Sony’s Next Generation Portable: The Pros and Cons of Owning a PS Vita

The Sony PS Vita Wi-Fi is here after much waiting and anticipation of its arrival. The device is being shown to be a handheld gaming system that will raise the level of video gaming a notch. With touch-interface and motion-sensitive features, including the ability to connect over cellphone networks and Wi-Fi hotspots, the device is aimed to please diehard gamers.

Additionally, the PS Vita has some great features. Such as, front and back cameras, a touch pad on the back, dual speakers, a microphone, two knob-like joysticks, users have the ability to listen to music, surf the web, video chat and play with a group of friends over the PSN.

Inside, the device runs very fast because of its quad-core ARM Cortex A9 processor, 512MB RAM, 128 VRAM and a five- inch 16 million color OLED display. With all these great features no wonder this on-the-go video game is being met so much excitement, but what are the positive and negatives of owning this handheld gaming machine?

Pros

Video chat: Users playing games or wanting to be social can download apps to access: Facebook, Skype, Twitter and Foursquare.

Region Free: The PS Vita is region free whereby users are able to download and play games from any region of the world. This expands their ability to not be limited when it comes to having games to play on their devices.

Stunning User Interface: Although the OLED screen receives high marks for its awesome display, the same can be said for the user interface. It is very user friendly with a sensible layout, beautiful icons and touch controls.

Remote Play: This is a feature that allows remote play between the PS 3 and PS Vita. Users can stream digital games between their PSP devices, but all games are not compatible.

Best Dual-Analog Controls: The analog “sticks” have been described as unique for a portable handheld. They are beneficial in controlling game and player action in games and allowing for the development of future games geared towards this type of game controller. Unfortunately, the analog sticks and buttons do not operate anything on the touchscreen display.

Full Games Available for Download: On launch day of the portable there will be 25 games available on launch day and more than a 100 in development. Pricing for the games will range from $9.99 to $49.99 from the PSN and other retail outlets that sell Sony video games.

Cons

Portability: Users should consider getting a case for the handheld. The PS Vita’s display screen could become scratched, the device is a dust and fingerprint magnet and because of the size in order to accommodate the display screen, the PS Vita is too large to be carried in your jacket or rear pants pocket. Be prepared to carry it in your book bag or large purse.

Battery Life: Sony states to expect a battery life while playing games between five to six hours with Wi-Fi enabled. However, battery life has been reported to actually around three to four hours. The device will last about five hours during video playback and nine hours during music playback in standby mode.

PS Vita Memory Cards: Instead of UMD discs like in previous PSP devices, games will be distributed on Sony’s proprietary PS Vita flash memory cards. Also, the memory card must be installed in the device for the music, camera and video player apps to work and also for some of the games to function. Users can also store game saves, PSN downloads and personal media on the cards.

Users Can Only Use One PSN Account: If gamers are using the same memory card, but have different PSN accounts, a factory reset has to be done in order to change between multiple accounts. However, this issue seems to affect users that purchase games from multiple regions while also affecting the device’s region free capability when it comes to downloadable games.

PSP Game Discs Not Transferable to The PS Vita: Some gamers held out hope that Sony would at least offer a UMD Reader so older disc-based PSP games can be played on the PS Vita. Unfortunately, gamers in the United States will only be able to play PSP games purchased and downloaded from the PSN and not from a previously owned game disc.

Diehard gamers are excited about the new PS Vita and are anxiously waiting for it. Sony, in delivering quality gaming handhelds has really made every attempt to please users. The video game in this care is designed to impress with the features on board. The bar has really been set high by Sony in direct competition with Nintendo 3DS with most gaming enthusiasts believing that Sony has hit the mark on the future of on-the-go video gaming.