Tuesday, June 7, 2011

E3 Impressions: The Vita/NGP/PSV

First of all, let me say that I am very excited about everything that I've seen at E3 so far. As someone who loves their PSP, I am super excited about the Vita.

Things that I'm excited about:
  • Graphics quality
  • Front multi-touch screen
  • Rear touch panel
  • Two thumb sticks
Things that I worry about:
  • Third-party software support
  • Lack of support for my current PSP disc games
The second issue there isn't too much of a big one, since I will deal with that just by keeping my current PSP. 

I've done a look around the internet to do the obvious comparison against the 3DS. It appears to me that, in it's favor, the Vita has better graphics quality, two thumb sticks, the rear touch panel, multitouch, GPS, Bluetooth, and optional 3G support. The 3DS has, in it's favor, 2 screens, 3D, the virtual console, and Nintendo franchises. I firmly believe that the Vita stands a much better chance at fighting the 3DS than the PSP had against the DS. I'm definitely not saying that it's going to be better. The virtual console and Nintendo franchises are HUGE factors in the 3DS's favor.
There are some thoughts and questions that I have about potential uses for the NGP.

With it's Bluetooth support, could/will it have enhanced PS3(/PS4?) connectivity, potentially to be used in a fashion similar to the WiiU's controller?

With the addition of 3G and better wireless (the PSP never got better than wireless B), and graphics, how will Remote Play features be enhanced for the Vita? Will more games embrace Remote Play in a deeper fashion?

Will it be less hack-able? I firmly believe that piracy was a major factor in the PSP declining 3rd-party support.

What will the Vita's integration with Sony's online gaming framework be like? (Sony's online framework deserves it's own post, and I will definitely write it.)

It won't have internal memory, but will it ship with an SD card?

I'm very excited to see how this plays out and I'm 95% sure that I will be buying this console (or receiving one as a gift) when it comes out. The games that I've seen so far look great. I will be posting more E3 thoughts and impressions as the days progress.