After sitting in line for two-and-a-half hours, I was graced with the chance to play with the new PlayStation Vita. Slightly silly sounding name aside, the device truly is a wonder to behold. Dual analog sticks, multi-touch screen, a touch pad on the back, aesthetics that look like they’re from the PS3, cloud save support, and TROPHIES are just a small sample of what this incredible new handheld has to offer. So naturally, like the gadget whore I am, I had to get my hands on it.
The handheld is about as light as the PSP-3000, which was a surprise to me because it looks to be about PSP-1000 heavy. The screen is crisp and crystal clear, almost to the point of deterring you from touching it with your dirty, oily fingertips. The real only complaint I have about it are the dual analog sticks, which are convex like the PlayStation controller analog sticks. After playing with the 3DS’s concave stick, it’s really hard to like going back to the alternate style, as it’s not nearly as comfortable.
The floor demo presented five games that everyone was allowed to play for four minutes each. Once the time had passed a bell would ring and everyone would have to go to the next designated station, not unlike speed dating, but for sexy devices instead of significant others.
LittleBigPlanet
Basically, each game presented to us emphasized particular features of the PSV. In the case of LittleBigPlanet, the handheld’s tilt and touch screen controls were on full display. Players can tap and drag specific objects to open up the pathway for little Sackboy to traverse. For example, some boxes can be moved for Sackboy to jump on in order to reach ledges or to hold open doorways. Other times, a plank could be lowered as a ramp. By dragging your finger along the back touchpad, hidden ledges can pop out toward the player, giving Sackboy something to jump on.
The tilt controls are used for pretty much what you would think. Sackboy can grab ahold of a rolling device that can be moved by – you guessed it – tilting the PSV.
While these additions are nice and add new puzzle elements to the game, as of now, they feel kind of tacked on as an afterthought.
Virtua Tennis 4
Virtual Tennis 4 relies one hundred percent on the touch controls. To serve, you tap your player, watch the power meter fill, and then tap the player again at the peak to serve. In contrast, you hit or return the ball by swiping the screen at the appropriate time and in the direction you desire. The player can be moved by merely tapping the desired position on the court. By swiping, the player will automatically move in the correct direction toward the ball, but without physically moving the player, merely swiping will not get him or her on the other side of the court fast enough.
I’m not really one for sports games, so I probably don’t have the best perspective on this, but I did learn that I’m much better at getting aces than I am at returning serves. Or any hits, for that matter.
I couldn’t help but feel that this was a glorified iPhone tennis game that featured a PlayStation brand label. It may look better than any other iPhone tennis game available, but that’s about the only discernible difference.
Little Deviants
Here was another glorified iPhone game, manifested on the PSV. Have you ever played an iPhone game that uses the camera to augment reality in some way? For example, you shoot bugs that you can only see through the camera’s viewfinder. This implements the same idea.
The PSV’s screen displays the input from the camera, and the little deviants will zoom around in all directions that you will have to track by moving the PSV around so that the camera will pick up the deviants in the augmented reality. In this particular mini-game, the goal was to shoot down all of the blue ships that would try to pull the deviants into a warp hole. I have to admit that I felt absolutely ridiculous twirling around with the PSV, trying to find where the blue ship flew off to, especially since the handheld was tethered to the table (along with my headset).
I got to see one other mini-game that the Little Deviants had to offer, which was a version of the carnival game Whack-a-Mole. If the deviants faced the front of the screen, you tapped them from the touchscreen. If they faced the back of the device, you tapped the back touchpad. If you tapped a human, you lost a severe number of points.
The collection of mini-games presents very well some of the key features that the PSV has to offer, but as a whole, I cannot imagine these games holding anyone’s attention for longer than a few minutes. As for the financial aspect of it, it’s hard to imagine anyone paying $40-$50 for such a game when the iPhone has so many similar options for only $.99 each.
Sound Shapers (not final name)
Sound Shapers is a unique game in that shares characteristics of a platformer, but instead of jumping around to collect coins, you jump to collect beats of music. As you collect these items the beats coalesce together and play a melody until you leave the chamber. Once you complete a level, you can hear the music you “made.” Depending on how many beats you picked up and which beats you gathered, your tunes will sound different each time you play. It’s almost like replaying a game numerous times to see the numerous endings, except it’s geared more for the acoustically driven.
It also has a create and share mode where the player can create original levels of music snatching fun and upload them for others to play.
Traditional buttons and analog sticks are used for the platforming portions, but both the touchscreen and the touch pad are used for placing the beats in the create mode.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Ah yes, finally a “hardcore” game to play; one that isn’t similar to something else found in the mobile phone market. But is it as amazing as it has been hyped up to be?
YES.
I have to say; having dual analog sticks will finally make a PlayStation handheld achieve the greatness it always could have. It is so freeing to be able to use one analog stick to move, and a second to manipulate the camera. For a game like Uncharted, this is a downright necessity, so I’m really glad that Nathan Drake never found his way to a portable until now. Nothing else would have done him justice.
In addition, the graphical capabilities of the PSP could never have supported what Uncharted demands. Games like Crisis Core and The 3rd Birthday looked great on the PSP, but they never had that “complete” look that the PS3 can offer, and with good reason. Now though, Drake and his world look exactly how they would on the PS3. It’s enough to take your breath away a little.
The controls are the same for this adventure as they were for Uncharted 2, but as Sony demonstrated from their press conference this week, they implemented touch controls for some of the play so that newcomers to games, or just Uncharted in general, could jump right in with ease. By simply touching climbable sections or swiping an entire row/column of climbable sections, Drake can jump around instantly without the player needing to guide his jumps. I know I’m not a platforming fan, but even I am a little down on this idea, as it does cheapen some of the experience. Players can also use the touch controls for melee attacks or particular instant kills – such as pulling an enemy off a ledge.
There are also touchpad control options, but like the touchscreen controls, they are optional. So far, the touchpad is only used for climbing ropes and lining up shots with a sniper rifle.
Since neither of these controls are mandatory, they feel tacked on after-the-fact. Maybe this really is Sony’s way of reaching out to more casual players, but for already-fans of Drake, you aren’t going to try to do anything else but use the traditional methods. And honestly, these extra controls aren’t going to sway anyone from not buying it. I know it’s definitely one game I’ll want in my hot little hands either at or near launch.
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