Sony PlayStation Vita Review Wi Fi Editors' note (September 11, 2013): Effectively immediately, Sony has cut the price of the Wi-Fi Vita from $249 to $199. The company has also just announced the Vita 2000, a successor to the original Vita that offers a lighter and thinner form factor and 1GB of internal storage. It will go on sale in Japan on October 10 and will be available in six colors. We'll have more when US release plans get announced. Originally referred to as the NGP or Next Generation Portable, the Sony PlayStation Vita is the follow-up to the PlayStation Portable (or PSP) that was introduced back in March 2005. The Vita was officially named and priced at Sony's E3 2011 press conference. At the time of the announcement, it seemed that Nintendo's 3DS was already in trouble, with its disappointing launch lineup, an audience divided over 3D, and a short battery life atypical of Nintendo handhelds. All this plus a matching $250 price point gave Sony all of the momentum going in to the next-generation battle of portable consoles. While Sony had teased the Vita's release for the 2011 holiday season, only Japan got to see the Vita for sale before the new year. Subsequently, the Vita missed the highly lucrative US holiday shopping season, getting bumped to February 22, 2012. I imported a Japanese Vita in December and have had weeks of hands-on time with the device, including playing most of Uncharted: Golden Abyss. The Vita is easily the most impressive portable gaming device that I've ever handled. Its brilliant touch screen is as responsive as an iPad's, and the onboard operating system is smart, logically laid out, and easy to use. The good: The PlayStation Vita delivers amazing visuals on its 5-inch OLED touch screen that look almost as good as PS3 graphics. The system's game lineup has matured into an indie haven, though AAA titles are scarce. The Vita allows for downloading of some games (including all first-party titles) over the PlayStation Network. The Vita's operating system is smartly designed, easy to use, and ultraresponsive. The unit feels great to hold and has excellent standby battery life. A lot of PSN titles can be purchased on PS3 and Vita for one price. The bad: The Vita uses proprietary media and connections across the board, and even requires the purchase of a separate memory card to play most games and use most apps, which results in a hidden cost. Battery life could be better, and there's no way it can be replaced by the user. There's also no video out. Also, some antipiracy implementations are a bit cumbersome to deal with (for example, mounting the Vita to a PC/Mac for file transfer). It's also unclear how much storage the Vita has onboard, and it'll cost you more money for larger Vita Memory Cards. The bottom line: Overall, the PlayStation Vita is the most advanced portable gaming system ever made. While the price is deceiving because of a hidden cost, gamers are getting an impressively complete package. Now priced at $200, the Vita makes a compelling case as the ultimate indie portable console. CNET, Reviews, Video Games and Gear, Sony PlayStation Vita,

• published: 27 Nov 2013
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