Will the PS Vita stack up? Memory and Games Required

Sonys new handheld is coming to the United States Feb 22, 2012 and some reviews say it's going to hit hard and sell fast. To a point I would have to agree that the VITA is going to be a big seller as the anticipation for it is wide and a lot of consumers have been waiting for it. Though with all the reviews and everything about it are we really going to be getting something that is worth the money they want for it? Is the VITA going to be worth every penny that is spent for the games, hardware and the initial cost of the system?

The Playstation Vita will have an onboard camera which we may or may not use, I mean if you have a smartphone you already have a good camera on your phone that also takes videos. The system comes with no memory unit or onboard memory build into it and that means you have to purchase a memory card separately in order to even use the machine. That in itself is going to be added into the initial cost of the purchase and in itself could cost you more than you want to spend. You also have a choice of wi-fi only or 3G network through AT&T which is also going to be something you need to decide on when you go and purchase one.

The system is back-wards compatible and will play PSP games so you can save a little on games and play your old PSP favorites but without the updates as most PSP games are no longer supported by the developer. For release there are a good amount of games coming out on the special FEB 15th, 2012 release date. This could be a benefit because you can buy them from a retailer or from the playstation store for direct download to your system. Just remember the more games and apps you download the more memory you are going to require. With a nice touch-screen and menus that resemble a smartphone many user will be right at home from the time they turn on the system. You wont have to worry about using the touch screen for gaming as it comes with analog sticks and buttons like the Playstation Portable. The system will not feature video output and will not have a removable battery which means if your battery dies and cannot be re-charged for any reason you are going to have to buy a brand new system.

The Playstation Vita is going to cost a little for the initial purchase and a lot of it depends on what you are going for with the system. The release will feature two different systems that are completely the same except for the way the player will connect to the playstation network in order to play games.

• VITA W/ WI-FI ONLY- $249.99
• VITA W/ 3G ONLY- $299.99

As you can see you are going to pay more for the 3G version of the system and to be honest this should be the other way around and the WI-FI should cost more since you have to pay a monthly price for the 3G.

The Memory units which you will have to initial purchase before you can save anything or dl anything to the system is another price kicker. Since if you DL any games to the system most run at least a GIG and memory for saves can be high as well.

• 4Gig Memory- $19.99
• 8Gig Memory-$29.99
• 16Gig Memory-$59.99
• 32Gig Memory-$99.99

So you see the initial purchase after taxes is going to be somewhere over $300.00 and that just going with an 8Gig memory unit for the system. The one thing that players should think about is how many games they are going to download and how much memory they are going to use over the first month they have the system. If you are going to only use it for saves and nothing else than you can get away with a 4Gig unit to start out with. This could save a few bucks if you are going to want to buy some games.

The games are going to range from

• $29.99
• $49.99

Which is a little typical for games but personally I think that the downloaded games should cost a little less than that since the re-sale value of them is $0 and you don't get the box, the book or anything special with downloaded games.

Now onto the data plan if you choose to purchase the 3G version of the game system than you are going to be spending extra money every month on that and trust me the amount of data you get is not going to be worth the price and most gamers are going to use more than they get in the plan.

• 250MB DATA - $14.99/MO
• 3GIG DATA- $30.00/MO

Both plans through AT&T are without a contract so that is a benefit but not sure if that is really worth it with all the wi-fi spots and most people having wireless routers in their homes today.

I am sorry to have to go into the bad parts of the VITA but I want to make sure I cover the most important aspects of it and I think everyone should know about it all. Without having a removable battery in the system if the battery fails due to consumer neglect and not battery issue you are going to have to dish out the original cost for the system. In order to get video's that you downloaded, pictures you took and other information off the system you are going to have to download a content system free to your PC (only available for PC users, sorry mac users) and than plug in the system to your computer and transfer the files. The battery only lasts about 4-5 hours of constant play and than will need to be recharged.

There is no internal memory in the system and that is an additional charge right off the start.

Breakdown

• No removable battery
• No Internal Memory
• No Video output

All and all I am a little disappointed with the VITA as it seems Sony is planning on making it so costly to start out with the system. I don't think that the initial cost should be so much and this is a hit to consumers and loyal playstation users looking forward to the system. I think a lot of this has to do with sony losing so much after the big hack a few months ago and they are trying to still recover lost profits.

The fact that the vita is backwards compatible makes me a little happier since there are a lot of PSP games that I still like to play and would enjoy them on the VITA as well. I am not sure if the VITA will receive the sales that sony is hoping for due to the price and the total cost to get the system started is going to be an epic sales fail on their part but we shall have to sit back and see what takes place over the next month and check out the sales statistics in the summer.