Vita Updates Less Excessive Than PS3

President of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida has said that the Vita update process won't be as frustrating as it is on PlayStation 3 and PSP.

Speaking to Game Informer, Yoshida said that:  "It's very annoying when you only have one in your busy life to play a game, and when you to spend 30 minutes out of that one hour to update the hardware.

"So it's not necessarily the frequency of how we update, it's the intrusiveness of the current process we have on PS3 and PSP." While not going into specific plans for the Vita's update system, he stated that Sony is "very aware of the issues, and we'd like to address those issues on PS Vita."




You can read the whole piece via the source link below.

Source: Game Informer

9 Minutes of Uncharted on Vita

IGN get a demo of the new ways to travel, sneak, and fight as Drake tries to escape from a burning prison in Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Source: IGN

Playstation Vita: The New Look

TGS (Tokyo Games Show) has been in full swing this week, but the big news was that of Playstation Vita's release date -- Yep, Japanese gamers will start playing on December 17th although there's no word yet on North American or European release dates.

That's not all though, as the TGS Vita looks very altered compared to the E3 Vita...

They're subtle changes, but they're there

At E3 (top), the side was sloped. Not so at TGS (bottom).

Buttons went from bright to dark.

Again, bright to dark.

Source: IGN

What Will Playstation Vita Game Cases Look Like?

Been wondering what cases will be taking up shelf space when Vita is launched?
Well look no further!

Source: NeoGAF

Escape Plan: An experience tailor-made for Vita.

Escape Plan's strongest selling point (other than its stunning looks) is that you truly do get a game that's made with the Vita in mind, a title that couldn't be played on any other console or handheld, whether it be on Xbox, a 3DS, an iPad, or a PlayStation 3. That's not to say it 'couldn't' work, I suppose all that would change is the control scheme, but that's the key; lose the Vita control scheme, and you've lost part of the charm.

Escape Plan is a puzzle game where you must guide two characters -- the short and skinny Lil and the tall and fat Laarg (pronounced "large") -- through various rooms in strange environments, such as a factory, a prison, a garbage dump and a workshop. All done utilising Vita's front touchscreen and back touch pad, all to marvellous effect.

Check out the Gamescom trailer below, and we'll keep you updated on the intriguing Escape Plan.




Source: IGN

Early Thoughts on the Sony NGP's Battle with the Nintendo 3DS

As some of you may know, I'm now a writer on BlogCritics, writing about Tech, Gaming and Movies, and my first article has been published. So, here it is! 

Early Thoughts on the Sony NGP's Battle with the Nintendo 3DS

As the years have gone by, one company has ruled the handheld gaming world, Nintendo.  Sure, many companies have been and tried to topple the giant, but none seem to succeed. Ever.

So surely the same will happen again in the current generation of handhelds, right? The 3DS will be seen in as many homes as it's predecessor, the DS, or at least so Nintendo hopes.

Picking up the dukes for the opposition, is Sony, and it's power house, currently known as the NGP (Next Generation Portable).
Now, as the NGP isn't out yet, we can't be doing a comparison of the two. No, instead, I'll be doing my own predictions, and who I believe will be walking away with the crown.

In the blue corner, weighing in at 230 grams (8.1 oz), is the Nintendo 3DS, Ninties latest addition to the DS family.

The 3DS has upped the handheld stakes, by being the first autostereoscopic three-dimensional (no glasses needed) console. Much like it's predecessors'(DS, DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL), the 3DS has two screens; the top is a 3.52- inch, 3:3 3D screen, with an impressive 800x240 WQVGA affair, that, as you know, can produce an autostereoscopic three-dimensional effect, so no dorky glasses are needed.  The lower screen, is a 3.2- inch, 3:3 (non-3D) resistive touch screen, with a lower resolution of 320x240 pixels.  The addition of an analogue stick was a wise move by Nintendo too.

Feature wise, the 3DS packs an accelerometer, and a gyroscope, along with Wi-Fi, as well as 3 cameras. Two cameras are on the outside of the device (and are capable of taking 3D photos), and one camera positioned above the top screen on the inside of the device (facing the player), which can take 2D photos and capture 2D video. All camera's have a resolution of 640×480 pixels.

Much has been debated over the 3D effect of the 3DS, many stating the console causes head-aches, and eye strain. I didn't encounter any of the above, but I did have trouble with the 3D effect as a whole. Sure, it really does look fantastic, but because it's a handheld, focusing on the 3D effect is more of a chore than I'd have hoped for, so poor viewing angles made the experience more of a wash out.

But all that aside, my main quarrel, was the lack of decent games on launch (Rayman 3D being especially poor; don't let the name fool you, it's not 3D, but a bad port of the 1999 original).

On the plus though, the 3DS will be bringing the likes of Resident Evil, Zelda, Mario and even Metal Gear Solid.  So I still have high hopes that Nintendo can deliver.

Now, in the red corner, with an unknown weight, is the Sony NGP, also known as the PSP2.

As far as names go, Next Generation Portable is a pretty spot on title for Sony's powerhouse. Rocking a 5- inch OLED capactive touchscreen, dual analogue sticks (the current PSP sports analog nubs), a front camera, a rear camera, stereo speakers, microphone, Sixaxis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), three-axis electronic compass, built-in GPS as well as Wi-Fi, 3G, and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR connectivity. But it's internally where it hits hard — the NGP features a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 core processor and a SGX543MP4+ graphics processing unit.  It's safe to say, the NGP is going to be powerful, and with 3G and Wi-Fi, accessing the Playstation Suite should be a walk in the park.

But it's going to be the games that make or break it.  Will we see the Uncharted game that was demo-ed as a launch title? Or will we be greeted with the stale face of FIFA and some hit-and-miss racing games?

Overall, even though the 3DS has had a big head start, I believe if Sony launches with some brilliant games (Uncharted, Resistance, Killzone etc), the NGP could find itself at the top.

Article first published as Early Thoughts on the Sony NGP's Battle with the Nintendo 3DS on Blogcritics.

Beever Rant: 3D iPod will trump 3DS

Industry analyst Michael Pachter thinks the 3DS is a revolutionary product, but he expects Apple to trump it with a 3D iPod in the future.

"On the handheld side, I see the 3DS as truly revolutionary, but expect Apple to copy it and improve the design with a 3D iPod, and to again begin to erode Nintendo's first mover advantage," he predicted in an interview with Konsolifin.net.

"Nintendo has iterated its handheld's frequently, and may succeed in holding Apple at bay; it will be interesting to watch."

Intresting, yes. But a 3D iPod? The only controls the iPod has, are touch screen and tilting the device. Hardly grounds for 3D gaming; If you move the screen, what happens to the 3D visuals? They dissapear. 


Now, if Apple made a standalone gaming console to rival the 3DS and PSP2 (note: PSP2 isn't 3D), then this would be grounds for a genuine argument. However, I can see no reason why Apple would take all the gaming revenue away from the iPod, iPhone and iPad, the companys biggest incomes, just to accomodate 3D.


Sorry Michael, the Beever has spoken.