By Joel Smart (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: February 29, 2012
With the February 22 release of the latest video game handheld, the PlayStation Vita, questions have sprung up regarding the value of mobile gaming and the potential of the market to include such a high-quality device in addition to the cheaper options available both in Nintendo’s offerings and in those provided by phones, tablets, and to some degree, laptops. The PSP proved that there is a market for high-end mobile gaming, but it is limited. Although I was an early adopter for the PSP, I have opted to hold back in my purchase of a Vita. It isn’t that the device isn’t impressive – it is. I just can’t make myself shell out that kind of money for a device I’ve never quite been able to incorporate into my everyday life.
With my PSP, many times, most of its use came to me simply as a media device – storing pictures to show friends and playing music while on the go. The best place to use such a device seems, to me, to be in those moments between classes or on public transit. While the former is very plausible to me, I found I rarely had it on me in those moments. With the latter, I found playing games would really make me car-sick – to be fair, I can’t read in a moving vehicle either. Plus, in Abbotsford, I don’t get to make use of public transportation all that often.
Partly, I just find the device fits into some kind of limbo – it semi-replaces the functionality of a smartphone, but not quite. Plus, as I’ve noticed with my PSP, if I can’t fit it in my pocket, it’s probably going to stay home most days. Yet, make the PSP any smaller, and the appeal of its screen and layout is lost. As well, with such a powerful device, technology simply doesn’t make decent battery life feasible; barring the purchase of multiple batteries, it can be a substantial drawback for the device.
That isn’t to say I don’t want one. The dual cameras, the dual touch screens, the dual analogue sticks – it has all the perks. The screen is one of the clearest and nicest you’ll find on a mobile device. Plus, and this is a big plus, the system already has about 30 games, and some of them are pretty good.
The launch lineup is a bit revolutionary in that it features, perhaps, the perfect mix between huge sequels to popular gaming series—like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Super Stardust Delta, MotorStorm RC, WipEout 2048 and a surprisingly brilliant Rayman Origins—and original titles like Escape Plan and Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack. Escape Plan, a puzzle-platformer, was perhaps the most tempting title available to me; its black-and-white, slightly-twisted art style, combined with its macabre humour, makes it a unique entry in the genre – plus it’s only $15. Did I mention it’s made by the team responsible for Fat Princess? That said, Uncharted, one of the most popular PlayStation franchises, is likely to be the title most people buy the system early for.
For $249.99, I just can’t quite justify the purchase – despite usually shelling out for new PlayStation products. It doesn’t help that Sony has also priced their memory sticks (necessary for storing games on) fairly expensively – $99.99 for 32 GB is about double what most similar cards cost these days. It also doesn’t help that Canada is currently being offered only one of the two variations of the device. While Japan and the United States are offered a Vita model featuring 3G, Canada is relegated to the WiFi-only model.
Yet, when the price comes down, and on the condition that some additional high-quality games begin to surface, I will almost certainly find myself purchasing one. Though, if it’s anything like the PSP, it might be worth waiting until the system redesign, which usually brings a smaller, lighter design with additional features – all for less money. Sounds pretty good to me.
