Always leading the way with home entertainment systems, the Sony PlayStation has come a long way from the mid-’90s with its various incarnations of the PSone, through the PS2, the current PS3 and of course the PSP portable gaming system. The PS Vita is the next step in the evolution of the PSP. With many enhancements from two cameras (front & rear), and a left and right joystick, to the main and rear touch screen, most of the goodies lie inside. The UMD disc system has been replaced by a more compact memory card (unfortunately limiting the favourite PSP games in your collection to that console, unless they’ve received digital releases). On-line connectivity and social networking is enhanced, with access via BlueTooth, Wi-Fi and 3G. Browse on-line, connect with your PlayStation Network friends (and make new ones), send group messages, chat, play network games (which includes live chat during game-play). Music, photos and videos can be copied to and from your PS3, and you can even access maps. With Content Manager you can manage all music, video, gaming and other application content, connecting to your PS3, PC or Mac, and back-up your files. This compact piece of tech is a mobile gamer’s dream, and I’m interested to see what wild range of apps will be developed in the near future. Some of the introductory games include veteran PlayStation anti-gravity racing game WipEout; the fun cartoon-style Little Deviants (which utilizes the rear touch screen, allowing you to warp the landscape on screen as if you’re pushing through from the back); full impact fighting with Reality Fighters (which can be played in Augmented Reality with fights happening in your immediate surroundings); Everybody’s Golf; and the more adult Indiana Jones-style adventure of Uncharted – Golden Abyss.
