PS Vita – Yawn…
On January 28th, I went hands on with the PS Vita (which will forever be referred to as “Pita”). I really enjoyed the build and quality of Sony’s latest portable video game offering…but if you’ve ever seen that little YouTube show that Big Mike and I do, you’ll know that neither of us are the reviewing type. So it goes without saying that this is NOT a review of the “Pita”.
What struck me odd when playing it was that even though I was playing the most advanced portable gaming console ever released, it was a hollow experience. There I was, playing the newest Uncharted game…a game that I will eventually play for sure…yet I couldn’t care less. I Spent 10 minutes playing it and then toyed with “Pita’s” menu system for a few minutes while I was being chatted up by the Sony reps.
…And then I put the demo “Pita” down and left. You’d never know that I had just played a new system for the first time by looking at me. I was indifferent. That apathy has been felt around my immediate gaming community. Not a single friend of my mine in Raccoon City picked one up…Not even Big Mike!
So what’s with my disinterest, you ask? Simple. Even though the $250-$300 asking price for the two units available cost more than getting any of the current generation systems, isn’t the worst thing ever…but I can’t help but feel that we, the gaming community, are being suckered by Sony. While most of the launch games had a respectable asking price, $50 for Uncharted: Golden Abyss didn’t sit well with me. But that’s not the rub…Sony is deliberately punishing their paying customers by using a proprietary memory format. Their reasoning is two fold: 1. Makes piracy more difficult and 2. to gouge you, the paying customer. With no onboard memory, the cheapest memory card will put you back $20 (unless you buy the first edition bundle, which is a mute point because that baby costs $50 more). If you are into digital distribution and/or want to use your own media on the Pita, you’ll be looking at higher capacity cards, culminating with the 32 gig rip off at a whopping $100.
So where was I on February 15th, 2012? Well, I did stop by a local Best Buy…but not to buy a Pita. If I wanted to give Sony some of my green, there were definitely more than a few Pitas still available. I couldn’t care less about the Pita as I walked out of the store…with my copy of Resident Evil Revelations (misprint on spine jacket and all). If you want our money, Sony; you’re going to have to impress us. “Your move, creep.”
Terence Kelsey
Discuss this episode also on the Gamester81 forum! Click here:
