No, nothing internal. Wasn't anything I picked up on until I saw something running native.Originally Posted by Frankie_Says_Relax
No, nothing internal. Wasn't anything I picked up on until I saw something running native.
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Hasn't Eurogamer among other sites been doing their own analysis using external devices? I'm pretty sure you're visual analysis is similar to what they found.
Hopefully I get a quick response (before GS closes), I need the opinions of the Vita guys. I've decided to purchase a Vita, but not whether to save some money by buying it used or buy it new. What are some pros and cons of both?
A used one might have cosmetic damage. Also, make sure it includes the charger and (if you care about them at all) the AR cards.
Don't hold me to this, but I think GameStop has a pretty good return policy on used hardware. Check with them on that before you buy one. If you find out that one of the analog sticks is dead or the rear touchpad is always registering input, you don't want to be stuck with it.
Also, see if it has a screen protector already on it. If it does, look for any scratches underneath it without actually removing it.
Yeah, and the Vita's mirror finish plastic scratches pretty easily.
I had mine in a case that had those elastic bands that stretch over the system to keep it from falling out and they rubbed some fine micro-scratches into the finish ... which prompted me to snip them out with a scissors.
So, if the previous owner doesn't treat the system with a delicate touch, expect the potential for scratches.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Well, I ended up getting a Vita today. A guy on Craigslist was selling a 3G Vita for $250. I offered him $190 and surprisingly he accepted. I honestly didn't want a 3G vita, I just wanted the regular Wi-Fi. I'm slightly concerned about battery usage in regards to the 3G models. I know that you can turn the 3G off, but sometimes there is still a slight drain of the battery in regards to that, and that would really suck. 3G's weigh slightly more than the Wi-Fi models, but it's imperceptible. At least it appears to be. Still, $190 straight up isn't a bad deal. The guy took great care of the thing. It was absolutely immaculate. He said that everything was perfect with it. I tried all the buttons out and everything appears to be working just fine.
Unfortunately, that $190 deal didn't include anything else. Just the Vita and the charger cable. No memory card or anything else.
The good news, is that I had found this other guy on Craigslist that was selling a 32 gig Vita memory card for $80. I offered that guy $69, and he accepted. I met this other guy about 15 minutes after just getting the Vita from the first guy. Got the memory card, which was brand new, factory sealed. Popped it into the Vita just to make sure it's legit, and everything was cool. Dude somehow ended up with a second 32 gig card that he didn't need. $69 is a lot to pay for a memory card, but considering they go for $100 on Amazon, saving $31 is nice indeed. I honestly won't be purchasing all that much in the way of downloadable games (I like to resell things), but I like the fact that I have the big 32 gig card, and I can download tons of demos and not have to be worried about erasing things, etc, etc. The 4 gig cards kinda seem like a waste, and the 8 gigs are pretty small too. The 16 gig is way overpriced, imo.
Anywho, I'm currently downloading all the demos and can't wait to try some of the games.
Last edited by WCP; 03-23-2012 at 11:36 AM.
My 8Gb card seems to stay about half full. A lot of the demos are only 200Mb or so, and I delete them when I'm done. I have two demos, Motorstorm RC, Killzone Liberation, Little Big Planet, and Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War (thanks PSN sale), and I have 3.5Gb free. That's more than enough for me to carry around. I'm sticking with retail box games as well, so all I need a card for is PSP games and demos. Heck, I could get by with a 4Gb card. If I ever run out of space, I may just get one of those for cheap.
In agreement with a lot of the reviews I've read, it seems to be designed for people who already own a PS3. If you DO download all your games from PSN, just keep them on your (most likely) larger PS3 hard drive and only take with you what you're playing at the moment.
I don't know about you guys, but I think Remote Play is still useless. There's not much you can play, and it's too laggy to play anything well. I can't play Mega Man X4 with off timing. It's a neat gimmick, but it's not as polished as it could be. If the Wii U controller streaming doesn't perform better, then I'm worried. Scaling seems off too. My biggest complaint so far is the lack of scaling options for non-Vita content. I just want centered, unscaled output options, like the PSP had for PSX games.
People complain about the buttons being too small, but I don't have a problem. The D-Pad, on the other hand, might be a little small. Unlike other Sony D-Pads, it's not "segmented." For fighting games, I preferred the segmented pad. It makes it easier to hit the direction you want, without worrying about rocking it toward a diagonal. When you DO want to pull off a diagonal, it's great. I just keep getting diagonals when I want to press down.
Now that I've had my Vita for a full day, and tried out a TON of demos, here are my current impressions:
1. The screen is gorgeous - Obviously, this is the first thing that jumps out at you. It's a big screen, and it sure is purdy. I did try a Vita at a Best Buy and a Target, and wasn't unbelievably impressed with the screen, but much of that is probably due to the overhead fluorescent lighting kinda washing out the screen. You get this thing home, in a normal home environment, and the screen is a show stopper.
2. The Vita is a pretty big device - Sliding this thing into a pocket is going to be pretty difficult. I think the size of the Vita could end up being a problem long term. It's almost too big to be a portable game machine that you constantly take with you, but it's a bit too small when compared to 7 inch tablets. So, it's kinda in a no-mans land. It's perfectly fine for me, because I won't really be taking it everywhere with me. I'll use it mostly at home, and whenever I go on a trip out of town or something.
3. The buttons are tiny - The buttons and the D-Pad are really small. No getting around that. Looking at the overall size of the device, because of that huge 5 inch screen, they had to cut some corners somewhere, and the size of the D-Pad and buttons got shrunk as a side effect. The X button is VERY close to the right thumbstick.
4. Ergonomics are so-so - Ergonomically, it's not the most comfortable device to hold in your hands. I thought that because it was so much larger, it would actually be more comfortable than a PSP, but that doesn't really seem to be the case. I think part of it is the back touchpad. I'm almost wishing the back touchpad didn't exist. I think they could have more of a contoured back to rest your fingers on, but they had to be mindful of that back touchpad.
5. Memory card prices are redonkulous - One of the most difficult things about selling the idea of the Vita to friends, is the memory card part of the equation. The PSP Go had 16 gigs of internal memory. I think it would have been absolutely trivial in the grand scheme of things for Sony to have included the same for the Vita. But, it seems that they hope to supplement any lack of profits in the hardware by gouging people with the memory card prices. A 4 gig card is almost not even worth bothering with. I couldn't even begin to imagine how much it would suck to constantly have to erase demos, and clear space, just to download another demo. The 8 gig card is a little better, but still overpriced. The 16 gig is really overpriced. The 32 gig is WAY overpriced, but in the long run, might be the best value.
6. No TV out is criminal - Look, I know a big part of the reason that it doesn't have a TV out, is because of the touchpads. You could link a DualShock 3 controller with bluetooth, and have your Vita sitting right next to your plasma or LCD display, but what about games that require the use of the front or rear touchpads? Still, you'd think that you could just use the Vita as the controller (not as ideal, but....), and just have a long wire running all the way to the TV.
As far as the games go, I've tried a TON of demos. Right now, my favorite games are: Wipeout 2048, Fifa Soccer, Hot Shots Golf, Uncharted, Stardust Delta and Unit 13. I was especially impressed by Hot Shots Golf. Talk about freaking gorgeous. The thing is, I have Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 on my PSP, and it's amazing game, even to this day. I still think that game looks kinda next gen on a PSP. So, when I heard about Hot Shots on the Vita, I kinda poo-poo'ed the idea of playing it again with a slight bump in resolution. Well, I was certainly mistaken. Hot Shots Golf on the Vita is a stunner. At least what I can tell from the short demo. Might be one of the most graphically impressive Vita games I've seen so far. You might wonder what the heck I'm talking about, because it's just a golf game. Well, there is just so much detail and crispness to everything onscreen, all the indicators and swing meters and everything. It's just so freaking vivid. I give it MUCH respect.
I'm still just barely scratching the surface with all the various Vita demos, so I'm sure I'll have more to talk about in regards to the quality of games. The good news, is that there are at least 6 or 7 outstanding Vita games, and that's more than enough for an early adopter to settle in with. I ended up buying Fifa Soccer and Wipeout 2048 from a guy on Craigslist. Got Fifa for $24 and Wipeout for $22. My next mission is to get a copy of Hot Shots for around 20 beans. I plan on getting Stardust from PSN at some point, but I have more than enough to play around with for now, so I'll hold off of that temporarily. I'm also hoping to find a used copy of MLB 12 The Show on Vita. I love playing sports games on portables for some reason....
So, right after DP was hacked I found this on craigslist. The whole set was brand spanking new, despite coming with a few useless accessories. It ran me 320, but the upside was that I went into walmart and returned the unwanted accessories and walked out with a starter kit and some change. I'll post my initial thoughts--I will say I'm loving it though.
Probably not a good idea to post about committing return fraud here or anywhere for that matter.So, right after DP was hacked I found this on craigslist. The whole set was brand spanking new, despite coming with a few useless accessories. It ran me 320, but the upside was that I went into walmart and returned the unwanted accessories and walked out with a starter kit and some change. I'll post my initial thoughts--I will say I'm loving it though.
I forgot to mention that the bundle had originally been purchased at Walmart.
I remember seeing a teardown (mentioning how it's easy to repair if need be), but that's it. Does anyone have a more technical link? I'd love to see it.
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Still return fraud. You're not the original purchaser and obviously the person you bought it from didn't give you the receipt or they would have just took it back to Walmart themselves. Nice try though.
So, right after DP was hacked I found this on craigslist. The whole set was brand spanking new, despite coming with a few useless accessories. It ran me 320, but the upside was that I went into walmart and returned the unwanted accessories and walked out with a starter kit and some change. I'll post my initial thoughts--I will say I'm loving it though.
Doesn't the usb cable and the AC Adapter thing already come inside the box? What's the point of having separate versions of them?
a reason for wanting just the usb cable would be if you just wanted it to charge via usb computer port or transfer files onto a pc, maybe someone doesnt always want to unplug it from the power brick and take it to work. or maybe you lost or broke the one that came with the system and just needed one of the parts.
Since modern portables like 3DS and Vita need to be charged after each session, I personally like to keep an AC adapter/USB set up as a charge station.
One of the earliest purchases I made for the Vita was a second USB cable for PS3/PC data transfer and travel charging so that I don't have to constantly disconnect/reconnect the one that I have set up for home charging.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
The only accessory for the Vita that I'm interested in at the moment, is a travel case that I can fit my Vita into. Yeah, I know that there are tons and tons of cases out there, but I currently have the PS Vita Trigger Grip thing attatched to my Vita...
http://www.amazon.com/PSVita-Trigger.../dp/B0072A4JVW
I bought it off Amazon for $15 shipped. It makes the Vita experience much more comfortable, but I would like to find some kind of travel case that will fit my Vita snuggly, even with the Trigger Grip attached to it. I might try to find a Kindle Fire tablet case that would work for it. Or something like that. I could take the thing out of the Trigger Grip and put it into a regular Vita case, but then I'm still carrying around the trigger grip thing as well, so what's the point?
I usually don't think accessories like grips that change a portable into being like a controller, but I think this would work well for the Vita due to the back touch panel.
RRoD 4 Life!
I had a handle grip for PSP1000, but it wasn't as much of an improvement as I thought it would be. It didn't help that you couldn't pocket the system anymore without taking it off. I'm actually surprised that Sony hasn't tried making a more ergonomic handheld to begin with. I wouldn't mind a slightly smaller screen if it meant that the console were easier to hold. Multiple third-party grip solutions at launch says a lot to me.
I will say that the official leather case makes it a little easier to hold if you're not using the rear touchpad. It makes a sleeve for your fingers, relieving some of the weight they'd normally be supporting.
I used to use really cheap portable hard drive pouches as a PSP and DS cases and they worked great at protecting they systems from falls and scratches and what not. If you can find a larger scaled case you could probably make it work with a little modification to fit both the vita and the grips snugly. I used these for both console and although they worked great for even the 3DS with extended battery they are far too small for the vita.The only accessory for the Vita that I'm interested in at the moment, is a travel case that I can fit my Vita into. Yeah, I know that there are tons and tons of cases out there, but I currently have the PS Vita Trigger Grip thing attatched to my Vita...
http://www.amazon.com/PSVita-Trigger.../dp/B0072A4JVW
I bought it off Amazon for $15 shipped. It makes the Vita experience much more comfortable, but I would like to find some kind of travel case that will fit my Vita snuggly, even with the Trigger Grip attached to it. I might try to find a Kindle Fire tablet case that would work for it. Or something like that. I could take the thing out of the Trigger Grip and put it into a regular Vita case, but then I'm still carrying around the trigger grip thing as well, so what's the point?
http://www.amazon.com/Caselogic-Neop...718081&sr=1-11
I also think a good set of grips would help with the ergonomic issues of the vita but I'm still holding out for the Nyko Battery Grips if they ever get around to releasing them.
I think I mentioned earlier that I bought used copies of Fifa Soccer and Wipeout 2048. I just discovered that Wipeout has an Online Pass. The previous owner used the online pass. (The guy didn't mention anything about an online pass, and I didn't ask him, because I hadn't heard anything about online passes with Vita games). So, I've decided to put it back up on Craigslist. (I'll be sure to tell the next buyer that the online pass is used). I could buy the online pass for an extra $10, but I remember that Amazon once had brand new copies of Wipeout 2048 going for $29.99, so I guess I'd rather wait for that deal to come around again.
Surprisingly, the Fifa Soccer game doesn't have an online pass.
Vita games that require an online pass:
Wipeout 2048
Hot Shots Golf
MLB 12 The Show
Unit 13
This is the first time I've been affected by the whole "online pass" thing. I'm not really a first person shooter guy, and I normally wait to buy games at ridiculously cheap prices, so this really hasn't been an issue up till now. I paid $22 for Wiepout used, and if I bought the online pass, that would make it $32. I could have bought a brand new copy of Wipeout via Amazon for $29.99. So, it just doesn't make sense for me to buy any game that requires an online pass for anymore than say 5 or 10 bucks, because if you feel like you really need to buy the online pass, then you might as well buy a brand new copy when it's on sale, because it will likely end up costing you less in the long run. This whole online pass thing kinda sucks, but I guess they have to do what they have to do, to try to put a monkey wrench into the used game market.
Live and Learn.
I mentioned this before, but do any retail Vita games include manuals? The only retail title I have so far is BlazBlue, and there is no printed manual. Heck, even the software manual is bare bones. It says I have to go online to see the full manual. There's a clip to hold a manual in the case, like PSP cases had, but which games do and don't have manuals?
No, they don't, because the used market isn't an issue, but that's another thread.
Note that the MLB: The Show and Unit 13 online passes both came with headaches for their customers. Digital versions of U13 didn't come with mulitplayer unlocked, and The Show was unlocking multiplayer for the PS3 version. In other words, passes affect both new and used customers.
Also, a Gamefly account might benefit you too. As I said (way) earlier in this thread, all Vita games have so far been $28 to buy once rented, and the online pass is valid.
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I have six games, no manuals. As far as I'm aware, no games have them yet, but I'm sure a publisher could include them if they wanted, hence the hinge.
DoBlu (Blu-ray reviews)
Classic Game Room (Game reviews)
Now offering game save battery replacement (all consoles) and Game Gear capacitor restoration. PM me if interested.
When you click on the game to start it up can you view the manual there? On Uncharted, the only game I've played, once you open up the game, there's a manual option to choose which displays the manual that way. No physical manuals are going to be included with Vita games I've heard.
RRoD 4 Life!
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