Sony didn’t hold back on blowing up PlayStation Vita at this year’s E3, especially during the company’s press conference, but some questions about the system still linger around the web. We’ve checked out the Vita FAQs, and listed the answers you wanted to know:
General:
How to buy Vita games? – Vita games can be downloaded via the PlayStation Store, or bought from regular brick and mortar retailers.
Will there be more than one Vita color available at launch? – TBA
What is “Near”? – “Near is a core PS Vita feature composed of location-based services, that utilize PlayStation Network. Near, developed specifically for this service and the network , will be pre-installed in the system to let users find out what their friends in the vicinity are playing now or what they were playing recently. Users can meet their friends and new players virtually, regardless of what games they are playing, simply by sharing their game information across different dimensions of time and distance.”
What is LiveArea"? – “Every game title for PS Vita will be provided with a space called "LiveArea™" where users can share the fun and excitement with other players. Users will have access to the latest information of games provided from SCE and 3rd party developers and publishers through PlayStation Network. Additionally, PS Vita users will be able to view "Activity" log that is constantly updated with accomplishments from users who are playing the same game, which in turn can trigger active real-time communication among users.”
Will PSP features like Remote Play, Skype, SenseMe, and the Comic Reader be available for Vita as well? – Sony’s response: “We are evaluating the opportunity to offer non-gaming applications/content and will announce details at a later time.”
Will there be any UMD readers made for the Vita? – Sony has no plans to introduce any type of UMD-reading peripheral at this time. Additionally, Sony said “we will consider every possibility for support on bought UMD games but we have nothing to comment at this point in time.”
Will I log into my current PSP/PS3 PSN account on the Vita? – Yes, you can use the same accounts.
Hardware:
Can you remove/exchange the battery? – No, the battery will come embedded, since the Vita is now adopting a rear touch pad.
Screen specs – 5 inches (16:9), 960×544 pixels, Approx. 16,770,000 colors.
Does the Vita have internal memory? – The Vita comes equipped with a storage media slot, that players can choose to fit with any sized memory card available. Check it out here.
Does the Vita have a video-out cable? – The Vita does not have a video out feature. Future iterations maybe?
Software:
What media format with the Vita use? New proprietary game cards. Check it out here.
Is the Vita backwards compatible? – Users will be able to play PSP games, minis, and PSone classics downloaded from the PS Store.
Will the Vita support PlayStation Suite? – Yes
That’s all the details we have for now, what do you think? Leave any further questions in the comments section below, and we’ll do our best to answer you!