VIDEO GAMES: Vita gettin some love.

As you may have read about a week ago, I've played the Vita for a short time in Gamestop and I believe it will go down in history as the system with the most potential, and weakest life cycle ever. The price is too high, the awareness too low and the timing couldn't be worse. In a world where almost everybody but the most hard core gamers rely on their smart phones for mobile gaming, there's barely room for the 3DS to exist in the mobile market, let alone the Vita. However, a key to the Vita's success will be third party support...a lot of it. Today Guy Longworth, the Senior Vice President of Playstation brand marketing, confirmed that the next iteration of the Call of Duty series will be coming to Vita. We still don't know what the CoD game will be (although I bet you 1 billion dollars it's Black Ops 2) but its nice to have confirmation that it will exist on the Vita. After spending time with the system, I have a feeling this could be a potential blockbuster for the handheld as the graphics are gorgeous and the dual analogs allow for a first-person shooter to work extremely well. No word yet on how it may interact cross-platform with the PS3 but I'm sure users would love to be able to create one profile that works on both systems. As fun as it would be to level up to 80 on two separate systems...

VIDEO GAMES: It's about time!

Well if you've been reading my articles over the past couple weeks, you've heard me talk about the lack of a marketing campaign by Sony for the upcoming Vita. Well it looks like they've read my blog and decided to put down $50 million on a marketing campaign to raise awareness for the system. The campaign, "Never Stop Playing," will be focused on men in their 20's who game for more than 8 hours a week. This is definitely the right target for Sony, but it's also hard to say that guys who game that much aren't aware of the Vita or whether or not they'll actually buy one. I still think it's too little too late for Sony to try and save a successful launch. I know at my local Gamestop only 3 Vitas are currently pre-ordered. Also, the system comes out in 9 days which I don't think is enough time. The system is expensive, you want people to know about it early so they can set aside $300 for a handheld gaming system. I really do hope the Vita does well, it's an incredible piece of equipment, but I think Sony has made all the wrong decisions leading to its release.

Head over to Gameinformer for the full article HERE!

VIDEO GAMES: Prepare for the Vita

Well the Playstation Vita hits shelves in 11 short days on February 22nd. At this point I don't know if we'll even see the massive marketing push from Sony that the system deserves. However, today Sony released a 12 minute video dedicated to highlighting the features of the Vita that people can look forward to. It's a great look at the system and it does a good job of letting people know why it will be worth their money. As I stated earlier this week, I got a chance to play the Vita at Gamestop and it really is incredible. Are any of you buying the Vita on day one?

VIDEO GAMES: The Vita is amazing and I love Gamestop.

As you may have heard yesterday, over 3,000 Gamestops around the nation now have the Playstation Vita available to demo. Apparently some of the locations will only let those who have pre-ordered the system get their hands on it, but my local Gamestop wasn't so stingy. The Vita was set up on a nice little display about halfway back in the store. Just another example of the massive underselling that has already plagued this clearly incredible system. Unless you read silly blogs like mine or visit gaming sites like IGN on a daily basis, you're probably not aware that an incredible, brand new handheld system hits the market in two weeks. Sony, for some insane reason, has remained nearly mute about their newest product and it's a shame that the Vita likely won't get the attention it deserves. You can now enter to win a Vita by buying a "$5 buck box" at Taco Bell but most Taco Bells no longer give you the actual box with the order where the code for the promotion can be found. After spending about an hour with the system today I can tell you, this deserves your attention and your money.

In my limited time with the Vita I managed to check out Little Deviants, Fifa 12, Uncharted: Golden Abyss and a game that used escaping a factory to showcase some of the Vita's new features (I think it was called Escape Plan). Little Deviants made nice use of the back touch screen which I guess I hadn't fully comprehended until now. Yes, you can touch the back of the Vita to make things happen in the game. It's weirdly satisfying and works much better than you'd expect. Fifa 12 looks gorgeous and plays very similar to Fifa on the PS3 and 360 which unfortunately meant confirming that I suck hardcore at soccer games. Uncharted is where the system shines though. The playable level has Drake waking up at the bottom of a burning building where he must scale the crumbling interior to find a way out. As a 360 owner I have always suffered from massive Uncharted envy and the fact that I'm too poor to buy a Vita for some time ensures that that envy will continue.

While it may not look like the PS3 on a small screen, the Vita boasts some impressive visuals. The 5" OLED screen has responsive touch capabilities and readily sucks you in with its brilliant graphics. In my opinion, Sony has found the perfect size where the handheld is still small enough to fit in your pocket but the game play is clearly superior to the miniscule iPhone and Android screens. The analog sticks work well and feel more responsive and sturdy than the 3DS circle pad and all of the buttons feel natural. My time with the system actually got me to feel a radical urge to trade my 3DS for a Vita (I f**kin love my 3DS).

Not only did my trip make me excited for the Vita, but it reminded me why I hope that used games don't become a thing of the past. I love Gamestop. Say what you will about used games and the way the industry works, the fact that I can walk into a Gamestop at any time, check out a new system, put down a pre-order for an upcoming game and chat for over an hour with an employee about gaming in general is something I am extremely thankful for. I've yet to find a Gamestop where the workers aren't passionate about what they're selling; and although we may not always agree on certain games or systems, they always seem ready to talk about this common interest that we all share.

So what did I learn today? The Vita may go down in history as the worst represented, best developed system of all time and I hope Gamestop is in it for the long haul.

VIDEO GAMES: More Vita news from CES!

Well there's more good news for Vita purchasers today and that is that the system will come equipped with fully functional Netflix on day one. Now personally I don't think this is good news as much as it's a no brainer. I mean the 3DS came with Netflix and it's hard to find a device in the world these days that doesn't have the feature so I can't say I'm surprised. The bigger news would have been if they announced that it wouldn't have Netflix. Anyways, just one more reason to think about purchasing a Vita if you're on the fence. Although by the time you purchase the system, memory card, games and perhaps a data plan you're likely to be over $500 in the hole...yikes.

VIDEO GAMES: Vita 3G data plans revealed.

Some people are on the fence about whether or not to get a 3G capable Vita or just a wireless internet one. Today at CES, AT&T has revealed how much the 3G plans will set customers back and it's not actually too bad. The plans are on a month to month basis and for 250MB of data it is $14.99 while 2GB of data is $25. Having a 3G plan lets Vita users have access to "29,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots" as well as features such as Near, LiveArea, Facebook, Twitter and such. Also, those who activate a 3G plan will be able to download a free game from the Playstation Network although the list of games to choose from was not revealed. So which Vita will you be picking up?

Full story over on IGN HERE!

VIDEO GAMES: Vita sales fail to stay strong.

Well the week one sales of the Vita were pretty good. I don't think they were as strong as Sony had hoped for, but they also weren't a terrifying call to concern like the early sales for the 3DS were. Unfortunately those numbers from the initial push were not only unable to stay steady, they absolutely plummeted. In its first two days in stores, the Vita sold a respectable number of over 321,000 units; not as strong as the PSP but still good. However, in its second week the system has only sold 72,479 according to Gameinformer. That's not good at all, especially considering that the system is less than a month old. I'm sure most of the hardcore fans in Japan were the ones who already purchased the device and it's likely that sales will stay stronger for a longer period of time in Europe and here in the US, but it definitely looks like the Vita won't overachieve.

VIDEO GAMES: Most Impressive

The official US list of games that will be available at the launch of the Playstation Vita has been announced and it's pretty impressive! While the 3DS struggled out the gate with a lackluster launch lineup at best, it seems that Sony is taking every step to make sure the Vita faces no such obstacle. Also, the official prices for the Vita memory cards have been released and while they're not exactly a bargain, they certainly are a bit more appealing.

The new memory card prices are as follows:
4GB is $19.99
8GB is $29.99
16GB is $59.99
32GB is $99.99

And here is the official launch lineup!
 - Little Deviants
 - Escape Plan
 - Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
 - Hustle Kings
 - ModNation Racers: Road Trip
 - Super Stardust Delta
 - Uncharted: Golden Abyss
 - WipEout 2048
 - Army Corps of Hell
 - Asphalt Injection
 - Ben 10: Galactic Racing
 - Blaz Blue: Continuum Shift II Extend
 - Dungeon Hunter Alliance
 - Dynasty Warriors Next
 - F1 2011
 - FIFA Soccer
 - Lumines Electric Symphony
 - Michael Jackson: The Experience
 - Plants vs. Zombies
 - Rayman Origins
 - Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen
 - Tables From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack
 - Touch My Katamari
 - Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
 - Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition

Now while not all of these titles are exactly groundbreaking or worthy of a purchase, it's still a great selection for a launch date. Prices are said to range from $19.99-$49.99 but I would expect only the massive titles like Uncharted will reach the top of that spectrum. All things considered, on launch day if you want a Wi-fi system, memory card and a couple decent games it looks like you'll be walking out of Best Buy with roughly a $400 bill. Will you be forking over the cash come February 22nd?

VIDEO GAMES: Vita release is strong but stumbling.

Well the initial sales of the Playstation Vita in Japan seem to be decent. Some locations are completely selling out of the Wi-fi version but most are left with just under half of their initial stock of the 3G devices. A number that's been floating around is that around 320,000 units were sold which is about double what the Vita sold on its initial launch. I still don't think these numbers are quite what Sony was hoping for and it will be interesting to see how the numbers compare here in the states. Also, there have started to be a number of reports about problems with the systems including things like the touch screens not responding (shown in the video below), difficulty linking a PSN account with the system and a few other glitches. While it's clear this is not the case with all systems, it does seem to be somewhat of a common occurence as Sony has released an official statement asking people to be patient. They also put out a list of steps to follow for the most common problems that people have been experiencing. Hopefully they fix everything soon and it would be nice to see the Vita find success. I won't be purchasing one in the near future as I'm more than satisfied with my 3DS, but the Vita offers some nice options for the more hardcore gamers in the handheld market. Will you be getting a Vita when it comes to the states next year?

For the full article head over to IGN HERE!

VIDEO GAMES: The Vita has a release date!

And it is February 22, 2012 in North America. A lot of people were hoping that the Vita would come out before the end of this year but it's good that we don't have to wait very long. Personally I won't be getting a Vita since I just purchased a 3DS which I'm loving and has some good games coming out soon, but for those of you who are a bit more hardcore with your mobile gaming the Vita is shaping up to be one promising system.

VIDEO GAMES: Today is boring.

Bleh, I guess everyone is using today to recuperate from the awesome news from yesterday that Arrested Development is indeed hitting theaters but also returning to television beforehand. This means that there hasn't really been any interesting news today. Some people are speculating as to what Apple will reveal at their iPhone event tomorrow, but why speculate? I'm just going to write about it tomorrow when they hopefully reveal an insanely awesome iPhone 5. But I also feel like posting today so I picked the only thing that was even a little bit interesting...and it's not even really interesting. IGN has posted an image of the box for the Playstation Vita. Yup, the box...that's my story...here's the box.

VIDEO GAMES: How long does the Vita battery last?

3-5 hours. Yup, that's all the news here. 4 hours if watching video and 9 hours if listening to music. Honestly I don't really think this is a problem. The 3DS battery lasts about the same amount of time and I've found that to be fine. I mean really how often do you find yourself playing the thing for over 3 straight hours without coming into contact with an outlet, car charger, or something to juice up the battery. And if you are playing it for more than 3 hours in a sitting...jeeze rest your eyes. People will be mad though so yea.

TGS: Top news from the Sony Conference!

Well the Tokyo Game Show is underway and tonight was the Sony conference. Ryan Clements, one of the awesome people from IGN gave live updates from the show. The conference itself was pretty slow with a lot of time being eaten up with nothing but banter between executives and reveals of stuff we already knew. Although nothing too earth shattering was revealed we still learned a few new things about the Vita. If you didn't know I recently bought a 3DS and love it so I probably won't be fronting the cash for a Vita anytime soon, but they sure do sound sweet!

Here's what I thought was the top news from the conference!
 - Vita launch date in the Japanese market is December 17th! Much much much sooner than I expected.
 - The carrier partner for the 3G mobile network on the Vita will be NTT Docomo in Japan, AT&T in the US.
 - Data can be extracted from PS3s and PCs and put on the Vita.
 - Obviously existing PS accounts can be used on the Vita and things like trophies can be viewed across platforms.
 - Multitasking is a big facet of the Vita, i.e. posting to Facebook or Twitter while playing a game.
 - Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will be a launch title for the Vita. Basically the PS3 experience on the Vita with global fighting over the PS network.
 - Lord of Apocalypse an action RPG announced as a launch title for Vita from Square Enix.
 - Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be released on PS3 in Japan this December.
 - Final Fantasy X in HD will be released on both PS3 and Vita!
 - Bundle of Medal Gear Solid HD edition, MGS 2 and MGS 3 coming to Vita in 2012.
 - Zone of Enders HD coming to PS3 and Vita in 2012 in Japan.
 - Within the Vita's "launch window" however long that may be, over 100 titles will be available.
 - Most downloaded games on the PSP will be playable on the Vita so you won't lose those titles.
 - Pre-ordering begins on Saturday, October 15th for the Vita.

GAMESCOM: New features for the Playstation Vita

The iPhones have shown that we're rapidly moving towards having one mobile device in your pocket that supports your phone, internet, social media and gaming needs. Well the newest handheld gaming systems are certainly trying to do the same i.e. Netflix on the 3DS etc. Sony announced today that the Playstation Vita will be even more geared towards the social media by supporting Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter and Skype. For those who enjoy a more serious handheld gaming system, the Vita will definitely be for you. As for me, I'm still enjoying my 3DS immensely.

AFTERMATH: One day after the 3DS price drop see who's suffering.

Yesterday Nintendo made the drastic move of announcing a price drop of their newest handheld, the 3DS. Today it seems that they are already feeling the immediate effects of that decision. Gameinformer is reporting that ex-president Hiroshi Yamauchi lost over $300 million due to the drop in his stock value! Reports are that Nintendo's stock dropped a massive 12% and Yamauchi owned 10% of the company.

And Yamauchi isn't the only one feeling the heat within the company. Current Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced today that he would be taking a 50% pay cut in the wake of this decision.

Nintendo has also announced that they will now be losing money on every 3DS sold after the price cut. This shows just how desperate they really are to get the 3DS into consumers' hands before the Playstation Vita is released. AND to top it all off, earlier today rumor started to spread that the Vita would be coming out sometime around late October, putting them in the mix for the holiday season. If that's the case, Nintendo may have dug themselves too big of a hole to get out of in regards to the 3DS.