I made an unboxing video ( ) , here's my opinion after playing with it for a week.I bought it mostly because I was expecting to be able to play Phantasy Star online 2, the free japan only MMO. Oh deception! Sega announced that the game wasn't gonna be supported by the console
First of all, I have to say that I do own an american PS vita as well, so for me, this was a cheaper way to be able to also play japan exclusive ps vita games. I'm not a huge fan of the touch screen, so I didn't mind not having it. I love the quality of the image on the ps vita, so i thought it would look good on my HD tv....2d games like Guilty gears vita (jap exclusive) or dragon's crown look very good, even upscaled, but 3d games are terrible looking.
Games look HORRIBLE on a 22'' hd monitor. The quality could be compared to ps2, it's very grainy, it doesn't like a new gen console at all. I don't know if it's possible to do a good job at upscaling the image, but the result is terrifying to say the least.
Second problem, since most of the games on the market now were released way before the PS VITA TV, there is no way to tell if it's compatible with your console. You need to check online on a japanese website for the complete list of compatible titles.... Oh God! I already bought 2 games that do not work with it, which is a lot of money, and now I can't play on my normal vita cause it's US region, and it can't be played on the japanese PS v TV, cause there is no touch screen.... I have bought 2 times the same console, and still can't play all vita games? Goddammit, do I hate regionlocks.... don't get me started on my Wii U, or my Xbox 360 (i want to download the DLC/patches for my games goddammit!!!!!)
THe OS is the same, you simply use the controller to navigate through it instead of touching icons. There is few situations where you have to try a bunch of buttons before getting the result you want, since there is no indication on how to close a game (usually u have to slide ur finger from the corner to the middle). After reading the Japanese only manual, i figured that i had to simply keep pressing X for a few seconds. Not a major issue, but it's not the most user friendly interface for sure.
Once in game, when you need to use the touch screen, you can ''simply'' click the L3 button, and move with R3 button. it's not the most conveniant, but it works with Dragon's crown very well when giving orders to your pal.
The console support the PSN store, that's one of the main attraction, because OH god is it good on the Japanese side. there is a good selection of games, and you can even download PC engine's classics. But again, I could do that on my PS3 already, so nothing new here.
The main selling point for people on this website I think is the fact that it is completly region free when it comes to physical games. I tried my US version of Dragon's crown and Mortal Kombat and it worked without any problem. So I guess it's a good way to get access to VIta games from all regions if you don't already own a ps vita, and you already have a ps3 controller (the basic pack is 99$).
All in all, I'm not very satisfied by the console, it feels incomplete like the psp go.
