Source: justpushstart.com

By Hadrian Ang

This year, Sony released the follow up to its widely successful mobile gaming platform, the PSP.  Sony’s follow up to the PSP, the PS Vita, features key improvements such as more powerful quad-core graphics and a new OLED screen that is able to take in touch input. It improves on numerous of the original PSPs flaws by adding new ways of input such as the rear touchpad and a second analog stick. On paper, the PS Vita is quite the device, but how is its actual performance?

For input on its real life capabilities, I interviewed a fellow Atenean named Stephen Yap, a first year BS ComTech student who happens to own a PS Vita. As he is quite new to the device, the only game he has played is a title called “Gravity Rush (or Gravity Daze for the Japanese version).”  He comments that the graphics of the Vita are much better than the visuals of the first PSP. The new OLED screen also has a nice color representation and its HD resolution is able to bring out the beauty of the Vita’s new games.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

According to him, the Vita is also more comfortable to hold in one’s hands and the addition of a second analog stick helps make gaming feel more natural. Due to its size, the device would probably not fit in a normal pocket, but its weight is reasonable and wouldn’t be a problem for extended gaming sessions. He has not tried any of the gaming accessories available for the Vita yet, but it is still a capable device by itself. The device feels responsive and the games run quite smoothly despite their demanding graphics.

The software is easy to use as navigation of the Vita’s UI is aided with the touch screen; however old PSP users might find the change difficult as it no longer uses the D-pad for navigation, relying instead on the touch screen. He said that he did not like the UI much as too many applications would mean a lot of scrolling, but people who are fond of touch screens would probably like it better.

Source: powet.tv

What he did not like though was the lack of titles for the PS Vita. Being a new platform, the number of available games isn’t quite enough, but the PS Vita makes up for this by allowing you to play older PSP games. The Vita’s battery life is also quite short, as you will probably not get more than 5 hours of play time on a single charge. Another qualm would be the high price for storage as the PS Vita uses special memory cards that are priced a lot higher than normal SD cards.

Overall, one can conclude that the PS Vita is a luxury. It is an expensive device that will have you spending more on expensive storage and expensive games, but arguably justifies what it asks for with its lineup of new features. The beautiful screen, improved gaming ergonomics and hardware capabilities certainly make quite a point.  In the end though, my friend cannot recommend the Vita in its state right now. He said that a PS3 would be a better choice for gamers if they don’t really need the portability. Most games will probably be better played on larger screens or on the PC as audio may be a problem on the Vita, especially when playing music games. The Vita simply cannot replace any console or PC when it comes to hardcore gaming; however for those on the road, the PS Vita packs an incredibly large gaming experience in a handheld package. Right now, he cannot say if the Vita will turn out well as there aren’t enough games available yet.