Vita Hands On
Glasgow was one of a few fortunate cities to be graced with a PlayStation Vita pop up showcase recently and a few of the SquareGo team managed to get some hands on time with this little miracle.
So to start with the actual hands on, this device feels so nice in hand and fits perfectly even for larger hands (I still struggle with 3DS, hopefully the stick add-on will change this) with all of the buttons within easy reach. Considering the power and tech inside the Vita is extremely light, feeling no more heavier than a PS3 controller.
The two thumb sticks that feel nice and springy are on either side of the screen and a well-placed d-pad, four face buttons and two shoulder buttons will mean most games played will be extremely similar to the home console experience. Added to this you have the touch sensitive front and rear panels and I would say most game genres will be more than adequately covered, plus hopefully some new ones. The usual Start, Select and PS Home buttons also adorn the bottom corners of the console like little jewels, their clear plastic appearance setting off the finished look of the screen, with its well backlit innards beaming gaming bliss for all to see in most lighting conditions.
The general main screen navigation is very easy to follow for anyone who has owned a touch screen device in the past, with simple swipes navigating the many menus, with up and down dealing with whatever is saved on your machine and left and right for items running in the background, ready to launch with a tap of the screen.
Game wise there is a very impressive launch line up waiting for you, with Uncharted and Wipeout being the obvious front runners but also some other great titles that without play testing I would of all but ignored: Virtua Tennis 4 looks stunning, Marvel vs Capcom plays as well as the home console and Rayman, a blinder of a title, suits the small Vita screen perfectly.
With under a week until release there is still a lot of news slowly appearing about this new console, with Vodaphone only just announcing its 3G pricing plus a digital copy of Wipeout (£5 a month) and many shops updating bundle deals daily. All this plus a surprisingly solid group of releases make this an even sweeter day one purchase, but there is still the ultimate question, WiFi or 3G?
