The PlayStation Recap — Viva Vita Edition

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The big day is almost here! This Wednesday (or Tuesday night) sees the launch of PS Vita — the most powerful and versatile handheld gaming machine on the planet. PS Vita’s imminent launch stirs up some powerful memories for me, including January of 2011 when Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. revealed NGP (“Next Generation Portable”) to a small group of journalists in Tokyo, and the night of PlayStation’s E3 2011 press conference when Kaz Hirai announced that PS Vita’s $249 to $299 retail price — a shocking development at the time, as many analysts and editors were predicting a price closer to $399.

Time flies, and it’s hard to believe that PS Vita’s long gestation process is nearly complete. But it’s so exciting to see PS Vita making its way into the wild for the first time and hear first impressions from early adopters enjoying the launch lineup. If you’re picking up PS Vita next week, be sure to tell us whether you’re getting a 3G/Wi-fi system or a Wi-Fi system, as well as what games and accessories you’re thinking of buying!

In other news this week: we revealed PS Vita midnight launch events in NYC, Houston, San Diego, Boca Raton, and Santa Clara; we saw new posts for PS Vita launch titles WipEout 2048, Mutant Blobs Attack, Super Stardust Delta (+ Blast Pack DLC), and an update on UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss‘s Black Market feature; a host of new PSN games including Start the Party! Save the World, Wheels of Destruction, and Worms Ultimate Mayhem, Naughty Dog reminisced about creating Jak and Daxter, and David Jaffe guest-starred on a “Twisted” episode of The Tester 3.

The PlayStation Recap – PlayStation.Blog

Most-Watched Video of the Week: PS Vita: “Bad Intentions” Commercial


The PlayStation Recap — Viva Vita Edition

The 10 Most-Viewed Posts of the Week

  • PlayStation Store Update — A ridiculous update: Free Far Cry 2 for PS Plus users, three new PS3 games including The House of the Dead III, and 17 new PS Vita games. Definitely worth a look.
  • PS Vita: The Ultimate FAQ — More than 45 PS Vita questions answered in exquisite detail. Don’t see yours answered? Leave it in the comments!
  • PS Vita Livechat Starts at 3pm Pacific — There’s some good dirt on PS Vita in this Q&A session with PlayStation’s director of handhelds.
  • Resistance: Burning Skies – The Chimera Infect PS Vita This May — Check out the final release date and final box art for PS Vita’s first dual-stick shooter.
  • Mass Effect 3 Demo Coming Today to PSN — I’m trying to avoid spoilers, so I won’t be playing this. The demo also gives you a taste of multiplayer — anybody try it out?
  • 3 Great Reasons to Try PS Vita/PS3 Cross-Play Content — Try out PS Vita-to-PS3 gameplay with WipEout 2048, Hustle Kings, and DLC characters for Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 with these special promotional bundles.
  • January 2012 PSN Top Sellers: NFL Blitz Hustles to the Top Spot — The lastest sales stats for PS3 and PSP games…and soon, PS Vita!
  • Journey Takes Its First Steps This March — Jenovah Chen, Kellee Santiago and the team at thatgamecompany announce the final date of this innovative PSN title.
  • PS Vita: Never Stop Playing — Check out the first round of TV ads for PS Vita.
  • The Future of War: Building DUST 514’s Arsenal — Get specs on three new weapons for this upcoming PSN shooter and learn how they fit into the game’s sprawling scope.
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    53 Comments

    7 Author Replies

    • I don’t know if u are the right person to tell or if u can forward this but in the blog share, when submitting an idea, can u add “PS Vita” to the idea focus or whatever it is called?

    • By the way, I am looking forward to getting my Vita on Wed. ordered it with Release Date Shipping on Amazon.com for under a $1, that’s a great thing to have so no gas is wasted going to a store and is good on the wallet as well as the environment.

      I will admit i am currently not picking up any launch games anyway but I am of course gonna transfer whatever I can from my PSP Go to the vita.

      I had heard that PS1 classics will be compatible with the vita in March. Any thoughts?

    • Hey Sid, I got my PS Vita but I was wondering if you buy all your games through retail.. how do you tell what was the last game you’ve played if you don’t turn it off?

    • @Kchow23. on the live area screens, the game that is active will say continue and the others will say start. also, if your in the middle of an Uncharted game, yet try to start a Super Stardust Delta game, it will tell you that the action will close Unchartes, and ask if you want to continue.

    • I’ve been playing my vita since Wednesday and loving it.

      I`m Playing: Super stardust delta, escape plan (some touch screen control issues but still a great game) uncharted golden abyss, ultimate marvel vs capcom, modnation racers road trip (noticed some texture issues popping up and the load times takes a while) and little deviants (the control or either a hit or miss situation in my opinion).

      Can`t wait for tales from space on Tuesday. Already have money on my account to ready to buy it day one.

      Thanks for such a great device Sony.

    • Playing: Resistance 3, Disgaea 4 (still waiting for Twisted Metal to arrive)
      Watching: 12 Monkeys, John Carpenter’s The Thing (I saw it for the first time last night and maaaan is it good)
      Listening: Misfits, Queens Of The Stone Age

      I’ve noticed that for listening you like to put your own “blogcast” (ugh, internet words…). You don’t listen to music?

      • I do, but little in the way of new music :) I’m a classic rock/80s/90s guy, though I do like some more recent bands such as The Strokes and the Futureheads.

    • @ Sid Will the augmented reality minigame become available this Wednesday when the system launches?

    • I’m looking forward to playing the table soccer game :-)

    • I enjoyed the ME3 demo. It has some neat ideas both in single player and multiplayer but it seems to have frame rate problems? This seems to be a feature with multiplatform games coming to PS3. Is this a hardware problem, Devs not knowing how to work with the system after 6 years or is it publishers not giving a s**t?

      I wish Sony would talk about this issue publicly.

    • Just a heads-up for all of those who can’ t wait for PS1 classics on the Vita:

      It may not be the best way, but you can actually stream the games to the handheld using “Remote Play.” I was concerned there would be too much lag to handle tasks like this, but was gladly proven otherwise. If you have the First Edition Bundle, try it out yourself! The potential has me very excited to see what Sony does with it.

    • well i was going to buy a vita on friday but i just heard you cant play outside due to the glare, i thought this wouldnt have been a issue. o well i will wait until a glare free model comes out. or unless what i heard is incorrect

    • You mean PS1 classics weren’t playable with the Vita? I don’t want to remote play a PS1 classic when I could just have it on the Vita itself, it’s actually one of the things I look forward to since I have a bunch of PS1 games but never play them on my PS3. Glad it’s actually coming to the Vita (No timeframe means they’re going to implement it but they just don’t know when it’ll be available). By the time I get a PS Vita sometime this year or next, it’ll hopefully be implemented.

    • @4 Wasn’t referring to live screens and you will only be able to tell if you can or can’t play a game after you attempt to play it… It really should be clear from the list of icons what is the current game card that is in your PS Vita at all times. For instance, the current game card’s icon should be highlighted or something that sets it apart from the rest. Once you get 20 icons for 20 different game cards then it will become extremely hard to tell what game is currently inside your PS Vita and going through 20 different icons or taking out the game card just to check aren’t good enough solutions.

    • If there is a solution to that issue then it would be great to know, but if there isn’t then this should be patched ASAP since it seems to be a big oversight for those that buy game cards since people who buy digital only will not have this issue..

    • I was watching sports highlights today on ESPN 2 (While my Gators were destroying Arkansas!!) and I love how everything is sponsored by Playstation Vita! Definitely a way to get the word out, to the millions of sports fans out there. Hopefully you’ll offer more sports games then just Fifa, MLB and Madden (College Sports, and NBA games would be HUGE for the Vita) to please the sports fans such as I! (P.S. I already own my Vita, and loving every minute of it!)

    • I was originally going to buy a Vita, but because of the way Sony has recently been avoiding questions about the system, and the fact that from what I have seen, the system seems to be rushed (i.e. LOTS of apps not available until months after launch or without any confirmed date.) And the horrible job I have seen Sony doing in the past year or so with keeping their own customers informed of late store updates, system patches and the obvious ignorance or arrogance Sony seems to have against their own LOYAL Sony customers (This is in no way having to do with the PSN outage btw). Has me almost to the point of never picking up any of their products again. I mean, I have loved the Sony brand since I was a kid and the horribly sad communication problem you seem to have with your own customer base is just getting to me. I mean even the smallest thing of telling your own customers what are in the REQUIRED system patches is not even told til sometimes days after you HAVE to have it installed. Sony PLEASE, if you worked better on being honest, straight forward and just plain considerate, your customers will come in droves. And the loyal customer will continue to stay loyal.

      • Hmmm — appreciate the feedback, but I guess I just see this different. We are answering tons of questions on Vita (example: https://blog.playstation.com/2012/02/16/ps-vita-the-ultimate-faq/) and we’ve marked many more questions for follow-up. The first round of apps hits on 2/21 with Netflix, FB. LiveTweet, Flickr. Store update does vary from week to week, but I don’t see it as some sort of vast conspiracy. Thanks for sharing, though, and keep letting us know how we can do better.

    • @Kchow23

      I just pop the cartridge out and reload it. The game icon will start bouncing. I do think you’re correct that the system should give a notification of what is in the system, but that is something that I would hope a future system update will correct.

      I picked up an Early Edition on Wednesday and got Escape Plan and Uncharted to go with it. The launch lineup rocks and I look forward to picking up the other titles as I have free time and money.

      I also am looking for some of the UMD only games to come to the download section. Valkyrie Profile Lenneth and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, especially. Hmm…maybe I’ll go bug Square Enix about those. ;)

    • I am playing Bioshock (yeah…my backlog is long, but distinquished LOL)

      I am watching Safe House in theaters (just okay) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on Netflix

      And I am reading everything I can about PS VIta!!! I will be picking up my 3G/Wi-Fi model on Wednesday and cannot wait to play Escape Plan, Wipeout 2048 and Super Stardust.

    • When are you guys going to update the PS3 to actually be able to see the vita online? because going online on the vita dosent show us online to friends on the PS3.
      Trophies unlocked on the Vita dont show up on the PS3 either
      even pictures taken form the vita and sent out to friends on PS3 they wont be able to see the pictures. seems like PS3 needs an update to start doing all that

    • Heres just some of the questions that I mean that are not being answered about the Vita, or have been given a workaround answer.
      Why do you allow the japanese market to have umd copying accessories but not the American market?
      Why did you go with having to make the memory cards SONY ONLY instead of going with current market cards i.e Micro SD or SD cards? Is it because you want to overprice them like you are?
      How about an exact date of when or If PS1 games on the PSN network will be supported on the Vita?
      How come all PSP and Mini’s arent already compatible with the Vita upon launch knowing this system was on its way over a year ago?
      Why did you decide to go with NO outlet to connect the system to a TV/monitor like the PSP?
      Thats just some of the questions. I have many more.

    • I got Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Lumines Electronic Symphony and an 16gb memory card on friday afternoon. I have off all day wednesday so i’ll be able to enjoy playing with my playstation vita wi-fi. I’ll be downloading Zenonia and Flying Hamster, both of those mini titles will be great on the OLED screen.
      Will be watching Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 1.

      • I have a 16GB memory card too, and it feels like the perfect size — it’s a very good combination of size and affordability. Definitely the size I’ll be recommending to folks — I have 7 or 8 Vita games, a PSP game, and save/install data and I still have 7GB free.

    • I am getting two wifi Vitas, one for me and one for my wife. We already bought Uncharted Golden Abyss online cause it’s cheaper (duh) and we’re also going to get Escape Plan. I also have Hustle Kings will be playing that as well!! Can’t wait for Wednesday, everyday since we got them paid off she’s been texting me a countdown!! Plus recently the other things, like cases, memory cards, and screen protectors have been coming in the mail, it’s such a tease!!!

    • any news on playstation suite? i still have no clue what it is!!!

    • Hi, Sid, you all talked me into getting the 3G model. So the 2 wi fi cancellations on Amazon are not actual cancellations but an upgrade. I’ll be downloading UGA & Escape Plan prior to getting my new Vita so I can be ready!

      Playing Kingdoms of Amalur. Yeah, it’s just ok, all that hype was not warrented.

      Very excited to get my Vita; I promised my buddies I would show it to them since they’re sick of me talking about it for the last 6 months.

    • Got my Vita day 1. The 15th, not the 22nd. Got Uncharted, Wipeout, Escape Plan, Hot Shots Golf, Super Stardust, (before I knew it would be free), and every demo on the store. Then I reloaded both the PSP versions of God of War to my Vita. I must say they look really great on the OLED screen. So far I love everything about the Vita, but…..
      What’s the deal with trophies NOT showing up on PS3? I can see both on the Vita, but not on PS3.
      A guy on my friends list has been playing his Vita all day, and on PS3 it says he’s online, and thats all. He could be sleeping, and forgot to turn his PS3 off for all I know.
      Please fix this soon. Other than that, Great Job Sony.

      PSN: Boger

    • Currently playing: GoldenEye 007 Reloaded, Resistance 3, Hamster Ball, Marvel Pinball

      Watching: Star Trek DS9 on Netflix, Kung Fu Panda 2, Fast Five, X-Men First Class

      Reading: anything I can about the PS Vita & PS Blog

    • Wat i hope oni Monster hunter 3 on Us PSN n in english sub~ when it gonna release? Or PSVITA will make new Monster hunter juz exclusive for VITA?Can i ask something?i from malaysian actually but im using US psn … if i buy D Psn reload CArd can i reload it direct on psvita?coz i saw the card it oni shown “for PS3 or PSP” …

    • I have my travel pouch, 32GB memory card, screen protectors, and 4 Vita games ready to go for Wednesday! I got:

      1. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
      2. Lumines: Electronic Symphony
      3. Wipeout 2048
      4. Super Stardust Delta

      If anyone would wanna get in some multiplayer going on in UMvC3 or 2048, please feel free to add me. :) Come on Wednesday! :D

      PSN: JDog09

    • hey sid im really loving wipeout 2048 online campaign and cross platform play but theres one thing the game seriously need : a party system , theres no way to invite our psn vita friends to play with us other than that the game is really great

    • Picking up my wifi Vita Wednesday morning (going in late to work because of it, shh.)
      Already picked up a 32gig ‘ultra super tiny’ memory card. Unsure of what games I’m getting, besides Gravity Rush later. Already have Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and Corpse Party ready to be plopped onto the Vita though, so those will keep me busy for awhile.

      I’m most curious to see how Sony’s going to out-WiiU Nintendo with the PS3/Vita connection. Exciting times in Sony Land.

    • Hey, i got the vita early via pre-order…must say it amazes me how well it runs…however i have a few questions/ concerns….

      1st…when i put my account on the vita..i synced my trophies right away…it shows all my ps3 trophies on the vita as well as the vita trophies…however…when i sync my trophies on the vita they dont show up on my ps3 (vita trophies) is sony going to fix this??

      2nd…i was under the impression that the ps3 and vita were fully compatbile with each other…what i mean specifically is voice chat….how come vita users cant voice chat with ps3 users?? is this also going to be patched/updated

      3rd… it appears that the online isnt working properly…..if i sign in on my ps3 my friends can all see me go online, send messages etc….however…with the vita.. if i sign in…on my friends ps3 it still shows me as offline (even though on the vita it clearly shows im online)…yet i can send them text messages through group messaging.

      any help / feedback is greatly appreciated

    • I have a preorder for a PSV:Wi-Fi, and plan to get a few PSN games for it… my huge question is: Is the development teams in charge of the Vita updates looking into adding compatibility for arcade-type PSN games such as Castle Crashers, X-Men, Simpsons, TMNT: Reshelled, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, Street Fighter HD, etc into a future Vita update?

      These games would be FANTASTIC ports over to the vita, and shouldn’t be hard to quickly convert, since most are in HD already, and use 6 buttons at the most… With the huge library people have built up over the years of simple arcade games on the PS3, it’d be a huge payoff to allow these games to travel.

      Final comment/question: Any other games besides Ultimate MvC3 slated to use the PSV/PS3 ultimate controller link up? I think it’s an awesome concept, and would love to see it used in many different genres. Imagine in a COD-type game assigning med packs & aerial assaults to the touch screen. Imagine a football game where you select plays on the touch screen, including hand-written plays, or an MMORPG where the touch screen housed the map/inventory screens so as to not clutter the main image with the UI.

      Vita has so much potential!

    • got my first ed. bundle on the 15th, great console, even greater possibilities. haven’t activated the 3G yet, but i must say, with the vita, the moon is the limit, i’ve been playing little deviants abit, and i plan on getting the 2 year accidental damage coverage, wich i wish the ps3 came with, but alas, one can only dream, on the other hand, little deviants is a great game to show off the possible application of features to the vita, but as a game it only gets a 3.5 / 5 with me, also, i can’t wait for there to be buisness apps with the vita, that would give me an excuse/reason to bring it to work (tee hee)

    • is there any chance the vita will get ps home or something similiar sometime down the road?

    • is there any chance the vita will get ps home or something like home

    • Playing: WKC2 (finally!), Vita games and upscaled PSP JRPGs galore.

      Reading: BBC news feeds/ Neil Gaiman.

      Watching: Not much. No time between Vita/ gym/ other hobbies.

      Waiting: For Vita JRPGs! Sid, go nag XSEED to bring over Ragnarok Odyssey and pester Namco about Tales of Innocence R :)

      Can’t wait for Gravity Daze though, that game looks incredible and has had nothing but rave customer and critic reviews. (I trust the customer over the critic reviews for niche/ new IPs anyhow.)

    • First im gona pre apologize for posting this offtopic but I just wabt an answer and under the right heading im constatly ignored. Ok so I just wanta answer to my question ive been asking here and sony customer support since ps3 update 4.0 went live… Why did u remove psp support, before the update my fifty plus psp games I had on my ps3 harddrive were transferable to my go at will but now I have to redl them to put them on my psp this has been a hasstle and I still dont understand why it was changed. Like ive said before I have been askin this question for months now and im either ignored or in the case of customer support told they have no idea. please just tell me why a systen update prepin for vita ingegration dis integrated the psp… Oh and restore the feature if you would ever so kindly id like to be able to transfer to my inevitable vita without havin to redl

    • I just finished playing Kingdoms of Amalur. That was a fun plat. I’m going to be playing a little of the J&D Collection and some Dark Kingdom while I wait for my Wi-Fi Vita on Wednesday. I’ve got Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Touch My Katamari, and will be picking up Dynasty Warriors Next on Wednesday as well. Also grabbed the digital versions of Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, Ys Seven and Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines to put on my 32GB memory card. Also purchased the SSD Bundle and plan to grab Mutant Blobs Attack. I bought one of the Starter Kits, so I’m good to go on accessories.

      I’m currently watching .hack//Quantum. Looks gorgeous on Blu-Ray.

      I’ve been reading Snow Crash for a while now. I’m a slow reader. But I’m really enjoying it. First time reading cyber-punk.

      And lastly, I’m listening to lots of dubstep, really loud. Being on vacation is awesome!

    • I pre-ordered the PS Vita Wi-Fi only version. I bought the $39.99 Starter Pack and Uncharted:Golden Abyss. Now I’m just waiting for next wednesday to play it. Can’t Wait!! I’m watching:Shameless Season 2. I am crushing so hard on Emmy Rossum! lol I’m listening to Malonie Fiona’s song:”4a.m.” I am reading:Latest issue of Playstation Magazine. Lollipop Chainsaw article was very informative. Looks like a game that’s definitely going to bring a new perspective to the Zombie game genre. Bring on 2/22!

    • I preordered the Wifi, but I’ll be upgrading to the 3G because of that sweet bundle. I’m gonna get Katamari…if I can get 2 more games, I’ll get Rayman and…mmmm…not so interested in the others. Maybe Little Deviants I guess.

    • Good luck to PS Vita!

    • @16 WTF are you whining about? Cry me a river what a joke.

    • As far as launches go Vita is probably the most impressive console I have owned at launch, so much more potential to, hopefully sony keeps adding features to it.

      Will we eventually be able to see vita players online on PS3? Right now I show up as offlline.

      Will we be able to get messages instantly instead of having to got hrough the messaging app?

    • Oh 1 more, why do Vita trophies not show up on PS3?

    • Why do all Vita games have different prices? For example
      Uncharted = 50
      Hotshot/Wipeout/Little Deviant = 40
      ModNation = 30

      On console all games are the same price unless they’re PSN games or HD remake…..What gives with the change of price. Should make them all equal price to 40 or something not 1 50 then 40 then 30 then back to 50………

    • I already have the FEB, and it’s phenomenal.
      As far as the people complaining that there isn’t any way to know what game card is in your system, We have memories for a reason.
      The only physical game that I have is Little Deviants, and I get annoyed by it having to load every time I turn the system on, So I don’t even leave it in my system.
      The best “fix” for that issue, is to buy a large memory card, and then enjoy the discount on the online games, as well as the fact that you can delete and REDOWNLOAD them. That’s much more of a perk to me than having to carry a dozen game cards with me at all times.

    • I’m getting a wifi version at the midnight release of fred meyer’s. i don’t know which game to get though!

    • Not sure which game I want first; so I’ll pick up my wifi only model on Wed. morning from the gamestop I preordered/prepaid it from, download every demo, and decide after a week or so.

    • Picking up the 3g/wifi launch bundle along with Shinobido 2, Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus, and Escape Plan.

    • When you sign in into your PS Vita account, it puts you in last place on your friends PS3 friend list and it doesn’t show the last time you signed in anyone more it’s just blank. This is until you sign back in using your PS3. You need a friend with a PS Vita or vice versa to see this.

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