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

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

Gamescom: Sony Wrap-Up

These are just a few of the awesome things that went down on the Sony side of Gamescom, personally my favourite if the three...

Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception

Resistance: Burning Skies

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Starhawk

Joe Danger: The Movie

Everybody Dance

Escape Plan

Infamous 2: Festival of Blood Announced

Gamescom Sony Quick News:

• PlayStation 3 Price Drop
  Sony announced that the PS3 will now retail for $249.99, 249.99 Euros and 24,980 Yen. This is effective immediately. Previously, the PS3 sold for $299.99.
  Sony also announced the 320GB PS3 unit will drop from $349 to $299 and a limited edition inFAMOUS 2 bundle is now available at participating retailers across North America. The bundle costs $299 and includes a 320 GB PlayStation 3, a copy of inFAMOUS 2 and a 30-day membership to PlayStation Plus. 


• Vita RAM Won't Be Cut
  Earlier this year, it was reported that Sony would be halving the amount of RAM in the PlayStation Vita from 512MBs to only 256MBs in order to cut down on production costs, which lead to increased concerns about the system's graphics performance. New specs released by Sony today debunk previous reports, confirming that the system's RAM will go untouched, as well as reveal the resolution of the system's built-in cameras.


• A New PSP
  Sony talked a whole bunch about the PlayStation Vita, and then announced a new PSP model. This one will be compatible with the entire PSP catalog but not have a Wi-Fi option. It'll cost 99 Euros. No word on an international release. 
  


• Being Social on the Vita
  There was the traditional talk of Near (the app that lets you look at what people are playing around you and share gifts) , Party (text and voice chat) as well as Live Area (a place to track and comment on news), but Sony also confirmed Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare and Skype will work on the device. There's even a group PSN messaging system.
  


• Ubisoft's Vita Games -- Assassin's Creed, Rayman, Lumines
  Assassin's Creed, Rayman and more are coming the PlayStation Vita. Today at Gamescom, Ubisoft announced six titles for Sony's handheld. They include: Asphalt, Assassin's Creed, Dungeon Hunter Alliance, Lumines, Michael Jackson the Experience and Rayman Origins.
  
  Assassin's Creed will arrive in 2012 with a brand new story featuring brand new characters.
  
  "With its processing power, dual tactile screens and cameras, PS Vita allows creators like Ubisoft new and unique opportunities to develop innovative games," said Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer of Ubisoft. "We've got a strong and varied line-up that will offer fun and immersion to all audiences of the PS Vita." 

Video/News Source: IGN

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

iReadygo RG: NGP knockoff

Knock off tech is always there, whether it's in the shape of an iPed, or some other low grade product. But every once in a while, we're surprised. The iReadyGo is an NGP knockoff, but where this surprises, is that this is actually quite good.

The RG will run Android, although we've no idea which version. The CPU is stated to be running at 1GHZ and though the actual chip isn’t listed, an ARM Cortex A8 is a good guess since they are cheap now and still pretty powerful.

The screen is to be a capacitive 5-inch 800×480 OLED. The D pad looks pretty shoddy, and that left shoulder button seems to have popped out of place.

Wi-Fi and 3G are said to be supported, which means that these functions are not built in, so it'll probably be a function assisted by a dongle of some kind.

Obviously, we'd recommend waiting for the Sony NGP, but for something to do emulating, the iReadyGo RG could be quite promising.

Check out the pics below, and we'll keep you informed as to whether this thing could get you playing Goldeneye on the bus.































Source: obscurehandhelds

Sony Preps NGP For Europe November 11th Release?

Sony's Jack Tretton had previously been quoted saying that Sony had planned to release the Next Gen Portable in "at least on territory" before the end of 2011. And guess what? We may know which one.
According to MCVUK, the quad-core OLED successor to the PSP, might just be arriving in Europe on November 11th 2011. It might be just a little to early to drop on a date, even though it's a pretty suave 11/11/11.
As always, we'll keep you posted. 


source: MCVUK

PSP 2 Shown- Codename NGP

Well, that moment we've all been waiting for, the official demo from Sony of it's PSP 2 (currently called NGP- Next Generation Portable), and boy is it tantalising.

Full spec sheet below, followed by a slideshow of the Sony Press Release (both via Engadget)




          


Video source: Youtube

Pricing and release are still TBA at the moment, but we're guessing it'll be announced either at, or after E3.
One things for sure though, the PSP 2 could very well take portable gaming away from the iPhone/iPod, and very likely cripple sales of the already announced Nintendo 3DS.
We know which we're buying, and we don't even know the price...