The PlayStation Vita: Revisted

Upon its release, the PlayStation Vita was a big talking point around the industry. Sadly, it focused on the system's woes when it came to its lack of commercial success and a consistent lineup of games. This unfortunate turn of events has gone to plague the Vita for its entire life. It is remarkable that the Vita is only three years old and the system is already considered dead. Apart from niche Japanese games published by Atlus, NIS America or Aksys Games, and cross-buy indie titles, Sony and third-parties abandoned the handheld by the end of 2014 at the latest.

The Vita's life has been tragic to say the least, but I am not here to rub salt in wound. Since I recently picked it up for myself, I am here to give an honest opinion to those that may be seriously considering buying the system in the near or distant future.

First and foremost, the PlayStation Vita is a well-designed handheld, which is impressive since it is Sony's second stab at a handheld. Originally, I thought the button placement was too close together. After an extensive amount of time with the Vita over the past month, everything feels responsive and fits well in my hands. I only had a problem with the system's d-pad, which is incredibly flimsy due to Sony's decision to meld it to one plastic plate rather than making them separate buttons.

With front and rear touch screens, cameras, and motion controls on top of the traditional button layout, the Vita is filled to the brim with technology. Maybe a little too much technology. Although I fall under the belief Sony packed far too many things into the Vita, it comes down to how the software uses said technology that determines if it's all warranted. Considering Tearaway is the only Vita game out of the 14 I own that properly uses everything in the system, the touch and motion controls mostly come off as gimmicks instead of essential features.

While the Vita may not have be as powerful as the PS3 in the graphics department, the system's OLED screen, found in all original units but not in the Slim redesign, is wonderful to look at. The high screen resolution makes hand-drawn 2D art pop off the screen. It's like watching a painting in motion. Games that lean towards realism in their graphics, such as Uncharted and Killzone, don't fair as well since the Vita can't pump out realistic polygons and textures like its console brethren.

Apart from the Vita's well-documented lacking library, the system suffers from a major problem when it comes to storage. In order to save or download games, you need a memory card for the Vita. Rather than use a universal memory card like a micro SD, Sony decided to force Vita owners to buy their own proprietary cards for outrageous prices. You can find four or eight gigabyte cards for something more reasonable, but you'll run out of room quick if you start downloading PSP and PS1 games to your system. Due to Sony intentionally shortchanging consumers on memory, you might have to fork over another 50 to 100 dollars on top of the price of the Vita to get enough memory to be comfortable with.

For the 100 dollars I spent on a used PlayStation Vita, it was well worth it. I now own 14 great titles I cannot get on any other system, can experience all the PSP games that I missed out on like Valkyria Chronicles II and Patapon, and have a chance to play all my PS1 classics and cross-buy games on the go. For those that are unable to get the Vita for the same price, I suggest you do some research and determine if there enough games, features and applications to warrant spending 200 dollars or more to buy one for yourself.

Overall, the Vita is a great portable system that is superior all other handhelds on the market when it comes to power and beauty. Unless you're a hardcore gamer or own the consoles needed to unlock the system's full potential, the Vita doesn't have the library or the features to be worth spending upwards of 200 dollars on.

Off the Newsstand: Nintendo Power Issue 278

It has been a busy month of gaming and reading for yours truly.  I honestly plow through video game magazines like nobodies business.  Maybe it is just years of reading them cover-to-cover or that magazines are very easy reads because I have never thought of myself as a fast reader in any way.  Now here is my quick look at the newest issue of Nintendo Power, which I finished reading a few days ago.

Many people were surprised to hear last month that Nobunaga X Pokemon was coming to North America as Pokemon Conquest for the DS this coming June.  With the game just announced, it is a cool coincidence (or maybe was it planned?) that the cover story for Issue 278 of Nintendo Power be on Pokemon Conquest.  Even though it was not my personal favourite cover story in recent memory, the cover story on Pokemon Conquest was a solid preview nonetheless.  The cover story look at Pokemon Conquest's story, the basics on Pokemon Conquest's tactical gameplay, how to recruit new party members and Pokemon and how preparing for battle is just as important and maybe even more important than the actual battles themselves.  Having never played a tactical RPG in the vein of Pokemon Conquest, which looks to share a lot of similarities with the Final Fantasy Tactics series, it all seems pretty daunting, but I am looking forward to this game as it is actually a spinoff to the Pokemon series that looks to be worth playing.  My favourite article from this issue goes to the preview of The Last Story, a new type of RPG created by Hironobu Sakaguchi's Mistwalker studios.  Much like Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story looks to advance the Japanese RPG in new innovative directions that revitalize a genre that has not really resonated in the past few years.  Nintendo Power's preview takes a look at The Last Story's real-time battle and cover system, the story which avoids all the JRPG and anime story tropes and a quick asides on The Last Story's multi-player modes.  The article also includes on great two-page interview with great Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the iconic Final Fantasy series and one of the forefathers of the JRPG genre.  Issue 278 also includes ranking of all 14 Super Mario games from the less favourable to the best in the series of excellent platformers, an interesting preview of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, a music game in the vein of Elite Beat Agents where you can play through all the excellent music found in the Final Fantasy series, and an interview with Ben Bateman, a Localization Editor for Aksys Games.  The only disappointing part of Issue 278 of Nintendo Power was the lack of reviews.  There were only two reviews in this entire issue, one for Mario Tennis Open and one for Roller Coaster Tycoon 3D both for the 3DS.  In all my years of reading Nintendo Power, I cannot remember a review section this small.  It was very surprising to say the least.

I always have a lot to talk about after reading an issue of Nintendo Power as you can see above.  While I did enjoy this issue of Nintendo Power, I do not think it is a must read for the average Nintendo fan.  If you are a huge Pokemon fan, Issue 278 is a must read.  For everybody else, it would be easier to check it out at your local library.