Viva la Vita!

My new Vita arrived yesterday and I'm really digging it.

I was going to wait a few weeks to get one but the "First Edition" bundles from amazon was pretty good.  $350 for the  3G/WiFi Vita, a case, Little Deviants, a 4 Gig memory card, a 250 Meg AT&T data pass when you buy one, and another free game -- Super Stardust Delta and it's DLC.

The game that came with it, Little Deviants has been pretty accurately described as a tech demo -- and that's not really a bad thing.  It's packed with mini-games where you're given a goal and are awarded bronze, silver, or gold based on your score.  I suck a couple that I've tried.  One that I really enjoy is a nice twist on "Whack-a-Mole".  You're presented with five (I think) doors that open and you have to knock the aliens out as they appear, which you do by tapping them on the back.  If the alien is facing towards you, you need to tap the correct spot on the rear touchpad.  If he's facing away from you, you need to tap him using the front touchscreen.  You can't touch anyone else appearing in a door, just the bad aliens.  Kinda hard to explain but a hell of a lot of goofy fun.

I tried the new Uncharted Demo and that looks absolutely gorgeous for a handheld game.  It's definitely not Uncharted 3, but for a portable it's amazing.  I love the fact that the developers let you use whichever controls you want and don't force you to use the Vita-specific controls.  There's one section in the demo where you have to keep your partner safe so they give you a sniper rifle.  You can either move the vita around and line up your shots that way or use the dual sticks and snipe the old fashioned way. 

I purchased Wipeout 2048 and that arrived in the mail yesterday, too.  That game looks fantastic and I'm looking forward to trying out the cross-platform play with that.  I tried a couple of races and was failing miserably at one.  After three failed attempts they take pity on you and ask if you want to skip it.  That was nice.  :)

I also grabbed the Lumines and Rayman demos and liked both of them, but Rayman is better.  I think that's going to be the next game I get.  It's a great little platformer that looks fantastic on this sucker's 5" screen.

I haven't activated the 3G service yet so I've just been doing things via WiFi.  The "Near" app is kinda neat.  I can see people close to me and what they're playing.  When I powered it up, I was the only one in the area playing on a Vita.  A couple of hours later there were seven people within a 10 mile radius trying out their new Vitas.  This will be interesting to see when I connect somewhere in a populated area and not just the suburbs.

The Netflix, Twitter, Skype, Facebook, and Foursquare apps don't seem to be in the store yet, nor do the "AR" games that use the cards included with the system.  I guess those might hit the PSN Vita store when it officially launches on the 22nd.

So far I'm pretty impressed with this thing.  The integration with PSN is fantastic but I've yet to try out the party chat with the other people I know who have a Vita.  I can't imagine using it much anyway.  If I'm playing a single player game, I don't want to talk to anyone and if I'm playing a multiplayer game, I'm using the game's voice chat.  Which brings me to microphones and headsets...

I paird my Bluetooth headset to the Vita last night easily.  Once paired I started to get the game audio in the BT headset rather than the speakers.  I've yet tro try the BT mic though.  If I'm using this for travel I'm not sure I want to use a BT connection as that would be one more thing draining the battery.  I think the Vita earbud/mic combo is only $20 so I might end up picking that up soon.

It's hard trying to get some real work done with this thing staring at me from the desk...