Sony PlayStation Vita: review, buyers’ guide, apps, and more!

Amazon might not be the best place to buy a discounted Nvidia Shield, but today the online retailer is offering the best deal on a PlayStation Vita yet. With the “Amazon Exclusive Holiday Walking Dead Vita Bundle,” you can get the original 3G / Wi-Fi model of the 5-inch gaming handheld with a 4GB memory card and voucher codes to download four great games for just $174.99, including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Retro City Rampage, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, and The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season.

To put that deal in perspective, the PlayStation Vita normally retails for $199.99 all by itself. Although you can find it today at several retailers today for $179.99 as part of their Black Friday sales, Amazon is head and shoulders above the crowd, offering a complete package deal for $5 less than you’d pay for the bare system somewhere else. The only caveat is that you’ll probably need to pick up a larger Vita memory card, as Uncharted alone will take up 2.8GB of the 4GB stick that comes with the bundle.

The PlayStation Vita price cut you’ve been waiting for is finally here: Sony has just announced that the PS Vita’s retail price is being slashed to $199 in the United States. That’s down from its previous MSRP of $249.99. The portable is also being slashed to €199 across European territories. Better still, Sony has pledged to “make significant reductions” to the cost of memory cards for the Vita, which until now have been priced extraordinarily high compared with SD cards and other, non-proprietary flash memory. The 4GB Vita memory card now starts at $14.99, down from an original price of $19.99. 8GB cards have been reduced by $10 to $19.99, and both the 16GB (now $39.99) and 32GB ($79.99) have been slashed by $20.

Sony is undoubtedly hoping that the more appealing price point will help boost momentum of the sagging Vita. Retailers have already beaten Sony to the punch, however; Best Buy recently put both the Wi-Fi and 3G models of PS Vita on sale for $199.99. The Wi-Fi MSRP will now stick around, though the future of the cellular Vita SKU remains unclear.

If you’ve been waiting for better streaming support and improved visuals on your PlayStation Vita, Sony’s latest update has you covered. In firmware version 2.6, the company has tweaked the UI, made it easier to access saved game data on PlayStation Plus, and opened up new ways to toggle networking options. Sony has finally softened its circular content bubbles with antialiasing and has also introduced a new control screen — similar to Android toggles and Apple’s Control Center in iOS 7 — which allows gamers to manage Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G settings simply by holding the PS button.

Vita owners can now stream content directly from connected devices, including the PlayStation 3 or PC, no longer requiring videos or music to be saved locally first. Overall, Sony has focused mainly on improving the media capabilities of the Vita ahead of the launch of the PlayStation 4, scheduled for the end of the year. Sony’s next-gen console is set to breathe new life into the handheld after it pledged to make every standard PS4 game playable on the Vita using Remote Play streaming functionality. For the full list of new features included in today’s new Vita update, head over to Sony’s support site.

The PlayStation Vita was released in North America one year ago today. A little earlier, I’d given the system a glowing review upon its Japanese launch, and what I wrote holds true: the hardware is still fantastic, the screen is still beautiful, and there’s still no better platform for playing games on the go. In theory.

In practice, things haven’t quite worked out that way. Sales are lower than Sony expected, there’s little in the way of exciting software on the horizon, and there are real questions surrounding the future of dedicated handheld games consoles in general. For a system with a name that’s supposed to connote “life,” the PS Vita’s prognosis looks gloomy indeed.

Sony’s hoping that a price cut will accelerate sales of the PlayStation Vita in Japan after months of sluggish retail performance. Unfortunately the company won’t be granting North American customers the same generosity — at least not yet. Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida today revealed that Sony will not be lowering the Vita’s price in North America. According to Polygon, the executive attributed the Japanese MSRP reduction to a favorable exchange rate, a luxury it would seem doesn’t extend elsewhere at the moment. Gamers in Japan can look forward to a lower 19,980 yen price set to kick in starting February 28th. And while Sony may not be slashing prices for North American buyers right now, we imagine the company won’t have much choice if Vita sales fail to pick up momentum before long.

Sony has announced a new “remote play” feature for the PS Vita, which will allow PlayStation 4 games to be played directly on the Vita. “Our long term goal is to make every PS4 title playable on the Vita,” the company says. It’s a strategy similar to what we’ve seen on the Nintendo Wii U and Nvidia’s Project Shield, where home console or PC games can be streamed to a smaller second screen. Though we’re not sure exactly how it works yet, Sony says it’s integrated Gaikai technology that “effectively makes it a game server.” Unfortunately, there appears to be no similar support for tablets, which effectively limits remote play to people who have gone all-in on Sony’s ecosystem.

Update: Sony’s official press release states that the “long-term goal” is to make “almost every PS4 title” playable on the Vita using the remote play option over Wi-Fi. That’s hedging a bit from what we heard in today’s presentation, but there’s still a lot of time for Sony to get this working before the PlayStation 4’s planned launch in late 2013.

Via an online video broadcast, Sony has announced a price cut for its ailing PS Vita handheld in Japan. From February 28th, both the Wi-Fi and 3G models of Vita will sell for 19,980 yen (about $215) — that’s a fifth off the current price of 24,980 yen for the Wi-Fi model, and a third in the case of the 3G model.

Buyers will be able to take advantage of a free 1-week trial of PlayStation Plus along with promotions for the PlayStation Store and Reader ebook store. No cut has been announced for the rest of the world, but it’s possible that one could come at the New York PlayStation Meeting on Wednesday, where Sony is widely expected to unveil the PlayStation 4.

Today, Sony announced the launch of PlayStation Home Arcade, an app that lets users purchase arcade games for the PlayStation Vita. Home Arcade has a number of well-known retro classics like Frogger, Asteroids, and Centipede, as well as Astrosmash Gen2, Shark! Shark! Gen2, Mad Blocker, and Time Pilot, all available for $1.49. The app also features more recent games like Icebreaker and Wipeout 2D, which both come free with Home Arcade. A free demo of Scribbleshooter is also available, but the full game is priced at $1.49. Although the PlayStation Home branding might suggest a deeper tie in with the PS3, in actuality the only link is that the arcade games you’ve purchased on the console will also be available on your Vita. PlayStation Home Arcade is available today for free from the PlayStation Store, but you’ll have to look elsewhere for classics like Pac-Man, Galaga, and Dig Dug.

Premium cable network newcomer Epix is working to continue bolstering the direct distribution portion of its business today, as it has announced that it will be releasing streaming apps for the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita. The new apps are launching later this quarter and in the spring, respectively, and they join a rather full roster of applications (iPhone, Android, Xbox 360, Roku, and even BlackBerry PlayBook apps are already available) that bring Epix’s movie and entertainment event catalog directly to subscribers. The move is the latest step by Epix and the three movie studios — Paramount, MGM, and Lionsgate — that own it to maintain power over the distribution of their content. We’re sure Epix also hopes that its plethora of apps will convince cable customers to pay up for access to the premium network, which stands in last place compared to competitors like HBO, Showtime, and Starz, but the network’s movies are also available sans-subscription on Netflix and Amazon Instant Video.

Sony has released perhaps its biggest update yet to the PlayStation Vita. Apart from coming with support for PlayStation Plus on the handheld, firmware version 2.0 adds an email client along with improvements to the browser and several other new features.

The email app, simply called Email, is unsurprisingly below par next to what you’d expect from a modern smartphone. It’s easy enough to use, with automatic setup for Gmail and Yahoo Mail accounts; one nice feature is that you can add multiple accounts, which is more than we can say for the Gmail app on iOS at least. However, it lacks basic features such as conversation threading and Gmail archiving, and of course there aren’t any push notifications, though you can set it to check in the background every 15 minutes. We can’t say we’re huge fans of the faux-envelope paper visual design, either, which doesn’t make great use of the Vita’s 5-inch screen. Still, if you somehow find yourself in a situation where you need to fire off a quick message and you only have your Vita on you, it’ll be a lot less painful than muddling through the browser.

PlayStation Plus, Sony’s premium online service for the PlayStation 3, is finally coming to the Vita on November 19th along with the handheld’s version 2.00 firmware update. Just like the PS3, PlayStation Plus subscribers will have access to discounted games on the Vita, cloud storage capabilities, automatic trophy syncing, and the ability to schedule game and system updates.

The Instant Game Collection will also be added on November 20th, allowing subscribers to download games from a monthly-rotating selection for no additional charge. The initial Instant Game titles include Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Jet Set Radio HD, WipEout 2048, Gravity Rush, and Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack!, as well as the PlayStation Portable game Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. Fortunately, Sony only requires one PlayStation Plus subscription for both platforms, which costs $17.99 for three months or $49.99 for a whole year.

PlayStation Plus, the subscription service that supplies PS3 owners with a steady stream of free and discounted games, will become available to Vita owners from this November. You’ll only need the one subscription for both consoles, so if you already use PlayStation Plus the Vita service will be free to you as long as you remain a member.

Like the PS3, the Vita will get an Instant Game Collection — a rotating selection of full games to download for free, though no titles have been announced yet. There’ll also be the same cloud storage functionality for game saves, automatic trophy synchronization, and the ability to schedule game and software updates at set times even when you’re away from the system.

Sony has announced that a YouTube app will come to the PS Vita next month. It’ll feature standard features like comments and favorites, and is set to be released by the end of June. It follows the recent release of Skype, Facebook, and other non-gaming apps for Sony’s latest handheld, and should be useful for anyone interested in watching mobile video on the device — in our review, we noted that the Vita’s browser doesn’t even support HTML5, let alone Flash. There aren’t many details or any screenshots yet, but chances are we’ll get to see the app shown off at E3 next week.

Sony has announced a “Crystal White” PS Vita console for release in Japan next month. The system will be launched on June 28th at the regular price of ¥24,980 and ¥29,980 for the Wi-Fi and 3G models, and Sony will also release white accessories like an earbud headset and a couple of cases. It’s not the only white Vita in the pipeline, though — August 30th will see the release of a Hatsune Miku special edition bundle to tie in with the release of the next Project Diva game. The previous PSP entries sold over a million copies in Japan and sparked the Vocaloid character’s phenomenal popularity.

The limited edition Miku Vita will cost ¥10,000 (about $125) more than a regular system, but you do get a 4GB memory card included in the package along with a copy of the new game, a specially-designed screen protector, and AR cards. No word on a worldwide release for either of these systems — we’d expect the regular white edition to make its way elsewhere at some point, but don’t hold your breath for Hatsune Miku.

Two PSP titles are back on sale after Sony took action to combat a possible PS Vita security breach. Last month Sony removed Motorstorm: Arctic Edge and Everybody’s Tennis from the PlayStation Store after hacker Wololo found that they contained a loophole to allow unsigned homebrew code to run through the Vita’s PSP emulator. We can confirm that both titles are back online in the European Vita store and selling for £6.99 each, in line with recent price drops on several other PSP titles. While the loophole has been closed for now, Sony might not be able to rest for too long — Wololo applauds the company for restoring the games, but warns that he has an exploit for another title ready and waiting in the wings.

We were expecting the PlayStation Suite developer program to go into open beta this month, and sure enough it’s happened. Developers can now download the free Suite SDK, which will allow them to create apps and games for the PS Vita and PlayStation Certified devices. Once the beta period is up at some point later this year, signing a $99-per-year contract will allow developers to sell their content in the PlayStation Store.

Sony isn’t revealing much information on exactly how stringent the contract requirements will be, though the FAQ does say that games must be either paid or freemium, and an in-app purchasing system is coming later in the beta period. PlayStation Suite’s been a little slow getting itself off the ground since its announcement over a year ago, but the news that more content is finally on the way should be reassuring to owners of the Vita and other Sony devices.

The PlayStation Vita just received its first free-to-play game, a match-three puzzler called Treasures of Montezuma Blitz, and we were curious to see how it plays, but when we fired up a Vita to see just how friendly Sony’s made the platform for freemium titles, we ran into a required update. Yes, Sony’s updated the PlayStation Vita’s firmware to version 1.67, only one week after the last, and just like version 1.66, it’s a 97MB download. There’s no changelog, so we’re not sure what it does quite yet, but we can hazard a guess: perhaps Sony’s trying to successfully release version 1.65 yet again. We’ve reached out to the company for details. In the meanwhile, you can hear more about Montezuma Blitz at our source link.

Following yesterday’s announcement, publishing, and subsequent removal of PlayStation Vita firmware version 1.65, Sony has made version 1.66 available for download. The 97MB update presumably fixes the issue with adhoc wireless multiplayer on PSP games that caused v1.65 to be pulled in the first place, along with the assortment of usability tweaks that it was originally intended to bring. It’s good to see Sony respond quickly to the issue, but this isn’t the first time the company’s pulled the trigger too early on Vita software — in February, the Facebook app was taken down after users complained of login issues. Hopefully the company tests its updates more thoroughly in future.

Sony has announced, released, and withdrawn the next firmware update for the PS Vita in the space of a day. Version 1.65 of the handheld console’s software was set to make some minor usability tweaks including the ability to turn notifications on and off, extend the time before the system automatically goes to sleep from five to ten minutes (a welcome addition), and a caps lock function for the onscreen keyboard. Vita owners had a very small window of opportunity in which to acquire these features, though, as Sony soon pulled the update due to “a technical fault” — reportedly an issue with adhoc wireless functionality in PSP games. We’ll be sure to let you know once the update goes back up online.

Sony has taken to removing PSP titles from the PlayStation Store in an attempt to close security holes in the PS Vita. The compromised titles, Motorstorm: Arctic Edge (subtltled Raging Ice in Japan) and Everybody’s Tennis, can be used to run hacker Wololo’s Vita Half-Byte Loader (VHBL), which can execute unsigned homebrew code. The move by Sony means that people who previously purchased the games are unable to download them again — we bought Motorstorm on the above PSP Go back in 2009, but it’s completely disappeared from our download history when viewed on our Vita.

Wololo claims that VHBL can only be used for homebrew software and doesn’t support pirated PSP or Vita titles, and like his previous “hello world” exploit on Vita it runs inside the system’s sandboxed PSP emulator, meaning that root level access to the Vita is likely some way off. Nevertheless, Sony won’t want to take any chances with the Vita’s security following the rampant piracy on the PSP, and removing these titles from the store is probably a faster solution than fixing the loopholes via firmware. Wololo claims to have more exploits in the pipeline, however, so the cat and mouse game is likely to continue.

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.

Then, the Vita employs pattern recognition to figure out the surface’s features, marks each with virtual pins, and uses its motion sensors and camera to figure out the relative position of the augmented reality images it displays in relation to the real-world surface. What’s more, the program even turns that surface into a video game texture that it can modify at will... for instance, one demo let us sculpt the carpet into mountains and valleys using the Vita’s front and rear touchpads. We can definitely imagine some awesome game ideas using the technology, though Sony wouldn’t say if any were in development right now. Either way, get a glimpse at Magnet (and an unrelated AR table tennis demo) in the video below.

With a downloadable collection of PSP titles, full PS Vita games and PlayStation Minis, the PlayStation Vita digital library is off to a great start, but this week, subscribers to Sony’s PlayStation Plus service are finding that a few of their games don’t work. The cross-platform Minis given out to each member on a monthly basis reportedly generate error code C1-2858-3 when users attempt to play on the handheld gaming machine, even though regular retail copies of the same exact games work perfectly. Thankfully, Sony’s already on the job. It told Edge Online: “We are aware of the issue, and will resolve it as quickly as possible.”

The Facebook app for the PlayStation Vita appeared for European users earlier this week, with the app unceremoniously arriving for those in the US the following day. It looks like there were still some kinks to be worked out, however, with Eurogamer reporting that the app has now been pulled — something that we were able to confirm on our devices as well. According to the site, gamers had been having issues logging into Facebook with the app, receiving an “NP-13144-3” error message. A Sony representative speaking to Joystiq reportedly provided little clarity, confirming that the app was pulled and that the company is “currently looking into this to restore it to normal operational status.” No timeline has been provided for the app’s return, but we’ll keep you posted as soon as we learn more.

We’re not quite sure why it wasn’t included in the launch update, but the Facebook app for the PS Vita is now available in the US PlayStation Store. While we weren’t blown away by the interface or functionality, it works well enough and doesn’t cost a penny. It’s also one of the more productive ways to use your Vita’s rear touchpad, which is otherwise somewhat in need of software support right now. There’s still no sign of the Foursquare app that hit Europe yesterday, though, which is a little puzzling. Adding Facebook outside of the regular weekly PlayStation Store updates would seem to suggest either that not everything was quite pulled together in time for launch, or that Sony is taking a slightly more liberal approach to adding store content than it has in the past. In any case, we’d expect Foursquare to show up soon.

Thanks, Luis!