Yep...These 30 games are all ready at launch.
***** PSN Names *****
Please add your PSN name to the Kreeee's Google Document below if you have a Vita. Also take the time to add which games you own. Knowing what games people own helps add friends with similar tastes where you might get more multiplayer gaming.
Also please ensure that your PSN ID is accurate. PSN IDs are CASE SENSITIVE.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApQMiRQNHgUQdEpseDA0RDBsQXNRMWZIZ1VKSTUwMlE&pli=1#gid=0
Key points
- 30 launch day games. 9x 1st party, 21x 3rd party including established franchises like: Uncharted, Wipeout, Fifa, Modnation, Everybodys Golf, Lumines, Virtua Tennis, UMvC and Ridge Racer
- ALL games will be released digitally, many will also be available at retail
- 5” OLED screen with 960 × 544 resolution (220 PPI)
- 512mb ram + 128mb Vram
- Quad core CPU and Quad core GPU
- Cartridge based games. No UMD
- Dual analogue sticks
- Multi touch screen AND multi touch panel on the rear
- Cross platform multiplayer with the PS3
- Transfarring - load your PS3 save on the Vita and continue playing then transfer it back and continue again
- Cross game chat
- Trophies
- About 1cm wider and taller than a PSP Slim & Lite[*] A memory card is pretty much required
What is it
The PlayStation Vita is the successor to the PlayStation Portable (PSP).
The Vita features a capacitive multi touch 5” OLED screen, dual analogue sticks, a rear multi touch pad, front and rear cameras all of which combine to give a sleuth of new control options as well as a quad core CPU and quad core GPU to push the visual fidelity of portable gaming to a new level.
Also included is cross game chat, multitasking and the backwards compatibility With the majority of PSP games that are on the PSN, All PS Minis, and eventually your PS1 Classics collection. At launch the PS1 and PSP emulators are still a work in progress so further support will come over time.
You'll also have access to your social apps on the Vita with Twitter being available at launch and Facebook, Skype and FourSquare all working on apps to release soon.
When where and how much
You'll be able to get yours now. Launch RRPs are as follows: Wifi only model: €250 £230 and Wifi & 3G model: €300 £280. Both have already been discounted by £10 from many retailers. There is NO CONTRACT with the 3G model and it is unlocked so you can use any provider you wish.
If you buy the 3G model and then top up the included Vodafone sim card with just £5 (gets you 250mb for 30 days) you get a copy of Wipeout 2048 for free. More details on 3G are below.
Games have tiered pricing maximum RRP of £45 and many games RRP at £35 and some at £25. Memory Cards will have RRPs of
- 4gb - £18
- 8gb - £32
- 16gb - £45
Already retailers are cutting these prices back as usual and the Wifi model is available for £199 with a game in some cases.
Bundles
Several retailers have bundles to tempt you and I have included them in the spoiler below so as not to clog up the thread. All are accurate at time of writing and I'll try to update any that change.
Amazon.co.uk
Any Vita + free 8gb card + any Ubi game or VT4 for £15.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature....rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=279914507&pf_rd_i=B0054Q82WI
So 3G is £260+ shipping and WiFi is £210 + shipping, both including a game and the card. No pre order pack here.
Play.com
Several bundles. Some with 3G some with Wifi. All with 8gb Card.
WiFi + 8GB card = £213
3G + 8GB card = £263
WiFi + Uncharted/Fifa + 8GB = £243
WiFi + Rayman/Virtua Tennis 4 + 8GB = £228
WiFi + Dungeon Hunter: Alliance/Army Corps of Hell/F1 + 8GB = £265
WiFi + Lumines + 8GB = £266
WiFi + Rayman/ + 8GB = £233
3G + Uncharted/Fifa + 8GB = £293
3G + Rayman/Virtua Tenis 4 + 8GB = £278
http://www.play.com/Games/PSP/-/4660/3927/3-/Refine.html
Game & Gamestation
All inc a 8GB card. Online only. There are others in store but these have yet to be confirmed.
WiFi + Uncharted/Fifa + 8GB = £270
WiFi + Wipeout/Everybodys Golf/Modnation/Katamari + 8GB = £260
3G + Uncharted/Fifa + 8GB = £320
3g + Wipeout/Everybodys Golf/Modnation/Katamari + 8GB = £310
Game link
Gamestation Link
Toys R Us
No bundles.
WiFi = £215
3G = £260
Some have also managed to pre order in store at the same price. Mine had almost no idea what a Vita was and there was no price on the system apparently so I gave up.
Tesco Entertainment
8% cashback if you use Quidco.
Means the Wifi works out to £202.40
3G is £248.40
Bundle offer is £250 (+£20 with Quidco cashback) which gets you
WiFi Vita, 4GB card, Fifa/Rayman/Asphalt Injection/F1 2011
Morrisons
Bundle deal for £250 to collect from store.
WiFi, 4GB card, Fifa, and a £25 Morrisons voucher.
Order form is here.
Shopto
http://www.shopto.net/microsites/PSVITA/consoles.php
WiFi - £210
3G - £260
WiFi + Ridge Racer/F1 2011/Dungeon Hunter Alliance/Rayman/Lumines/Asphalt Injection - £219
WiFi + Fifa - £229
3G + Ridge Racer - £270
3G + Asphalt Injection - £275
3G + F1 2011/Dungeon Hunter Alliance/Rayman/Lumines - £280
WiFi + Asphalt Injection + Lumines + Michael Jackson Experience + 4GB card - £265
WiFi + Dungeon Hunter + Lumines + Rayman + 4GB card - £270
Any Vita + free 8gb card + any Ubi game or VT4 for £15.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature....rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=279914507&pf_rd_i=B0054Q82WI
So 3G is £260+ shipping and WiFi is £210 + shipping, both including a game and the card. No pre order pack here.
Play.com
Several bundles. Some with 3G some with Wifi. All with 8gb Card.
WiFi + 8GB card = £213
3G + 8GB card = £263
WiFi + Uncharted/Fifa + 8GB = £243
WiFi + Rayman/Virtua Tennis 4 + 8GB = £228
WiFi + Dungeon Hunter: Alliance/Army Corps of Hell/F1 + 8GB = £265
WiFi + Lumines + 8GB = £266
WiFi + Rayman/ + 8GB = £233
3G + Uncharted/Fifa + 8GB = £293
3G + Rayman/Virtua Tenis 4 + 8GB = £278
http://www.play.com/Games/PSP/-/4660/3927/3-/Refine.html
Game & Gamestation
All inc a 8GB card. Online only. There are others in store but these have yet to be confirmed.
WiFi + Uncharted/Fifa + 8GB = £270
WiFi + Wipeout/Everybodys Golf/Modnation/Katamari + 8GB = £260
3G + Uncharted/Fifa + 8GB = £320
3g + Wipeout/Everybodys Golf/Modnation/Katamari + 8GB = £310
Game link
Gamestation Link
Toys R Us
No bundles.
WiFi = £215
3G = £260
Some have also managed to pre order in store at the same price. Mine had almost no idea what a Vita was and there was no price on the system apparently so I gave up.
Tesco Entertainment
8% cashback if you use Quidco.
Means the Wifi works out to £202.40
3G is £248.40
Bundle offer is £250 (+£20 with Quidco cashback) which gets you
WiFi Vita, 4GB card, Fifa/Rayman/Asphalt Injection/F1 2011
Morrisons
Bundle deal for £250 to collect from store.
WiFi, 4GB card, Fifa, and a £25 Morrisons voucher.
Order form is here.
Shopto
http://www.shopto.net/microsites/PSVITA/consoles.php
WiFi - £210
3G - £260
WiFi + Ridge Racer/F1 2011/Dungeon Hunter Alliance/Rayman/Lumines/Asphalt Injection - £219
WiFi + Fifa - £229
3G + Ridge Racer - £270
3G + Asphalt Injection - £275
3G + F1 2011/Dungeon Hunter Alliance/Rayman/Lumines - £280
WiFi + Asphalt Injection + Lumines + Michael Jackson Experience + 4GB card - £265
WiFi + Dungeon Hunter + Lumines + Rayman + 4GB card - £270
Game and Gamestation all have Vita's in store for you to demo. Just go in and ask if it isn't already out.
A map of the UK shows just how many there are dotted around, click the map to view it properly on Goggle Maps to find your nearest store.
The Hardware features
As previously mentioned the Vita is bringing a few unique features to the handheld market in dual analogue sticks and the multi touch screens front and rear. The device is similar in shape to its predecessor, slightly more rounded at either end, a tiny bit wider and as thick as the Slim & Lite PSP.
The screen itself is a first for a dedicated portable. Using an OLED screen from Samsung as seen in the Samsung Galaxy range of phones means that blacks are actually black, colours are more vibrant, contrast is excellent and response times are non existent. Colour rendition and response times are better than ever before and viewing angles are perfect.
The touch pad on the rear is the same size as the screen on the front and is multi touch as well. A couple of games use it for L/R 2 or for other functions and any app or game can make use of it.
The dual analogue sticks are actual sticks instead of slide pads as seen on the PSP. They do NOT click like a Dual Shock controller, this is believed to be because eventually the click wears out which is less of a problem on a controller than a whole portable. R & L 2/3 can be mapped to the front or rear screen at the will of the developer so it still has all of the functionality of a Dual Shock.
Tech specs
CPU: 4 core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore
Graphics:4 core SGX543MP4+
Memory: 512 MB RAM, 128 MB VRAM
Display: 5-inch OLED multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, 24-bit color, 960 × 544 pixels @ 220 ppi
Input methods: Touchscreen, Rear touchpad, Sixaxis motion sensing, Three-axis electronic compass, D-pad, traditional PlayStation face buttons, L1 & R1, 2x Analog sticks
Camera: Front and back VGA cameras 640×480 @ 60 fps/320×240 @ 120 fps
Connectivity: Wireless N, 3G, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
Dimensions: height 83.55 mm (3.289 in), Width 182 mm (7.2 in), depth 18.6 mm (0.73 in)
Battery: 2200 mAh giving approx 4-6 hours game time. This is dependant on brightness level, using headphones or speakers, wifi/3G on or off as usual.
Backwards Compatability
At launch, the PS vita can play.
- NO PS1 classics
- NO PS2 classics
- NO PS3 games (this includes PSN PS3 games)
- PS Minis
- A selection of PSP games that are on the PSN
Sony are working on brining PS1 compatibility soon, it is believed that they are working on a new emulator. The existing emulator they have runs on a PSP, to run that on the Vita would mean running the PS1 emulator within the PSP emulator that is on the Vita. This is inefficient and probably not particularly great hence the delay. PS1 support IS coming!
Native PS2 and PS3 suport is never going to happen, the Vita simply doesn't have the power. The only opportunity you will get to play PS2 games on your Vita will be through games that get an HD remaster that supports the Vita. At launch three such HD Remasters are in production, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3, Zone of Enders 1 & 2.
Sony have also said that many more PSP titles will be added to the compatibility list as and when they are confirmed to work ok.
The software features
Multitasking
Because of the greater processing power of the Vita over it’s predecessor it has been designed with multitasking in mind. That means you can have cross game chat, custom soundtracks, twitter, etc all running while playing a game. The system will prioritise games over EVERYTHING else so there is never a fear of getting choppy gameplay because you have too much running. Also dropping out of and back into a game to use one of your other apps is instant. At launch you cannot use the web browser while playing a game unless you open it from within twitter. Trying to open the browser from the standard UI will prompt you to close the game you are playing. If you open the browser from within twitter the app has access to less memory so could have issues with heavy sites.
Near - Explanatory video from skyghene22
Near is a social app which connects you with anyone who has a Vita, not only people on your friends lists. Near will let you know what people in areas you've played in are also playing, what they've done, what they thought of games, how many in your local area, etc. You can also drop challenges and items for others to find, games will also do some of this automatically (don't worry, it's not leaving your address or or personal details for all to find!) Other peoples Vitas will drop "Game Goods" which might be extra content or items that you can use in that game. You will also get items for games you do not own, these have an expiry date and will vanish unless you have that game by that date.
Cross game chat - Explanatory video from skyghene22
Cross game chat is a standard on PS Vita. It is run at OS level and so developers don't need to work to support it, it's already there. Currently some games do disable network functionality while playing (believed to be to save battery) and as a result chat will not work. Hopefully few games will do this and those that do will patch it out.
Remote Play - Explanatory video from skyghene22
An expanded feature from the PSP is Remote play. The Vita will be able to remote play a much larger selection of games available on the PS3 if and when they are enabled. This is something that is still in development at this time and that developers have to check will work with their game ok. There is a slight CPU and memory overhead on the PS3 from this feature so it is possible that some games which tax the PS3 heavily will not work. Hopefully this gets pushed much harder by Sony with time since it has the WiFi bandwidth available to make it work much better than before.
Cross platform multiplayer - Inside PS Vita video talking about cross play with developers
Several games have already been announced that support multiplayer between the PS3 and Vita. So if you are online you'll be able to play with other Vita owners as well as PS3 owners all on the same server. Wipeout, Hustle Kings and Top darts are three such games at launch.
"Transfarring"
Transfarring was a word made up by MGS creator Hideo Kojima to describe the ability to play a game on your PS3 or Vita, transfer the save to the other console and then continue right where you left off. Obviously only available in supported games but already Warriors Lair, Motorstorm RC, MGS 2 & 3 HD and ZOE HD are supporting the feature (though not using the transfarring moniker except for MGS & ZOE). You'll also be able to save and load to/from the cloud.
PS Suite
PS Suite is a platform for Sony and other developers to put their apps and games that will appear on certified devices as well as on the PS Vita. The SDK is C# based to allow lots of people to be able to develop for the system including indies. Only apps and games that pass the approval system will be allowed on the Suite so we won’t see emulators and other legally questionable content. However hopefully it'll keep the shovelware down. PS Suite is due to go live some time early this year.
The launch day games
Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Trailer - Action - Has Demo
WipEout 2048 - Trailer - Racer - Has Demo - Cross Platform Multiplayer - Free HD+Fury DLC if you own the PS3 game.
Fifa - Trailer - Sports
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 - Trailer - Fighter
ModNation Racers: Road Trip - Trailer - Racer
Everybody’s Golf 6 - Trailer - Sports
Escape Plan - Trailer - Puzzle
MotorStorm RC - Trailer - Racer - Has Demo - Pay once, get both versions - Cross Platform Multiplayer - Cross Platform Save
Super StarDust Delta - Trailer - Twin Stick Shooter - Has Demo
Rayman Origins - Trailer - Platformer - Has Demo
Ridge Racer - Trailer - Racer
Virtua Tennis 4 - Trailer - Sports
Lumines - Trailer - Puzzle - Has Demo
Remaining 17 games in the spoiler!
Plants vs Zombies - Trailer - Strategy
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack - Trailer - Platformer
A-Men - Trailer - Puzzle (like Lemmings and Lost Vikings) - Has Demo
Reality Fighters - Trailer - Fighter
Little Deviants - Trailer - Minigame Compilation - Has Demo
Hustle Kings - Trailer - Sports - Has Demo - Cross Platform Multiplayer - Pay once, get both versions
Top Darts - Trailer - Sports - Cross Platform Multiplayer - Pay once, get both versions
F1 2011 - Trailer - Racer
Army Corps of Hell - Trailer - RPG
Dungeon Hunter Alliance - Trailer - RPG - Has Demo
Asphalt Injection - Trailer - Racer - Has Demo
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus - Trailer - Fighter
Blaz Blue: Continuum Shift - Trailer - Fighter
Ben 10 Galactic Racing - Trailer - Racer
Shinobido 2 - Trailer - RPG
Touch My Katamari - Trailer - Puzzle
Michael Jackson Experience - Trailer - Rhythm - Has Demo
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack - Trailer - Platformer
A-Men - Trailer - Puzzle (like Lemmings and Lost Vikings) - Has Demo
Reality Fighters - Trailer - Fighter
Little Deviants - Trailer - Minigame Compilation - Has Demo
Hustle Kings - Trailer - Sports - Has Demo - Cross Platform Multiplayer - Pay once, get both versions
Top Darts - Trailer - Sports - Cross Platform Multiplayer - Pay once, get both versions
F1 2011 - Trailer - Racer
Army Corps of Hell - Trailer - RPG
Dungeon Hunter Alliance - Trailer - RPG - Has Demo
Asphalt Injection - Trailer - Racer - Has Demo
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus - Trailer - Fighter
Blaz Blue: Continuum Shift - Trailer - Fighter
Ben 10 Galactic Racing - Trailer - Racer
Shinobido 2 - Trailer - RPG
Touch My Katamari - Trailer - Puzzle
Michael Jackson Experience - Trailer - Rhythm - Has Demo
Post launch day games
MLB12: The Show - March 6th ish - Trailer - Sports - Cross Platform Save
Unit 13 - March 7th - Trailer - 3rd Person Shooter - Has Demo
Retro City Rampage - May - Trailer - retro top down shooter
Resistance: Burning Skies - May 30th - Trailer - FPS
Gravity Rush - Unknown - Trailer - RPG
Little Big Planet - Unknown - Trailer - Platformer
Sound Shapes - Unknown - Trailer - Platformer
Warriors Lair - Unknown - Trailer - RPG - Cross Platform Multiplayer - Cross Platform Save
Putty Squad - Unknown - Platformer
Dragons Crown - Unknown - Trailer - 2D Sidescroller - Cross Platform Save
Mortal Kombat - Unknown - Trailer - Fighter
Street Fighter x Tekken - Unknown - Trailer - Fighter - Cross Platform Multiplayer
Killzone
Final Fantasy X HD - Unknown
MGS HD collection - Unknown - Cross Platform Save
ZOE HD Collection - Unknown - Cross Platform Save
Call of Duty - Unknown
Bioshock - Unknown
Known game download sizes and PSN prices - List will be updated as I go
Launch Day Titles
- A-Men - £11.99 - PSN Only
- Army Corps of Hell - £34.99 - 600MB
- Asphalt Injection - £19.99 - 725MB
- Blazblue: Continuum Shift EXTEND - £34.99 - 3.2GB
- Dungeon Hunter Alliance - £29.99 - 1GB - Has Demo
- Dynasty Warriors Next - £29.99 - 1.5GB - Has Demo
- Escape Plan - £9.99 - 842MB - PSN Only
- Everybodys Golf - £29.99
- F1 2011 - £44.99 - 1.4GB
- Fifa - £44.99 - 3GB - Has Demo
- Hustle Kings - £6.49 - Has Demo - Cross Platform Multiplayer - Buy once get both (PSV & PS3)
- Little Deviants - £19.99 - 940MB - Has Demo
- Lumines Electronic Symphony - £29.99 - 722MB - Has Demo
- Michael Jackson The Experience - £24.99 - 1.6GB - Has Demo
- Modnation Racers: Road Trip - £29.99 - Has Demo
- Motorstorm RC - £4.79 - Under 750MB - Has Demo - PSN Only - Buy once get both (PSV & PS3)
- Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus - £29.99
- Plants Vs Zombies - £8.99 - PSN Only
- Rayman Origins - £29.99 - 932MB - Has Demo
- Reality Fighters - £19.99
- Ridge Racer - £16.99 - 550MB
- Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen - £34.99 - 1GB
- Super Stardust Delta - £6.49 or £7.99 (Game + DLC) - Has Demo - PSN Only
- Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack - £5.49
- Top Darts - £6.49 - PSN Only - Buy once get both (PSV & PS3)
- Touch My Katamari - £24.99 - 750MB
- Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 - £39.99 - 1.5GB
- Uncharted: Golden Abyss - £39.99 - 3.3GB - Has Demo
- Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition - £34.99 - 1.2GB
- Wipeout 2048 - £29.99 - 1.5GB - Has Demo
The battery
The Vita does NOT have an easily replaceable battery like many other popular devices. Sony have announced a "portable charger" accessory which is essentially a battery that has twice the capacity of the Vita with a USB port allowing you to charge on the go.
You CAN replace the battery yourself and it doesn't look particularly hard, but doing so is probably going to void the warranty and you need a screwdriver. The warranty should not be an issue since the battery should last well beyond any warranty period.
Several battery tests have been done by users already putting the battery life at over 4 hours with the brightness to max, WiFi on, BT on, and volume to max with no headphones. Battery life of around 6 hours has been found with more typical settings.
The memory cards
First off you will NEED a memory card to play some games. This includes Uncharted and some others. It will say on every box whether you need a card or not and if I manage to get a list I'll add it to the thread.
The Vita is using a proprietary memory card format which is also more expensive than other options (SD, MicroSD) available. Being fractionally larger than a MicroSD card it is unlikely that there will be any kind of adapter made by a third party (there simply isn’t room) and it’s possible that Sony will not give anyone else a licence to use the format to introduce SanDisk type cheaper options.
Reasons for all of this are suspected to be a combination of combating piracy (unable to use it in any other device or load suspect files onto it) as well as money making like Microsoft with the X360 HDDs.
SCEE territories (So the EU, Australia, New Zealand, etc) will not be getting the 32GB card at launch. All we know is that this was an SCEE decision and not one forced by low stock being passed to Japan or the US.
If you wish to import one, one option is from planetaxel.com. A 32GB card works out to about £65 posted and will not be subject to any additional import tax of VAT since they deal with that when they import the cards.
Essential Youtube viewing
Official
Inside PS Vita Episode - Introduction to the Vita
Inside PS Vita Episode - Talking about augmented Reality
Inside PS Vita Episode - Cross play between PS Vita and PS3
Inside PS Vita Episode - Connectivity: Talking about Social, 3G, Live Area & Near
User made
Skyghene22 - Initial impressions and unboxing
Skyghene22 - PS Store and impressions
Skyghene22 - Remote play
Skyghene22 - Near: What is it and how it works
Skyghene22 - Backwards compatibility and comparison to PSP
Skyghene22 - Cross Game Chat
Skyghene22 - Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Skyghene22 - Wipeout 2048
Skyghene22 - Super Stardust Delta
Wallpapers, Themes and Backgrounds
You can choose the background for every page on the Vita if you want, and can also set your choice of lock screen. Some links with many submissions are below.
http://vita-wallpapers.com/
http://freevitathemes.com/
http://vitawallpapers.tumblr.com/
There are also loads more in this thread.
For those with wizardry in your fingers, here is a link to a template with the bubble locations.
http://www.mediafire.com/?08h9lh3iled6abd
An example of one lock screen in use
Some examples of backgrounds and lock screens (note, these are not hotlinked! I just didn't want to cut their banner off as it seemed a bit douchy)
FAQ
Q: But I own a PSP and 30 UMD games and I cannot play them on this!
A: There are many PSP games available digitally on the PSN that will work perfectly on the Vita.
Q: Should I get the WiFi or 3G version
A: Ultimately the decision is yours and the 3G version does NOT have a contract. But if you already own a smartphone with a 3G connection you may see little point in buying the 3G version of the Vita unless there is some kind of bundle or deal or you have the money. You can instead use your phone as a WiFi hotspot and then tether your Vita to it. The 3G service on the Vita will have limits that essentially mean it is for social updates, skype and a-synchronous gaming (things like posting fastest laps, downloading daily challenges, posting high scores, downloading ghost laps, playing Everybodys Golf, turn based games, etc). You WILL NOT be able to play online head to head games like Fifa, Call of Duty, Wipeout etc over 3G. This is a limitation of 3G (latency) and not the Vita. You are not going to be able to download a game or large files via your 3G connection, this will be capped at 20mb max per file like many mobile phone contracts. There are however games which take into account location based data which is far more accurate on the 3G version since it has GPS. The WiFi unit does not.
If you buy the 3G vita and top up the included Vodafone sim card with £5 (getting you 250mb for 30 days) you will recieve Wipeout 2048 for free. This deal essentially means that the 3G version is now £25 more expensive than the WiFi rather than £50 which it is listed at.
I have ordered the 3G unit and a GiffGaff simcard to try out which will be cheaper than Vodafone.
Q: Who is the 3G provider and can I change it?
A: 3G access is provided by Vodafone in most of Europe but you are free to use any data provider you have a sim card for. Only Vodafone has been tested as working perfectly though. You buy a month of data at a time and there are several packages available for low or high data use. People who buy the 3G Vita and also buy a months data (starting at £5 for 250mb) will also get Wipeout for free (about £30).
Q: How am I supposed to pronounce it? Like vitality?
A: No, it's like Veeta.
Q: There is no R2/R3 or L2/L3. How am I supposed to play a FPS game without these!
A: Games that require additional inputs will use the front and back touch pads.
Q: I don't want to use touch pads to do gimmicky stuff.
A: So far the majority of touch/motion controls have been optional in established franchises. You can use them if you want to or ignore them if you want to. Many of the hands on impressions have noted that some of the touch controls actually felt very intuitive.
Q: What! No PS1 games?
A: Sony are working on adding it. Speculation is that they are writing a new emulator rather than trying to run the PSPs PS1 emulator which would need to run within the PSP emulator that the Vita has. Emulation within emulation is not efficient.
Q: So how do I use remote play to play my PS3 games
A: You can't. Sony are still testing the ability of the Remote play feature where PS3 games are concerned. There is a slight overhead on the PS3 to render the image and send it to the Vita so each game needs to be checked to see if it is compatible. Some games may get patches to enable it.
Q: Will it have a massive price drop like the 3DS. I don't want to get burned again.
A: Nobody knows the answer for sure. Nobody expected Nintendo to do it. All we can do is speculate based on available information. The facts are that Nintendo were making a profit on every 3DS sold in the shops, and also had about $8 billion cash in the bank. As a result they could afford to reduce the price somewhat. Sony on the other hand do not have any cash on hand and they are maybe just breaking even on the hardware. As a result we can speculate that it is less likely to happen than it did with the 3DS. There are however no guarantees.
Personally I expect a price cut in time for Christmas. Retailers will offering competitive deals to try and gain your business anyway and already we are seeing free 8GB memory cards, £10 knocked off the RRP for the hardware itself and it's not even launched yet.
Q: So I can use my Micro SD or M2 memory card right?
A: No ONLY Vita specific memory cards will work. The other will not even fit into the slot.
Q: Will it play my MKV files?
A: No. The Vita will play a couple of other standards which are outlined in the tech spec further up. But like many devices it does not natively support MKV. It is possible that an app will be released that does in the future however there are no guarantees.
Q: I'm in the EU and I want the 32GB card
A: If you wish to import one, one option is from planetaxel.ccom. A 32GB card works out to about £65 posted and will not be subject to any additional import tax of VAT since they deal with that when they import the cards. I have ordered from this company.
Q: What other options do I have for a 3G provider
A: Giff Gaff offer sims that provide 500mb for £5, 1GB for £7.50 and 3GB for £12.50.
Another option is this offer on Ebay. 3GB a month on T-Mobile for 6 months for £19. I cannot vouch for this seller however. Others have bought it and I'll update as and when I know if it works.
Q: do I need to create a new PSN account
A: No. Your current PSN account will work fine. Your Vita will share friends and everything else including your wallet.
Q: Is the screen glass or plastic
A: It's plastic.
Q: Where can I get the content manager software for my Mac or PC
A: This is the link for the Mac version. This is the link for the PC version
Q: Where is the online manual
A: Right here
Q: I want to change my background or lock screen or move icons around. Halp!
A: Check this video out. Basically to change backgrounds and move icons, press and hold somewhere on the screen to go into edit mode. Changing your lock screen is done in the Photos app. Select a photo and set as Start Screen.
Q: My Vita is bricked, it is unresponsive!
A: Remain calm. If you know that it had enough battery then simply hold the power button down for 30 seconds. The Vita will ring up a menu allowing you to force a reboot. If this does not work then plug it in to the mains (mains charging is faster than over USB) and wait 30 minutes and try again.
Q: I want to make friends and influence people
A: Check out Kreeeeeeeeeeee's google docs here. Add your name and the games you've got and add people who have similar games for the best multiplayer experience.
Q: How long have you been working on this OP?
A: Too long.
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