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Yesterday, I spent some time with a Vita on display at EB Games. It is the first time I have seriously tested it out. It was a very bad experience. I'm curious if this is truly representative of the Vita. If I were considering buying one, my time with the demo unit would change my mind.

I loaded up Modracers Nation… and boy do I mean loaded. It took what seemed like ages to load. Games on my PSone load faster. The little spinning icon in the top left just kept going. I am used to portable games loading instantly on my iPhone, GBA, or DS.

Somewhere in there, I was treated to at least four different splash screens. Un-skippable splash screens. Okay, maybe this is acceptable in the retail game, but on a demo version? Do they not understand that you are standing in the middle of a store, possibly about to make an impulsive decision to buy their game? Why would you have the player standing around doing nothing for 20 seconds?

When the game finally loaded, it was hard on the eyes. The framerate was far too low. It reminded me of the days when I would have to shrink the screen in Doom to get it to run smoothly on my 486. The framerate was probably between 15-20fps. How is this considered acceptable? Again, this is a demo of the game, something used to form an opinion of the game. It just plain ran like shit.

I tried another game or two on there with similar results. Unacceptably long load times and multiple, un-skippable splash screens. Is this really the Vita? $250 for this? It's a bad joke.

lisalover1 wrote:

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Looks like Ragnarok Odyssey will be the only Vita game I purchase this year.

2013 looks a little more promising.

Not even P4G? Likely the best game on the Vita this year?

I played 3 & 4 on PS2. Not my thing.

@Zing The Vita hardware seems solid, but nearly every game I've tried is weak. (In my opinion) things should pick up next year with Dragon's Crown and (hopefully) Ys IV.

ZIng I'd say that MNR is by far on of the weakest games I've played on the Vita.

This year I have played through:

BlazeBlu: CSE - best handheld fighter of all time
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Uncharted: GA
Resistance: Burning Skies
Super Stardust Delta
Sound Shapes (a top 5 game of 2012 for me, so far)
Mortal Kombat

I have also played a lot of:

Pinball Arcade (many, many, many hours)
Lumines: Electronic Symphony
Zen Pinball
Wipeout 2048
Motorstorm RC

and a little of:
MLB 12
ModNation Racers
Retro City Rampage (@ E3)
Sumioni

I have heard good things about Gravity Rush, Tales from Space Mutant Blobs Attack, Escape Plan, and Little Big Planet.

I will grant you that there aren't a lot of "exclusive experiences" there - most of these games have PS3 counterparts of some sort. That's actually a big part of why i LIKE the Vita, but may be a turn off for others. But the hardware? It is generally excellent and well optimized.

So yeah, my experience in the 7-8 months the system has been out is quite positive. I can usually find a few games each month to sink my teeth into, and that's a big part of what I want from a handheld.

Really? Project DIVA f is likely to be tops for me. Too bad it's not likely to ever get a US release for those that don't import.

I haven't touched my Vita in about 2 months. I actually forgot I had one

Metal Militia wrote:I haven't touched my Vita in about 2 months. I actually forgot I had one

Personally I've already played this handheld more than any other I've ever owned (which is most of the major ones).

Decided to keep Madden 13 because they didn't include a box in the Vita madden bundle.. Whatever, still paid around $30 less than what I would have paid for a regular Wifi Vita non bundled.. I actually half ass play it too for the trophies.. Yes I do edit the sliders like crazy in my favor to make it easier to get.. And yes, I'm garbage at sports games.. :O Btw this is not a good port.. The menu loading times are awful and choppy.. Used my $30 amazon credit to purchase Wipeout 2048 and still have some leftover for whatever I want to purchase next.. Not a bad deal at all.. The portable is impressive, but it needs games.. Hopefully it gets support like the PSP did in the Niche JRPG category.. You can even download Corpse Party from the PSN store.

I play mine quite a lot, daily almost in fact. Right now I am mostly playing New Little King's Story, Retro City Rampage, and a few others on and off.

Great handheld, easily my favorite ever owned.

Can't frickin wait for PSO2 on the vita for that matter either

PSO2 better have a single-player offline mode or I'm out.