kaedesdisciple
12-03-2012, 11:17 AM
So I picked up the CoD Vita bundle for Black Friday as I figured between the deal and the leftover GC I had to Best Buy, I was going to be hard pressed to find a better deal for a while.
Other than that and the fact that the hardware is simply stunning, that's about where the benefit stopped so far.
The bundle comes in and has a pretty easy setup (after the 1.5 hours' worth of updates thanks to 1.8 & 2.0 that is). But no matter, on to the games, that's why I bought the thing.
*Please note, I did not read any reviews of the CoD game before starting it. I'm not saying I deserved it, because no one does, but I should have looked for some fair warning as it might have saved me a bit of frustration.
Then I boot up CoD, another few hundred MB download and install. Okay, now to play the game. I've never played a CoD game before, but figured it would be worth a shot. I'm no n00b when it comes to FPS but I figure every game is a little different and has a learning curve, so I put it on easy (or whatever it's called). First mission goes all right, still getting used to the controls a bit, although the AI seems to be a little dumb, even for easy. Start the second mission, and didn't finish it for a good 50 tries. First I kept running out of time (I see now how I have to keep moving), mysterious grenades appear that even when I hit the button they tell me to throw back I wind up throwing one of my own back into my face (hate those grenade controls btw), AI goes from walking into walls to pegging me with headshots, aiming is an exercise in frustration, it's like every try is a crapshoot. So I figure if the single player missions are that awful, then the multiplayer has to be great since they obviously didn't put any real effort into single player. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever find out if multiplayer is any good at all as the 30+ attempts I've made to join an online game have been met with disconnects before the map even finishes loading. See the section below about my network connection before thinking that the ping is too high.
Next I think, maybe I'll look for some cool stuff on the PSN to try out. If I like something there I'll buy it. I downloaded the Retro City Rampage and Asphalt demos. Both very cool demos, and I pretty much fell in love with RCR. Even though the game is $15, knowing the history of the game, how I was constantly laughing at all the of the references throughout the demo and how it was genuinely fun, I decided I'll buy that one. So I clicked the buy now button. Nope, now the device was disconnected from PSN. Besides that I've noticed that the device just cannot stay connected to my network and just keeps reconnecting all the time. Maybe that's giving me my CoD issues as well. For a few points of reference:
-I am using a wireless (b/g/n) network at home over a cable-based ISP (usually gets about 10 MB/s down and 1 MB/s up, bytes not bits)
-Other than the Vita, that network has 2 laptops, a tablet, 2 smartphones, a Roku box, a Wii and a 360 (wired) hooked up to it. No issues anywhere else
So the Vita can:
-Use the browser
-Browse the PSN store
-Download demos
-Use Near
But it cannot:
-Add funds to wallet
-Complete purchases
Another point of reference, I even tried it all tethererd to my smartphone so it would be an entirely different Internet connection. I was met with the exact same issues.
I want to give them more of my money, but if this is the experience I'm having right out of the box and the system has already been out for a while, then how am I supposed to expect this to get any better?
Anyone else have any similar stores or maybe some helpful hints on how to make this a better experience? I can see the potential in this little machine, but it seems far from realized at this point and it's quite disheartening.
Other than that and the fact that the hardware is simply stunning, that's about where the benefit stopped so far.
The bundle comes in and has a pretty easy setup (after the 1.5 hours' worth of updates thanks to 1.8 & 2.0 that is). But no matter, on to the games, that's why I bought the thing.
*Please note, I did not read any reviews of the CoD game before starting it. I'm not saying I deserved it, because no one does, but I should have looked for some fair warning as it might have saved me a bit of frustration.
Then I boot up CoD, another few hundred MB download and install. Okay, now to play the game. I've never played a CoD game before, but figured it would be worth a shot. I'm no n00b when it comes to FPS but I figure every game is a little different and has a learning curve, so I put it on easy (or whatever it's called). First mission goes all right, still getting used to the controls a bit, although the AI seems to be a little dumb, even for easy. Start the second mission, and didn't finish it for a good 50 tries. First I kept running out of time (I see now how I have to keep moving), mysterious grenades appear that even when I hit the button they tell me to throw back I wind up throwing one of my own back into my face (hate those grenade controls btw), AI goes from walking into walls to pegging me with headshots, aiming is an exercise in frustration, it's like every try is a crapshoot. So I figure if the single player missions are that awful, then the multiplayer has to be great since they obviously didn't put any real effort into single player. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever find out if multiplayer is any good at all as the 30+ attempts I've made to join an online game have been met with disconnects before the map even finishes loading. See the section below about my network connection before thinking that the ping is too high.
Next I think, maybe I'll look for some cool stuff on the PSN to try out. If I like something there I'll buy it. I downloaded the Retro City Rampage and Asphalt demos. Both very cool demos, and I pretty much fell in love with RCR. Even though the game is $15, knowing the history of the game, how I was constantly laughing at all the of the references throughout the demo and how it was genuinely fun, I decided I'll buy that one. So I clicked the buy now button. Nope, now the device was disconnected from PSN. Besides that I've noticed that the device just cannot stay connected to my network and just keeps reconnecting all the time. Maybe that's giving me my CoD issues as well. For a few points of reference:
-I am using a wireless (b/g/n) network at home over a cable-based ISP (usually gets about 10 MB/s down and 1 MB/s up, bytes not bits)
-Other than the Vita, that network has 2 laptops, a tablet, 2 smartphones, a Roku box, a Wii and a 360 (wired) hooked up to it. No issues anywhere else
So the Vita can:
-Use the browser
-Browse the PSN store
-Download demos
-Use Near
But it cannot:
-Add funds to wallet
-Complete purchases
Another point of reference, I even tried it all tethererd to my smartphone so it would be an entirely different Internet connection. I was met with the exact same issues.
I want to give them more of my money, but if this is the experience I'm having right out of the box and the system has already been out for a while, then how am I supposed to expect this to get any better?
Anyone else have any similar stores or maybe some helpful hints on how to make this a better experience? I can see the potential in this little machine, but it seems far from realized at this point and it's quite disheartening.