Sony's NeoGeo Pocket's (PSP2/Vita) business/non technical ramifications talk

[patsu]

Oh, that's what I got 2 weeks ago, without LBP.

You may need to air out the carrying case for a day or two *if* you get one that smells funky. Some people put the case in the freezer or use silica gel packs to remove the odor. Mine is ok. 4Gb may be a little too tight. I use it only for testing out Japan titles.

 

[eastmen]

Oh, that's what I got 2 weeks ago, without LBP.

You may need to air out the carrying case for a day or two *if* you get one that smells funky. Some people put the case in the freezer or use silica gel packs to remove the odor. Mine is ok. 4Gb may be a little too tight. I use it only for testing out Japan titles.

To be honest , i most likel wont use it to much. I don't have much time to game and i mostly play swtor now with the time I have. I think like the 3ds it will get use the first month or so and then whenever a big title i like comes out. I dunno how many of those will actually come out since i've never been a big fan of their titles.

 

[patsu]

To be honest , i most likel wont use it to much. I don't have much time to game and i mostly play swtor now with the time I have. I think like the 3ds it will get use the first month or so and then whenever a big title i like comes out. I dunno how many of those will actually come out since i've never been a big fan of their titles.

Whelp, when you get the Vita and a smelly limited edition case fouling up your room, you'll remember my post.

Please, do whatever you want with the Vita !

 

[eastmen]

Whelp, when you get the Vita and a smelly limited edition case fouling up your room, you'll remember my post.

Please, do whatever you want with the Vita !

Lol , I wil ltake your advice on the case. Prob put the silica gel in it and put it outside for a week.


Mabye i will beat you in a game or something.

 

[Arwin]

Looks like the Music Unlimited Vita App is coming soon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e7ISiuAWkQ0

 

[patsu]

Mabye i will beat you in a game or something.

Ah, I'm not too great in gaming. No time to perfect my skills anymore. My 7-year-old beat me in Tetris and Bejewelled handily, and my wife trashed me in Plants vs Zombies, my most favoritest Tower Defense genre. And I got raped (0-7, 1-6) in KZ3 a few days ago where I used to be godly at it. Able to reverse the team's fortune and all that.

Now I feel like a homeless person. Oh which game should I go next ?

 

[patsu]

Looks like the Music Unlimited Vita App is coming soon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e7ISiuAWkQ0

When is it coming ? I don't see it in the US store.

Been waiting for the service. how I can download unlimited music to my Vita (as long as it's on my playlist until my memory card fills up). Now I understand the name of the service. ^_^

From the look of it, the Music Unlimited app seems the most polished among all the Vita non-games. Sony should really update the other apps, in particular FaceBook, to achieve this quality. The FB app is noticeably lacking compared to other apps. It does make a real difference to how people perceive the platform overall.

 

[patsu]

I also love how early adopters uncovered and sidestepped issues in 3G Vita (if you use other operators overseas):
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=35653839&postcount=15434

Well I did not get any replies, but since I finally cracked the problem, I figured I'd share in case anyone else will need this info.

The issue was with the "model" of my sim card. Some operators around the world still distributor sim cards that are not up to the tech standards of the newer devices (iPhone 4S, Android phones....etc). Many phone companies still have older generation sim cards to distribute, and if the cards are sold with a low-tech device, it wont be an issue.

But if you were to take that card and try to use it with a new model, chances are you'll experience what I did. At least the Vita tells you outright that the sim card is "invalid"; the iPhone 4S for example, accepts the sim card, but provides extremely unstable 3G connections because of it, never letting you know the source of the problem.

So there you go, I hope this helps someone.

 

[patsu]

Update on PSP hacks on Vita... (read: homebrew)
The hacker exploits the PSP emulator using the same hole found on the original PSP.

PS Vita homebrew loader arrives today, but only if you have this hard-to-get game (video)
http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/02/ps-vita-homebrew-loader-arrives-today/

...And here's the catch: the game you need is Motorstorm Arctic Edge (or 'Raging Ice' in Japan), and it appears to have already been pulled from the PS Store. Besides, it was never compatible with US-registered Vitas in the first place. Nevertheless, if you happen to have bought this old PSP title for your Vita already, then this may just work. Hacker Wololo claims that later today he'll release Vita Half Byte Loader files, which will give you a "limited PSP homebrew experience" on your lovely new handheld -- and indeed we've already seen it playing Sega Genesis titles.

 

[wco81]

No I hear a lot of games specifically won't 3G. For instance, MLB the Show will let you save to the cloud so that you can play both Vita and PSP versions with continuity.

But the saves can only be done through Wifi, not 3G.

What was the point of the 3G model again?

 

[patsu]

No I hear a lot of games specifically won't 3G. For instance, MLB the Show will let you save to the cloud so that you can play both Vita and PSP versions with continuity.

But the saves can only be done through Wifi, not 3G.

What was the point of the 3G model again?

Gaming and GPS apps ! ^_^

While a lot of games don't support 3G gaming, a few do.

The early adopters have verified that GPS apps like Google Maps and Near work (much) more reliably on a 3G Vita. This is true even if you tether your Vita. ^_^ You don't need a data plan to use the GPS.

The real bottleneck is the data plan $$$. When that formula changes, the scene will open up quickly because more and more devices can communicate over cell networks.

EDIT:
If Sony work with AT&T to deliver Music Unlimited with "free/bundled" 3G data plan, I may consider the bundle -- especially [strike]if[/strike] when Music Unlimited gets released on iOS in Spring 2012.

 

[Arwin]

I bought a 3G and yes, obviously gps functions work much better. More importantly, you don't need a dataplan. I bought 20 euro worth of data, and that stays valid for 12 months, sort of like prepaid. For doing that I get Wipeout 2048 for free (still waiting but should still be coming, my card initially wasn't registered as Vita, so I called and now I got a Vita specific welcome message).

As far as I could tell the cloud save thing worked over 3G when I played Motorstorm when at an indoor playground with my son. That said 3G doesn't seem very important. But stuff like getting a note that your time was beaten in Wipeout or Modnation etc works over 3G.

 

[patsu]

I bought a 3G and yes, obviously gps functions work much better. More importantly, you don't need a dataplan. I bought 20 euro worth of data, and that stays valid for 12 months, sort of like prepaid. For doing that I get Wipeout 2048 for free (still waiting but should still be coming, my card initially wasn't registered as Vita, so I called and now I got a Vita specific welcome message).

12 months ! I would have bought a prepay 3G dataplan for Vita if it doesn't expire after 30 days in US. -_-

In US, our free 3G activation game is Stardust Delta. The promotion ends on March 31 2012.

I intend to activate the promo 3G plan near the end of the month. It should give me 2 full months of 3G data to catch "Ciel No Surge": http://andriasang.com/comzsh/surge_concerto_gemaga/

As far as I could tell the cloud save thing worked over 3G when I played Motorstorm when at an indoor playground with my son. That said 3G doesn't seem very important. But stuff like getting a note that your time was beaten in Wipeout or Modnation etc works over 3G.

I use the social apps on Vita quite a bit. They should work ok over 3G networks. That said, the 3G plan includes free nationwide WiFi hotspot access. So you don't always have to stick with 3G only.

 

[Simon F]

I also love how early adopters uncovered and sidestepped issues in 3G Vita (if you use other operators overseas):
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=35653839&postcount=15434

I wonder if that's the same problem I had adapting a 10 y,o. sim card to work in an iPhone? I used a template that was published on the web initially on a spare, newer sim card - which worked fine - but then it failed with the older card. I then noticed that the older card seemed to have more contact pads so I just painted over them with some (of my wife's!) nail varnish and that did the trick.

 

[patsu]

... so I just painted over them with some (of my wife's!) nail varnish and that did the trick.

Brilliant !

 

[Arwin]

Smart!

What I also find surprisingly smart is the fast scrolling feature in the Vita's browser. Try this in for instance a long forum thread:

Drag your finger from top to bottom and hold your finger on the screen when you're done. The screen will start to scroll automatically and then speed up really fast, works almost like tapping the top of the iOS browser. But the nice thing is that it works both ways.

 

[patsu]

Drag your finger from top to bottom and hold your finger on the screen when you're done. The screen will start to scroll automatically and then speed up really fast, works almost like tapping the top of the iOS browser. But the nice thing is that it works both ways.

Will give it a try. I missed the iOS "tap on menu bar to roll browser to the top" gesture.

More news from GDC...

Mega Man Creator, Keiji Inafune, Is Working On A PlayStation Vita Game
http://www.siliconera.com/2012/03/0...nafune-is-working-on-a-playstation-vita-game/

Mega Man creator, Keiji Inafune of ex-Capcom fame, is currently working on Kaio: King of Pirates for the Nintendo 3DS, inspired by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms saga, but using anthropomorphic characters.

...

However, at his talk during the Game Developers Conference this evening, titled “The Future of Japanese Games,” Inafune revealed that he is also working on a PlayStation Vita title of some sort. Inafune didn’t provide any further specifics.

 

[patsu]

When is it coming ? I don't see it in the US store.

It's out on US Vita PS Store now. I have set up my offline playlist. ^_^

You can't play streaming music in the background.

You can create offline playlists and play the songs in the background, in parallel with a game. These songs are downloaded to the memory card automatically. I tested it with Uncharted.

EDIT:
Press release:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/li...on-vita-with-sonys-music-unlimited-2012-03-08

Android Music Unlimited has also been updated to handle offline playback:

Android Mobile Phone Application Update

Also announced today, Sony Entertainment Network launched an update to its Android(TM) mobile phone application (version 1.3) that delivers offline access to playlists from the Music Unlimited service.(4)

EDIT 2:
One big complain from me. When we hold down the Playstation button, Vita will put up a mini-controller pane to control the volume and playback of the built-in music player. This pane should be replaced by a Music Unlimited controller if I'm currently playing using the MU player !

 

[patsu]

PS Vita 'Magnet' tech does augmented reality without the cards
http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/8/28...dc-2012?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

One year ago, at the 2011 Game Developer's Conference, Sony used its quad-core gaming handheld to summon a T-Rex... but when the PlayStation Vita shipped last month, its augmented reality capabilities were slightly less sophisticated. If you figured Sony had lost its AR teeth, though, you'd be wrong, as this year's GDC played host to an even more impressive tech demo. What you'll see in the video below is an in-house technology tentatively called "Magnet," and unlike most AR techniques, it doesn't need symbols or cards. Instead, you can simply point the PS Vita's camera at any surface with enough contrast and scan it, in a manner of speaking.

(Demo video in the link)

 

[ban25]

I played a Vita for the first time yesterday. The biggest thing that struck me was just how small the face buttons are, I can cover all of them with my thumb! I liked the screen and backtouch, but no sale for me. The new iPad, on the other hand, is already pre-ordered.