The Sony news and discussion thread

[Alex79]

My first impressions on this months Vita freebies (given it's the first time I've played any of them).

Binding Of Isaac - Hmm, yeah, it's a funny one. I think I like it. I'm not sure. I haven't found any weapon power-ups yet, but I've only done five runs. Can you complete the game or is it endless? I can't seem to work the controls properly - I was holding something that increased my hearts, and saw a safety pin on the floor so I tried to pick it up and it wouldn't let me. I tried to drop the heart powerup thing, but I couldn't do that either. Am I missing something? I think it's going to be a grower, as was Spelunky.

Hungry Horde - Haha this is an awesome little timewaster. I can see some good score battles coming up if people start playing it. I only had two on my friends list though who'd played it. I like it though.

Escape Plan - Looks very stylish, it's not what I was expecting at all. I've never seen the game running before and always assumed it was some sort of platform game. Seems good though, although I wish you could use direct controls rather than all that swiping, poking and pinching. It's kind of uncomfortable to play.

Steamworld Dig - Is this one randomly generated too? It seems ok, but I can't see me playing it for ages. I've only given it about twenty minutes so far, but it seems like a cross between Spelunky and Terraria. Neither of which I was overly fond of. I think my little boy will love it though.

[adwild1982]

Alex do I have you on psn am sure I do. I have played hungry horde once and really enjoyed it.

[Alex79]

Oh yeah, also - bit the bullet and double dipped on the two Walking Dead seasons for the Vita. It may well have been patched since release (not sure) but the freezing game pauses ruining the experience have been a little exaggerated I think. Sure, the game does pause for a second or two now and then, but it's no game breaker. And for the price of three pints, playing the Walking Dead in bed is a no brainer.

[DomsBeard]

Oh man I had to read this the day after it goes off sale

[RoboticMonk3y]

Remote play on the vita is a blast!
I played destiny sat in bed

[DomsBeard]

Remote play on the vita is a blast!
I played destiny sat in bed

Yeah I've played plenty of destiny in bed, don't try the crucible though

[RoboticMonk3y]

I've not noticed a massive amount of lag, and it doesn't feel laggy playing, but I can't imagine that the crucible is something I'd want to do on the vita.
I'm hoping that it means I can breeze back up to level 20, collecting materials and shooting mans while the Mrs is watching things on the tv.

[Beck]

There was something in the patch notes for the latest vita patch that would allow you to control the quality of the streaming, reducing the quality may make a difference =P

[DomsBeard]

It's more the dexterity of my hands rather than lag as doing the shotgun/melee is quite fiddly but for doing patrols etc it's great.

I did try Battlefield 4 the other day and to be fair it wasn't that bad. Might try recon next time though

[RoboticMonk3y]

Also directly connecting to the ps4, rather than going through the router made it smoother

[Alex79]

Ok I'm loving BoI:R now, it's awesome! Played it for three hours last night and am paying for it at work this morning >_<

[adwild1982]

I want your job. I want to be able to play Vita at work

[Alex79]

I want your job. I want to be able to play Vita at work

Haha you misread me - I'm paying for it this morning. Not playing it this morning! I'm blaming the Vita on my lack of sleep last night.

Although I might not be able to get away with brazenly playing my Vita at work, I am having a sly go on this at the moment :

https://archive.org/details/internetarcade

[Alex79]

I've been considering this for a while, and now I'm going to say it - The Vita is probably my favourite console of all time.

The absolute wealth of brilliant games available now is incredible. I started playing Sly Cooper : Thieves In Time last night after snagging it on PS+ a few months back. I'd always dismissed it as a kids cutsey platformer (not that there is anything wrong with those in the first place) and never bothered actually downloading it, but after getting a bigger memory card and pillaging my purchase history list I stuck in on). It's brilliant! It really is a fully blown console game shrinked down in to the palm of your hands. The graphics are great, the neo-noir setting and story really hooked me. I love it. But then I had a quick few runs on Binding Of Isaac, before settling down for an hour or so of The Walking Dead before sleep. But I couldn't turn it off without a couple of quick runs through Spelunky.

It might have had a slow start, but what with all this PS4 remote play stuff I've still got to look forward to, I hope Sony support this console for a long time to come. Releasing all these indie games for it has also been a stroke of genius. Has anyone played Nidhogg yet? I'm really tempted but don't really have a spare tenner this week, might get it soon though.

I know most the members of this forum will already be fully aware what a machine of brilliance it is, but I think to the casual gamer it just doesn't seem like an essential purchase, but for anyone who has very little time to actually play full console games on the TV for whatever reason, it really is.

I love the Vita.

[ratsoalbion]

It's a lovely machine with a large, vibrant catalogue and you're justified in celebrating it.
Unfortunately Sony seems intent on killing it off in favour of PSTV.

[Ergo Me Smart]

Will the PSTV kill it though? If anything it might end up helping make its library even bigger, as PSTV games will work on the Vita and most likely vice versa.

[ratsoalbion]

I like your optimism, and I hope you're right!

[Alex79]

Hmm I've not really been following this PSTV thing much. I assumed it was the new name for PS-Now (which was their streaming service, right?) They're two different things then? I've been really looking forward to the prospect of PS-Now, which has already been released in America, hasn't it?

[Ergo Me Smart]

PSTV is the US/European name for the Vita TV, which is pretty much a Vita box you can hook up to your TV.

[hazeredmist]

I love the Vita too

I think the biggest thing it has going for it realistically for longevity is the PS4 remote play, I know a lot of people who bought one specifically for that. Personally, my Vita is a Vita first and foremost, I love the games and it feels like a next gen handheld in every possible way. It's just being outsold by the 3DS by a wide margin, and Sony's original intent of providing console gaming on a handheld has been proved to be less popular than they hoped. Making games like Killzone Mercenary costs a fair whack, and they're realising they can achieve the home console in your hand experience with far less overhead via PS4 remote play. It's a shame but it makes business sense. Meanwhile Nintendo continue to sew up the unashamedly handheld gaming arena.

Anyway, as long as Sony keep supporting it with lovely indie games and cross-buy games I'll be happy, the current catalogue of games is rather substantial and I'll continue to collect them for a long time to come. I still have Danganronpa 2 sealed awaiting my attention once Final Fantasy X is over!

I've owned pretty much every handheld since the GameBoy and while there's always a special place for the big grey monochrome slugger, and I also love the 3DS, I'd comfortably put the Vita as my favourite handheld ever.

As for the PSTV, I have zero interest in it and don't really know why it exists. It's a confusing offering.