Customer Reviews

PlayStation Vita 3G/Wi-Fi Launch Bundle

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Other people have written great reviews on what comes in the box, etc, etc so I don't need to add to that; however the following info has been left out so far.

I just got this bundle at the house for my son and overall we are VERY happy with the bundle and the extras...EXCEPT for the "free Data Plan". This is a little misleading but it is not Amazon's fault, it is Playstation's (or maybe AT&T). The plan is more of a "buy one get one free" instead of being a free plan overall. You FIRST need to pay for one full month's service of an ATT plan and you will THEN get a "coupon code" to be used for another months service, yet there is still a small catch the free service is only for the cheapest and smallest data plan, the 250MB plan. You also must use the coupon within 90 days of first activating the service. So this means you have to use it within the 2nd or 3rd month of service.

Also the "free downloadable game" is only if you sign up for an AT&T plan and even then you have to wait 30days AFTER signing up before you even get the code to use in the first place.

Much of this can be lost in the description. Orginially I was going to get my son the WiFi only model but I thought that this would be better with the 3g model and all the free stuff, man what a disappointment. HOWEVER, I was thinking of giving the data plans a try ANYWAY so this still turned out to be a good bundle.

It is also important to note that there IS a AC adaptor INSIDE the box, no need to order an addional one (unless of course you think you need it). I found this a nice little surprise since most PS items want you to use an USB connection to charge it against your PS3 or PC. The adaptor is a little bit of a pain given that you use a "USB type" cable (it is properitary) to the VITA which has a USB connection on the other end. You connect THAT end to a little "box like" convertor which then plugs into another cable that you plug into the wall. So three different pieces to plug your VITA into the wall.

I was able to get my hands on one of these for a few hours; I won't get into the details of the specs since they are listed on the product page, but here are my first impressions.

Feel: It is not as bulky or uncomfortable to hold as I expected. However, it does take some getting used to, especially the new locations of the buttons/touch pads in the back combined with the touchscreen. But the dual analog sticks gives it more of a console feel. The rounded edges also help with the grip and comfort. I have larger hands/fingers, and I can tell that it will take some getting used to before I become comfortable with the analog stick and D-pad. The device is not too heavy, but as a result it has a slight "plastic" feel to it (however, it still feels fairly sturdy).

Graphics: I was impressed with the graphics. Although not as good (obviously) as the PS3, the graphics on this device are surprisingly good.

Responsiveness: The touchscreen is surprisingly responsive and typing is easier than I expected. Occasional lag at times, but overall a very responsive touchscreen experience.

Extra Features: It is nice that it has the cameras and additional features, however, I would not recommend purchasing this unit solely for those additional features - get a tablet if that is what you are looking for. To me, this is a device for those that are primarily interested in playing games.

I'm excited to see how Call of Duty translates to the Vita!

Cons:
-I'm not thrilled about the extra cost for the 3g data plans. I'll probably stick to using the Internet on this where I have WiFi access.
-Not happy about the extra (and somewhat high) cost of additional memory, but it seems that it will be necessary to get the Vita memory (looks like the 8gb card is around $30 - but is included with the launch bundle).

Summary: The best device of its kind to date, no question. If you are truly into this type of gaming, then I would recommend getting one early on!

Pros:
-The screen on the PS Vita is absolutely amazing. It's colors are vivid and the size of it(5" OLED) is nothing to be trifled with.
-The power underneath the hood of this portable game system is commonly overlooked. It has both a quad-core processor and a quad-core GPU. None of the "launch games" have yet to fully utilize its power, but in time the future games will.
-The touchscreen is very responsive and the dual analog sticks is something that I have been wanting on a portable for quite some time.
-there are more pros but I'm at work and can't spend too much time writing this review.

Cons:
-Can't play any of my old UMD's from my old psp, would have to buy them again on PSN.
-The premium price for the proprietary memory... but of course you get the 8gb card free with this bundle so no biggie there.

Overall:
-I plan to put many hours into my PS Vita and I am looking forward to seeing all of its capabilities fully utilized.

This is a great handheld, that has already provided me with hours of fun even with a busy college lifestyle. It's very convenient being able to pause a game and let the system sit in sleep mode using very little battery while you go to class and then come back and pick up right where you left off without waiting load times again! Also, like others have said, the screen on this thing is simply beautiful for a handheld console; if you hold it close enough you can see some polygons, but at a normal distance it looks like your playing a ps3 game in your hands. To my surprise, the battery life is actually decent, even with my brightness at about 75% of the max, 3g on, Bluetooth on, and some stuff being downloaded, I still got ~3.5-4 hours. I can only imagine what I will be at for battery life now with Bluetooth off, 3g off, and my brightness at about 40% of the max (which didn't seem to effect the beauty of this screen).

One of my only concerns is the new control methods (touchpad/tilt/touchscreen), I have never been a huge fan of those input methods for games as they tend to get overused and become more of an annoyance than a benefit; however, playing Uncharted which uses all of them (as far as I can tell) has been fun. If more games stick to the way that game uses those features, then I don't see them causing many headaches in the future, but, developers have been known to overuse on the gimmicks of consoles/handhelds before, so only time will tell.

Pros:
Smart Sleep Mode - Being able to put the system to sleep in the middle of a game and return to that exact spot with no load time is nice
Graphics & Power - It's like holding a miniature PS3 in your hands
Screen - The screen on this thing is more vibrant and beautiful than my HDTV
Decent Battery Life - With this much power, I expected the battery to die rather quickly, but it doesn't

Cons:
Non-classic Control Methods - Not so much a con right now, as it is a fear; depending on how developers decide to use these, they might become a con in the future!
Price - Need I say more?

If you have any questions about the system, feel free to leave a comment and I'll try to respond back with an answer if I can!

First of all the PS Vita is awesome! Don't question buying it, it's an amazing portable system. I own/owned a lot of systems, so here are some comparisons.

PSP- This thing BLOWS the PSP out of the water, there is no comparison, so I'm not even going there.

iPad- I really enjoy gaming on my iPad, but really miss the joysticks and buttons you get on a 360 or PS3.

360/PS3- The 360 and PS3 are great, but they are obviously not portable.

So there you go, GET THE VITA!!!

Now on to which model to get-

Keep in mind that this bundle, the 3G bundle, is the BEST value. The 3G is almost pointless if you have a cell phone, but the key word is "almost". You can use it for certain things, like "Near".
The reason to get the 3G is because you get a 8gb memory card ($35 at Gamestop and Amazon), a free game ($10), and a month's free service of 3G. So with all that free stuff, the 3G pays for itself!

So even if you feel you don't need 3G, you're getting a better deal. And who knows, maybe some new features might come out in the future that can utilize the 3G in a fun way.
I don't know if this bundle deal will last for very long or if it is just for pre orders, but as long as it lasts you should take advantage of it!

The Vita itself is a great system but the 3g version is a ripoff. The reason to buy this bundle would to be get a memory stick, a free game, and the ability to access 3g when and if you ever wanted. The problem with the bundle is that to get your "free" game you have to sign up for a month of 3g. Well no problem you say, sony is generously giving me a free month of it so I can use that to download the game. Wrong, sony gives you your 2nd month free you have to pay at least 15.00 for the first month. Then at the end of the 30 days they will email you a voucher for Super Stardust Delta.( The game is a 208mb download so if youre going to download it with 3g save your data) you end up spending $15 for a $10 game. So make sure you and add $15 to that $50 value.
Well thats fine with me you might say I plan on getting 3g to play all the awesome online games. That's fine as long as youre playing turn based games. No online shooters or fighting for you. Sony and ATT are only alowing psn messaging, web browing, and asynchronous multiplayer (turn based) on 3g. Everything else wifi only. The system is great but do yourself a favor buy the wifi version and spend the extra 50 on an overpriced memory stick.

Great device, games look and feel great. Had some concern that the buttons would be to small but after 30 minutes or so everything is fine.

Just as I expected, 3g for me personally was pointless. Its been off since it came out of the box and will most likely stay off for ever, unless Sony or someone comes up with a killer 3g app.

So other then pointless technology added to it (3g) everything is great!

I recently received my PS Vita 3G/Wi-Fi bundle from amazon. I was really excited for this new system, especially because it was said to be fully backwards compatible with all PSP games but sadly, it is not. Another thing I was majorly disappointed with the the CrossPlay function, because there basically isn't one. Of the 30ish PS3 games that i own, not a single one of them will play with the Vita. I don't know what Sony's plans are in future updates, but I also don't understand why the CrossPlay was advertised so much when, to me, it all still seems like a work in progress. I will admit that the Vita itself is a fun, neat little toy, and I am enjoying the new Uncharted game for it as well...but sadly, the PlayStation Vita is no where near what I had been expecting it to be :(

The usability of PS Vita is not perfect, compared to Apple's UI. There are too many excessive operations to find what you need, and the UI doesn't look cool (maybe to avoid patents violation?).

But the most important is the graphics are not as good as PS3, for instance, the UC Golden Abyss. The resolution was bad and the anti-aliasing was barely not there, so when Nate woke up in the demo of chapter 4, I thought his front teeth were gone just because the graphics are so coarse.

I know it is unfair to compare a battery powered portable PS to an AC powered giant PS3, but the reviews from other sources really misled me to believe PS Vita's graphics are comparable to PS3.

You can read all of the specs yourself, but I am really impressed with how the Vita turned out. Here is the gist of my overall experience:

Unboxing: Great layout, easy to access everything. 8GB memory card comes in the retail packaging, which is great for reselling it (I purchased a 32 GB card so didn't need it). I was able to get $25 on Craigslist for it, so that's a winner. The easy start guide unfolds nicely, everything is packed well. Warning: there are instructions for putting in the SIM card. I freaked out for a bit because I could not find it, but apparently some of them come with the SIM preloaded.

Startup: This was easily the most frustrating part of the experience. When prompted to set up the data plan initially, the browser was so slow and crashed so much that I couldn't do it, so I decided to just wait and do it through the AT&T setup app. Then it asked for my PSN info. I put that I already had an account, but then it wouldn't take it because there was a software update required. There was no way to get to where you update the software though without putting in a PSN account. So kind of a vicious cycle. Finally I had to create a trial PSN account, run a software update, then put in my real PSN account. So I kind of got the runaround on that. After I finally got it working and updated, everything worked like a charm. So I would say wait and just breeze through the inital setup and get the software updated, otherwise it just gets really frustrating.

Features: Twitter, Netflix and Facebook on day one, really pumped about this. The OS runs like a dream and is really intuitive, but I'm not a fan of the appearance. Everything is smooth and quick. No real gripes at all. I like how games stay on your home page even if the card isn't loaded in the system. Maps works great, better than on my iPhone 4. Near, Party and Chat seems like they should have all been combined into one app, but the features are great individually.

AT&T: I live in downtown Dallas, and service is great here. No complaints there. The data speed after the software update was much, much better than before as well, and the browser more stable. You get a month free after you pay for a month, which has been well disclosed, but I am disappointed that you have to wait 30 days for the game. From all accounts that game will be SuperStardust Delta, which I'm excited about considering the positive reviews its gotten.

Gameplay: I have really only spent quality time with FIFA because of the setup frustration, but it looks and plays great. Graphics are on par with the PS3, and the control scheme is identical. I know a lot of people really don't like some of the rear touchpad implementations, but luckily you can turn that off in pretty much all games if you don't like it. I'm a fan though.

Battery life: Pretty good thus far. With the amount of downloads and gameplay usage I've done I've got about 50% battery left after 2.5 hours of use. Looks like the 5 hour quote is pretty accurate.

All in all its a great system. You can't go wrong getting one. I have less complaints about this system than any other launch item I've bought. The game selection is great, really good first and third party support, and a finished product at launch from all that I've seen. Kudos to Sony and the PS team for a job well done.