Sony Pre-TGS Announcements - My Reaction

On 09/09/2013 at 08:27 AM by gigantor21

So Sony's press conference was streamed at 2 in the morning last night. I could've stayed up, as I don't have work until 3PM or so, but decided to just sleep in and catch up tomorrow.

Whoo, boy.

JP PS4 Releases Next February - Well, damn. I kind of expected it at this point, but it's still surprising that Sony wouldn't release in Japan sometime this year. Guess they're going all out to ensure that they have their global stock in order, since MS isn't set to usurp them in their home base. It's coming out with Knack for free in the bargain, though, which is pretty cool I guess. :p

New Vita 2 Redesign - My impressions of this are...mixed. I honestly don't feel like I missed much as an early adopter.

The built-in memory is long overdue, but...just 1GB? Really? The install for a physical copy of Killzone Mercenary alone would eat up like half that. It says so right on the box. It should've at least been 8GB if they wanted it to have actual utility for light downloaders...but then how would they drive sales for their expensive proprietary cards?

It's thinner, lighter, and doesn't use a proprietary USB cord anymore, which is all great. But it also gets rid of the OLED screen, and isn't much cheaper than the OG Vita. Given all that, I don't see much reason to upgrade if it does come here.

Vita TV - This looks like a direct answer to the Ouya and other Android gaming boxes. Only it's much better here, as it also offers compatibility with Vita releases, albeit not all of them (most likely due to loss of touch controls). I thought it was a really cool idea at first...but then I wondered why they didn't just put an HDMI port into the new Vita instead. That way, it would have the same functionality, full game support, AND be portable. Seems like a much better idea to me.

New Deep Down Trailer - The game looks great--almost as good as the initial reveal, which I was skeptical about back when it was first announced. Not really sure about an always-online dungeon crawler, though.

New Guilty Gear Xrd Trailer - I-no and Axl are back! I-no looks to have the same design, more or less, while Axl has gone back to his old GG1 design on the PSX in all it's jean shorts glory. They also announced that it'll be out on PS4 AND PS3 sometime next year--which is really surprising to me considering that the arcade version isn't even out yet. Not that I'm complaining.

Soul Sacrifice Delta/2 - An upgraded version of SS is due out in Japan next March, with a full on sequel announced as well. SS is one of my favorite Vita games, so I'm SUPER stoked. Can't wait to pick up both. :)

Can't wait to see and hear more in the run-up to TGS, and during it.

Homelessrook

09/09/2013 at 08:55 AM

Why redesign something that is fine. Unless they are changing the memory card design to fit sd.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

09/09/2013 at 08:57 AM

they changed the screen from OLED to LED, to keep costs down. Makes me want to get an original version more.

09/09/2013 at 09:09 AM

Yes, OLED is way better. I see nothing wrong with the original, other than the memory card.

gigantor21

09/09/2013 at 10:41 AM

I wouldn't have minded a redesign if it was much cheaper, or added better stuff than the Slim Vita does. As it stands, though, I don't know about this.

I'd trade my current Vita in a heartbeat if a model with microSD support was added. I had to use all types of trade-ins and discounts to get my 32GB card @ $45, and it STILL doesn't seem like it'll be big enough.

transmet2033

09/09/2013 at 09:04 AM

I think that it is now time to start picking up Vita games. Even if I do not get a Vita, I will probably get a Vita TV.

09/09/2013 at 10:42 AM

It's certainly a lot more appealing to me than the other Android based platforms at the same price. The Ouya doesn't have Soul Sacrifice or Dynasty Warriors Next.

09/10/2013 at 04:27 PM

The biggest problem with the Vita TV is that for $100 you get just the little console, no controllers. It would work perfectly for somebody who already has a PS3 or PS4 because they have controllers that will work with it... Or somebody like me who still has PS3 controllers from when the Yellow Light came and never went away. So, I may as well spend the money on a Vita because I would rather have a portable.

KnightDriver

09/09/2013 at 02:35 PM

I used to want that connection to a TV with my handhelds but not anymore. I like the smaller screen for certain types of games. Plus I have a handheld to play away from my TV. That's the point of it, right?

09/09/2013 at 02:42 PM

Wait! What the heck is this? PSVItaTV

Oh, I get it now. A $100 console that streams some, but not all, Vita games, the PSP and PSOne games on PSN. Neat. Here's the Wired article on it: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/09/playstation-vita-tv/

09/10/2013 at 08:19 AM

I can see it working better as a low-cost platform outside the traditional markets. A $100 console would be great in, say, Brazil, where the PS3 Slim cost something like $1000 at launch. I don't see it doing much in the West or Japan, though.

09/10/2013 at 04:21 PM

I agree.

Alex-C25

09/09/2013 at 10:36 PM

Well, the Vita TV announcement caught me by surprise.

But, now that they announced a new Vita model, will they discontinue the first design, ot will it be of two options?

09/10/2013 at 08:20 AM

I honestly don't know for sure. But cutting the price of the old model right before announcing a new one seems like a way of getting rid of existing stock to me. We'll just have to wait for confirmation I guess.

NSonic79

09/11/2013 at 01:10 PM

I just wish they'd make a PS Vita that had better load times. My wife is so interested in the system, but whenever she picks up a kiosk unit and tries to play something it takes forever to boot it up. A deal killer there :(

09/11/2013 at 02:08 PM

It's all over the place in my experience. Some games have great load times, while others are abysmal--especially when they're ports of games that don't have that problem on other platforms. The same holds true whether you buy at retail or download through PSN, which is one of the main reasons the cost of memory pisses me off so much.

Victorianize

09/15/2013 at 09:27 PM

Hey Hi Gigantor21. I kind been following you from "Dynamite Glove Forums" because I have a big big big question and I have been looking day and night and I cannt find it.... Please help. I saw a few weeks ago the begining of a movie where real live Tokio was being attacked by an Angel (obvious it was about Evangelion) made by computer animation, and the dialogue was so intense.... I dont know the name, I just know I want it. Do you know this movie? But I certainly know its Evangelion. Please Help! From Venezuela.

09/15/2013 at 10:09 PM

Unfortunately I wouldn't know. I'm not really into Evangelion. ParaparaJMO, Anonymoo or K' on the forums would probably be much more helpful to you. You should try private messaging them.

Sorry. :(

09/17/2013 at 10:42 AM

Now that I have picked up a Vita, I completely understand the problem with the memory cards. If only Sony had switched to SD cards or even their memory sticks like the PSP. I would have definitely waited for the redesign if they would have done that. I do not think that the LCD screen would have been much of an issue if they would have gotten rid of the proprietary memory cards, or at least added the capability to use SD cards....

09/17/2013 at 04:10 PM

That would've made the redesign a day-one purchase for me, easy. I'd love nothing better than to be able to get a 64GB SD card and call it a day. Alternately, a good amount of internal storage (i.e. more than 8GB) would also have been welcome.

PixlBit