STN Opinion: PlayStation Vita doesn't deserve to be criticised

STN:

I'm fed up. The reason? We'll I love my PS Vita but everywhere I look there is yet another person telling me it's a failure. Looking at the games I have on my system I can't really understand this argument.

[Snookies12]

Same here, people just like to complain because it's a Sony product lol. That's the trend right now it seems. People also complained about the PS3 being too pricey and had no games when it was out for at least the first year.

[zebramocha]

The vita deserves criticism where it's called but for most complaints are not needed and when they advertise the vita they should include stuff that shows features it has and will acquire in the future.

[SilentNegotiator]

Well, when they cut the price like 3DS did, it'll probably see a turn around (like 3DS did).

But they'll probably have long-lasting bitter journalists/gamers that can't afford one outside the office like with the ps3 and its price. Especially since it's a high price while 3DS has already seen its first slash.

[MoreRPG]

@Snookies ps3 WAS too pricie and didn't have a decent library ( im glad that change though) so i think people had the right to complain

About the Vita i wouldn't call it a failure. I think the price is right it just needs more unique titles like Gravity Rush and Tearaway.

[SilentNegotiator]

"and didn't have a decent library"

2007 saw Uncharted, Heavenly sword, Motorstorm, Ratchet....

It's FIRST YEAR.

[Snookies12]

That's my whole point... The PS3 was pricey and didn't have many amazing games in its first year (albeit the ones SilentNegotiator did mention.)

I'm saying that despite these things, it's turned around magnificently and is now affordable and has a huge selection of exclusives and wonderful 3rd party games as well.

I'm sure the same will happen with the Vita is what I mean. :]

[Welshy]

I own all the systems available atm, so no bias from me, but when Sony make the Vita and have an exclusive Uncharted title for it, all you hear is "if i wanted Uncharted i'd play my PS3".

Just think for a moment is Microsoft released an Xbox branded handeld of equivalent power with an exclusive Halo or Gears... The internet would EXPLODE with hype and it'd be getting 11/10's across the board.

I enjoy Halo and i enjoy my Uncharted experiences, but the double standards of gaming "journalists" is just utter BS and they need to grow up and drop petty allegiances with brands and companies and just be honest.

What about Gravity Rush? a brilliant, original and great fun NEW IP withing the opening months of a handhelds sales. Why is it when PS3 launches with Motorstorm or Uncharted, noone bothers to acknowledge them, but when the 360 appeared and launches a new IP like Gears Of War it's all "OMG look at the graphics! i love new IP's!"

Seriously, both sets of fanboys on the console front need to grow up, "journalists" need to practice professionalism and everyone should just enjoy games and platforms for what they are and HAVE FUN!

That's what gaming is supposed to be about right? FUN? Or are we all shareholders and board members of corporations with obligations to Microsoft and Sony now?

[Blankman85]

Indeed

@outside the box :D hehehe sure I do ;)

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

It's funny and ironic because you cry about people on here talking negative about Microsoft all the time.

[solidjun5]

Why did you put up a picture of yourself Ndivhu?! You got issues.

[Starfox811]

Completely agree with you Joe! I can't for a second understand why people berate the system other than its high price point compared to others. I love my Vita and the list of games you reeled off are some of my favourite this year. Thanks to PS Mobile arriving, Vita's offering of bitesize fun alongside longer sessions is great and it's all about playing your PS One games on the go. Sony just need to make more of a fuss about how powerful the device is instead of the touchscreen jiggerypokery they do.

[Yodagamer]

They also need to quit comparing it to the ps3, they keep doing it and then people get upset when a game is less advanced or different than the console games. Sony is trying to set it up as impressive, yet some people get disappointed when it isn't ps3 level, even if it is a very very impressive handheld.

[profgerbik]

Yea it is oh so annoying indeed it isn't a PS3 so people need to stop comparing it in that light.

Sony never said it was a portable PS3. They said it was the best gaming handheld you will see for now and that it is.

[Yodagamer]

When it was first shown off they went outta their way to show ps3 games on the ps vita, so maybe they didn't say it outloud but they sure tried to imply it.

[SilentNegotiator]

"Bu bu but Sony said it would have ps3-like fidelity and so I assumed that it would have a 720p screen, 8+GB games squeezed onto a 2GB card, and have no differences! How dare 'Sony' sell me cheaper, portable versions of games for a portable system! How dare they!!!"

[Yodagamer]

@silentnegotiatior i'm not only referring to the graphics, the games themselves are attempting to be ps3 games and some are disappointing. Believe me i was one of the earlier people who disagreed when sony/sony fan boys said "Omg it's gonna have ps3 graphics", it has great graphics, but it ain't a ps3. If you guys are upset that people are upset about it, maybe you should talk to sony and devs for making big promises.

[Kingthrash360]

@silent
Lol finally someone who sees it my way. people forget the cart size compared to blueray size of memory. Smh.... people should be happy to live in an era where we can play vita games that are comparable to consoles, nfs for Example. These devs are putting in hard work to fit these games on a 2 gig cart. We should be tipping our fitted caps instead of complaining. My hat has been tipped since uncharted... And it remains ever so tipped.

[profgerbik]

No offense but what price compared to others? The 3DS when first released was $250.

How that was acceptable is beyond me, the Vita is worth $250 the 3DS was not by a long shot which would explain the price dropping drastically 5 months after release.

Also compared to most devices of the same caliber it is actually very reasonably priced considering it is cheaper than most those other devices.

Most crappy smart phones and tablets Apples included cost more than a Vita now still, while doing way less.

I just saw no reason for people to be complaining about the price, it is always people who don't own one so I guess how can they actually judge it's value if you never used it period?

I owned a 3DS and it didn't take a degree in physics to understand it was made cheaply and was never worth $250..

I didn't even have to play a game on my Vita to understand at $250 for such an awesome well rounded handheld is actually a crazy fair price.

[CommonSenseGamer]

Forget boasting what's under the hood, show off the games. Give gamers a reason to want and get one. Getting into points scoring with specs is the wrong approach as tablets and smartphones will eclipse the Vita specs by this time next year. Look at the Nexus 7 from Google, quad core cpu with dual core gpu and 1gb ram and it sells for less than a Vita!

Vita has to offer gaming experiences that can only be experienced on the Vita. Arguing physical controls is what makes the difference wont be good enough for long as you can simply plug a dualshock 3 into the Nexus 7 and use that to play many of the games.

[profgerbik]

Nice to see a journalist with actual common sense instead of following the herd like every other person.

[hkgamer]

i agree but i think his main job is to write about good things the products shopto sells.
no matter what people say vita is struggling in sales and shopto needs to get rid of its old stock. there is actually quite a few online store trying to get rid of first edition bundles.

[JBSleek]

Does it deserve the hate? Well no maybe not.

Does it deserve to be criticized? Absolutely. Your personal love for a machine shouldn't equate to that people shouldn't judge it or that peoples personal opinion of this machine is wrong.

A $250 machine comes into the market with proprietary cards and for the most part lacking third party support. I would be skeptical too.

[GreenRanger]

It's not being criticised, it's been hated.
If anything, there aren't enough people critiicising Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo.
They just skip to the hating instead of voicing constructive criticism.

[ApolloAdams]

Then when does one draw that line at?

If I say Vita has a lack of games that appeals to me is overpriced and has overpriced memory cards am I a hater or expressing my thoughts constructively.

Sony isn't asking for feedback really. They put the device up and the public is talking about it.

For the people who "hate" the Vita there are people "loving" and praising it.

[GreenRanger]

@ ApolloAdams
Saying the Vita has a lack of games and is overpriced is criticism, and it's criticism that Sony are hopefully paying close attention to.
The Vita can do without the people who hate it and the people who are blind to its faults.

[Bimkoblerutso]

Agree with you there. I don't feel like I can EVER voice my concerns about anything nowadays. You're always going to get overzealous "brand fascists" acting like you're pissing on their child.

In fact, I was bubbled down a few months ago for a comment in which I suggested Sony should stop promoting the "handheld console" mentality, because developers just end up trying to shrink down "BIG" console experiences and shoehorn in wonky touch mechanics. I still stand by that statement, in fact, even after all these AAA releases in the past months.

My favorite games on the console are STILL the ones with no home-console counterpart (Sound Shapes, Gravity Rush, Zero Escape, Ragnarok).

[Pillsbury1]

Hi-ya! Dragon zord!

[GreenRanger]

Hello Pillsbury1.

[Sanquine90]

Agree, to much hating. I love my vita :D People who do not own them simply cannot justify that it is expensive. Buying an IPAD 3 when you already got the IPAD 2 makes sense. ( I own the ipad 3 but my first ipad not going to buy the 4th one like all my friends xD Drones)

[Darth Gamer]

People like to put down what they don't own and another person does. I love my vita and thats all there is to it. I also like the 3DS. My son has one and that is also a great handheld. If I had to choose between the two, I would certainly pick the VITA. Well worth the asking price.

[CommonSenseGamer]

There is nothing really wrong with the hardware with the low res cam and lack of built in memory being the only real low points that come to mind. As for games, it has a solid library that will continue to grow I'm sure. However, why isn't it selling? 3 million in almost a year (based on the Japan release date) is really low all things considered.

I'm not really interested in what Vita owners think, I'm more interested in why those the Vita is targeted at have not purchased one as yet. What is holding them back?

For me....well, when I sold my Go in April last year I replaced my portable entertainment needs with a 7" tablet. Unfortunately I have gotten used to apps, a great mobile browser, native movie playback in most formats and some pretty damned good games believe it or not (Bards Tale on Android is a blast!). The Vita would be my secondary device if I were to get one and at its current price point its just not worth it for me.

[Cam977]

It shouldn't be hated. I'm playing MGS3 and love it! I also play RE:DC and that's amazing too.

[sdozzo]

If you can afford one, buy it. We all love games.

[xursz]

The more 'hate' - the more I want to support it. That's all I'm saying.

[Neonridr]

lol, poor poor Vita. Sure we all feel bad that it gets the butt end of the jokes.

Problem here is, prior to the Vita's launch, we had so many people touting it's capabilities and going off saying how it was going to demolish the 3DS. I think a lot of hate and negativity stems from the sort of deja vu from the PSP - DS days. The Vita in its own right is a great portable machine. But it's hard to put something up on a pedestal when it can't even outsell its predecessor in its home country. With better games, come better sales. However with the 3DS having a userbase of over 20 million people compared to 3 million for the Vita (and we are rapidly approaching it's one year birthday in Japan), it's not hard to see why developers are wanting to bring their games out on the Nintendo handheld.

It is a little funny to see how frustrated Sony fans can be because they are being picked on with their Vita, when Nintendo fans faced jokes and adversity time and time again with the 64, Gamecube and Wii.

[chrisarsenalsavart]

In less than a year with had uncharted, wipeout, ragnarox odyssee, resistance bs, mgs hd, assassin creed3, COD black ops, fifa13, mlb13, need for speed, gravity rush, Mkombat, street fighter vs tekkeN, Little bigplanet, F12012 , persona4.

Lets all remember what the competition had in its first year compares to that.
Lets all remember how much the competition hardware cost when it came out.
Lets all remember how the vita is technologically superior compares to the competition.
After all that, we can all clearly see that sony is just been targeted by media who are controled by certain competitors(yes i am looking at you ign, gamespot and n4g).
The classic american model.
If you can,t do better, make sure yrou do your best to make the competition look like shit.
Examplle ign gave pokemon black and white 9.3 a game that did not improve on anything for the past 7 years but gave assassin creed liberation
7.2 . Wtf

[KongRudi]

It has alot of games..
Both console blockbuster sized games like LBP, Fifa, Need for Speed, Uncharted and Assasins Creed, and smaller phone sized pick-up-and-play titles like Snapshot or Sunflower, or a happy medium budget titles like Escape Plan.

Sure, some titles like Virtua Tennis is allmost identical on consoles, I'm a huge fan of that franchise, so I double dipped there.
I were expecting to play at consoles at home, and handheld when away from home. I ended up playing the handheld version all the time however - because loadtimes before matches, and in clubhouse is superfast compared to on console, easier custom music-selection, and the graphics and controls isn't much of a downgrade on that device.

To me this is a fantastic achievement and I love beeing able to do this. And I definately hate it when people who don't own the system starts to complain that they don't want handheld with littlebrother version of console games.

The biggest games were without a doubt ports & spinoffs the last weeks; NFS:MW, AC:Lib, Ragnarok Oddyssey.
But we also got original games like Dokuru, Virtue Last Reward.

There is room for all type of games on the platform, especially when it's aimed for the hardcore gamer.
It's should be up to the consumer who dictate what type of games he/she wann buy and when - not the platform holders - and certainly not people who don't own the system. :-/

[DivineAssault]

Does it matter what ppl think about it? If theyre too close minded to see its brilliance, then its their loss.. Games will continue to be released & i will be there to buy the good ones..

[Knushwood Butt]

Use mine pretty much every day and love it.

My main complaint, and it's not a deal breaker, are that the cameras aren't particularly great. My phone can take better photos and is about 18 months older.

I also have more games for it than I have time to play.

I just cancelled my reservation for AC3 Liberty - not because I don't want it (I do), but because I just don't have the time to play it. Still busy with Metal Gear Solid 2.

[kopicha]

well said article. unfortunately the gaming scene is a total disaster in this generation. It might be normal to see fanboy wars going on for years. But it is just sad to see many gaming journalist being very unprofessional these days.