The PS Vita hits the office, gets unboxed, and stuns us with crappy game pricing

By David Hollingworth, David West
15:56 Feb 23, 2012
Tags: sony | ps | vita | handheld | gaming | news
The PS Vita hits the office, gets unboxed, and stuns us with crappy game pricing
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Hardware Gallery: Yup, we just got ourselves a PS Vita to play with. And, yup, we're amazed at how crappy Sony's effort at an app market is.

We were lucky enough to attend the exclusive Sony launch event for the PS Vita on Tuesday night - I even had the hangover yesterday to prove it (though, cunningly, I don't think my boss noticed at all). Now, today, I got an SMS from Designer Dave while returning from a Max Payne preview (which I can't talk about - yet!).

"There's a Vita on your desk and you aren't even here to play it :p"

And bless him, it was still there, unopened, when I got in. He's just so keen, I've passed it on to him for the review, though I will be borrowing it to give Wipeout 2048 a thorough playing.

In the meantime, though've, we've unboxed the shiny littel dinghus and put together a gallery, if'n you're at all curious about the Vita. It's certainly a sexy piece of kit, and our vague fumblings with it - the multi-touch back-plate takes some getting used to - at the launch make it seem pretty solid. 

However, it's hard to get excited about the PlayStation Store, Sony's version of the an apps market place. There seems to be a mammoth markup for games that are identical to other platforms; for instance, as a colleague pointed out, you can get Plants vs Zombies (shut up, it's awesome) on the App Store for $7.49; on the PS Store, it's $17.95. Other games are even worse, with variations up to 40 times more expensive.

Image courtesy Michelle Starr.

Do these games somehow come with magical lines of coke to enjoy off the touchscreen?!? Amazement at Sony's whacked out pricing aside, what do you guys think - good bit of kit?

 
 
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Atomic is a magazine aimed squarely at computer enthusiasts, gamers, and serious PC upgraders.

Every month we bring you the latest reviews of new technology and PC components, in depth features on everything from overclocking to console hacking, and gaming previews and interviews.
 
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