PS Vita- Can someone tell me about it?

[DeadManReedeemed]

Okay. I've been thinking about getting a PS Vita, but I've also thought about a 3DS. The Vita obviously has more features than the 3DS. So can someone tell me about it?

[Nate DaZombie]

Well, I don't know that much about it, but from what I've seen, I would advise against buying one yet. Wait for a price drop, and then buy it with Uncharted or something.

It's not the best thing for the creator/developer, but waiting until the middle of the console cycle normally pays off. Cheaper games (buying used), cheaper hardware, and a better idea of where the system is heading.

[DeadManReedeemed]

Thanks. Anybody else know something about the Vita?

[ccgr]

I bought it hoping it would get hacked like my PSP, still waiting. I'd wait for a price drop, 3DS is a good buy though.

[DeadManReedeemed]

If hacking is illegal, then why would you do that?

[ccgr]

I can legally play all of my PS1 games on my PSP. How awesome is that? Did Sony intend for that to be possible, no. Is it illegal? Not as long as we own every game (which we do).

[DeadManReedeemed]

I bought it hoping it would get hacked like my PSP, still waiting. I'd wait for a price drop, 3DS is a good buy though.

I'm only going based on what you said. Or we're you just saying stuff?

[Deepfreeze32]

If hacking is illegal, then why would you do that?

It's hardly illegal to actually make use of the hardware you paid for...

I hacked my PSP plenty of times. Wrote some custom code for it (Which has apparently been lost in a recent file migration :/), ripped my UMD's to my memory stick for fasting loading times, etc.

The act of hacking is not illegal. The things you can do with a hacked system are more open-ended. For instance, downloading an ISO and placing it on your memory stick is pretty much illegal. Ripping an ISO of a game you own and placing it on your memory stick isn't.

Sony wants you to think that hacking is illegal because they assume everyone will do illegal things.

/soap box

That said, my brother has one. He really likes it, though he'd recommend waiting until Sony rolls out PS1 compatibility for the system. Unless you'd only want games written for the Vita, in which case I'd recommend going for it.

[JOJ650s]

Before I buy a game system I usually check to see what games it will have first,
and how many of them I would actually want. (Also I check for what games are coming.)

Like before I got the 3DS I knew that it was going to have,
Paper Mario, some Zelda games, Kingdom Hearts, Megaman Legends 3. (which was canceled out of the blue by Capcom right before the prototype release. )
Also I knew eventually there is going to be a few Kirby, Pokemon, and Final Fantasy games sooner or later.
So I knew I would not regret buying the system.

So I say before you buy a Vita,
it's a good idea to ask yourself what, and how many games is it going to have that you want.
If there is not a lot of games that you would like, then it would be best to wait a little bit.

[DeadManReedeemed]

Thanks for the info for Vita. But even so how is hacking a PSP legal. I still don't understand. Why would you jack up all the hard work they did? Not judging. But really, help me understand.

[Nate DaZombie]

Okay, when you buy a PSP, that is yours. (not the design, but the hardware) You can do absolutely anything you want with it, including hacking it. However, you void your warranty and if you illegally download games, movies, or music, you're now a pirate, and that's not okay. Hacking a system has certain benefits of course, which I'm sure Deep or ccgr would be willing to explain.

[DeadManReedeemed]

Okay, when you buy a PSP, that is yours. (not the design, but the hardware) You can do absolutely anything you want with it, including hacking it. However, you void your warranty and if you illegally download games, movies, or music, you're now a pirate, and that's not okay. Hacking a system has certain benefits of course, which I'm sure Deep or ccgr would be willing to explain.

Which are?

[Deepfreeze32]

Say you're me: An enterprising programmer. Now that I can load programs on the system (And don't have to pay ridiculous licensing fees since I'm not talking about games), I can list myself as being familiar with the hardware and system architecture. That's a potential resume booster.

I did a similar thing with the original Xbox. Hacked it to run a modified version of Ubuntu. I use it on my resume because I now can say I know more about embedded systems than most other people my age.


Now I direct you to my soap box rant:

I hacked my PSP plenty of times. Wrote some custom code for it (Which has apparently been lost in a recent file migration :/), ripped my UMD's to my memory stick for fasting loading times, etc.

Do you understand that? Flash memory loads waaayyyy faster than the UMD. So by ripping a game from a UMD, I now have a game that loads faster.


Now for ccgr's point: Emulation. Emulation can be a tricky issue in some places. For example, PS1 emulation on a computer can be sticky because to properly emulate the system, you must have a copy of the BIOS (Basic Input Output System). This cannot legally be obtained without ripping it from your console. No ifs ands or buts for this scenario.

HOWEVER. The PSP has the emulation software built into the system. The CFW (Custom Firmware) allows the user to run the emulation software on any PS1 game that they place on the memory stick. The reason why Sony doesn't officially support this is because (And I'm sure ccgr can attest to this as well) the emulation is far from perfect for a lot of titles. Plenty of problems far and wide. Some are minor (Like graphics glitches or audio crackling), but some are huge (like refusing to boot).

That said, I'm not getting a Vita until CFW is available for it. Or until Sony decides to completely unlock remote play. Why?

Exhibit A:

[DeadManReedeemed]

Didn't Nintendo have a problem with emulating? ......Okay, never mind. Can someone teach me how to do this stuff?

I have:

PS3 and PS2

PSP (needs to be fixed)

[Chozon1]

Deadman, for the record, if you ask a lot of people within the industry, they'll give you polar arguments to what you're hearing from Deep and CCGR on the issue of emulation. Even the copies you make of your own games. It's an age old battle since the Atari, I think.