Playstation TV - Will it breath life into the VITA?

[SparTonberry]

What I need to invest in is actually a bigger memory card for my PSP. That way I can have all or most of my PSN purchases so far on the system. PSP has a slow wi-fi connection so downloading and installing games like Grandia can take over an hour. I however, found that the MediaGo application by Sony cuts down this time significantly, so my confidence is boosted. I use a TV cable for my PSP when running PS Classics.

I remember last I tried, my PSP was having problems installing from downloading directly. (installation failing, necessitating 45+minutes to redownload the whole game I wanted. After several failures, I downloaded on MediaGo, and it transferred the first time flawlessly.)

[Manhattan Sports Club]

I remember last I tried, my PSP was having problems installing from downloading directly. (installation failing, necessitating 45+minutes to redownload the whole game I wanted. After several failures, I downloaded on MediaGo, and it transferred the first time flawlessly.)

Yeah, it's great, isn't it? Also, do you have any suggestions on what kind of memory cards to look for, what to avoid (like poor bootlegs), how to get good deals, etc.? I'm looking for one at least 8 gigs or higher if that's even feasible.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I was an early adopter of the PSP so I can tell you a thing or two about Sony memory cards - they've always been hyper expensive. I remember in 2006, I bought a 1GB ProDuo card for my PSP - and it cost me $95.99. Seriously.

But with the passage of time, you no longer need to pay anywhere close to that to get massive amounts of storage on a PSP 1000, 2000 or 3000.

Nowadays, the cheapest (and best) storage solution is to buy a Micro SD to ProDuo adapter. These are all over ebay and other places for around $3 + storage. They let you insert two Micro SD cards and once formatted by a PSP, are recognized as a ProDuo with the combined storage of both cards.



I use two 32GB Kingston Micro SD cards in mine, for a total of 64GB on my PSP. This is enough storage to support all the PSP games I have, all the PSN games I have, emulators and a bunch of PS1 games from PSN as well.

The only real downside is these ProDuo adapters are made out of incredibly thin plastic which can crack at a moment's notice. If you buy one, keep the memory card plugged into the PSP and don't ever drop your PSP.

If you have a GO, you're SOL since those use M2 cards.


Hopefully eventually some sort of adapter will be made for the Vita, as those Sony memory cards are so very expensive.

[Manhattan Sports Club]

Thanks, Satoshi. Also, are the cheap nameless microSD cards on eBay acceptable, or should I just stick with name brands like SanDisk?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

go name brand, always. those cheap knock offs have a range of issues from being extremely slow, not the storage they're marked, not writing to the card when prompted, currupting data, and more. don't put yourself through that. besides, name brand micro sd cards aren't that much money. you can even start off with two 8GB cards. That's still a lot of space.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

One thing that is now different that if you're playing on normal difficulty, you can be killed in battle and choose to resume starting on the floor you last reached with the HP/MP, EXP, items and money that you had when you first reached that floor. Anything gained on that floor prior to your death is gone though. Because of this system, savepoints at the end of dungeons just before the major shadow fight are removed, as is floor skipping.

The Persona fusing system is also tweaked so you can manually assign skills fused persona gain, use a search field to find a specific Persona you want, so that boss fights against certain elements are easier to deal with.

Oh, and treasure chests now respawn as soon as you leave a dungeon floor, meaning you can reacquire more healing items, MP restoring items and more. Also when you defeat shadows and gain cards, you can choose the card you want, no more roulette. There are new feature cards too like partial restoring of the whole party's HP/MP.

All of this means level grinding is no longer really needed and the dungeon crawling is a lot more enjoyable than in the original P4. When I beat Persona 4 on PS2, I clocked 178 hours into it. So much of that was due to grinding. Persona 4 Golden feels liberating that you can focus on all the good bits like the social links and such and cut the level grinding time by two thirds.

There are a TON of changes. For a full list, check here:
http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Persona_4_Golden

So far my only complaint is the change in voice actors for chie and teddy, I prefer the original chie but I can see this one growing on me it also seems to fit the tone of the character a bit more as she's less serious and a lot more hyper active like a 16 year old would be, but the change in teddy is wayyyy more egregious.


I'm gonna save a lot of of uncomfortable typing on my iPad by just saying I fucking hate this new guy. It's been a while but isn't the original va the same guy doing the voice of the killer teddy in dangaronpa?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Well, that's everyone's complaint who played the original Persona 4.

The new Chie and Teddy voices are a big sticking point for a lot of people, but the new voice actors do a great job with their roles. And besides, Persona 4 Golden is such a big improvement over the original P4 in so many ways this issue is a drop in the bucket compared to all the good things it does.

And the game can be found for $25 or less new. That's just insane given that you're getting a game that has enough content to single-handedly last months.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

Well, that's everyone's complaint who played the original Persona 4.

The new Chie and Teddy voices are a big sticking point for a lot of people, but the new voice actors do a great job with their roles. And besides, Persona 4 Golden is such a big improvement over the original P4 in so many ways this issue is a drop in the bucket compared to all the good things it does.

And the game can be found for $25 or less new. That's just insane given that you're getting a game that has enough content to single-handedly last months.

Yeah I'm not even mad at that price lol, I actually picked mine up for around 18 new bundled with my vita TV when I got it shipped from playasia. I even did a side by side comparison between p4g at 720p on the vita TV and an upscaled persona 4 on the original 60gig PS3 at 1080p. P4g was sharper but the original p4 had slightly higher color saturation which comes down to preference. Besides that already I've noticed differences large and small in the new content. This is great for me since I never beat the original, on,y made it to the fight with the 5th or 6th persons persona.


I'm with you, persona 4 golden in hd full screen is almost worth getting a vita TV by itself

[kupomogli]

That's just insane given that you're getting a game that has enough content to single-handedly last months.

We must have been playing different games. Persona 4 is a great game, won't deny that, but the content in the game certainly won't last for months, unless you're talking about in game months, then yeah(get it?) Persona 4 is more story and time management focused than combat and exploration. The content that is in the game that you can put more time into is in the dungeons and Persona compendium. For the Persona compendium, 100% it isn't really meaningful content. After 40 hours or 60 if you've put effort into maxing out your relationship levels, you've beaten the game and completed all the dungeons except one. If you put in around 60 hours you unlock another dungeon, another dungeon that's is exactly like the other seven or eight before it. Having no world outside of the text hub of the town you're located in and a randomized dungeon, the dungeon design in Persona 4 is poor. It lacks in any sort of meaningful exploration and design like your more classic RPGs, even those in a similar series, SMT Nocturne, SMT4, etc. The extra dungeon might be extra content, but as boring as the design of the dungeons are, it doesn't mean your experience is going to be an enjoyable one. Even then, the dungeon more than likely doesn't last that long, so length of the dungeon certainly doesn't help the main game last for months.

Atlus should remake SMT Nocturne or Digital Devil Saga. The games didn't receive the recognition they deserved and there are too many fans that started at Persona 3 and 4 who've never played the game. Even Raidou Kuzunoha seems be more played and have a larger fanbase than Nocturne and DDS. Pretty ridiculous imo.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I'm with you, persona 4 golden in hd full screen is almost worth getting a vita TV by itself

Not almost, it is.

he content in the game certainly won't last for months, unless you're talking about in game months, then yeah(get it?) Persona 4 is more story and time management focused than combat and exploration.

Well, I suppose it all depends on how much you play on a daily/weekly basis.

I just saved Rise, and my clock is already at the 60 hour mark. Since that's not even the half way point, it means that 120 hours long, probably longer. In the original PS2 version I finished the game at about 170 hours.

I put about 1-2 hours into P4 a day when I can, so that means there's enough game here without even rolling over into new game+ mode for at least another month of solid play.

[The Adventurer]

So.... The PS TVs are already on sale at $80 for just the device and $100 for a bundle with a PS3 controller. This is a holiday promotion and I'm seriously thinking about springing for one.

But I've got a big question, is a subscription to PSN required? If not, is it worth it? I do hear Sony offers freebies and good sales deals to subscribers fairly often.

How well do PS1 era games look on the HD screen? Are they presented at the proper aspect ratio with decent scaling?

[LaughingMAN.S9]

So.... The PS TVs are already on sale at $80 for just the device and $100 for a bundle with a PS3 controller. This is a holiday promotion and I'm seriously thinking about springing for one.

But I've got a big question, is a subscription to PSN required? If not, is it worth it? I do hear Sony offers freebies and good sales deals to subscribers fairly often.

How well do PS1 era games look on the HD screen? Are they presented at the proper aspect ratio with decent scaling?

It's not required but it is recommended for the free monthly games and cloud saves, you should be able to get a year subscription for around 30 as we near Black Friday

Ps1 games look good on the ps TV you can choose how it scales and whether to use bilinear filtering or not. You can keep original aspect ratio or full screen, your choice.


If you intend to use it mostly for vita gameplay know in advance that not all games are currently compatible, same with ps1 and psp purchases. There are compatibility lists out there if you google them which can tell you more

[The Adventurer]

I primarily want to play JRPG-like games like Freedom Wars (which is not on the compatibility list?), Mind Zero, and the Danganronpa games.

Also, do PS3 fight sticks work with the fighting games?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Bookmark the official compatibility list from Sony, and check back often.

If you want to play a game that isn't there, you just can't.

https://support.us.playstation.com/a...playstation-tv

PS1 games on Vita TV look identical to PS1 games on PS3 - which is to say they look great.

PS1 games scale to fit and can either run in their original 4:3 ratio or stretched to 16:9. You can easily switch this at any time through the PS menu. You can also choose to "soften" the image (make it blurry) or keep it razor sharp.


PS+ is worth paying for if you have or plan to buy a PS3 or PS4. I wouldn't bother just for the Vita TV itself.

The benefits are:

free games (so long as you are continuing to pay your subscription; you cannot play anything you get free with PS+ if you ever stop paying for it)
discounts on most PSN games, and further discounts even when Sony is running sales on PSN. For example, leading up to Halloween, Corpse Party on PSP was on sale for $9.99 instead of 19.99. PS+ members could get it for $8.99.
Online play on PS4
random extras like themes as such

If you plan on buying a lotta PSN games, then a PS+ membership might not be such a bad idea, as even if you do let the service eventually lapse, anything you bought with the discount stays.

As for PS3 arcade sticks? Yes. Most PS3 controllers will work on the Vita TV just fine. Granted, I say most, which doesn't mean ALL. Some sticks might not work. ymmv.

[Leo_A]

If you want to play a game that isn't there, you just can't.

Again folks, he's not fully correct here. For the second time now, a fair percentage of downloads that aren't listed in the official compatibility list can still be played.

What this list represents is the content that can be downloaded directly from a Playstation TV. Just as with the handheld Vita and its official compatibility list, it isn't fully representative of everything that can actually be played here. PS3 transfers and moving Vita handheld memory cards over to the PSTV do open up a percentage of what's officially "incompatible".

Sadly, some games just can't be transferred from a PS3. And some Vita handheld compatible PSP games, despite being there on your memory card, will still throw an error message out on a Playstation TV after swapping the card over. But for a fair percentage of PSP material not presently on the PSTV's official compatibility list, there are solutions.

Plus, if you downloaded and backed games up with the content manager when Sony accidentally unlocked almost the entire PSP library a while back, those files will apparently install fine on the PSTV as well and be playable (Such as the Spyro the Dragon franchise). But if you did this and merely move over your memory card that you previously installed this software to, you'll just get an error with such games that have otherwise never been playable on a Vita by any non hacked means.

Here's some lists that document this oddness with the Vita handheld. We're still in the early days of the PSTV and I see no signs of anyone teaming up to create something similar to make the official compatibility list truly complete via the inclusion of unofficial compatibility for the PSTV, but all signs point to it working similarly to the handheld with easy solutions available for a portion of the current incompatibility list of PSP software.

https://www.cheapassgamer.com/topic/...yable-on-vita/

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488789

[Satoshi_Matrix]

thanks for those links. There's not a whole lot worthwhile there, but it is nice to see some sort of list of what works if you jump through the hoops.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

I primarily want to play JRPG-like games like Freedom Wars (which is not on the compatibility list?), Mind Zero, and the Danganronpa games.

Also, do PS3 fight sticks work with the fighting games?

Dangaronpa series and freedom wars are compatible, not sure about mind zero

[LaughingMAN.S9]

I may have spoken incorrectly on vita TV/playstation tv's ps1 features. I can't find any toggle unless it's on by default for bilinear filtering which is present on the handheld vitas, I also can't seem to find a setting to change the aspect ratio of ps1 games from 4:3 to full or stretched. Strange because I have distinct memories of being able to do that, maybe I'm thinking about the psp go or PS3?

Does anyone know if I'm missing something here?

[kupomogli]

A firmware update on the Vita required you to press and hold the PS button and no longer touch and hold the screen. The options under that menu are more fleshed out than before and include the PSP and PSX options as well. You might have to press and hold the PS button for the Vita TV as well.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Yes. Like the PS3 and PSP before it, press and hold the PS button for several seconds to get into the configuration menu. 4:3 is default for PS1 games, but you can stretch to 16:9 this way. But this isn't CoinOps or anything. Just those two options. Also, sharp is also on by default. I don't know why anyone would want the soft filter look.