I've been to several gamestops and walmarts and have yet to see a kiosk unit. I'm going to hit up my Best Buy, and hopefully be impressed enough to walk out with one.
Yeah, I'm aware of that, but the other cars are the same weight. Also whenever they hit you or you hit them, rarely does anything happen to the other cars. It's like they're immovable objects that are locked into a single position, except that they're moving whatever direction they're going.
I got my hands on a Vita--impressed, but I'll wait for a holiday season price drop and/or a better bundle.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Someone explain to me why after heavily considering whether or not to purchase a Vita today, I snag this guy instead:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...#ht_1318wt_950
Probably because its significantly cheaper, and if your into Nintendo games its the way to go?
I've had a 3DS more or less since launch and the only games I've bought for it are Ghost Recon Shadow Warrior and LoZ: Oracina of Time 3DS, with the only games that I am really interested in being Resident Evil Revelations and Kid Icarus Uprising. The problem here is that I really don't like the controls of RE: Revelations without the Circle Pad pro which means that I either need to wait for an accessory maker to come out with a CPP+battery or screw on and off my extended battery every time I want to actually take the 3DS with me for an extended time. I don't regret my purchase because its a pretty good system, it just doesn't have much software that interests me yet so instead when I play it I play DS games on it. (really want a new advance wars, gameplay in Days of Ruin was almost perfect!)
Conversely I've picked up 5 titles in the last two weeks of owning the vita alone with another 3 on the way in the next few months due to various deals going on around launch. I am enjoying my new portable very much and I hope you enjoy yours as well.
The 3DS currently has more "top-quality" games, but like the Vita, they're mostly ports of older titles. Vita has the same problem, but its launch lineup was a little better.
I took the plunge last night, making use of a $25 Target gift card that had been in my wallet forever. I picked up a Wi-Fi Vita, an 8Gb card, and the faux-leather official case. The case actually helps grip the unit, so I don't think it'll be as hard on my hands as the PSP is. I haven't picked up any games yet, but I'm playing all the demos. So far, I've played the demos of Dynasty Warriors and Unit 13. Dynasty Warriors looked decent and had a good framerate. Unit 13 seems to accomplish neither. Motorstorm RC is okay for a free game, but it looks like a ported PSP title.
It's hard to tell how good PSP games look on this thing. I transferred Little Big Planet, and it looks like the scaler isn't keeping the resolution at multiples of 2. I was hoping that PSP games looked a little cleaner.
I only played it for about an hour last night, but the hardware is EXCELLENT. I love clicky buttons, and these are perfect. I want to play Gradius or something with this thing. Tonight, I'll run by GameStop and get a screen protector, then spend some real time with it.
That's probably because the game isn't officially supported by the vita yet.It's hard to tell how good PSP games look on this thing. I transferred Little Big Planet, and it looks like the scaler isn't keeping the resolution at multiples of 2. I was hoping that PSP games looked a little cleaner.
I've downloaded a couple of supported PSP games and in Dissidia 2 (or whatever its pseudo-latin bs name is) it makes a very significant difference. The game looks great on the Vita's screen being much smother and less pixilated with bi-linear filtering on. I have played with the PSP color space but see little difference so I usually don't bother with it.
Actually, the price was in fact the reason. My appetite for the Vita hasn't adequately been dealt with though. Would it be possible to point me in the direction of said Vita deals as Best Buy's was the only one I was aware of--albeit, after the promotion had run its course.
Unfortunately, there are no current Vita deals. Like most new consumer products, if you miss the launch deals, it is typically a few months before the next batch of deals hits. There may be some in coming months, so I would recommend watching sites like Cheapassgamer or your local paper's Sunday ads for deals.
Finally got my hands on Wipeout from GameFly, and WOW. I've played most of the launch software aside from the bottom feeders (GameLoft mostly), and this is by far the showcase for the hardware. It's cool to play Uncharted on a handheld, but Wipeout feels complete, looks remarkable, plays brilliantly.
Those who have Gamefly accounts, you can get almost any of the titles for around $28 when you rent them (assuming you've earned the rewards for 10% off). That's how I've secured most of my games so far, sans Uncharted.
You did get a wicked deal on that 3DS, nice find.
I can only echo what others have already said. The last major retailer deal on was a buy 1 get 1 half off at Toys R' Us but that ended two days ago. I suggest look around craigslist and keeping an eye on the PSP/Vita section of Cheapassgamer.com since I usually get my heads up on deals from there. A good friend of mine just picked up his Wifi Vita, 8 gig card, and 3 games for 300 from some guy on craigslist who needed the money badly and I suspect within the next month or so postings like that are only going to increase from impulse buyers desperate to pay the bills.
This evening, I played the Katamari demo and finished the Unit 13 demo. Katamari is definitely impressive. It's very easy to control, unlike Me and My Katamari on PSP. Touch features aren't bad. The Katamari shape deformations are interesting to see from a technical point of view - not what I expected in terms of gameplay advantages, but it plays better than rolling a lopsided Katamari.
I tried giving Unit 13 another chance, but I'm still finding it kind of lame. It's almost like an attempt to be an American Metal Gear, but without any kind of charm or style. It's just bland and generic. It plays alright, but that's all it has going for it. It probably doesn't help that this time, it booted up without sound and I had difficulty shutting the unit off to reboot.
So do other PSP games actually look better? Do you get options for filtering and stuff? When I tried playing LBP, the only option I could find was to install updates. If the scaling is better on certified titles, what's a good PSP RPG for $10-15 on PSN?
I am really enjoying Unit 13 here mostly because of its solid gameplay and an arcade scoring system. The controls are great and missions have multiple ways that you can go about completing them. Its also great for quick bursts of a mission or two trying to best your own score of those of your buddies online. I'm also not missing the over played world ending plot that companies often try to shove into cover/tactical shooters, here your just simply taking down terrorists in various situations. The daily mission challenges are usually much more difficult then standard missions to get a decent score on and I finding it fun to see whats new.
On a side note Unit 13 like a couple of other vita titles I have puts emphasis for you to measure up to other people on your friends list. The way they reinforce this both ingame and just on startup of said game is actually pretty fun by listing times or trophies or whatever. Its making me check weather X or Y beat my Wipeout score on a particular race and things like that keep scratching my competitive itch even if your not directly playing with anyone. Its definitely one of my favorite features of the device that I didn't see myself really getting into.
Since you mentioned bi-linear filtering earlier I assumed you already knew this but maybe not. In order to access the Vita enhancements on PSP titles you just need to touch and hold the front screen for a moment ingame then a transparent window pops up with all the options options. There aren't many just the filter, color space, camera select, and assignment for the left analog stick. The analog stick assignment is really nice since you can adjust it to map to the face buttons, d-pad, or left analog stick so if the game has decent remapping function it can make a world of difference.
Oh. That makes a bit of a difference. Thank you!
I think that part of my problem is that I hold the screen too close, so I notice every little flaw. The Vita's screen looks best when it's not right in your face. It's a little different from the old low-res TFT screens in previous handhelds.
Does anyone find the charger design to be a bit odd? Every portable electronic device I've seen in the last year or two has come with a plain USB wall adapter. The Vita could have gone this route, but they give you the usual non-polar power cable and a box that it and the USB cable plug into. Why not just the USB cable and a wall adaptor? It's not like they block outlets. It gives more length so you can charge while you play a few more feet from the wall, but I would have preferred a longer USB cable instead.
Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the Vita so far. The great controls make want to pick up a copy of BlazBlue CSE, but none of the local stores have it in stock. It's definitely an improvement over the PSP controls in every regard. I'm not sure if the screen needed to be as large as it is, but the additional resolution really makes it look like a next-generation handheld. Not all of the games look great, but there's a lot of potential here.