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[SolsticeZero]

Hi guys. I've looked around but couldn't find an answer: is there any good way to read/save FAQs/walkthroughs on Vita?

Typically, I'd like to be able to access a persona 4 FAQ even when I'm offline and whatever is open in the web browser tends to go away after some time?

Can't you save it as a bookmark?

EDIT: Top of page! Hot Shots Golf, damnit! I can't recommend it enough!

 

[dallow_bg]

Has Sony ever acknowledged the problem with the 100 icon or 10 only page limit on the vitas home screen? Seems like a dumb thing to have on a digital heavy console.

Yes, they know people are complaining about the limit.
Pretty sure this wil be resolved with the next major FW update. Likely with some sort of folder solution.

 

[SolsticeZero]

Since my Vita is in for repair, I'm stuck with my DS Lite. Dear god this thing is uncomfortable. I miss my Vita!

Yes, they know people are complaining about the limit.
Pretty sure this wil be resolved with the next major FW update. Likely with some sort of folder solution.

As it should be. I would LOVE to only have two or three pages with folders.

 

[Ran rp]

I still think KZ will have an atrocious native res,there's no way it will look that clean when the final product hits.

Have you seen the official screenshots? I'm expecting the IQ of the final game to be exactly like that or better if Cambridge can work more of their magic.

 

[Sid]

Have you seen the official screenshots? I'm expecting the IQ of the final game to be exactly like that or better if Cambridge can work more of their magic.

You saw the official screens of burning skies?

 

[Diablo Rosso]

You saw the official screens of burning skies?

Ironic when you couldn't even use the screenshot function in the game, or in BLOPS: D for that matter.

 

[Sid]

Ironic when you couldn't even use the screenshot function in the game, or in BLOPS: D for that matter.

Devkit frame grabs bullshotted up.

 

[erpg]

So, basically from an IQ point of view, LBP is the best looking game on the system besides Virtua Tennis?

A shame that P4 has no AA, what the hell... the game isn't even that demanding, I think.

What about the Metal Gear Solid collection?

No, not being native immediately strikes LBP off the top of the list if you ask me. If you want a simple way to see the detail lost by going sub-native, boot up Persona 4 Golden and compare the model shown while analysing in combat to the model you're fighting.

My IQ Priority list goes: native + AA (Tennis), native (Sonic), variable + AA (Wipeout), sub-Native + AA (LBP), sub-native (Persona - which has good texture filtering). But I've never really cared for AA anyway. I grew up with pixels, and I can live with them now. Poor filtering and sub-native resolutions that make textures and the entire scene muddy? Never.

Oh, and MGS collection is sub native as well. Like Persona 4, it's noticeable, but it isn't a huge problem. Just unfortunate.

 

[Shahed]

In terms of IQ, I'd say Virtue's Last Reward ranks very high. Not the most demanding of games graphically, and animations are dreadful, but it's probably the cleanest games over played thus far

 

[Ran rp]

You saw the official screens of burning skies?

You saw the official screens of burning skies?

Nihilistic had a reason to bullshot their screens. Cambridge are technically adept developer and don't need to lie. After spending a year porting the engine to Vita, and from the early impressions about the IQ and solid framerate I believe that Cambridge have achieved what we see in the screenshots. The only thing I'm not sure about is if they have that running on a consumer model Vita yet.

 

[Sid]

Nihilistic had a reason to bullshot their screens. Cambridge are technically adept developer and don't need to lie. After spending a year porting the engine to Vita, and from the early impressions about the IQ and solid framerate I believe that Cambridge have achieved what we see in the screenshots. The only thing I'm not sure about is if they have that running on a consumer model Vita yet.

Sony publishes these screens not the devs,there's no ways in hell KZ can look so much better than the other Vita games and still maintain native res IMO.

 

[erpg]

Sony publishes these screens not the devs,there's no ways in hell KZ can look so much better than the other Vita games and still maintain native res IMO.

If it really has been in the oven for a year and a half longer than everything else, I don't see why not.

Gravity Rush was transplanted from PS3 to Vita in order to make it near the launch window. Bend was offered textures and assets from Naughty Dog in order to complete GA on time. And we're also only a year into the system's life. Software inevitably improves over a system's lifespan.

 

[SolsticeZero]

If it really has been in the oven for a year and a half longer than everything else, I don't see why not.

Not to mention this is Sony Cambridge we're talking about

 

[Diablo Rosso]

Devkit frame grabs bullshotted up.

Of course they do. I played Burning Skies and doesn't look as good as that.

 

[Sid]

If it really has been in the oven for a year and a half longer than everything else, I don't see why not.

Gravity Rush was transplanted from PS3 to Vita in order to make it near the launch window. Bend was offered textures and assets from Naughty Dog in order to complete GA on time.

Mercenary also uses assets from the other KZ games,we can't pin point the time when the development started unfortunately.

 

[Ran rp]

Sony publishes these screens not the devs,there's no ways in hell KZ can look so much better than the other Vita games and still maintain native res IMO.

So everyone who's played it and claimed to have seen it with their own eyes is lying? ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

We're past the launch phase of the system now. After the first few launch games did you think the PS3 would ever come close to U3, Heavy Rain, and GoW graphics, or even Killzone 2's?

 

[SolsticeZero]

So everyone who's played it and claimed to have seen it with their own eyes is lying? ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

We're past the launch phase of the system now. After the first few launch games did you think the PS3 would ever come close to U3 and TLoU graphics, or even Killzone 2's?

People never EVER thought the PS2 would come close to God of War 2, and that came out extremely late in the PS2 cycle. They never thought we would see The Last of Us style graphics on the PS3, and that's coming out late, too. So yes, I bet in a year or two we'll see PS3 graphics on the Vita, easily.

 

[Sid]

So everyone who's played it and claimed to have seen it with their own eyes is lying? ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

We're past the launch phase of the system now. After the first few launch games did you think the PS3 would ever come close to U3, Heavy Rain, and GoW graphics, or even Killzone 2's?

Someone should ask greg from IGN if he thinks golden abyss looks crisp as well....

 

[Ran rp]

People never EVER thought the PS2 would come close to God of War 2, and that came out extremely late in the PS2 cycle. They never thought we would see The Last of Us style graphics on the PS3, and that's coming out late, too. So yes, I bet in a year or two we'll see PS3 graphics on the Vita, easily.

PS3 was also a bitch to develop for. The Vita is supposed to be far easier, so achieving late gen graphics this early on the system doesn't seem too crazy, especially since the devs are very acquainted with developing HD games now.

 

[erpg]

Snow Miku DLC for Vita version of Project Diva.

Sega would make my SO's life a lot easier if they just translated the menus and brought this game and its DLC over to NA.

 

[SolsticeZero]

PS3 was also a bitch to develop for. The Vita is supposed to be far easier, so achieving late gen graphics this early on the system doesn't seem too crazy, especially since the devs are very acquainted with developing HD games now.

But developers are always finding new methods of squeezing out a few extra horsepower out of a system, no matter how easy it is to develop for. Look at the 360. Insanely easy to dev for. But compare last years or two years ago's stuff to Halo 4.

 

[Spiegel]

KZ:M screens look direct feed to me. Usually when Sony does bullshots, even at Vita's resolution, there are no jaggies.

Also 3 years in development with finished hardware and a developer known for creating amazing looking games make all the difference.

 

[Sid]

PS3 was also a bitch to develop for. The Vita is supposed to be far easier, so achieving late gen graphics this early on the system doesn't seem too crazy, especially since the devs are very acquainted with developing HD games now.

No matter how easy a system is to develop for devs will always find a way to make their games look way better later in it's lifecycle like the 360 BUT KZ being native res and looking this crazy is unbelievable for me.

 

[Ran rp]

But developers are always finding new methods of squeezing out a few extra horsepower out of a system, no matter how easy it is to develop for. Look at the 360. Insanely easy to dev for. But compare last years or two years ago's stuff to Halo 4.

So a Mercenary sequel would probably look even better than Mercenary does now?

No matter how easy a system is to develop for devs will always find a way to make their games look way better later in it's lifecycle like the 360 BUT KZ being native res and looking this crazy is unbelievable for me.

You'll just have to see it for yourself. So would I and everyone else.

KZ:M screens look direct feed to me. Usually when Sony does bullshots, even at Vita's resolution, there are no jaggies.

Also 3 years in development with finished hardware and a developer known for creating amazing looking games make all the difference.

Yep.

 

[jwk94]

That was for Muramasa.

Oh yeah, forgot about that. I mostly buy my games off PSN, would that be a smart thing to do with Muramasa? How long is it?

 

[Noi]

Aksys love to do CE versions of their games with exclusive trinkets, so I'll likely pick up Muramasa on retail. The new Hakuoki coming out this month, I'll buy digitally cause it'd take something HUGE to get me to buy a UMD anymore.

 

[tahsutify]

Can anyone tell me what exactly IQ is? I've tried searching but found nothing because of IQ tests etc.

Edit:

Image Quality

Thanks.

 

[SolsticeZero]

Can anyone tell me what exactly IQ is? I've tried searching but found nothing because of IQ tests etc.

Image Quality

 

[dallow_bg]

Oh yeah, forgot about that. I mostly buy my games off PSN, would that be a smart thing to do with Muramasa? How long is it?

Seems like a pretty decent length.

http://howlongtobeat.com/gamebreakdown.php?gameid=517

 

[breakfuss]

Can anyone tell me what exactly IQ is? I've tried searching but found nothing because of IQ tests etc.

Ha, thanks for asking. Always assumed it had something to do with the game's AI. lol.

 

[Schobeleth]

Snow Miku DLC for Vita version of Project Diva.

Sega would make my SO's life a lot easier if they just translated the menus and brought this game and its DLC over to NA.

If they brought over Miku, I'd throw money at it. I love rhythm games! DJMAX has reminded me of my love for them. Also - I think I'm going to play through Persona 4 and work on getting better at DJMAX. I'm not sure if I want to platinum Persona right away, but eventually I'll want to. I think I'm going to work on finally completing NG Sigma+ though, as much as it crushes my soul.

 

[jwk94]

Seems like a pretty decent length.

http://howlongtobeat.com/gamebreakdown.php?gameid=517

Yeah, that's not bad, definitely worth the download, thanks.

 

[tahsutify]

Ha, thanks for asking. Always assumed it had something to do with the game's AI. lol.

I was going crazy while sarching. "Why is there not a single mention of this at all, while everyone at Gaf acts like it is the most important thing in gaming?" lol.

 

[omg_mjd]

Knytt Underground is 5 bucks for Plus tomorrow according to the PS Blog. Is the game decent?

EDIT: Sorry, I looked again and it's actually $8.99 (40% off).

I was going crazy while sarching. "Why is there not a single mention of this at all, while everyone at Gaf acts like it is the most important thing in gaming?" lol.

For the longest time I couldn't figure out what LTTP & ITT meant. Google did not help.

 

[kiyomi]

I'll buy Project Diva eventually, but I know that when I do I'm gonna be bummed out about the fact I won't be able to buy or use the DLC. I guess I could play it on the JP account and enjoy it like that. Actually that's not a bad idea.

that right there is the joke

I was tired. :x

Monosukoi the last game was actually my fault my internet started to act out. But the game usually has buggy online so it would had happen regardless.

No worries, I almost fell asleep during the second match and then I saw you just standing around, so I thought there was a problem for you.

I'm really, really bad at the game though. It didn't help that there were two guys trash talking me either.

I love rhythm games! DJMAX has reminded me of my love for them.

How's it going? I've just been playing some today, I need to post some deeper impressions in the OT. Still find the Pop mixing difficult! D:

Knytt Underground is 5 bucks for Plus tomorrow according to the PS Blog. Is the game decent?

ehhh I never played more than 15 minutes when it was free on PS+, but I really didn't like the flow of it. The background art is nice though, a bit like Outland, but I felt no incentive to keep on playing for very long. Don't take my word for it though..

 

[Kerub]

Knytt Underground is 5 bucks for Plus tomorrow according to the PS Blog. Is the game decent?

It's beautiful and pretty fun, but can get frustating sometimes (looking for hidden things).

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

Knytt Underground is 5 bucks for Plus tomorrow according to the PS Blog. Is the game decent?

EDIT: Sorry, I looked again and it's actually $8.99 (40% off).



For the longest time I couldn't figure out what LTTP & ITT meant. Google did not help.

I don't wish this upon many people but whoever runs the blog and posts the plus updates should be fired. This is twice now in a little over a month they have posted an incorrect sale price. They literally don't know how much the games are originally. They had knytt listed as originally $9.99, which is false so of course they also screwed up the sale price as well. Incompetence at the highest level. Now they are probably going post a blog saying GAF is mean for criticizing them lol.

 

[Ran rp]

I don't wish this upon many people but whoever runs the blog and posts the plus updates should be fired. This is twice now in a little over a month they have posted an incorrect sale price. They literally don't know how much the games are originally. They had knytt listed as originally $9.99, which is false so of course they also screwed up the sale price as well. Incompetence at the highest level. Now they are probably going post a blog saying GAF is mean for criticizing them lol.

They're going to film a documentary.

 

[corrosivefrost]

Shows all of the US PS+ content.

 

[SolsticeZero]

God I miss my Vita so much. This DS Lite is killing my hands. At least it's letting me play 999 before I get to VLR.

BTW, I've still got referral space left for the $20 / $20 Vita PSN thingy. PM me if you're interested.

 

[AwRy108]

Knytt Underground is 5 bucks for Plus tomorrow according to the PS Blog. Is the game decent?

EDIT: Sorry, I looked again and it's actually $8.99 (40% off).

I paid full price for it and am enjoying it, though it's slightly too vague for my tastes. IMHO, the launch price should've been $10 or less, seeing as how low the production values are (tho there is beauty in minimalism).

 

[eighty(one)]

Mercenary also uses assets from the other KZ games,we can't pin point the time when the development started unfortunately.

Cambridge merged with Guerilla - who are now part of the same "team". Cambridge has Guerillas assistance, but remember, Cambridge is the premier tech team within SCE. They were the team sent to developers to get them up to speed with how to push/use the PS3. If anyone can up the ante on Vita, it's the combined effort of Guerilla/Camridge.

 

[jello44]

Actually all I would have to do is create a save on my second playthrough once I have all the books, then read them all, get the trophy and reload back before my binge reading. Genius, I know.

Edit:


Wow, what a jerk thing to do. Luckily I did basketball the first time, so getting this will be easier on the second playthrough.

Yeah, I chose basketball again on my second playthrough, because I never did his to the end before. It sucks it has all these damn limitations to get those books, so that's why I have to do a third and pick soccer this time.

 

[AwRy108]

I'm having fun with Dokuro. I'm currently at chapter 7. I've skipped 6 stages so far, mainly the boss battles (not fond of boss battles). I was wondering: if you skip a stage and go back and solve the skipped stage, do you regain one skip option? Or are they forever gone?

Anyway, it's a fun game and recommended if you like puzzle games. It's charming, it's varied, it controls nicely, has nice music + sound and some great puzzles. It even has some platforming going on at times. The passion from the game makers really shines through in this one. At lot of care and attention has went into this. I just wish it wasn't so grey...

I grabbed Dokuro when it was 50% off, and am incredibly pleased with it: great platforming and challenging--but not impossible--brain teasers that really force you to think "outside of the box", similar to how the Portal series does. IMHO, it's a gem that every Vita owner should own, even at $20 b/c there's a TON of game to be enjoyed.

 

[Totobeni]

Cambridge merged with Guerilla - who are now part of the same "team". Cambridge has Guerillas assistance, but remember, Cambridge is the premier tech team within SCE.They were the team sent to developers to get them up to speed with how to push/use the PS3 . If anyone can up the ante on Vita, it's the combined effort of Guerilla/Camridge.

That will be ICE team.

hopefully Camridge guys can teach GG guys how to make their games gameplay and story less awful.

 

[Derrick01]

So the Vita dropped on the third Wednesday of February...the PlayStation event is the third Wednesday of February. Could this be a coincidence?

I actually expect there to be some Vita stuff at the beginning of the conference before they dive into PS4. Price drop announcement and maybe some more info on already announced games, maybe 1 "surprise" announcement too like Uncharted GA2.

 

[btkadams]

That will be ICE team.

hopefully Camridge guys can teach GG guys how to make their games gameplay and story less awful.

killzone 2 had my favourite shooting mechanics this gen, sooo.... the writing was really bad though, so i agree on that part. i really think killzone could have been a massive franchise if they had much better writing.

 

[VanWinkle]

You saw the official screens of burning skies?

That's not fair though. Those Burning Skies shots were way higher resolution than the Vita's resolution and the image quality was prestine. In the Killzone Mercenary shots, not only were they in the correct resolution but they show clear aliasing. I have no doubt that they are real shots.

 

[BlackLagoon]

Knytt Underground is 5 bucks for Plus tomorrow according to the PS Blog. Is the game decent?

I found it a wonderfully atmospheric metroidvania style game. It's also friggin' huge, with 1800+ rooms to explore. The dialog is very well written, but it's all pretty incidental to the main gameplay. Great value for money IMO.

 

[Live Free or Die]

New KZM interview and single player details:

For a series that’s always been at the bleeding edge of modern FPS design – both in terms of technical performance and muscular gameplay – it’s fair to say that expectations are sky high for Killzone: Mercenary – the first PS Vita entry in Guerrilla’s acclaimed franchise.

Until last week’s reveal, all the studio has shown off was a brief teaser clip at Gamescom last September. But earlier this month, in a very snowy Amsterdam, it finally took the wraps off the game, showing off big chunks of both the single and multiplayer modes.
And you can breathe easy – it looks absolutely stunning, packing all the visceral grit and gristle of its home console brethren into PS Vita with real style. Don’t believe us? Remind yourself of the new trailer below.

We sat down with Piers Jackson, who’s leading development at Guerrilla Cambridge (the same team responsible for the exemplary LittleBigPlanet PSP), to find out more about the game, with particular attention paid to its generous single player campaign. Read on below, and come back next week for a closer look at multiplayer. And if you’ve got any questions relating to how the game plays, feel free to ask away in the comments.

PlayStation.Blog: Where does Mercenary fit in the full Killzone narrative?

Piers Jackson, Guerrilla Cambridge: Mercenary starts shortly after the beginning of Killzone 1. We commence the game with the battle for Vekta in full flow – you actually start out in a destroyed Vektan city and the opening few levels are all about liberating the planet. We then transition into the Killzone 2 universe and the invasion into Pyrrhus. The story itself wraps up at some point in the Killzone 2 universe.

PSB: The game looks phenomenal on PS Vita. Was it a challenge shrinking the full console experience onto a handheld device?

PJ: In some regards we’ve tried not to shrink it at all – we’ve tried to get a full Killzone experience running on PS Vita. The system is incredibly powerful – we’ve got graphics that are comparable to Killzone 3 running on a handheld.

PSB: How easy was it getting the Killzone game engine up and running on the system?

PJ: It’s optimised in a lot of locations but the core AI system is based precisely on Killzone 3. We’ve had to replace a few of the audio and rendering systems but the back-end leading into them is pure Killzone engine architecture. We’ve also got certain things in the renderer that are unique to our system – we’ve added reflection mapping on the floor and particle systems can actually be lit as well.

There may be a few areas we’ve had to tone back a bit, but we’re pretty convinced that we’ve come up with something that touches most of the technical features from the main Killzone engine.

PSB: You’ve managed to retain that crunchy, weighty feel to the controls that really helped define the game on PlayStation 2 and 3…

PJ: So much of it is in the acceleration curves on the controllers and, obviously, as we were using the Killzone control input system, a lot of that came over for free. We needed to rebalance it slightly for the PS Vita stick inputs – which are slightly different than the DualShock – but that is the feeling you expect from Killzone; that weightiness. If you don’t have that, you’re not making a Killzone game. It was imperative that we kept it.

PSB: How do you change your thinking when you’re designing an FPS for a portable system rather than a home console?

PJ: There are elements in terms of visibility that you have to pay attention to – how far away you’re positioning enemies, and what you’re positioning them against. When you’re playing on a large TV screen you can get away with more. Having said that, we have a really high-resolution screen on the Vita so the characters stand out very well, even at a distance.

PSB: Multiplayer is obviously important but I know Killzone fans are really hoping for a meaty solo campaign too. How much content can they expect?

PJ: We have nine single player missions. On average, on a first-time play-through, they’ll take between 40 minutes and an hour each to complete. So, it’s a lengthy game. It’s got a full narrative too – every mission brief is set up as a full story. There are twists and turns. It’s a very detailed single player experience; it’s not cut back in any way.

PSB: How are you encouraging repeat play-throughs?

PJ: When you first get to a level, there’s a standard play-through mode. Once you’ve completed that you’ll unlock three challenge modes – Covert, Precision and Demolition. Each challenge mode will dictate that you need to play the level in a different way. You may have gone in guns blazing first time, but if you take the Covert challenge you’ll need to be much more stealthy – you can fail it if you get detected.

Precision is usually about accuracy and how you’re taking out the enemy – headshots, melee kills, interrogations. There can also be a timed element to it. We also have gun challenges in there as well, so you may have to play the mission using a certain weapon.
Demolition is largely about exploding things, as you might expect! You’ll have additional requirements in the mission that you’ll need to destroy.

PSB: Big action set pieces are a key component of any great shooter. Is it harder to pull those off on a handheld device?

PJ: We’ve got some pretty hefty set pieces in there. We have a halo drop, as you might have seen – that’s a pretty epic way to open a mission! We really don’t skimp on set pieces. We blow up giant cruisers, we have flight sections – there are all sorts of big moments.

PSB: What new gameplay mechanics can fans of the series expect?

PJ: The shop is the biggest one for us really – the fact that you can go into a level kitted out however you want. You can then purchase new weapons as you go, to tailor the experience as you see fit.

Stealth is another big one – we have light stealth in the game. If you’re being quiet and using silenced weapons the AI will not pick up on you. If you kill a trooper and the body is left lying around and another enemy finds it, they’ll come and hunt you down. We’ve extended the AI to cater for additional play-styles.

Those are the big ones, but obviously the melee system now uses the touch interface. And outside of the core mechanics, I think the fact that we’re showing the Killzone universe from a different angle will appeal to core fans as they get to see the universe in a different light.

PSB: You’re the first studio outside of Guerrilla HQ to develop a Killzone title. That’s a lot of pressure!

PJ: It’s worth pointing out that a good number of our art team have been working on previous Killzone titles so it’s not like the franchise is entirely new to us. When we embarked on Mercenary obviously we worked very closely with the guys in Amsterdam to maintain the continuity, and we’ve had a very tight relationship throughout the process.

But it’s been great. It’s been a rush! It’s a big project, and a very exciting one – it feels great to finally be showing this to people outside the studio.

Source: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013...d-the-scenes-interview-single-player-details/