So despite somewhat pricey memory cards, backwards compatibility being a little late, game sharing restrictions, UMD passports, and other weird things, I still really want a PlayStation Vita. Is it because I'm an addict who wants some form of game with me wherever I go? Not really, or, at least, not entirely. Is it because I'm a Sony "fanboy?" I wouldn't say that, though I do like their gaming hardware in general, faults and all, and will usually grab one of Sony's offerings rather than Microsoft's or Nintendo's.
I think part of it might be because I'm a fan of mobile hardware in general. Ever since I was a young'n, I found myself lusting over laptops, rather than the more powerful desktop counterparts. This was around the time when laptops were rapidly approaching becoming equal to desktops in terms of raw power, but it was also when I started to notice something: mobile devices tend to innovate more than desktops or set-top boxes. It started with laptops: getting more powerful, sure, (not to mention smaller) but also adding things like hot-swappable drives, (long before things like USB came along) interchangeable covers, and built-in webcams. Then PDAs came along: Palm did a pretty good job of moving them along, but that market fizzled out not long before smartphones (the iPhone in particular) took off like so many pissed off avians.
Gaming portables haven't had much in the way of innovation, save for the last 5 years or so. Game Boy started it, really, as the one of the first to have interchangeable cartridges for each game. Then the various iterations of that system (Color, Advance, SP, Micro) as well as the various copycats (Game Gear, Lynx, Wonderswan, and many others) didn't really change the formula, and as games a a whole evolved into more mature and cinematic experiences, portable gaming seemed more or less stuck in the same place, as kid stuff. Along came the Nintendo DS, and alongside that, the PlayStation Portable, or PSP. Both innovated in different ways: the DS used dual screens and a limited touch-screen capacity to make games more "friendly" and "interactive" to non-gamers, but the system and it's tricks always seemed way too "gimmicky" to me, which turned me off of it initially. (I did own an iteration of it later, as it did eventually get a few decent games on it, but it is no longer part of my collection.) The PSP, however, was much more graphically powerful, could play music and video, surf the internet, read digital comics, download podcasts, and more. (Granted a few of these features were added months or even years later.) It was designed to be a new generation of device. Sony even called it "the new Walkman" at some point. It could deliver console quality gaming (or close to it at the time) in the palm of your hand. Literally.
So, why did the DS become so damn popular? It's hard to say, but I'd bet that it had to do with the PSP coming off as a bit of a split personality. It could do so many different things, that what it actually was as a device was a tough question to answer. Was it a gaming device? Yes, but it was lacking a couple things, hardware wise, that would've made the games it delivered more, well, payable and fun. (One analog stick is so 2001.) Was it an MP3 player? Yes, but it wasn't better than an iPod, and didn't have an easy way to organize/import music onto it. (Such as iTunes.) Was it a web browser? Yes, but a crappy one, limited by the system's memory which was pretty low to begin with. And oh, god, did the pirates go after that system with everything they had. So, in the long run, it really had it's work cut out for it, and despite some great games made for it, the system never really got a foothold in the collective minds of gamers.
The Vita seems to recognize this, and learn from Sony's past mistakes. In the wake of Nintendo's 3DS flopping, the iPhone/App Store making portable games something completely different in the public mind, and Sony's own struggles with the PS3 launch, the Vita is in a position to take aspects of iPhone gaming and it's own technological and gaming prowess and make something truly unique. A touch screen, a touch pad on the back, front and rear cameras, motion sensors, WI-Fi, GPS, 3G, (if you so choose) a high-resolution OLED screen, dual analog sticks, and games that already span from unique, casual, touch friendly stuff (Sound Shapes, Escape Plan, Little Deviants) to stuff aimed at more hardcore, traditional gamers. (Uncharted, Resistance, Ruin) And this is all before the system is actually out. The next year or so has a long list of incoming games for the device that I not only want, but I believe others of all kinds and creeds would enjoy as well.
There's a lot of potential in the Vita, more than there is in the 3DS, in my opinion, and that's part of what draws me to it. The potential in both the hardware and software is there to not only bring great times with you wherever you go, but to also share those times with your friends, whether they're with you or not. Another part of the Vita's appeal is, as I mentioned earlier, the games. The 3DS has maybe 4 or 5 games I'd ever play on it. Ever. I seem to have this problem with a lot of Nintendo's recent work, alongside the aforementioned "gimmicky" nature of their new direction. The Vita, on the other hand, has at least 10 or 12 I'd buy on release day, and that's just the stuff in the next year. The Vita isn't without problems, at least in terms of the things I'd need to make it function properly (namely a memory card, as mentioned earlier) but they are something I can easily overlook as growing pains or early adopter syndrome.
So, a preorder is at the top of my wishlist this year. It doesn't hit the states till February, but a fully paid preorder would make an excellent Jesus-Birthday gift. The dilemma I had was how to preorder it. Do I go with the First Edition Bundle, and get a game I'm not super interested in, a smallish memory card, and a system with a feature I don't really need (3G)? Or do I make a custom bundle, say with the WI-Fi only model, Uncharted, a bigger memory card, and a kit of accessories? Turns out the latter option is only $10 more than the official bundle. Sold.
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