Cnet- The next PlayStation Vita can, and should, be a phone

Scott Stein, Cnet- "I've had the PS Vita for a week. In that time, I've been impressed with the system's potential, and I appreciate the effectiveness of its dual analog sticks, but I've come away with one conclusion stronger than all the others:

The Vita needs to be a phone."

[Snookies12]

Not everything needs to be a phone dammit. Lol

It has got Party Chat, isn't that enough?

[firefoxprime]

No. Just no...

[buddymagoo]

Strange, you never seem to hear this sort of rhetoric for the 3DS.

[fear88]

I know right. I really think that everyone just uses sony as the perfect means to stir up controversy as opposed to looking at every company objectively and with a level playing field. Its as though every bad thing that they claim the vita has is disregarded with either the 3DS and the iphone/ipad. They claim its too pricey but when you bring up the price of an ipad somehow the ipad does not seem overpriced (WTF). And when people say traditional handheld gaming is dying, this JUST applies to the Vita as opposed to BOTH the 3DS and Vita.

I am getting fed up with this journalism. It seems that they just take the perfect device with well thought out features and specs and just hook it to the back of their proverbial opinion "pickup truck" and drag it across the asphalt in order to get hits.

This is the same sh!t that would be done on youtube and gain a million hits and its just as dumb. Either be an objective news journalist, or be a youtube clown. Because to me there is really no difference between this current level of journalism and a youtube clown.

[firefoxprime]

heh, sorry. My comment was directed to the article , not your comment... :P

[mabreu]

I think journalist just ran out of ideas to write so they spew whatever is on their mind without any research.

To Scott Stein: Ummm....People bring Kindles on NYC subway along with their smartphones. The reason why is because the Kindle is better for reading on the go. Vita is better for gaming on the go. See the similarity. I mean c'mon, grow a brain.

[CynicalVision]

Jesus Christ, what is this obsession with every product needing to be a phone?

If we get the ability to send text messages in the future then great but It doesn't "need" to be a phone at-all.

[fluffydelusions]

Well the 3G can already receive text messages but yeah I see what your saying. I wish people would stop comparing it to phones.

[LOGICWINS]

Because NORMAL people would prefer carrying ONE device that can satisfy all their portable needs as opposed to carrying around multiple devices.

Thats why cell phones have included GPS' and music players over the years.

COM-MON-SENSE

[CynicalVision]

People have been carrying around multiple devices for years, that's not going to change and MOST people don't seem to care.

Good luck having a mobile phone the size of a Vita, you wouldn't look stupid at all.

[trenso1]

Nope I stil carry and iPod touch and a phone not everyone needs just one device, people just need to stop comparing the vita to a phone

[LOGICWINS]

"Good luck having a mobile phone the size of a Vita, you wouldn't look stupid at all."

We're talking about the NEXT Vita...not the CURRENT Vita(At least read the title of the article before commenting). Technology gets smaller and cheaper with time. By the time Vita 2(or whatever the hell Sony decides to call it) comes out, the components MAY be small enough to allow the console to house a cellphone.

@tresno- Another person with a reading problem. I didn't say anyone NEEDS just one device, I said that people would PREFER just one device.

"I agree with you that a dedicated gaming device does not need to be a phone but if we look at it, its kind of the logical step forward."

Well said.

[Blaine]

The problem with all-in-one devices is BATTERIES.

Have fun playing Vita-quality games on your phone, let's see how much batteries you have left to make calls in a few hours. Oh shit, your phone died because you were using it to play--but how are you going to make that important phone call now? Fuck don't you just wish you'd had a dedicated gaming handheld by now, so you could have played AND keep your phone's batteries charged to make that emergency call?

COM-MON-SENSE

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Did Blaine just make a VALID argument that made SENSE and logic ONCE AGAIN didn't acknowledge it?

You seem to be the one that has a reading problem.

Cynical Vision said "It doesn't "need" to be a phone at-all."

But of course replied without a second thought because you think everything you say is true.

Yes, of course everyone 'prefers' one device that can do all things. Keyword is "PREFER". Hence the Vita doesn't "NEED" to be a phone. Do you understand CynicalVison's point now?

Funny you mentioned "COM-MON-SENSE." You should try and actually use it sometime. If you had any amount of "COMMON SENSE" you would have thought about Blaine's scenario and why it'd be best for the Vita to not be phone... Hell, I bet Sony experimented with the idea that the current Vita should be phone because at a first galance it does appear to be "COM-MON-SENSE" to do so. But I'm sure Sony realized that the Vita uses up too much battery so there wasn't any point in making it a phone if you aren't going to be using it as a phone in the first place if playing games on it drains the battery.

If Sony can make the next Vita a phone with good battery life then great, do it. But it isn't exactly COM-MON-SENSE for them to do it if playing games on it hogs the battery life now is it?

COM-MON-SENSE COM-MON-SENSE COM-MON-SENSE

[tiffac008]

I agree with you that a dedicated gaming device does not need to be a phone but if we look at it, its kind of the logical step forward.

It may not even resemble a smartphone but it may come with an app or something that allows you to make direct calls without the need to register to something like Skype.

I highly think its a plausible. Will Sony do it remains to be seen.

Oh and this issue of carrying just one portable device can easily be solve by carrying a bag or a backpack. Almost everyone who goes to work or school carries one, so how hard can it be to put another device in your bag?

[Ulf]

This guy forgot something pretty critical in his analysis of how the Vita could fit into a Xperia Play-sized phone...

The battery.

The Vita's battery is enormous compared to most phone batteries -- literally twice the size. Considering its awe-inspiring hardware, that's hardly a surprise.

The "next Vita" might fit into a phone size.. maybe. The current one would not. Also the 5" OLED screen is one of the best parts of the Vita, as a gaming device. I can see a 4.3" screen on a phone-sized Vita, but nothing smaller would cut it, in my book. The breadth of the controls also makes it more comfortable than a phone, as a gaming device -- if you shrink it, that comfort goes away.

I think Sony made it well. If it could operate as a phone, that'd be a bonus, but I *wouldn't* sacrifice the 5" screen and comfortable grip for such a feature at all. If Sony does make a phone-esque Vita, it should be like a PSP Go, but *bigger* (PSP Go had a 3.7" screen... PSP Vita Go would need to be 4.3", IMO), so as not to sacrifice gaming functionality for phone-ness.

[ElementX]

I don't like the all-in-one trend in electronics. If the phone breaks, you won't have a Vita and vice versa. Batteries don't last very long in mobile devices anyway so why drain your batteries faster with something like this?

[smashcrashbash]

IT'S NOT A PHONE. Sony has a phone. This is a gaming device. NOT A PHONE.

[Mikhail]

If you want yo pay 3x the price, lousy battery life, android OS hogging the memory compared to the vita OS...ok then..

[extermin8or]

another idiot who wants a phone thats battery will be gone so damn quickly because you'd be playing games on it all the time

[Emilio_Estevez]

I know a lot of gamers wouldn't like it, but from a purely business standpoint it makes a lot of sense, at least a model that does calls/texts.

[Knight_Cid]

looking at the site, theres no point in taking it seriously

[OmegaSaiyanX]

Theres nothing stopping the 3G version from being a phone, if it can take a sim card and has speakers all you need is a bluetooth headset and an software update to allow it to make calls - simple.

[Wolfbiker]

If it was a phone people would be too big and not accessible for everyone (children, people with cell phones already and not ready to upgrade...etc) plus with terrible battery life.

[gamingisnotacrime]

And tablets need to be a phone too?

[ginsunuva]

Say byebye to battery life.

[InTheLab]

Again with this phone crap....

Dude above me beat me to it, but I can't count how many times I've kicked myself for eating up the battery on my phone thanks to AC Lockdown or Infinity Blade 2. And those are just bite size games killing the battery of an iPhone. Imagine if someone decided to make a real game....

You really do need a cell phone for your cell phone in order to make calls and game on the go.

[BlmThug]

Articles like this should be burned

[rockbottom3076]

no it needs to just be a portable games system

[specialguest]

Have people not heard of Google Talk? It allows free instant messaging, voice chat, and video chat. Sony just needs to convince Google to develop a Vita app or make it available throught the browser. I think Google Talk is already available for iPhone and iPod Touch through the browser.

[givemeshelter]

The market is moving towards convergence of devices like these.
Pretty much the next dedicated handheld will include a phone.
The days of "dedicated handhelds" are coming to an end unfortunately.

[Sithlord-Gamble]

I DISAGREE 2000% ... this author is an idiot. Go back to ur stupid iphone; u dont deserve to have a dedicated gaming handheld with dumb comments like that.

[Blaine]

WHHYYYYYY the fuck would it need to be a phone?

You want a phone that doubles as a gaming system, get the XPERIA PLAY.

You want a gaming system that doubles as a gaming system? Get the Vita.

[DigitalRaptor]

Skype, Facebook, Internet Browser.

Phone? Nah I'm good.

[guitar_nerd_23]

No, it should be "just" a games console.