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Your PS Vita is about to get slightly less useful
If you regularly use the Maps and YouTube apps on your PlayStation Vita, please raise a hand. If you'd be mightily disappointed if those were to disappear from the portable console, keep your hand up and someone will bring you a tissue. That's because, unfortunately, Sony has announced that both features will be going the way of all things very shortly. Maps is getting erased from history with the March software update, which will, naturally, also kill the geographic elements of the Near social gaming app. YouTube, meanwhile, will stop working on April 20th, although the app itself is being pulled from the PlayStation Store from today. The company does, however, point out that you can still access YouTube via your browser, but let's be honest - it's at that point you probably just pull out your smartphone.
Resistance: Burning Skies has a disease for your Vita
When Resistance: Burning Skies arrives later this year on the PlayStation Vita, it brings with it a virulent infection. Moreover, said infection passes easily via the Vita's Near functionality, as explained in a recent interview featured on the US PlayStation Blog.
PlayStation Vita's Near, LiveArea and other social features outlined
Between its Near, Party, LiveArea and Activity social features, there's a whole lot going on under the hood of the PlayStation Vita. SCEE R&D exec Phil Rogers broke down those capabilities at Develop last week: Near, for instance, will allow Vita owners to look at the favorite games of nearby players, and allow players to drop and pick up "gifts," which could range from special in-game items to high score challenges. Rogers explained that Party will give players cross-game chat capabilities, allowing them to invite friends to groups and launch games directly through the UI, which all party members will be invited to. The LiveArea is a tad more esoteric: it will display information about software as it is launched, and will allow users to "comment on people's activities within the game as well as publish your messages." Sounds like the perfect receptacle for smack talk. Finally, the Activity feed will show the in-game accomplishments of friends (including high scores and Trophy unlocks) in real time. The feed can also be updated by publishers and developers, though Rogers suggested, "it's important not to spam users too much and to use it sensibly." We pray that Rogers' advice is heeded.
NGP's 'Near' app tracks your location, finds other NGP players around you
The NGP has some pretty crazy location-based capabilities, mostly embodied in an app called "Near." Near tracks your location, and makes an ongoing map of where you've been. In case you were wondering .... where you've been. In terms of games, Near connects with PSN, and finds out what's popular among other users where you are right now, as well as what other people nearby are playing. You can even buy games right within that interface! If you stumble into, say, a place where people are playing Hot Shots Golf all the time, you can just buy it right then and be ready for the next impromptu tournament.
NGP 'LiveArea' UI to support Trophies, PSN friends and messaging
LiveArea is NGP's "game-oriented communication platform," according to Sony. In other words, it's the device's (touch-controlled!) user interface -- apparently replacing the XMB -- featuring access to the PlayStation Store, Trophies, PSN friends, messaging, the browser, and other applications. Each game will have some form of LiveArea presence, too, apparently keeping you up to date on news and even its other players (in case you bore of simply playing the game). Additionally, LiveArea will include the "Near" feature that tracks your location over time and creates a map of where you've been. (That's not creepy at all!) Read more about it here.
