Sony's Next-Generation Portable Is Out, In Japan 134
A few months before it's due to arrive in the U.S., Sony's PlayStation Vita, successor to the PlayStation Portable, has been released in Japan. Says the linked Associated Press article: "For the Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment giant, the Vita is the biggest product launch since the PlayStation 3 console five years ago. It's also accompanied by two dozen software products — the largest number of launch titles in PlayStation history.
The Vita has front and back cameras, a touchscreen in front, a touch pad on the back and two knob-like joysticks. It will enable gamers to play against each other using PlayStation 3 consoles over the Internet-based PlayStation Network, a system that was hit with a massive hacking attack earlier this year."
Simple "will I buy it" test. (Score:3, Interesting)
There's a simple test I put electronics through before I buy them - it reads something like this:
Does it need a data port?
Y - Go to next step
N - Star weighing other details
Does it have a Micro USB port?
Y - Star weighing other details
N - Go to next step.
Does it have a Mini USB port?
Y - Star weighing other details
N - Go to next step.
Does it have a Full sized USB port?
Y - Star weighing other details
N - Go to next step.
Does it have a six pin Firewire port?
Y - Star weighing other details
N - Go to next step.
Does it have a four pin Fiewire port?
Y - Star weighing other details
N - DON'T BUY THE DAMNED THING
Playstation Vita fails this simple test. It's also why I passed on the Galaxy Tab. I really don't need to carry any more cables with me.
Re:Simple "will I buy it" test. (Score:5, Insightful)
Why?
It could cost $5 and I wouldn't buy it because it comes stamped with 'Sony' on the front. Screw that and screw them.
On top of which there's a whole new proprietary memory card format! Hooray!
Re: (Score:2)
I've thought about that.
I've decided that if it cost $5 I would buy it, but only if the original, MSRP was > $250.
I would buy it as celebration of a small victory. Perhaps hang it on my wall.
Re: (Score:2)
But proprietary media formats have worked out so well for Sony in the past. Every time I go to the store I take a look at all the betamax tapes, mini discs and UMDs, and think man where would we be without these.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Simple "will I buy it" test. (Score:4, Informative)
You are confusing copy protection with proprietary media formats. There's no correlation between the two. The drives will still read CDs, DVDs & BDs that DON'T have the copy protection, you just can't execute code without bypassing said protection. With the Vita, there is NOTHING compatible with the proprietary media format they are using. You can't get a reader & you can't get blank media.
Dictionaries are useful tools when you don't understand a concept, even a quick google would have given you enough information to say your comment is flawed.
Re: (Score:3)
You are confusing copy protection with proprietary media formats. There's no correlation between the two. The drives will still read CDs, DVDs & BDs that DON'T have the copy protection, you just can't execute code without bypassing said protection.
For one thing, that's not copy protection but instead execute protection because it restricts execution even of original software that is not an illegal copy.
With the Vita, there is NOTHING compatible with the proprietary media format they are using.
Which is different from another company's Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS media how? Even within the Sony-verse, Memory Stick PRO Duo might be considered a proprietary media format.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
Why?
It could cost $5 and I wouldn't buy it because it comes stamped with 'Sony' on the front. Screw that and screw them.
On top of which there's a whole new proprietary memory card format! Hooray!
Trolls chanting "Screw Sony" marked "Insightful".
Only on Slashdot.
Re: (Score:2)
"Screw Sony" a troll? Do you work for them or something??? XCP, otherOS, insecure customer data? I won't say screw Sony, I'll say FUCK Sony in the ass with a hot soldering iron. Someone should be in prison for XCP. Sony should have gone out of business long ago, and would have if people weren't stupid.
Only a damned fool buys a Sony product. Oh, and BTW, I've been modded down for this exact type of comment against Sony.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, it's just so hard to find someone who hates Sony on Slashdot!
Re: (Score:2)
That's kind of Sony's fault, though, isn't it? I was a big fan of theirs back in the day, but since they've been so anti-consumer and... well, straight out evil, that they give Microsoft and Apple a run for their money.
</troll>
Re: (Score:2)
No I wont. It's why the PSP Go was a utter failure and people bought older PSP's or switched to the DS.
Sony is doing stupid things, people DONT WANT Download only games because they like selling them used. Battlefield 3 had a HUGE used turn in when MW3 came out.
Sony hates used game sales. Sony hates gamers.
Re: (Score:2)
The Vita can only run digital version of PSP games since it doesn't have a UMD drive. But Vita games are available day one as digital or you can go to a store and buy it on a small cartridge. So how will this kill off used game sales?
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Simple "will I buy it" test. (Score:4, Insightful)
Sony doesn't hate pirates, because pirates are cheap and never pay for anything. Sony does hate the second-hate market though, because these people are willing to pay money for a game, but Sony doesn't see a red cent of it.
That's why nearly all recent games, and every major title in the past year, has had download-only content in it right from the start. And by the way, Sony isn't the only one doing this.
Re: (Score:2)
The industry has worked fine for decades with used games. Why is it only now a problem?
Re: (Score:1)
This logic hinges on the assumption that used game resellers make some nice profit
Eh? What does reseller's profit have to do with game dev's profit?
Stopping reselling only _ensures_ drop in resales, not a spike in first sales.
They just don't bring as much as they used to and they need to bring more because the "bad" games now make more losses than they used to.
BS. First, most titles selling over 1M copies are in post-"1-5M to develop" era. Second, "10-100M to develop" era is long here and companies survived just fine with resellers. Trying to double-dip is just pure greed. Third, if you spend tens of millions dollars and can't even break even on your product - it means you failed in managing money and judging the market f
Re: (Score:1)
So you believe there is a market of people who only wish to buy used games for the sole reason of them being used similarly to the used underwear market alleged to exist in Japan? You might be right but the current theory in the industry is that people buy used games to save money. If secondary market did not exist then publishers could offer games at the same price points through gradual discounting.
Discounting? Now you make even less sense. Consider two scenarios: a) person #1 buys a game for $60 when it's released, sells it to person #2 for $30 two weeks later. Result: company's profit $60, #1 and #2's spending $30 each. b) person #1 and #2 buys a game half a year later, when it's discounted to $30. Result: company's profit $60, #1 and #2's spending $30 each, the only difference being "buy now" vs "buy later".
BS. Most of the companies that existed before 2000 have not survived or barely exist now (like Interplay with a dozen people left), both publishers and developers. Here is a fine read for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Defunct_video_game_companies [wikipedia.org]
And what exactly should that link prove? "Video games always were a flimsy market and it tak
Re: (Score:2)
actually no. it's sony that is. they think they should be entitled to post sale usage patterns. this attitude creates pirates
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, I'm very self-entitled (fixed that for you). I'm entitled to know EXACTLY what I'm buying, through trying it out to the fullest extent possible, before I buy it. Moreso since I can't return it if I don't like it or, for some reason, can't use it.
If piracy is my only means for doing so, so be it, that is a choice made by the company whose media I'm pirating. Were they to allow returns on opened media, I'd be willing to buy it and, if I don't like it, return it; since I can not do this, I pirate it and,
Re:Simple "will I buy it" test. (Score:4, Funny)
Sony doesn't hate gamers, they just have absolutely no respect for them.
Re: (Score:2)
Cap (Score:2)
Now, thanks to people like you I can't just download Skyrim off PSN.
Is it that, or is it thanks to people like the U.S. home ISPs that spend money on monthly transfer cap enforcement measures instead of on improving their network capacity? Retail PS3 games on BD-ROM are in the double-digit gigabytes and already exceed some home ISPs' monthly caps.
Re: (Score:3)
2) It's Sony. Many slashdotters won't buy Sony anymore.
But yeah if the price is negative USD200 I'd buy it. Call me a sell-out but the USD200 will be nice in my drive upgrade/replacement fund
Re: (Score:2)
If the price was -$200, I'd buy as many as the store stocked, from every store in the area. ;)
Re: (Score:2)
You still have to charge it somehow.
I might make an exception for a simple round connection like the PSP-2000 had, but not for a "multi-use port".
Re: (Score:2)
So it works on magical air charging?
USB charge port or it is a complete FAIL.
Re: (Score:2)
USB charge port or it is a complete FAIL.
What if you want to charge a device faster than 2.5 W, the maximum that a conforming USB device can draw from a computer without a dedicated charging port?
Re:Simple "will I buy it" test. (Score:4, Informative)
Is it a SONY product? Y - move along, nothing to see here.
(Sorry, but it has not been long enough to forget the last screw up.)
Re: (Score:2)
As a programmer, something about the way this conditional logic is specified makes me twitch.
Re: (Score:2)
It looks like a simple case statement to me.
Are those rose coloured glasses or can you not tell good code from a bad?
Re: (Score:2)
Why? It looks like a simple case statement to me.
Fall-through switch is so taboo!
Re: (Score:2)
Everything else is just opinion
Even the fact that it's "good" software!
Not in near real time coding it isn't (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
And anyone that has programmed robotics knows that only the newbies don't put in a fall through switch. Failure to use those will = damaged hardware or death to someone.
you ALWAYS do a fall through safety.
Re: (Score:2)
Can't make a flow chart on Slashdot.......
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
As a programmer, something about the way this conditional logic is specified makes me twitch.
It's s/star/start/g that makes me twitch. If you're going to copy and paste something six times, you could at least notice that you've left a letter off.
Re: (Score:2)
It's a data interface that can be used for communications. Not only is it a data interface if properly implemented Firewire can do up to 30V 1.5A, talk about charging. I know it's not everyone's favorite interface, but I find having daisy chaining as an option is nice, but if I prefer not to I can use separate ports, the fact there's next to no processor overhead to use it is nice. The fact I can buy 5" cables for daisy chaining makes really makes wire management simple and clean, and I can use every one
Re: (Score:2)
I'm a Kubuntu user. My external drives are mostly Acomdata bays.
Apple is evil.
Re: (Score:2)
My implementation deals with a corner case.
"Does the hardware maker's site loads some homepage elements apparently fine and then smacks a "javascript is required" DIV in front?
Keep noscript and surf somewhere else."
Re: (Score:1)
Which part of your test considers whether or not the attached keyboard has a "t" key?
Re: (Score:2)
good. you can save up for your walker.
Re: (Score:1)
Does it have Firewire? Yes - Fuck that, move on.
Does it have USB? Yes - Awesome lets see what else it has...
A good thing? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:1)
You apply good ol' fashioned logic where there usually is none. Nowadays, people mostly buy things because they are affordable, not because they are necessary. If this gizmo is affordable, it will sell.
Re: (Score:3)
Exactly. That is why the results of this devices sales will win/lose regardless how well mobile phones perform.
With Sony having a foot in android phones as well it keeps them covered in both markets.
For serious gaming there is nothing that beats tactile feedback from real buttons and controls. How many times have you played a FPS on a touchscreen and had to adjust the positioning of your thumb because its moved off the touch directional pad?
Re: (Score:2)
For serious gaming ...
Nothing beats sitting at the couch or infront of a gaming rig.
People bought Gameboys not to do serious gaming (or ok I'll say some did, but I doubt they'd support the platform on their own). People bought Gameboys to get them through a boring bus ride to school, or to kill some time waiting for a train. I used to see Gameboys, DSes PSPs and all sorts of hand held gaming consoles on my daily commute to uni. These days all I see is people playing Angry Birds.
I'm willing to bet that people don't buy these thin
Re: (Score:1)
I'm willing to bet that people don't buy these things to play a hardcore FPS. They buy these things just to have some casual fun that can kill 20minutes.
So why are people spending $200-$500 on these things, when they can pick up some casual games off the App Store/Android Market for $0-$5 a pop?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Because contrary to what apple and google wants you to think, Game controls on phones suck.
Go ahead and play Rage on the iphone or Ipad.. it's frustrating as hell.
Re: (Score:3)
Does stuff like this help? http://www.icontrolpad.com/ [icontrolpad.com]
If the prices go down and stuff like this becomes popular for Android and Apple stuff I think the portable gaming console market is going to die and be completely replaced by the phones and pads.
Re: (Score:2)
Can't depend on already owning an iControlPad (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Some do, but a) controls and battery life still tend to be better on portables, b) there are hugely popular titles that are still exclusive to portables (can't say much about Sony, but here's a hint for one of examples on Nintendo - it starts with "Pok" and ends with "mon")
Re: (Score:2)
I dont care what the platform... FPS's SUCK on a portable. the PSP was the best portable yet for FPS and it still sucked, the analog stick on the PSP is garbage.
Re: (Score:2)
nevermind that.. fps sucks on a controller period.
Re: (Score:2)
"Affordable" is a slippery term.
Personally, I cannot afford to support a company like Sony. I'm not sure we can afford to have companies behave the way Sony behaves. So no Sony product is "affordable".
Re:A good thing? (Score:4)
Somehow this seems a little irrelevant, considering the boon of gaming on mobile phones and an economy that makes people think twice of buying a separate portable gaming system.
I have to agree that "gaming" is becoming a redundant function.
The first reaction to something like the Vita has to be, "What else does it do?"
Re: (Score:3)
You can listen to music, browse the internet (has html5 support), go on youtwitface, watch movies, read ebooks I guess. Basically the same stuff as a smartphone minus gps and phone features and in a bigger form factor but the gaming experience should be better. It runs a arm chip so I wouldnt be surprised if somebody manages port android to it like they've done with a ipod touch.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
SKFU has already run homebrew ("hello world") on it. Sony just changed the old AES key they were using, but since this is Sony, there is undoubtedly more fail inbound.
Re: (Score:1)
This is a sign that you are getting old. Time to buy a nose-hair trimmer.
Re: (Score:2)
Right, because iPhone/Android games are really comparable to PSP or Vita ones.
And a touchscreen is better than an actual keypad or a joystick too I suppose.
Another 'Dependent' Product (Score:4, Insightful)
It will enable gamers to play against each other using PlayStation 3 consoles over the Internet-based PlayStation Network
Just like RIM's PlayBook, the Vita requires another expensive manufacture & platform specific product to be able to use its full capabilities. This isn't as bad as RIM's requirement for a BlackBerry just to be able to get email, but this type of forced dependency is never good for the consumer.
Re: (Score:3)
No clue.. (Score:2)
If it wasn't for piracy the PSP wouldn't have sold. Sony has admitted that in at least one interview. Yet they continually tried to lock it down.
That was a handheld that was only $200.. I've seen prices around $500 for this. Sony just doesn't seem to have a clue. The PSP Go was a huge hit for them too
Re: (Score:2)
Do you know anything about the PSP?
What other competition was there really? Nintendo and Sony, no one else in the game, not hard to be number 2.
There were a lot of times when no games were being released for the PSP and the only thing keeping sales going was people hacking it for homebrew/piracy
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
The PSP did get off to a rough start, and a lot of early adopters bought it to play pirated games,
Where did you get that? I remember a modified "Lumines" and maybe a few others that had hardcoded pathnames changed from the UMD to the memory card, but those were the exception. At the start, memorystick pro duo cards were very expensive. Fact is that there was a very successful homebrew scene (especially for those that remained on v1.50 firmware). Only when ISO-loaders came out, years into the PSP's life, piracy became a problem.
Re: (Score:2)
The Vita will cost $250 when it launches, the same price the PSP and 3DS started with. The $500 you're seeing is for devices imported from Japan.
Re: (Score:1)
That's wrong, at least as far as the portable's second life is concerned. Retailers started pushing it in Japan because it had less piracy than the DS. Then came titles like God of War, Monster Hunter, Phantasy Star Portable and others that revitalised it.
Re: (Score:1)
You don't seem to understand how games and cheats work.
The cheat actually play with the game's memory. The only way to protect yourself from this, is to have an external program auditing the whole memory while the game is running (that's how any anti-cheat system works on PC, some of them also scan the hard drive to find exploits).
So yeah, you blame game devs when there's cheating. And you blame them when they're spying on memory to block cheat.... good grief.
A bit of theory (Score:3)
All cheating can be basically divided in two groups: providing false information and abusing information you shouldn't know.
For multiplayer, all cheats of first kind - and cheats mentioned in GP are in there - can and must be detected by the server or the peer.
The first principle of all robust network apps - MP games are just a single example of net soft, after all - is "Trust no one".
See, even though "The cheat actually play with the game's memory" it shouldn't matter in this case, because "The game's memo
All I want (Score:2)
Is more revisions to their xperia play. This should be a phone of some sort. Doesn't have to be Android (though preferred). Just a cool gaming device, with proper controls, that can also make phone calls.
A Question with a Question (Score:1)
If one goes to the official PSVITA FAQ section on Sony's website, one can see this interesting screw-up:
>Q: Can the PSVITA's output be displayed on a TV?
>A: Can the PSVITA's output be displayed on a TV?
http://jp-playstation.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12268/p/1251/page/3/r_id/100001
I found this because I was genuinely curious about this feature and Googled for it, only to find this. Apparently, 2chan is getting a laugh out of it.
A lot of other complaints about the VITA are already piling up f
Q: but does it run linux? (Score:2)
A: Cease and Desist letter.
Controls... (Score:1)
Who's their target audience? An octopus?
Re: (Score:1)
Yay, tentacles.
Can't tell if seen enough hentai
(-_-)
Or not enough
SmartPhones Up - Sony Down (Score:2)
Progress happens. Fewer devices, cables, parts, total cost. Phones and their tablet kin have more uses and allow gaming to be done by even more people than before, but Sony doesn't want to believe it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: people-used-to-wait-in-line-for-concerts dept (Score:2)
Battery not user-replaceable! (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
What batteries would you recommend? A friend tried several third-party ones and none of them held their charge for as long as advertised. In fact, the longer it should last, the less it did.