Poll: Advice on PS Vita

[Terramax]

I'm mostly a PC gamer but I have played some PSP games like Gods Eater Burst and Project Diva. I'm somewhat of a fan of GEB (216 hrs in) so I am seriously considering getting the Vita just for GE:2 and Project F. I'm starting work soon so I imagine the only time I can get to play would be during travel or on the crapper. Although the title says PS Vita, I'm open to suggestions to others like the DS.

TLR Which mobile gaming platform should I get and why?

As much as I love the Vita, if you're only able to play the console on a few select occasions, it's not worth it. God Eater is a rather grindy game, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Mister K]

I vote for Vita. Reasons, in no particular order:
1. It already has a nice collection of games. I recommend Persona 4:Golden, Virtue's Last Reward and Soul Sacrifice. I still haven't played it, but Guacamelee looks nice. I think that you may find other good ones for yourself.
2. PS One classics. Tons of them. I bet you'll find at least 7 or 8 games that are interesting for you. Plus, you can assign L2 and R2 buttons to the touchscreen, so lack of buttons is not a problem (unlike with PSP).
3. It just looks good. It has great design, bot of console and menu.
4. It has second analogue stick (compared to PSP), and buttons feel nice too.

So, get a Vita.

 

[Tilted_Logic]

The vita was something I wanted since launch, but put off purchasing as I just couldn't justify the price when I'd probably not have much time for it. Skip forward to this past February, and thanks to my boyfriend, I now own one!

I can say I absolutely love it. The layout, double touchscreens, tilt control (oh how I love thee). And the games on it (that I've played) are very high quality for such a little device.

I can't comment on the two specific games you're interested in, or any other handheld device (I haven't owned anything since my Gameboy Advance back in elementary school), but I'd recommend the vita to anyone in a heartbeat.

My only issue with it would be the fact that memory is an extra purchase, but if you pick up playstation plus (definitely worth it just to get Gravity Rush, Uncharted and Wipeout!) you'll never run out of something new to try.

Edit: In terms of managing your games, you can customize their location on your Vita with the touchscreen. You can purchase the games either on your ps3 or your vita, and as long as you're using the same playstation account on both, you can download it from either platform. The vita can be connected to your ps3 (even used as a controller), or it can be connected to your PC, either with the usb cable that comes with it, or wirelessly. You have to install a sony program on your PC for it to read your vita, but putting music/movies etc on your vita is just as simple as selecting it on your PC. Very easy

 

[xedobubble]

Currently, the 3ds is a solid buy. You've got the entire library of DS titles and some quality games like Threatrhythm, Super Mario Land 3d, the upcoming Project X Zone, etc. Between the price cut and the growing library, it's becoming a very well established system with an optimistic future.

The vita will honestly depend on your personal circumstances. Buying it new will cost you $250-300, plus $20-100 for the memory card (you'll want to spend at least $60 for the 16gig card). On the other hand, buying used on ebay you could get it for half that or less. Mine was $150 with a memory card, for comparison. So it can either be way too much or nice and cheap.

As far as the game catalog goes, it's a little lacking right now in terms of exclusives. Soul Sacrifice is one of TWO new games people are excited for this year on the vita, the other is Muramasa Rebirth. The lack of new exclusives makes the Vita's future a little dicey. Most of the hit titles on the system so far are big-name ports, like Atelier Totori and Persona 4. And the library includes the psn offerings of almost all digital psp games, psone classics, etc. So the system could offer you very little if you already have a ps3 and psp, or a lot if this is your only sony console.

In answer to your latest question, you can connect your vita to your PC or PS3 to manage it, or you can just go online with it and access the store to download titles. The store does not have a great library for tracking your purchases fyi. Once they download, you can just freely move them around on the Vita's menu screens.

 

[Akimoto]

*snip*

Except OP said he's mostly a pc gamer so in this case, a library of games past are new to him.

The prices are new to me as well. I noticed that the price can be as much as USD 74, which translate to SG 93 (around there). Has PS games always been around this price range?

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Persona 4: The Golden, Gravity Rush, Soul Sacrifice, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and Rayman: Origins are really the only games I find needed on the PSVita. The only reason I put Rayman: Origins on that list of 5 must own games is because I am a HUGE fucking fan of Rayman.

I had never heard of Ragnarok Odyssey, PSOne games I literally own or have on my PS3, and half the downloadable games like Thomas was Alone, I played months back on PC or PS3. Some of the ports, like Disgaea 3, I played back on its original release. While, sure it is nice to have them portable, they are not "must-own" games, in my opinion.

I buy and collect consoles and games. So when a new console comes out, I look at what they have that is NEW or DRASTICALLY-UPDATED (Which Persona 4 did, while D3 did not). So far, the Vita has very little of that, which is a shame.

Except OP said he's mostly a pc gamer so in this case, a library of games past are new to him. I owned a lot of ps1 and psp games but there are still a lot never played[footnote]to a lesser extent, this is why I don't like it when people complain about re-releases. I don't care if you bought Resident Evil 4 the day it released for gamecube, I didn't[/footnote]. If it wasn't for ps1 classics on my psp I wouldn't have played Grandia and and Final Fantasy 8 (which if you can't tell by my avatar, I it liked a lot). Even now there are ps1 games I bought for the vita like Threads of Fate.

I understand where you are coming from, but I go off my personal opinion and what I have experienced. Since I play so many games, I tend to forget that not many others get the same chance to play as many as I do.

I know what you mean though. When I think about the next consoles (ps4 all the way!) I only care about what games could be for it as opposed to backwards compatibility, but I forget that there are people who skipped consoles this gen and backwards compatibility is half the reason to buy one

 

[natster43]

I have a Vita and a 3DS. I love how my Vita looks and plays, but the 3DS has a lot more games on it that I really like (Mario Kart 7, Fire Emblem Awakening,Resident Evil Revelations) There are a lot of good games on the Vita as well though, Persona 4, Virtue's Last Reward, Gravity Rush. Really either of those systems are good, but I would recommend a 3DS over a Vita.

 

[zidine100]

well id say go for a vita, its freaking awesome. It has a nice back cataloge, a semi decent game line up, and you can watch you tube on it.

As long as you get a decent card, (i have 8gb) space shouldnt be a problem as you can store games and saves on your computer via the proprietary software.

Oh and did i mention its region free.

And another plus side if you go for a ps+ subcription, you can get the instant game catalouge for a year for only £39.99, they release games monthly so really it pays for itself if your just wanting to try random games you wouldn't have played before.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

*snip*

Except OP said he's mostly a pc gamer so in this case, a library of games past are new to him.

The prices are new to me as well. I noticed that the price can be as much as USD 74, which translate to SG 93 (around there). Has PS games always been around this price range?

$74? In good old 'Murica? I haven't paid more than $60 for a console game. PS vita games on the other hand run at $35 here (or less depending on the game). The digital download price I think is typically less than retail (or at the very least similarly priced). Most ps1 games are like $5 (some are a little more, usually if they are good) Psp games are around $20-$10 I think. And ps+ subscribers get some games free and others at discounts (the free games go away if you stop subscribing, but the discounted games are still yours). Sorry my American prices aren't very helpful

You also asked about having an account, I think you kind of have too. You could buy all physical games but you'd be cut off from a lot, including updates for the system as well. Mind if I ask why you wouldn't want to sign up?

 

[Souplex]

Get a 3DS.
It will make you happy.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

My only thing against the 3DS is I'm afraid Nintendo will focus too much on the touch screen and stylus for games as opposed to buttons (if I'm wrong, please tell me) . I already know that most vita don't focus on the touch screen and gyroscope. And duel analogs is a plus

Yup. You're wrong. Fire Emblem Awakening? Buttons. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate? Buttons. SMT Soul Hackers? Buttons. SMT Devil Survivor Overclocked? Buttons. The touchscreen is used very sparingly. Really only for inventory or maps.

Good. Thats how it should be done. Now color me interested in the 3DS. The Internet's obsession with Fire Emblem lately has gotten me think about getting one and I've been wanting to play Devil Survivor

 

[Raikas]

I have a Vita and a DS and I enjoy both of them, but if your main playing time is commute time I'd base my recommendation on the length of your commute. If you have 45 minutes+ on a single train or bus then I'd vote for the Vita, but would go for a 3DS if you have a shorter or more fragmented commute.

 

[Korten12]

3DS has got a vastly bigger library at this point, with loads more games on the horizon. Bravely Default, SMTIV, Etrian Odyssey, LTTP2, Yoshi's Island 2, Mario&Luigi Dream Team, Smash Bros, Animal Crossing and Pokemon X/Y are all coming otu this year, with games like Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion 2, MH3U, Gunman Clive and Harmo Knight already out.

The Vita's got some good games, done't get me wrong, but I don't think it can really compare as an alternative handheld system. It simply hasn't got the same level of support. Between now and the end of the year, new games are coming out every month for the 3DS. The Vita is still relying on ports and PS1 titles from the PSN network to fill its library out.

Why am I not surprised you're the one to put down the Vita...

It doesn't matter the fact that more indie games are coming out for the Vita, there is a slew of games coming out in the fall of this year, and the fact that the playstation mobile publishing fee of $99 has been removed will only increase the amount of games coming to it.

 

[DasDestroyer]

I've very recently bought a PS Vita just to play Persona 4, and there do seem to be a few other interesting titles in the PS Store. The fact that there are "a few" of them as opposed to many and the ridiculous memory card prices are the only faults I can find with the Vita, otherwise it's a very impressive handheld.

 

[Baron_Rouge]

but so long as you're not too much of an FPS-focussed player

For games on the console I'm more of a action guy with some music based games on the sides. I have a long standing dislike of FPS (read:mouse and keyboard) on a controller system (and vice versa) but to be fair, I have played Dark Souls on the keyboard and it was great fun.

I know one of my friends would be ecstatic when I start on the Persona series. =)

I just started on it myself. I'm only a few hours in, but the story is really intriguing, in a dark and twisted sort of way! I'd definitely recommend it. The music is also unexpectedly very catchy. I've had one of the songs stuck in my head all day!

 

[TrevHead]

I've recently bought a PSP and DS both have unique games and are great.

If you plan on eventually buying both I'd say 3DS now so you can pick up the hidden gems before they become rare, also the 3DS/ DS has Rail Shooters, and games with a more 16 bit feel, if you like menu heavy games a stylus improves the experience similar to a mouse does, infact many DS games are more PC like to me.

Vita if you want to play games that are similar to the ps3, from what I've heard the twin sticks is a vast improvement over the PSP for playing action games.

 

[EHKOS]

Vita isn't great, it's got a few good PS1 classics on it though. I'd get a 3DS, backwards compatible with the DS, and it has tons of RPGs. (Playing Nostalgia right now)

 

[Kotaro]

I'm primarily a PC gamer, but I own a PS3, a Wii, a 3DS, and a Vita. They're all worthwhile, I think.
If there are specific Vita-exclusives that you want, then go for it. Both it and the DS/3DS have a number of worthwhile games for them; the 3DS just has way more.
It's like when I was choosing between a PS3 and an Xbox 360: They both had their good points, but there were more exclusives on the PS3 that I wanted to play.

 

[Snotnarok]

I figured I'd stumble on a bunch of people saying there's no library to the vita when reading this thread.

Uh, no simply not true, granted that's dependent on how you look at it but if you go by the backlog of PSOne+PSP+PSVita+Minis you have a huge catalog. But "Oh Snot, those games don't count because they're OLD and on other systems!" yeah sorry I sorta count Final Fantasy VII, Tactics, Grandia, amongst other titles timeless games and when you can easily transfer them between PSV, PSP, PS3 with no cost it's just a nice little thing. In terms of PSV library? It's coming along fine, I think a lot of people just have no freaking middle ground so a game is either crap or amazing.

Though there is an argument to be made for PSP just for the hacking aspect, dot dot dot.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

Both the Vita and the 3DS have some fairly good options, but which you want really depends on your personal preferences.

The 3DS is backwards compatible with the amazing DS library, although I honestly haven't enjoyed most of the games for it that people rave about. It has some solid downloadable title, but Nintendo's terrible online infrastructure makes upgrading without losing anything a pain (and good luck if it happens to break). It's also definitely the more portable of the two, although both the normal 3DS and the XL feel significantly flimsier in my hands than any of the DSi's I've owned. If you're like me and enjoy importing, you should be aware that the 3DS is region-locked, unlike the Vita.

The Vita has a better selection of games than most people give it credit for, and access to a huge chunk of the PSP's library as well as some great PS1 games through it's online shop (which is tied to an account rather than the device, unlike the 3DS). It's bulkier and you'll want some kind of case for taking it places, but it has a really nice screen and two analog sticks, which makes it great for playing PSP titles like Kenka Banchou. On the other hand, it needs expensive proprietary memory cards. It has some pretty nice-looking exclusives coming up, like a new Ys game, and some games that will otherwise be home console-only, like Dragon's Crown.

Personally, I enjoy both, although I still spend a lot more time with my PSP and DSi than I do with either my 3DS or my Vita.