E3 2011: PlayStation Vita
Posted by Mark Salmela on 06.11.2011
Hands on: 411’s Mark Salmela goes hands-on with the PlayStation Vita and several PS Vita games. Impressions of the new Uncharted, Little Big Planet, Wipeout, Little Deviants, and more inside.
During my Sony booth tour during E3 I was fortunate enough to go hands-on with the PlayStation Vita as well as several PS Vita games, including several launch titles. The first thing I'll say about the Vita is that it's surprisingly light. I can't guarantee the final hardware will be light but I was surprised by how light the Vitas at Sony's booth felt. The second thing I'll mention is that the analog sticks are absolutely awesome on the Vita. Yes they're small and don't stick out as far as the analog sticks on controllers but it's a massive leap forward from the analog nub on the PSP, PSP Go, and Nintendo 3DS. Both analog sticks on the Vita feel much more accurate and much more comfortable.
Both touch screens on the PlayStation Vita are very accurate and both screens feature multi-touch capabilities. It's almost a shame to be rubbing your fingers over the OLED screen on the PlayStation Vita, since you don't want to smear your greasy fingers over such a pretty screen, and yes, most of the screens were covered in smudges and streaks at Sony's booth from so many people coming by and playing with them. It takes a while to get used to holding the PS Vita, since the way I would naturally hold a PS Vita would have some of my fingers over the back touch screen, but that may be due to my larger hands. It also takes a little getting used to the rear touch screen since you don't physically see your fingers touching the screen, but as you'll notice in several of the games the rear touch is both a clever addition and a smart addition to avoid your fingers blocking your view of the screen.
The first game I played on the PS Vita was Little Big Planet, which is currently a working title. Little Big Planet on PS Vita is a completely new Little Big Planet experience, which while not developed directly by Media Molecule, plays just like a Media Molecule game. The demo level I played in Little Big Planet on Vita took full advantage of the systems capabilities. The basic controls are the same, use the left analog stick to run, X button to jump, and R trigger to grab and hold objects, but puzzles make clever use of all the Vita controls. You tilt the Vita to have objects roll back and forth, you use the front touch screen to pick up and move certain objects, and you use the touch panel to make objects pop in and out of place. All of these gameplay variants come together to create a truly unique experience on the Vita and Little Big Planet will really be something to look out for. I didn't get to go hands on with the level creator but I was assured LBP on Vita will allow creators to take full advantage of all the system's capabilities, including the camera.
The second game I played on the PS Vita was Uncharted, which feels just like a normal Uncharted adventure packed onto a smaller screen. Similar to Little Big Planet Uncharted on Vita is not being developed by Naughty Dog but the game feels like a Naughty Dog production. The graphics are absolutely incredible and is definitely the best showcase title for how good the graphics can be on PS Vita. I'm talking PS3 quality graphics with advanced shaders and lighting mechanics. The game ran silky smooth and all of Drake's features were in-tact. You can run, jump, platform, shoot, fight, and use cover the same way you can on the PS3 Uncharted games, as well as use the PS Vita's features to control Drake in a new way. You can use the tilt function to lean and jump from cover, you can use the touch screen to drag Nate across ledges, and you can use the touch screen to change weapons and even fight opponents. Even better is the fact that there's no need to stop the game to switch control schemes, you can use any method of control at any time seamlessly, and it worked great. Uncharted on PS Vita looks to be a must play title and could very easily be a system seller for the Vita.
The third game I got to play for Vita was the new Wipeout for PS Vita, which features 10 tracks designed specifically for PS Vita and through cross-platform play with Wipeout HD and Wipeout HD Fury on PS3 can access all 16 levels from those games. What's really cool about Wipeout for PS Vita is the ability to have cross-platform play between PS Vita and PS3. I got to play an online race with the game's producer with me playing on the PS Vita and the producer playing on the PS3, and the game ran perfectly. It's really impressive technology and I'm surprised it ran without any major hiccups during my gameplay demo. Wipeout on PS Vita is a brand new experience with the same types of gameplay modes found in Wipeout HD. The game controls the same as Wipeout HD using the analog stick and buttons but if you want you can take advantage of the tilt screen and touch screen for a new method of control on PS Vita. Multiplayer will also support online play as well as ad-hoc.
A couple other games I got to go hands-on with include Virtual Tennis for PS Vita and Little Deviants. Little Deviants is a collection of mini-games that take advantage of all the PS Vita features and Virtual Tennis is your standard tennis game with impressive graphics and multiple control schemes. Little Deviants is a fun little mini game collection that makes great use of the touch screen, tilt function, camera, and rear touch screen. Virtual Tennis, similar to Uncharted allows players to switch between any control scheme without having to go to the options menu to change the control scheme. You can even use a combination of control schemes for Virtual Tennis, so if you don't want to drag your character using your thumb you can move the character with the left analog stick while using the touch screen for volleying.
The PlayStation Vita is quite the impressive handheld. As someone who got bored of the PSP and hasn't played a game on it in years I really want to play Uncharted and Little Big Planet on PS Vita in addition to some of the other games. The analog sticks are great, the rear touch screen is awesome, the OLED screen is extremely pretty plus is also a touch screen, the camera is decent enough quality, and the tilt function is always fun. At $249.99 for the Wi-Fi only model the PS Vita is competitively priced compared to the Nintendo 3DS and could be a serious competitor this holiday season.
