy with my current choice, I just see that more can be done to really boost what the PS Vita can offer.

[Dandy_Sephy]

It's great for more than just its own range of games. Playing PS1 games on the Vita feels much better than having them blown up on a 50" TV.

I still prefer to play these on a 26" crt

[bradigor]

I still prefer to play these on a 26" crt

I used to have that setup... Then child decided to be good at something

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

Question: where do you guys play your Vitas?

I'm always confused about handhelds when a lot of people seem to spend most of their time just playing them at home.

At the inlaws or my parents and when travelling by train mainly. And at home, in bed.

[MansizeRooster]

In bed after weekend lie-ins is a major one for me. Sometimes when I'm in the kitchen waiting on things cooking, very occasionally when I'm on a long bus/train journey. I'm going on holiday next month and am seriously looking forward to playing it on the plane :-)

[Dudley]

In bed, on flights, in the car when I'm too early for something, in front of the TV when the housemate is playing something.

[Jbone]

I travel a lot, so that's probably how mine gets most of its game time these days.

I love handhelds in general though, for any-time gaming. No need to power up the whole AV rack and feel compelled to settle in for a long session, just switch on the self-contained unit for a cheeky 10 min blast on the game du jour while you're waiting for dinner to cook or whatever. They just fit in around your life really well.

[Janski]

Mainly use mine at home when the wife wants to watch the Tv and I can't get on the under-telly consoles

[LongHairStu]

I tried that, but they didn't work. Will have another look later.

Works on Tomb Raider. Needed to touch the gameplay area, not the borders.

[LiMuBai]

Mainly use mine at home when the wife wants to watch the Tv and I can't get on the under-telly consoles

That's exactly when I play my Vita the most. When the OH is watching something I care little about. I play a bit at work too, during breaks. And I take it with me when I travel for work/go on holiday. I spent the whole week by the pool playing Everybody's Golf on my last holiday.

[Qazimod]

I usually play my Vita games at home but I have taken it out with me on occassion and used some of the social-y online applications (being a 3G owner I kind of feel an obligation to do so ) Since I don't drive I make a lot of train journeys here and there, and so it's useful if I'm on a particularly long trip. Something like Persona 4 is actually pretty well suited to portable play - even though it's a big RPG, everything is done in small chunks and there are plenty of opportunities to save. Meanwhile you've got things like Everybody's Golf, Wipeout and Marvel 3 providing more immediate bitesized play.

[Quexex]

Question: where do you guys play your Vitas?

I'm always confused about handhelds when a lot of people seem to spend most of their time just playing them at home.

Mostly on my commute, sometimes when I'm out and about and sometimes at home.

[Garwoofoo]

I play mine mostly at home: when the TV's in use; when I just want to pick up and play; when I'm got something good to play. I spend more time playing handhelds than main consoles these days.

I would use it more on my commute but every time I try I seem to run into some pointless gimmickry like having to shine the Vita at a bright light or wave it around for gyro functions, which are kind of difficult on a cramped commuter train. So I don't tend to bother unless I know I'm playing something sedate like Disgaea.

[Dude Ranch]

Before I order from amazon, is £59.99 for a 32GB card more or less the best price I can expect?

To answer my own question, £55 at Argos. Somehow plucked a £5 voucher out of more or less nowhere too. The Vita opens right up for me now. PS+ is amazing. £40 for all the PS3 and Vita games one could ever need. Beautiful. I do hope this model carries forward to the next gen.

[LiMuBai]

As do I. Although I assume it will be in a reduced capacity at first as the back catalogue won't be there til least a year after launch. I'm guessing plus discounts and exclusive demos??

[Qazimod]

I played through Mortal Kombat recently thanks to Plus (I find it easier to play on Vita's d-pad than with a 360 arcade stick!) and i'm going through Gravity Rush now as I bought it on release and got distracted by other things.

I play 360 fighters on a Madcatz Fightpad and I was expecting to fail massively when I picked up Marvel 3 for Vita but the d-pad works surprisingly well. It's a lot easier to roll out rotational moves and you can feel the motions under your thumb really well, so you're more confident about your execution than you would have been playing Alpha 3 with PSP's controls.

[angel]

To answer my own question, £55 at Argos. Somehow plucked a £5 voucher out of more or less nowhere too. The Vita opens right up for me now. PS+ is amazing. £40 for all the PS3 and Vita games one could ever need. Beautiful. I do hope this model carries forward to the next gen.

Well spotted, I didnt expect this at all. I was all set to order off amazon

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Search/searchTerms/VITA+MEMORY+CARD.htm

[retroed]

Virtua Tennis is back in stock at GAME.co.uk. £4.99 new.

Http://www.game.co.uk/en/virtua-tennis-4-world-tour-edition-157916?pageSize=20&searchTerm=Virtua%20tennis

EDIT: Gone, but check on and off because stock does come and go.

[V3zna]

Well spotted, I didnt expect this at all. I was all set to order off amazon

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Search/searchTerms/VITA+MEMORY+CARD.htm

Out of 12 stores I've checked vaguely locally, 1 has it in stock! Won't let me order online either.

[angel]

Out of 12 stores I've checked vaguely locally, 1 has it in stock! Won't let me order online either.

Same here Amazon it is then.

[Dandy_Sephy]

Out of 12 stores I've checked vaguely locally, 1 has it in stock! Won't let me order online either.

It's been discontinued from the catalogue, so i)that explains the price and ii)means they won't be restocking it anywhere.

The one next to where I work doesn't have any, but the one 2 miles away does. However I think I'll just wait and manage my games better. It's a good way of making sure I finish games!

[retroed]

I have managed to reserve the last one at my local! Searching again and it says there's none within the closest 10 stores from me. Super lucky. Thanks Dude Ranch for pointing out the deal. I have a £5 voucher as well, so should be able to pick it up for £49.99 when I go to collect. I'm currently backing up my 16GB card data to the PC. 50 minute estimate to transfer 15GB of data.

I hope you all realise, because I am spending fifty pounds on a 32GB card, Sony will be announcing incredible price drops on them in ten days time.

[NEG]

Is there any benefit story/experience-wise to starting the Persona series from the first and not the 4th? Noticed the first 3 being in the store.

[Dandy_Sephy]

Is there any benefit story/experience-wise to starting the Persona series from the first and not the 4th? Noticed the first 3 being in the store.

The first one has horrendous design choices meaning you will probably give up halfway through like I did. The dungeon design and encounter rate will make you go insane.

[RubberJohnny]

Is there any benefit story/experience-wise to starting the Persona series from the first and not the 4th? Noticed the first 3 being in the store.

The old ones are on really old hardware, and share no plot elements. Think of it like Final Fantasy, aside from some thematic stuff and a bit of fanservice, 3 and 4 are essentially separate.

They've improved 3's battle system, so in gameplay terms they're identical, but most people seem to prefer 4's more grounded tone and characters.

[Radish]

I've nearly finished 4 (which got a bit tedius at times due to the combat), would playing 3 be too much of a step back from 4 to really get into it? I'll need to give it a break given the combat looks and sounds very similar, but it's definitely something I'm intrigued to play.