New PlayStation Vita is a 1.0 release: unfinished and awkward, but it plays games just fine

I pre-ordered a PlayStation Vita back in October at a Japanese retailer. I stood in an early-morning pre-order line with about 50 other people, which in retrospect was unnecessary. I could have just walked in a month later. I was glad I pre-ordered the 32 GB memory card though. I could not snag an extra USB cable or dock or Sony pouch.

My expectations:

• Play games with new ways of entertaining (e.g. Vita games).
• Play PSP games with full fidelity.
• Watch videos online and off.
• Internet browsing for email, news, pictures or for auction sniping.

Basically I wanted a button-mashable touchable game-capable Year 201x portable console. I also wanted to use it like a Tablet computer but since I already have a wifi-only iPod Touch 4, this was not necessary.

My gripes:

• The software needed an update on the first day I got it. (1.5 up from 1.0) I installed it because I use the PlayStation Store. To initiate the update, I simply used the appropriate update firmware option. I was not required to connect to a stable power source. The download also completed within 10 minutes.
• The Vita does support WiFi, but the first dialog made me type my WiFi router password even though the Vita supports the proprietary "Buffalo AOSS" one button connection. The new on-screen keyboard was functional for inputting my 64 digit hexadecimal number password. Sony, please expose this option instead of hiding in your Settings pages.
• The web browser cannot render "my Internet" (Gmail, Google Reader, Youtube) to even adequate fidelity. No Flash and no HTML 5 and no H.243 support. Very disappointing. Other lo-fi sites I use like Slashdot and Ars Technica are functional but buggy. It is better than the PSP's browser and on par with the iPod Touch (iOS 5.x) browser. Jumping from tab to tab is speedy but data loading is slow.
• Putting my own music and videos on the Vita is unlike iTunes or simple USB-based music players and more like a PS3. For example, you may choose to expose your media to the Vita via your PS3 (PS3 Media Server) or PC (via a new required driver), but you must do all the data-moving operations on your Vita.
• Syncing my PlayStation Store purchases to my Vita has not improved since the PS3. I have to go to my Download List, and select one item to download, queue it, then bring up my Download List, repeat. Maybe I should go through the same motions as buying new items? I have a total of about 300 items purchased, and usable Vita content like PSP games and DLC is probably about 40 items. Did I forget to mention that the Vita's Download List always resets to the top when I resume the view and it is not a numbered list? Ugh. The experience on the PS3 is the same!
• The front touch screen has episodes of mistaken input. It doesn't happened when using the Vita after several minutes. It happens whenever starting to using it from a prolonged rest, like after a good night sleep. I suspect the screen needs to be warmed up.
• The previous bug, combined with the data-wiping password lock out function, is pretty annoying (or downright scary), so I disabled the password locking. Yes, the data-wiping function is not optional to password locking. Also I will never let anyone else touch my my Vita until they fix this.
• The Vita hanged on me! I experienced a crash after touching the "Update this software" icon for a PSP download. I suspect that the PSN was overloaded at the time and the Vita was waiting for a response for that, but it was totally frozen. To unfreeze it, I held the power button because I didn't know any better. I did not experience a crash while playing a game or doing anything important.
• I prepared for my Vita experience weeks beforehand by re-downloading all my PSP games purchases to my PS3 so that I could quickly copy them to my Vita via USB cable. Unfortunately, the downloads must be in "pre-installed" state. The current PS3 4.0 firmware works against you by "installing" your downloads if you let it run unchecked. To clarify, if you do not select the Background Download on each and every download, it will be "installed". Sometimes I just let the PS3 sit there and download, and sometimes I use Background Downloading. Sony didn't inform me of this "pre-install" restriction, so the stuff I "installed" needed to be re-downloaded. In any case, Background Downloading is a no-brainer for multi-megabyte downloads but what about hundred kilobyte item unlock DLCs? I was mashing the Background button. Repeat 40 times.
• The device says it supports BlueTooth, so I dug out my Sony PS3 BlueTooth keyboard and my Pokemon Typing BlueTooth keyboard. Both could be identified and recognized, but I received a "profile is not supported" like message, so they could not be registered or used. WTF, oh well it's just a game machine.
• Moving my PSP save games to the Vita is not easy. It involves either a PC or PS3 and identifying all the saves individually instead of per-game. (If using the PC method, you have the extra work of figuring out the game's serial number.) Also I got annoyed because the process didn't preserve the modification dates, but that isn't a problem if I progress further into a game and save again, but boy is my inner geek annoyed.
• I want to play Final Fantasy Type Zero so I moved over my game and save files. Unfortunately, the network "Members only" feature does not work. I suspect the Vita does not expose Internet (WiFi) interface to the PSP games. BTW, the "Members only" is not necessary but is very interesting because it shows how many people completed the game and other community statistics. Without it, FF T0 is just another offline JRPG.
• I cannot take a screenshot of any PSP games. Wooptie doo. Screenshotting Vita games works just fine, though.
• No text Copy and Paste. WTF, oh well it's just a game machine.
• The browser doesn't support folders for its bookmarks. WTF, oh well it's just a game machine.
• The Vita does not work with the Sony official Windows-based Media Go program, which served as a iTunes-alike for the PSP. Media Go recently just turned 2.0 but this is just a coincidence. In any case, it doesn't recognize my plugged-in Vita.
• Working with pictures or video or music will be an absolute chore. The Vita does recognize recursively all my PC-based media inside the shared folder I chose, but it doesn't show them by sub-folder. Shortcuts to my networked server don't work either. (Maybe I should try setting the shared folder to a network location? This is just asking for trouble, though.) On the Vita, nothing is organized by user folders. Currently the Vita only offers PS3-style "By Month" ordering. Sony could potentially fix this in an update like it did for the PS3, but given the precedent I will have to wait a couple of years?
• BTW, no background downloading of non-PlayStation Store media. Whatever, it's just a game machine.
• The Vita won't play PlayStation 1 games. I hope this is not like the PS3 where the latter won't play PS2 games. Sony will probably allow it after a year when the Vita games slow down.
• Ever since the first vulnerability Hello World was found on the Vita, specifically in the PSP mode, I began to worry about PSP game compatibility. I suspect Sony will phase out PSP game compatibility when the native software finds its legs, just like on the PS3. A new Vita! Price lowered! Vita Slim!

My compliments:

• The screen. I did not feel amazed because I am already used to the Retina display on an iPod Touch. OLED? Okay sure. I'm just glad there's no dead pixels (or the tech has progressed so far that I cannot see them). I do notice that some pixels are more blacker than others, like during dark, unlit loading screens.
• It plays Vita games just fine. I put 15 minutes into Uncharted, 20 minutes into Dream C Club, and 10 hours into Power Smash 4. I have not extensively played a game with the touch screen at all though. The left joystick is kinda sensitive and I forget to let it center.
• I purchased Uncharted and Dream C Club as a cartridge, and Power Smash 4 as a download. On the first day at 9:30 AM, I had no problem downloading Power Smash 4 into my PS3. When I finally purchased my Vita at 20:50 and powered it up at 23:00, I had no problem transferring those new purchases to the Vita. (During the first night, the PlayStation Store seemed to be unreachable, though, so I couldn't test my PSP games.)
• Uncharted has English voices easily selectable, but the text interface is in Japanese. Online reports suggest that it is all in English, so this is maybe my preference to set the Vita system language to Japanese. It seems to be a game to fully demonstrate the Vita's features. I'm just glad I can hear Nathan Drake in the original English.
• Dream C Club looks okay. This is just a quick port that shows gal games are do-able on the Vita. I picked one of the new girls and it's just as zany and kawaii as the Xbox version. I will not be playing this on the bus/subway.
• Power Smash 4 is overly British (or Australian?) English voiced with lots of Japanese text and I am annoyed. Some guy with an accent says "Failed" when I fail, and I get MAD BRO. Also you win, so "CONGRATURATIONS" and court surface type "GLASS". Yes, "I RIKE IT". But the character models are "great", the clothing is skimpy, and the camera angles are lecherous. I'm not talking about the guys. I'm talking about Beach Volleyball gals meets Tennis, on the Tennis court. I designed my character as a very tall European chick. I like how my double partner is a blond chick from Canada who wears a tank top bare midriff and daisy dukes. Also Boris Becker kicked my ass.
• It seems to play Final Fantasy Type Zero just fine. There is a PSP mode setting page. I set the Bilinear Filtering to On which smooths away the jaggies. I turn on the Right Stick to map to the D-pad and it now feels like a FPS/TPS. Good but not necessary since there is a lock-on with the R shoulder button. As I said, the network connection doesn't work (which unnecessary for my offline gaming but I want it anyway). It makes me have to decide to continue playing FFT0 on my PSP or Vita.
• It plays videos just fine. I ripped a DVD and placed the Handbrake-converted MP4 onto my PS3 and Vita. Very nice. Some other videos don't play so I guess I will just continue to use my iPod Touch.
• The new touch-based interface is annoying unfamiliar but logical. The design seems to try to avoid Apple iOS conventions (design patents?). Swipe vertically to search the Apps pages, swipe horizontally to switch the currently running Apps. Unfortunately buttons are not for navigation.
• Hold the PS button for quick changes to screen brightness (but not LAN, BlueTooth, 3G).
• Like a iPod Touch or similar, everything is a tasty app icon. These icons can be move around at whim to new pages, but unfortunately not in the familiar rectangular grid fashion. The best part is that each page can have its own background, so go ahead and Miku-fy it up. I have this one page for Power Smash 4, with just the app icon on the bottom and congraturatory graphic. I don't know how many pages can be created, though, but I suspect something like 16 or a little more. I would rather have the PSP/PS3 like Cross-Media bar with auto-displaying backgrounds that match the game or media I am selecting. But choice is good.
• The unlock/start screen is also wallpaper customizable. It's my Vita.
• Multitasking feels natural. I can pause the Vita or PSP game at whim. Unfortunately if I downloaded something that requires an install, the Vita doesn't let me resume my game session until the install completes. Complete minutes (!) of my time wasted waiting for a machine.
• Remote Play works. It looks scrunched but otherwise it is serviceable. My custom wall papers look glorious and dithered at the same time.

The promise:

• Touch screen, so maybe those Apple iOS / Android developers will jump on this and make some games? Not likely, since Where Are The Dev Kits?
• Portable console will die off in the next year? I hope not.

Untested:

• The Docomo 3G Internet Connection. I should not have bought it but I cannot ignore my inner geek that wants MOAR HARDWARE (GPS, 3G) for essentially the cost of the connection. Though 128 kilobits per second 3G is a rip off.
• The battery. I have yet to use it untethered!
• The cameras.
• The gyroscope. (I think it worked with Uncharted)
• The GPS. I was inside the whole time.
• There is an easy backup and restore method that works with either the PS3 or Windows PC, though I am afraid of testing the restore. Huh.
• More back touch panel gaming.

All in all I treat it as another PSP. Where is the revolutionary gaming? Well I need to seek it out, amirite?

The 2ch rip report at 片恋（かたこい） was especially helpful for figuring out what works and what doesn't.

Dream C Club sold out in the Osaka and Kobe

(tags game, gal-ge, sexy, Xbox 360, Dream C Club, ECsite)

By Sunday afternoon, all the stores I visited in the Osaka and Kobe areas (7) were sold out of Dream C Club (ドリームクラブ). Either the shipment was small, or there was a real demand for this gal-ge cabaret sim. The Famitsu 4 reviewer rating wasn't so high though, at 24 out of 40.

No I don't want to buy it, yet.

Update: Senaka Otaroad blog confirms it in ドリームクラブ完売店が続出 「思った以上に売れまくった」.