Sony: why PS Vita has 512MB of RAM

Vita's 512MB of RAM enables it to run programs in the background while gamers are playing games, Sony has said.

One of those programs is cross-game voice chat via Vita's Party system.

"Part of the reason [for including 512MB of RAM] is more RAM means easier development for game developers," Sony president of Worldwide Studios Shu Yoshida told Eurogamer at Gamescom.

[fr0sty]

It technically has 640MB, 512 system RAM and 128 video RAM. And I'm sure, like PS3, VRAM can use some of system RAM if it needs to.

[hmmmmmm]

"So the reason why we were able to include something like Party, which enables cross-game voice chat, is because we designed Vita so it always has enough resources to handle something like that behind the game while it's running."

guess that's why we haven't seen it on ps3. my guess is they would release a new version of ps3 with more ram and all these features added next year and sell both of them in a package. I would trade in my old ps3 80 gb for a new ps3 slim with a new xmb and cross game chat capabilities.

[fluffydelusions]

Releasing a PS3 with additional RAM would divide the PS3 userbase and cause developer hell.

[KingDustero]

I also thought this. There must not be enough RAM on the PS3 to run both a game and a cross-game chat feature.

Like fluffy said though it is NEVER a good thing to make new versions of a console more powerful than the original. It would piss a lot of people off and would divide the whole user-base. I'm still pissed at Apple for making first gen iPod Touches useless now.

[Ulf]

You can reduce the size of the OS over a console's lifetime, but you can never, ever raise it. If you did, some games would simply stop working, because they were relying on that memory for themselves.

[Bull5hifT]

I just saw that its normal for 2GB of ram for PC cost $10 why couldnt this have at least a gig, at least its universal , not like my ps3 that has 256 normal and 256 super speed... Makes devs have to rip things for one or the other , soo its telling you that the 512 has to be used for games and cross game chat , where the ps3 cant handle that now, so the games will never be ps3 quality.... I think with the Cryteck, and I.D.5 engine amazing stuff will be possible on this thing... Its good that there optimizing there engines to squeeze as much power out of the console, even RAGE on my Itouch 4rth Gen Looks Amazing

[jukins]

yea they wouldnt release a new version with more ram just for cross game chat. The only hope for ppl who actually want this is to hope sony can lower the os overhead or maybe unlock that last spu core (not even sure if that would help lol)

[superadvanced]

we already know they are reserving an entire core for the OS so the games can only use 3 cores. my guess is they are reserving 128mb of the main ram for the OS too, leaving 512 total (384 main + 128 vram) for games. if this is the case then i had better be able to open the web browser in game to look at walkthroughs and such. with entire core dedicated there better be a lot of cool shit running in the background. custom music etc.

[fr0sty]

PS3 could do it, but the problem is that it wasn't built around the feature. So, in order to get it working, it has to work with all games, even those crappy ports which were coded very poorly and ate up every last bit of resources the system had to run a game at a sub-par frame rate. So, the job was left on sony's hands to try to shrink the firmware footprint enough that it could still run even on those games. It looks like they have not been able to do that, even though they've shrunk it's footprint a good bit since launch. IIRC it was 96MB at launch and is under 48MB's now. However, with in game XMB and other in game features added, cross game chat just didn't make the cut with the amount of memory left over. 360 has the same amount of RAM, but since it's had x-game chat since the beginning all developers have been required to code their games with it in mind.

[kneon]

@Bull5hifT

PC memory is cheaper than what usually goes into mobile devices, it's become a commodity item.

But the bigger reason is that the more memory you have the bigger the power draw and heat output. Designing mobile devices is a careful balancing act between computer power, heat, battery life and cost.

[hakis86]

This is great news for PS VITA.

And this means we really need a PS4, with many many Gigs of RAM, SONY...!! =)

[subtenko]

The PSVita is just frikken epic! This is why I held off buying a 3DS. That and the fact that I never personally touched the original DS once the psp came out.

Agree or Disagree if you Agree

[THC CELL]

do u guys remember this http://community.eu.playsta... What if the psv is this addon, Cant say it wont be possible

[Gray-Fox-Type0]

Lol PS3 not powerful enough to handle cross game chat oh come on PS3 although is lacking alot of features which could make PSN and XMB much better. Sony not caring with lack of updates. Atleast getting good games though.

[theonlylolking]

It needs RAM.

[militant07]

RAAAM

[Mario4life]

um no because on the xbox it was built in to the system if sony would put cross-chat in now it would have to be a software solution, which would also means they would have to patch it into games, so it would be an insane ammount of work.

[Peaceful_Jelly]

the difference with the Xbox is that its OS takes much less RAM than the PS3's XBM and on top of that the entire memory is shared instead of dedicated (256mb for system and 246mb for video). Sony has greatly reduced the footprint of the OS but then they added 3D...

3D makes money while cross-game chat does not.

[OcularVision]

Wow most smartphones have more RAM than the PSV, even a smartphone from a year ago has equal RAM..

[Gray-Fox-Type0]

high end Mobile phones have like 1gb of ram but obviously used differently because not gaming dedicated device.

[Ulf]

Smartphones use an outrageous amount of RAM for their OS. You're comparing apples to oranges.

512MB RAM (+128MB VRAM) on a mobile gaming handheld is WAY more (for games) than 512MB unified RAM on a smartphone. WAY more. I'd even go as far to say that its more than a 1GB smartphone actually has available for gaming, and the dedicated VRAM probably delivers much better graphics performance than unified RAM ever will.

[clrlite]

Indeed and some of that 512 will probably be allocated and used as video ram for games like the PS3. I will give him an example. One of my laptops has 2 Gigabytes of RAM, but only 128 Megabytes of usable video ram for games. PSV is a beast and I doubt sony will bottleneck a quadcore handheld with insufficient video ram.

[Peaceful_Jelly]

the Vram is for the GPU and the the other Ram is for the system. A smartphone with 1GB of Ram is still more than the PS Vita no matter how you want to see it.

Let's stop with the damage control please.

[one2thr]

@peaceful.....
Can any of those smart phones run MGS4 without the data being optimized for it and on top of that, can it be done within a week?

[Optical_Matrix]

Yes but the OS processor consumption on phones is much higher. Vita is a dedicated gaming device. Along with that quad core processor, the Vita will out perform smartphones on the graphics and power front. Even Carmack said that that along with the low level API's put Vita a generation or so ahead of the next gen of smartphones. Sony know what they're doing. Vita is a beast. Make no mistake

[Close_Second]

"Sony know what they're doing".

You sure about that? I'm not convinced about the Vita yet. Large form factor and no built in storage make me wonder if this will appeal to the masses like it needs to.

More people want smartphones that play games than a dedicated gaming device.

[Optical_Matrix]

@Close Second...large form factor? U mad? the screen is 5". That's slightly bigger than my Samsung Omnia 7's screen and that fits so nicely in my pocket. Year Vita is thicker and has the buttons, but it'll fit in a jacket pocket easily. Plus I actually play handhelds more at home than I do on the go. So for me it's fine.

No built in storage won't let it appeal to the masses? I've never heard so much bullshit. The 'masses' probably don't even care about built in storage so long as they can play a casual game and go on Facebook.

[Close_Second]

Ok, try putting the Vita into your pocket and using it to listen to music with wired headphones. You know the joysticks will snag as you put it in.

[Ddouble]

@Optical_Matrix

Actually the vita is thinner than psp 2000/3000 and i myself don't think the size will be a problem.

As for no storage i don't see it as much a problem because you can buy it seperately. If they had storage it would have increased the price which would put people off. We've all seen what price drops can do recently, so saving money wherever you can without compromise is always a a good idea.

[clrlite]

Smart phones from a year ago DO NOT have more VIDEO RAM(you know, the kind you use for games) than the PSVita. They also do not have quad core processors.

[Close_Second]

In 2 years time we'll still be 4-6 years away from a Vita successor and smartphones will feature standard specs that will make the Vita look old.

Look how smartphones have changed since 2005 compared to the PSP.

I know one thing for sure, iPhone 5 sales will eclipse Vita sales.

[Ddouble]

How are you going to compare a handheld vs a phone. You do know that not everyone uses their phones to play games.

[Chaotic_Lament]

And in two years phones will have 2GB of RAM while the Vita will still be stuck at 512MB. 4 years from now the gap will be even wider.

Vita can't win on specs. It will have to win on games, great games I can't get anywhere else.

[Ulf]

On the contrary, every Vita game will be able to target a platform which has an enormous amount of RAM and VRAM, as well as a quad core processor, and quad core GPU.

How many smartphone games do you think will target such a high-end device, anytime soon?

It'll be at least 4, if not 6, years before a quad-core smartphone becomes a viable gaming target, due to the same issue that plagues PC gaming -- lowest common denominator. Not everyone has the latest and greatest phone, and people tend to stick with the same phone for their entire contract, at the least.

[DigitalRaptor]

And smartphones of 2 years into the future still won't have adequate input control for games. That's their biggest problem at providing a better gaming experience than a dedicated handheld like the Vita with dual analogue control + more.

Luckily, due to this, Vita will be getting more serious developers who want to focus on great input control and innovative features that Vita offers over the lack of depth smartphone games can offer. Vita games will be better than the average smartphone game and that is undeniable.

[PimpDaddy]

I'm honestly considering purchasing a Vita at launch. By the looks and sounds of everything Sony has a real winner on their hands. I bought 4 PSP's for each of my children but never really found a great desire to play on theirs or have my own. The Vita is SEXY in every way.

[blackburn10]

Yay!!!!! Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie!

[Dojan123]

Is it possible to build an add-on via USB just to store what is need to add Chat to the PS3. I do not need it but those who want it can spend a few bucks for it. Or is there a speed limitation with USB?

[nevin1]

So this 512MB of memory allows for in game music during games? =)

[xabmol]

My PSP has ingame music right now! ;)

[banner]

Interesting read...

I don't know much on this other then what I read but you think that this is why ps3 has Internet but no cross game chat while 360 is opposite?

If I'm on to something, again I don't know this stuff, couldn't Sony drop the internet? Assuming that it takes a lot of ram, enough to have what you need for cg chat?

If I'm right then maybe during development when ms and Sony got to that part, and ended up with that we have now..

[xabmol]

I don't think that's really the case, but if it is... I am VERY pleased they went with the browser over cgc. My pc just died so I have only my PS3 browser for the net, and I still have 4 different ways to talk to people round the globe.

[Skateboard]

I hope it's region free.

[one2thr]

Most likely.....

[banjadude]

Here you go:

http://www.computerandvideo...

:D

[Apotheosize]

""So the reason why we were able to include something like Party, which enables cross-game voice chat, is because we designed Vita so it always has enough resources to handle something like that behind the game while it's running." "

So..maybe thats the reason Vita has it and not PS3?

[7xsPD]

Its hilarious that the psv has better technology than the ps3.

[prodg52]

I'd be more worried if it didn't. Considering it was developed 5 years AFTER the ps3.

[banner]

Good point.

[DigitalAnalog]

It's hilarious that the iphone 4 has better tech than the iphone 3GS. OH SHII............

-End statement

[7xsPD]

I'm saying that because a portable console has better technology in it than a regular console. People apparently don't understand anything anymore.

[xabmol]

@7

Prolly cus they don't speak troll?

[tarbis]

It would be more hilarious if the PSV don't have better tech than the PS3.
Maybe you're one those people who still believe that a 386 is still better than any smartphone. ROFL!

[C0MPUT3R]

The way SONY designed the PS Vita with developers in mind bodes really well for PS4.

[Chaostar]

Don't know why someone disagreed with that, it's one of the two problems that have been holding the Playstation 3 back: price and complicated development environment. They have fixed the former but the latter requires new hardware and, if PSV is an indication of the approach Sony is taking, it does indeed bode well for PS4.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

Well, they could do it only with one way. Remember when some N64 games came with a upgrade card-thing with it? If they just offer that for like $10-$20 bucks that you just attach through the USB port, it could help.

[latinalover]

is 512MB of RAM good?

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

Also depends what kind of RAM, still it is unknown.

[latinalover]

i think vita will do better than 3DS

[Brian5247]

This might be the smartest move Sony's made in a long time. 512MB plus 128vram is going to be huge for Vita, it's gunna be killer.

[DJMarty]

@Goodfella2487 - PS Vita Ram makes 3DS specs look even worst than they already did.

[Wolf873]

I'm not a tech-wiz but does having higher ram than ps3 means that vita might be able to perform better than the home console? Game wise, such as graphics and what not? Or graphics completely different from what is being discussed here?

[Hozi89]

oh man...I bet some pervs are waiting to get their hands on Vita just to take pics of their junk and create a LBP boss out of it.

[RevXM]

LOL that is kind of funny, have you encountered a penis boss on the ps3 version of LBP? xD

Its not really suprising though since people have made lots of perverted or offending stuff in games before that allow some sorts of UGC or customisation like LBP, Black ops and Halo.