The top ten most confusing PlayStation Vita truths

Kyle from The Vita Lounge takes us on a brief tour through some of the PlayStation Vita's most confusing truths - covering topics like the "mystery port", that 1GB of internal storage available in certain circumstances, and the marketing/advertising situation.

[Elronza]

This is an on point great article.

[breakpad]

they are idiots that didnt release the UMD drive ..so much potential and sales as people would update to Vita nowing that they can keep their PSP library (PS1 -PS2 remember) ...the original system maybe one of the best Sony game hardware and they left it to struggle with Anime dramas and indies ...shame ..though i still hope for MHun 5 to be released on the console

[vongruetz]

I have so many gripes that I could write a book just to list them all. And yet, at the end of the day, the Vita still remains my favorite gaming platform of all time. It sucks that they got a lot wrong with it, but what they got right they really got right. It's an amazing little device and I only wish that others saw it for what it really is (and not blinded by the proprietary memory card prices).

[LifeInNZ]

I would not consider it being blinded at all. Basically you are forced to buy a madatory memory card to actually get the full benefit of the Vita. Now, if the cards were priced realistically or if Sony had thrown in an 8 or 16GB card from the get go then it would not have been an issue.

[vongruetz]

People always point to the 3DS and point out that SD card prices are so cheap. Yes, they are. But with the Vita, you save so much more money down the road.

If you bought a Vita one year ago and a subscription to PS+, you'd now be sitting on a pile of 40 games to play. Even if you had shelled out for a 32gb card, your cost per game is amazingly low. And isn't that why we buy consoles? To play games?

Everyone is caught up in the up-front cost of the memory card that the overall value is lost on them.

[Rockets12]

Im surprised there was no mention of the memory card prices, but otherwise I agree. The system isnt perfect, but I love it. Only problem I have is the battery annoys the heck out of me. I charge it and then all of a sudden the battery dies, but then a few seconds later it has half battery. I assume i have to mess with the battery a bit, but I'm afraid to open it up and mess with it lol

[teflontactics]

Memory card prices are a necessary evil as they take on nearly the full cost of Sony's DRM solution. Basically, instead of offering hardcore unique DRM on every title you download to your Vita, they've gone for a hardware option - reducing game prices (that why they cap around $40) but making the memory card more expensive as it's custom.

While memory card prices do "suck" from a buyer standpoint, I'd much rather an $80 purchase of a 64GB once than all the games getting a few extra dollars tacked on for software DRM research, development and implementation.

[Svinya]

The reason why Vita games are $40 instead of $60 is because they are much easier and faster to develop than home console games... And they sure look it... Vita games don't have 50 million dollar budgets like some real games do..

[teflontactics]

Do you not remember the PSP? PSP games didn't top out at $40 and went all the way to $60 on a regular basis. There have been less than 5 single release Vita games launched at over $40 in the US.

[vongruetz]

And the fact is that most Vita games do not launch at $40.

[Nonscpo]

Good article Kyle, the Vita is a great system, but it doesn't mean that things aren't always clear though.

[DeadManMMX]

I wish they would do a Vita Round 2 marketing campaign. To me the Vita is an amazing handheld we don't or wont need a new one for years. So just support the system. Stop treating it like a bastard step child *looks over sadly at Playstation Move controllers*.

P.S. That tip about Wifi power save just made my day.

[LifeInNZ]

Lots of wishful thinking but I cannot see Sony investing any time in relaunching the Vita. Not unless they come up with a revamped model but then they got burnt when they tried that with the PSP Go.

Imagine if they had nailed the Vita release of COD. That could have been a real game changer.

[KryptoniteTail]

All true. Vita is a great device handled retardedly. Maybe they wanted it to fail for some reason.

[bluzone]

@KryptoniteTail retarded is a derogatory term. Please use an appropriate language e.g. executive decision. /s