PS Vita – Why It’s Bound To Be A Success

Sony has finally laid bare pretty much everything regarding their upcoming handheld device: Playstation Vita. We look at why exactly it might change the way we look at handheld gaming and turn out to be a huge success. First off let’s take a look at what it offers.

Listed below are the complete hardware specifications of Sony’s Vita. While the basic hardware stats for the handheld remain unchanged since they were revealed back in January, certain revelations on camera resolutions and other communication details have been done at the Sony’s E3 keynote.

• CPU:

ARM Cortex-A9 core (4 core)

• GPU:

SGX543MP4+

• Dimensions:

Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)

• Screen:

Touch screen 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED, Multi-touch screen (capacitive type)

• Rear touch pad:

Multi-touch pad (capacitive type)

• Cameras:

Front camera, Rear camera
Frame rate : 120fps@320x240(QVGA), 60fps@640x480(VGA)
Resolution : Up to 640x480(VGA)

• Sound:

Built-in stereo speakers, Built-in microphone

• Sensors:

Sixaxis motion-sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic compass

• Location:

Built-in GPS, Wi-Fi location service support

• Keys/Switches:

PS button, Power button, Dpad, Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square), Shoulder buttons (Right/Left), Right stick, Left stick, START button, SELECT button, Volume buttons

• Wireless communications:

Mobile network connectivity (3G), IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1x1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (A2DP/AVRCP/HSP)

• Ports:

PlayStation Vita card slot, Memory card slot, SIM card slot (3G/Wi-Fi model only), Multi-use port (for USB data communication, DC IN, Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In], Serial data communication), Headset jack (Stereo mini jack) (for Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In]), Accessory port

• Supported formats:

Music －MP3 MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3, MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC), WAVE (Linear PCM)
Videos －MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Hi/Main/Baseline Profile (AAC)
Photos －JPEG (Exif 2.2.1), TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG

Playstation Vita promises to change how we look at Handheld Gaming

PS Vita will further enhance the user experience by seamless integration with Sony’s PS3. At E3 2011, the presenters started a RUIN gaming session on the Vita and then picked up right where they left off on the PlayStation 3 moments later. Further, Modnation Racers demonstration showed how PS Vita had access to all the user generated content on PS3. All this is possible due to Sony’s Playstation Network’s Cloud Save ability, which greatly enhances the cross platform gaming experience, ensuring that our games on the PS3 follow us around on the PS Vita.

PS Vita will also come with a brand new user interface that will replace the existing XrossMediaBar found on PS3 and PSP. A tutorial program called “Welcome Park” will help the gamers figure out the new user interface and experience all the new software that comes on the Vita. New networking features include LiveArea and Near.

LiveArea enables gamers to have “access to the latest information of games provided from SCE and 3rd party developers and publishers through PlayStation Network.” Additionally, PS Vita users will be able to view an “Activity” log that is constantly updated with accomplishments from users who are playing the same game, which in turn can trigger active real-time communication among users.

Near is an extension to LiveArea and it just essentially adds a location-based element to the device, meaning gamers will be able to see what their friends or strangers in the surrounding area are currently playing, allowing for a quick friendly match between “nearby” gamers.

It should be noted that no details on the pricing of individual games as well as battery life of PS Vita has been revealed as of yet. However, we can expect it to last as long as Sony’s PSP low end battery life, i.e around 4-6 hours of gaming. As for pricing of individual games, considering Sony’s fierce determination to compete against both Ipod Touch ($229) and Nintendo 3DS ($249), we can expect it to go at max $35-$40 to keep the gamers interested.

Further, according to SCEA WWS boss Scott Rhodes, in total there are 80 titles in development for Vita from first and third-party developers. It should also be noted that the games will ship on small flash memory-based cards, instead of Sony’s current UMD format. PS Vita however will be backwards-compatible with PSP games digitally downloaded from the PlayStation Store, further adding graphics improvements and dual analog support to the existing PSP games catalog.

While Sony hasn’t announced a launch lineup for the Vita yet, but it has revealed a number of titles that are currently in development:

• Call of Duty
• Dungeon Defenders
• Dynasty Warriors
• Everybody’s Golf
• F1 2011
• Gravity Daze
• Hot Shots Golf
• Hustle Kings
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LittleBigPlanet
• Little Deviants
• ModNation Racers
• Reality Fighters
• Sound Shapes
• Street Fighter X Tekken
• Super Stardust Delta
• Voltron
• Silent Hill: Book of Memories
• Killzone
• Metal Gear Solid
• WipEout 2048
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss
• Yakuza

The WiFi version of PS Vita will cost $249.99 and the 3G version will set you back by $300. It’s expected to release in the holiday season this year and looks poised to be a success considering the bevy of features it brings and the reasonable price tag. Let us know your thoughts below.