[PS Vita] PS Vita 3G/WiFi Review

[Ariakace]

Yes, but is it worth it in the long run? You gotta pay ATT monthly, right? I have a contract with them and pay enough for internet on my phone.

just because you have the 3g/wifi version doesnt mean you have to pay ATT. you can simply drop their service and just use Wifi if you dont think the service is worth the money. That way you still get the 8gb card, the gps tech, and the free psn game. And should you decide later on downthe road that you want to pick up the service, its as simple as re-signing up for it. Or of you have a smartphone that can be a wifi hotspot, there you go. The 3G/Wifi bundle from amazon right now is pretty much the best bang for your buck.

[Thorzilla]

Yes, but is it worth it in the long run? You gotta pay ATT monthly, right? I have a contract with them and pay enough for internet on my phone.

Nope. Vita's 3G is not contract based. You pay for either 250MB, 1 or 2G and when that's over, it's over. If you want to pay one month of 3G, then stop using it and after 4 months use it again, you can. It's prepaid.

[Lethal_NFS]

What's the point of earning them twice? Is your PSN account on the vita specifically tied to the trophy support of the PSN acct used on the PS3; thus doubling your trophies artificially?

The point is more trophies. Your trophies on your Vita sync up with your PSN trophy card and combine your Vita trophies with your PS3 trophies. You are still earning the doubled trophies. They do not automatically unlock when you play on your Vita.

[F34R]

That's what I figured... trophy whore inflation. lol

[swordfish64]

Last night I eagerly went to the midnight launch of the PS Vita First Edition bundle at Gamestop. With the bundle I decided to pick up Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Mod Nation Racers. This review will not be covering any PS Vita games as I will be focusing on the unit itself.

Hardware = 9/10

The Vita is a very solid machine. It weighs about as much as the slim PSP but has a much more solid feel to it. The dual analog sticks take some getting used to since you do not have the same range of motion that you get from the PS3. I found myself using the touch screen with Uncharted because the right analog stick is so close to the action buttons on the right side. My thumb would seem to pass over the X button. Those are my only gripes with this unit as of now. Everything else is pretty flawless.

The OLED screen is beautiful! There is no need to go in to too much detail as I am sure you have seen or heard others talking about the 5" OLED screen.
The cameras are not that great and will probably only be used for games and such. My camera on my phone destroys these dated cameras.
There is also a built-in microphone that I have not tested yet.

Battery consumption = 6/10

Right out of the box I managed to burn through the battery in 2hrs. I decided to knock the brightness back to the middle and disabled bluetooth. I did have "Near" running in the background which is a neat app that shows you who around is playing on their Vita and what games they are playing.
After adjusting some settings I am now getting about 4hrs of battery life.

The operating system & Apps = 8/10

The PS Vita has some pretty cool features. I did have some problems though which I will be explaining shortly.
I already mentioned the app called "Near". Anywhere you go you can find someone near you on their Vita.



One of the cool features of the 3G plan is that you can use the pin point accurate GPS systems. The PS Vita actually has a GPS chip built in to the 3G version of the Vita. Also with the 3G plan you get fun extras like finding treasures left by other people. For example, if I take my Vita to Walmart and I leave a treasure/gift at the front door, someone with their Vita can find that treasure if they pass that location with their Vita. The other person will have to have the 3G version though. These are just some little fun extras that can be really cool if people actually use it.

Trying to activate my 3G with AT&T was not that easy. I followed the steps, added my information, added my debit card info, and did everything correctly. Three times I got an error saying the service could not be activated. I decided to try one last time and on the 4th try I was finally able to get my 3G service up and running. I only did the one month 250mb for $14.99 just to test it out and to get my free game after 30 days.

The PS Vita has a nice built-in snapshot capture by holding the PS button and pressing Start. However, I could not get my PC to access my Vita. I am running Windows 7 64bit. The PS Vita media app installed on to my PC but I could not access any of the pictures I have saved. I decided to jump on the web browser on my Vita and log in to Dropbox. I was actually able to upload the pictures to Dropbox but I was only able to do this by choosing the "basic" upload method. Even then I was only able to upload a single picture at a time. I had to quit the browser and log in each time I wanted to add a picture. If I didn't, the browser would just hang while trying to upload a second picture.

Edit - If you are having problems connecting your Vita to your PC, click the link below and install.
http://cma.dl.playstation.net/cma/win/en/index.html



The PS Store is is pretty simple to use and very similar to the PS Store on the PS3. You can search Vita only games or PSP/Vita only games if you like. You can access your previous purchases and download them to your Vita if they are compatible. Right now it is mostly just "Minis" that you can transfer.



Trophies are great on the Vita. You can earn double trophies. If I play WipeOut on my PS3 and earn trophies, I can earn the trophies all over again on the Vita and get double trophies. You can view your combined Vita/PS3 trophies together, or you can view only your Vita trophies. Also, any trophies you earn on your Vita will be added to your official PSN card but it will not show the icons for them. But they do make your overall trophy count go up.

I thought there was supposed to be some free games for the augmented reality cards but I could not find these games on the PS Store. I also could not find the Netflix app and such that were supposed to be available.
Because I received the PS Vita one week early, I am assuming that some of the games and apps are not available yet because the actual release date is 2/22/12. I am hoping that these will then be available.





PS3/Vita remote connection

I have always been a fan of this feature and now the Vita gives you the ability to do so much more. I was able to play many games on my PS3 right on my Vita. And because the screen is so vibrant and crisp, the games actually looked better. I really noticed how amazing the screen was when I was streaming a movie to my Vita. This is awesome for those laying in bed and want to mess around with their PS3 without getting up to see the tv. You can also do this from anywhere in the world with a wifi connection.

Cross gaming is also another cool feature. You can play against PS3 gamers while you are playing on your Vita. I have not tried this out yet but it sounds great.

Overall score = 8/10

Despite some early on issues, I feel this unit is a very solid handheld and has a very promising future. The graphics in some of these games are fantastic and the apps on the Vita are very cool. I am very much looking forward to the future apps announced as well. The game controls are not bad but will get some getting used to. Overall I am very happy with my purchase and I am sure anyone else that buys the PS Vita will be happy as well.

Pros:
* Very solid machine
* Beautiful 5" OLED
* PS3 quality graphics
* Some cool day 1 apps
* Ability to play backups and emulators from modded PS3

Cons:
* Battery life sort of sucks
* Right analog stick is little too close to the action buttons.
* Unable to connect to my PC (possible user error)
Install from this link to fix problem connecting to pc. http://cma.dl.playstation.net/cma/win/en/index.html

Hey Lethal, or anyone else, can you do remote play with an mp online game? If so does anyone know if Socom 4 is compatible with remote play?

[Beast of Bourbon]

That's what I figured... trophy whore inflation. lol

I'm going to exploit the shit out of this
@Lethal
Can you tell me which games are PS3/Vita compatible atm?

[Lethal_NFS]

I'm going to exploit the shit out of this
@Lethal
Can you tell me which games are PS3/Vita compatible atm?

Wipeout + dlc
Motorstorm RC
Top Darts
Hustle Kings
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 DLC

[Nitey]

I'm going to exploit the shit out of this

Same here man, same here...

[The Cage]

Is the PS Vita region free? i mean for downloadable games ,

for example: Japanese PS vita - UK Account - UK downloadable games

[F34R]

Is the PS Vita region free? i mean for downloadable games ,

for example: Japanese PS vita - UK Account - UK downloadable games

Yes you can purchase and buy JPN games on a US vita, etc., but you'll have to be logged into the same account the content was purchased with in order to play them. Also, you can only have one PSN account active on the Vita at any given time.

[The Cage]

Yes you can purchase and buy JPN games on a US vita, etc., but you'll have to be logged into the same account the content was purchased with in order to play them. Also, you can only have one PSN account active on the Vita at any given time.

I see, thanks for the info man

[F34R]

You're welcome.

[I OU a Beatn]

Any of you guys experienced screen stains? Whenever I'm on a loading screen or the Vita is booting up, there's dark splotches all over my screen. It has no effect on game play because, from what I've seen, the stains aren't visible during game play, but it does worry me that it might get worse. I'm curious if any of your guys' systems have the same problem, as I've read that it's a common problem with OLED screens.

[F34R]

Any of you guys experienced screen stains? Whenever I'm on a loading screen or the Vita is booting up, there's dark splotches all over my screen. It has no effect on game play because, from what I've seen, the stains aren't visible during game play, but it does worry me that it might get worse. I'm curious if any of your guys' systems have the same problem, as I've read that it's a common problem with OLED screens.

Any way you can capture that with a camera still or a recording?

[I OU a Beatn]

I can't, but I found a picture on another site that has the exact same issue, but mine isn't this bad...yet.

[emmerich]

Is that something that may affect the screen badly as it gets older? It certainly doesn't look good.

[floetry]

I can't, but I found a picture on another site that has the exact same issue, but mine isn't this bad...yet.

return it before its too late.

[I OU a Beatn]

Is that something that may affect the screen badly as it gets older? It certainly doesn't look good.

I don't know, the weird thing is that as soon as the game play starts, it's impossible to see the splotches. I can only see them when I'm in a dark room and it's on a black loading screen or the Vita is booting up.

[F34R]

Yeah, I'd return it. Lethal, any chance you've seen that on your screen?

[I OU a Beatn]

I might, I think I'm going to call Sony tomorrow and see what they say. Mine isn't nearly as bad as the picture above, it has like 3 or 4 little splotches on the left and another 3 or 4 little ones on the right. I just put a completely black wallpaper as the background, took it to a dark room, and I can't see the splotches. It's really weird it only does it during dark loading screens and/or when the system is booting up.

[Lethal_NFS]

Yeah, I'd return it. Lethal, any chance you've seen that on your screen?

Yes I have the same thing on mine. I can only see it when a game is loading though. Something to do with the black screen during the load. Once the game screen appears there is zero trace of the blotches.

That is what it looks like when there is no color being displayed. Just the back light lighting the LED screen. Once the color transmits, the blotches are impossible to see.

[arfi-gorgona-O]

Its probably an oled thing,i never saw or spot that on my Samsung oled tho,maybe cause i wasn't searching for it.

[rich15]

Great review, thanks for all the information.
Did you find out a way to run in Killzone 3 as the Vita doesn't have L3?

[Nitey]

It is a set back of OLED screens. I also have those spots on my Galaxy S2 but I've only ever seen them once. You'd never notice them in normal circumstances, only when the image/scene is nearly all black and the room is dark. Was kinda shocked when I first saw them on my phone but haven't come across a scenario when I've seen them again

If it's not that bad, there's no point in returning it IMO. You'll end up with a system that will get it again (perhaps even worse)

[F34R]

It is a set back of OLED screens. I also have those spots on my Galaxy S2 but I've only ever seen them once. You'd never notice them in normal circumstances, only when the image/scene is nearly all black and the room is dark. Was kinda shocked when I first saw them on my phone but haven't come across a scenario when I've seen them again

If it's not that bad, there's no point in returning it IMO. You'll end up with a system that will get it again (perhaps even worse)

Good point. +rep/like.