Pros and Cons of the PsVita

Without a doubt, the Vita caused quite a stir among fans before release, but its sales have been absolutely dismal since it’s actual release. Forbes commented that ” the PS Vita unit sales have sunk to weekly pace scraping 6’300 at worst, ” ( http://www.forbes.com/sites/terokuittinen/2012/06/05/sonys-ps-vita-and-nintendos-wii-u-look-equally-feeble/) which truly showcases the poor selling performance of the console. What could be impacting the system’s sales so heavily? Let’s take a look at their promised “Console quality” gameplay.

I’ve tackled two of their more popular titles, “Gravity Rush” and “Uncharted,” and I was absolutely blown away. The gameplay truly is everything that was promised, and the amount of high quality play is not lacking. I’ve squeezed over thirty hours out of Gravity Rush, and am not near finished. Unfortunately most titles are not as good as the ones I played, but the console is young and I have high expectations for newer games.The dual sticks are elegant as ever, the touch screen is responsive and durable, the back touch pad is functional albeit a tad gimmicky… So what’s the matter?

The thing is assembled like a tank. High quality plastic and metals make the thing feel extra sturdy in your hands, despite its light weight. It took a rather nasty three foot fall off of my desk, landing face down on the concrete basement floor. I feared the worst, slowly bending down to retrieve my fallen comrade, and was amazed to discover not a single scratch on the thing. Without any case or film protectors, my Vita survived a three foot fall under the worst imaginable circumstances and escaped unscathed. Now I’m really wondering what’s up with the thing. Amazing gameplay, responsive and intuitive controls, durability…

In my opinion, it’s a combination of a couple of factors: the price tag, and the type of gameplay offered. My 3G model ran me $250, a full eighty bucks more than a 3DS will cost a consumer. Even the lesser model runs $200, thirty dollars more than Nintendo’s competition. Also, the type of gaming is vastly different. If you see some games on http://27.124.27.124 You’ll find out that some of the games there are also responsive, elegant, intuitive and with amazing gameplay. As such, it is important that you carefully check or evaluate of the important factors about a game before purchasing one.

The Vita’s gameplay is absolutely spectacular, but it lacks a certain charm. A multiplayer charm. Sure, what you play will look nice, run seamlessly and feel absolutely great, but you’ll be doing so alone. Existing multiplayer titles, and unfortunately most of the titles that I didn’t bother to grab, are… Lackluster, at the nicest. Nintendo offers eight player multiplayer in the same room with Mario Cart, and rumors are abound that a Smash Bros title will be crawling up soon. The ability to get together with friends and race or battle it out is just too tantalizing in comparison to sitting alone playing something great. Alone. And Don’t get me wrong, those Nintendo titles are no bore. Vita has an edge in graphics, mechanics and interface, but Nintendo knows what they’re doing. They have always and will always continue to make games that are groundbreaking, and until Sony manages to do the same at a lower price tag and with greater sociability in mind, they’ll always sit in Nintendo’s Mario shaped shadow.