Your thought on the PS Vita

I never owned one man. Sorry.

Besides phones and tablets, handheld gaming systems has one foot in the grave. Unless you are just a hardcore fan of the system, I wouldn't buy into it. Especially for just one game. Just my two cents. 

I bought one this past March... here is my objective review:
(Also note, I've never owned a PSP; this is my 2nd hand held after DSi)

System: 9/10
Vita Library: 3/10
PS1/2 Library: 7/10
Web Interface: 8/10
Overall: 27/40 (67.5%)

Pros: The touch-screen is equal quality to an iPad2. It's solid, crisp, clean, responsive, and very precise. The camera and video recording are also very good (20x better than DSi and iPhone) and the ability to expand memory is also a plus.

I've streamed Netflix and Youtube with ease; it also plays any .avi, .mpeg, .wmv, file etc. It also runs Skype & GoogleMaps. I just installed the Twitter app on mine and I can honestly say it's the best twitter interface available on any device (even iPhone, Android, and tablets).

It's very well put together and feels like a high-quality product (similar to how users feel when they first touch an iPad or similar device from China). The screen size is the perfect middle-road between a phone and tablet.

The battery life GOES ON FOREVER. As long as you put the active-application into the "stand-by mode" (by pressing the PS button, and then the I/O sleep button) you can literally pause a videogame for up to 3 days and pick right up where you left off at anytime. It'sa huge upgrade from having to save/load all the time.

You can download your already purchased PSP/PSN digital library directly to it (the ones that are compatible). I already had Street Fighter Alpha 3 (PSP) on my PSN, and it went right to the Vita. I also have Tactics Ogre (PSP), Strikers 1945 (PSP), and Dissidia (PSP) on my Vita because they're on my PSN account. Other notable PSP games that are VITA ready are: FFTactics, Disgea, Dissidia 012, Ys, WWE, Ghost Recon, Prince Persias, Madden, NBA2Ks, and other titles that anyone can readily see on PSN from their PS3.

The analog sticks are actually better than the PS3/360 standard controllers imo.

Connecting to a secure network is pretty easy. It comes as WiFi only, or WiFi + 3G (I have the latter).

I actually use it for gaming 40% of the time, video 30% of the time, and web browsing/apps 30% of the time. It's basically a small iPad with buttons/analog that plays PSN games.

Cons: The VITA exclusive library is lame. Not alot to choose from. There's maybe 2-3 games that utilize the (PS3 <-> Vita) feature, and the total library size is unimpressive.

The speakers are designed to be partially covered by the player's hands and work with the acoustics of that realization; the sound quality while not being held can be weak.

I have yet to use the back-side touch feature. Nothing seems to support it (yet).

The video player itself has rudimentary controls. It's not like a DVD player with loop, A-B, and all that jazz, but that's not really a con anyways.

The web browser can be annoying when you zoom in/out. The browser's refresh takes about a second longer than an iPad/iPod.

Summary:

+Great PSP/PSN library (ones that are compatible)

+Plays Netflix, Youtube, Skype, Twitter, GoogMaps

+Can pause a game & go back to it days later

+Battery lasts forever, and expandable memory

+Very solid/high-quality hardware; does not feel like a toy

-Vita Library is lame

-Browser requires a little patience

-Sound can be weak when used on a stand

-Built-in features like NEAR, Party, AT&T, Group/Friends are just kinda there (not really a plus)

Overall, I recommend getting one if you aren't bothered by it's lack of Vita games. I treat mine like an iPad that happens to play my favorite PSP games. It is leap years above a DS/3DS and a couple steps down from having an iPad. Like many electronics, it can just about do anything you need it to do in 2012 (like a Blackberry, iPad, 360, or Dell Inspiron), yet it's unfairly stigmatized as being a video-game-only device; people assume it's a 1-trick pony like a pre-paid phone, iPod Nano, or Blu-Ray player).

I guess I'd have to call it: (80% PSP) + (80% iPad) + (80% smartphone) + (80% PS3) - (80% new games).

 

:)

There is a dedicated vita group forum called Vita Power.

Uncharted is probably worth your while on Vita as well.  Otherwise, Gooseman's post is spot on.  Oh, and I can't wait for Madden to come out in a couple of weeks for it.

You definitely need a memory card because the thing does not have any internal memory.

I went with an 8GB memory card.  Seemed to be the best bang for the buck as far as their proprietary crap goes, but doesn't give much room for downloadable games.

Let me be even more objective:

I've owned handhelds from the Game Boy 1, to the Tiger bricks to watches. I've had almost every handheld (even NGP) except for PSP. I've wanted a PSP for the longest time, but I never got around to doing it. When the time came to get a PSP (last March) I instead opted to just get the VITA instead. I read the VITA plays a few PSP games I was interested in anyways, so I put down an extra $150 and got the upgrade.

I use it everyday, and I can say the lack of VITA games doesn't bother me that much because I don't buy games very often; I'm also easily entertained by older games and like I said above, I use it for video, YouTube, Netflix, and Internet as much as I do for gaming. It's not the best thing ever released, but I'm much happier with it and I don't regret buying one.

:)

(added)

Mine came with the 8G memory as a sales promo at *gasp* GameStop. I'm not a fan of GS either, but it was a good throw-in.

I have heard "No" on PS2 games, but with any videogame rumors take it with a grain of salt.

Make sure you pick up "Sound Shapes" when you get it.  It's a very cool little platformer.  If you purchase it on the PS3 you get a Vita copy for free and can save to their storage cloud which enables you to take your game on the go and pick up right where you left off.

Sony also mentioned future PSN games would come with the Vita game for free when you purchase the game on the PS3 Store.  I would imagine more games will start to come with the cloud save option so you can pick up where you left off on the Vita or PS3.

PS1 games are limited at the moment but there is supposed to be an update this week which will allow access to something like 100 ps1 games from the PSN.

Credit to SHADOW for posting this in it's own thread:

"How to play PS1 games on a PS Vita"

http://www.2old2play.com/forum/talk-back/topic/how-transfer-any-ps1-game...