Ok I've put almost two weeks into the Vita so here are my quick thoughts on the system and games. Games played: Soul Sacrifice, Mortal Kombat
Games:
Soul Sacrifice is amazingly addictive. The challenge, the online functionality, the UI, the character upgrade system... I love it all.
I beat the MK singleplayer again on the PS Vita. Very faithful recreation of the console game with the only downside being the downgraded graphics on the character models. You don't really notice it until they do that transition in the story mode from the cutscene to the model. Pretty jarring. Other than that i had a blast with it and it was totally playable.
Portability:
Other married vitagaffers can probably attest to how easy it is to get in quick gaming sessions even when you are busy doing a lot of things around the house / with the significant other. So while I don't believe the system is very portable outside the house on a day-to-day basis (like an iPhone is) I do believe the portability within the home has a lot more value than people give it credit for. Also, the battery life is MUCH better than I anticipated. Really happy about that.
Controls:
I have probably 50-60 iOS games across my iPad and iPhone ranging from Angry Birds to GTA Vice City. I've been trying to become a portable gamer through these devices because, after all, they're the future amirite? And while the ones built specifically for touch controls can be a fun distraction, it doesn't really satiate the reason I've been playing games for 30+ years. Also, the novelty of having GTA:Vice City and Chrono Trigger on my phone is great, the bottom line is they simply aren't that fun to play... its amazing how even my favorite games of all time aren't really that fun when you strip away the tactile feedback.
After just two weeks of having decent controls I can't imagine going back to suffering through touch screen analogue sticks and buttons. Playing Soul Sacrifice on that portable was a pretty eye opening experience, as was Mortal Kombat.
UI
This is where the Vita needs a shitload of work. The UI on the thing is a mess. Between the bubbles and the cluttered mess you have to endure before you start a game everything seems so half-assed and sloppy as if you had 20 designers working on the OS in completely different buildings. The functionality is there, don't get me wrong, but its all very messy IMO.
Overall I wish it had a better future ahead because it is a damn good system and easily the best portable gaming machine I've ever played. And to think I haven't even played P4G yet.
