Sony Gives Life to the Vita: Get it Life...Vita, Ah Whatever Latin is Lost on the Youth

Hello Gentleman..(and hopefully ladies, and if there are ladies your the coolest ladies ever if your reading this blog). This is total nerd and now self proclaimed blogger Adam "The James" Slaker, and I have finally arrived with my first blog post, courtesy of the "Almighty Nerd" Dylan Winston.

Before I get into the thick of my blog, please check out this new web comic I discovered today. If you are a casual reader or a comic connoisseur, I promise you will like this one.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2Kk55V/www.the-gutters.com/comic/54-chad-hurd

Anyways, back to business...

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Ah Sony, how happy you make me. After almost two months of constant inactivity and much frustration on the Playstation Network, Sony has bounced back by unveiling some serious hardware at this years E3.

The Playstation Vita, the most recent incarnation of Sony's portable contender the Playstation Portable, is one small device packed with one large dose of technology. At around 182 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) it includes a 5 inch OLED touch screen with 16 million colors and capacitative multi-touch, a multi-touch pad on the back, a front and rear mounted camera, six-axis motion control, built in GPS, WiFi, and 3G mobile connectivity, and last but not least a blazing fast ARM Cortex A9 Core CPU. I was all but blown off my seat when I first read about it.

First off it is about time that Sony added a touch screen to their portable device, after all we are well into a touch tech world. Choosing to use an Organic LED screen was also a wonderful choice in my opinion, making it much more energy efficient and flexible for the hardware. As far as the capacitative touchpad on the back of the device, I am indifferent. I have seen one or two game trailers that use it, but it seems like more of a gimmick right now, rather than a full fledged control scheme. It does seem like an interesting idea however, and I have been surprised in the past. We shall wait and see how the developers integrate the rear touch pad into their new lineups of Vita games.

Armed with an ARM (forgive the pun) Cortex processor, the Vita promises to be one of the best looking fastest portable platforms yet. Graphics in trailers for games like Real Fighters, or Uncharted: Golden Abyss are, in the initial viewing, already superior to the Playstation 2, and very close in some cases to the Playstation 3. The games also run at a staggering 60 fps which means that the games will run smoother than a Ton Tons shaved bottom. Not only will the gaming be fast, but it will be progressive as well. Included on the Vita, as I mentioned earlier, are the front and rear mounted cameras. Not only will these cameras add to the social capabilities of the Vita, but it will participate in its augmented reality function. Graphics aside one of the most impressive features of the Vita is its ability in certain games, such as Real Fighter, to project the game on the background directly behind the device, using the rear mounted camera. For example, if I was playing on my patio the fight would occur on the bricks behind the Vita, or if I were playing on the top of a building the fight would occur in the streets below me complete with real time video of the people below superimposed with the characters in the game. This feature opens a whole new world of possibilities for gaming, and I know the brilliant developers will make full use of the augmented reality feature to really squeeze the best gaming possible out of the Vita.

The final new feature that I want to discuss about the Vita, is the social networking. Like I mentioned above the Vita has a suite of internal capabilities that allow it to be a social device alongside being an outstanding portable platform. You are able to chat with anyone at anytime thanks to the 3G capabilities, and you can even find other gamers using the GPS function. The GPS allows you to walk down the street and it maps out where other Vita users are so you can sit down and start a multiplayer game whenever and wherever you are. Unfortunately they are using AT&T as their 3G provider, which I'm not sure of your thoughts on this, but it's only a matter of time before that business tanks due to their atrocious coverage. Cell towers aside though, the front and rear cameras work as social augmentations, and users will be able to video chat between Vitas. I think this is one of the best new functions included with the Vita because it pushes it further than just a handheld video game device making it a networking tool as well.

All in all I am really excited to see how the Vita turns out and I might just have to turn my DS in for a brand new Sony portable device. Until next time fellow Nerds this is The James signing out. And always remember “With great power there must also come — great responsibility.” -Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962)