I finally got to try a vita hands on and it's definitely a nice handheld but I just can't get my head around the price. The load times on the uncharted demo felt absolutely horrible though. Is that the case with the full game or is the demo just messed up?
The game loads initially, rather than in between chapters or scenes. The only really long load (or load at all), is just when booting up the game. Ironically, the demo - the portion that is chosen as a showcase - is the ugliest/most bland portion of the game. It's also just a brief section of the game - not majority in that area, maybe 8-12% of any time spent there....
The jungle (majority of the game) and the later
sections are very visually stunning. The cutscenes, voice acting and animation is just impressive. The way trees cast shadows which dance along Drake, general lighting and beautiful landscapes reflected by running river water - just jaw dropping. This was my first experience with Uncharted (non PS3/no interest in that system owner), hopefully it won't be my last. Loved the game.
The system is class. It's got the best directional pad I've ever used. On any system. It's got analogs, sure, but they lack the "resistance" (no pun intended) of the 3DS Slide pad. The OS is very functional, especially in a post-iOS world. It's just a great system, it "feels" more premium than it's asking price.
If you've got a hankering for deep, rewarding and generally well made/beautiful handheld games, it's a perfect compliment to a 3DS, or as a sole system. Can't go wrong, any way you stack it. Sony just needs to figure that out.