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Sony's Kazuo Hirai: liveblog from AsiaD!
We're back! AsiaD's concluding today, but we've got a couple of big hitters left on the schedule. Kicking things off this morning -- yeah, it's morning, we're in the future -- is Sony's Executive Deputy President, Kazuo Hirai, and we're guessing he'll be shooting it straight regarding the PS Vita, those nasty "outages" and whatever else he feels like keeping us abreast on. Join us after the break for the blow-by-blow!
PlayStation Vita is coming February 22nd, start saving now
Well folks, the wait is over. Sony has announced that the PlayStation Vita will be hitting shelves February 22nd at retailers in the US, Canada, Latin America and Europe. In addition to all your favorite gaming titles and a pocket filled with 512MB of RAM, you'll be able to chat it up with your fellow assassins cross-game or via Facebook, Foursquare, Skype and Twitter. If that's not enough, the 5-inch OLED display, dual analog sticks, dual cameras, and front and rear touch panel should be enough get you amped for a Call of Duty campaign on the handheld device. Keep in mind: this bad boy will sport 3G from AT&T for $299 or you can snag the WiFi-only model for $249. If you're looking for more details, hit that source link below.
In case you didn't know, PS Vita will play nice with PSP in ad-hoc mode
Check out this tasty morsel of PS Vita info making the rounds: you'll be able to face your PSP-totin' friends via ad-hoc mode with games you've snagged from the PS Store (so long as the title supports it). We must've been so enamored by those vibrant PS Vitas at TGS that we missed this sweet bite courtesy of Sony PlayStation Japan. Sure, it doesn't kill the sting of its three to five hour battery life, but hey, we'll just consider it another justification for picking up the hot little number once it hits shelves.
PSP and Vita can talk to each other
You'd think that the PS Vita swooping in to replace the PSP would make for some awkward Christmases at the PlayStation household. But according to Siliconera, the ex and the new wife can talk to each other just fine. We knew that the Vita would be able download PSP games from the PlayStation Store, but what we're just now learning is that the new device will be able to play AdHoc multiplayer with the PSP in games that support the feature. Nice to know everyone's getting along; we just hope the Wi-Fi-free PSP is being appropriately shunned. ... you know those cupcakes it brought were store-bought, don't you?
Street Fighter X Tekken: Cole MacGrath pummels Ken on Vita
Here's some more Street Fighter X Tekken footage, purportedly taken from PlayStation Vita. Infamous loner/loaner Cole MacGrath appears and brings along his spectacular electrical vortex. (Isn't it ionic? Don't you think?)
Tokyo Game Show 2011 wrap-up
All good things must come to an end, and likewise with this year's Tokyo Game Show which wrapped up yesterday. Despite the PS Vita's dominance and the lack of newly-announced hero hardware at the show, we were still able to keep ourselves entertained with the odd peripherals here and there, alongside some very interesting exhibits both at TGS and the Amusement Machine Show next door -- head past the break to humor yourselves. Alternatively, feel free to catch up on our TGS coverage while you're here (we have a list after the break as well), and don't forget to check out our awesome buddies over at Joystiq for even more gaming news. %Gallery-134244%
Lord of Apocalypse commands you to check out his screens, trailer
One of the two new games Square Enix announced for the Vita (in this case, also for the vanilla PSP), Lord of Apocalypse looks to be another JRPG affair, full of love, loss and betrayal -- at least, that's what we assume. All of this stuff is in Japanese! %Gallery-134117%
PS Vita is region-free
The PS Vita will officially be region-free, as tweeted by Sony Computer Entertainment president of Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp). Asked if it has been confirmed that Vita is region-free, Shuhei tweeted, "Yes, it is." And on the seventh day, there was confirmation. Vita will drop on December 17 in Japan, at $390 for the 3G model or $325 for wi-fi only -- with no region locks, this means American and European buyers can order the Japanese version and have it before any of their lame, Vita-less friends. And then when those friends tell them to get a life, they can hold up their Vitas and say, "I already have one." And then they'll have no friends, especially if they tell them this joke.
Don't worry (or do), PS Vita will have external battery peripheral
If the short-lived battery built into the PS Vita is a hang-up for you, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida shared some news with IGN which will either reassure you, or redouble your rage. "If you have not noticed we just announced the peripherals for PS Vita, as well," Yoshida said, "and one of the peripherals is the external batteries. So if you're flying from New York to San Francisco, or vice versa, you have no concerns if you have an additional external battery." The only thing to be concerned about, it seems, is the cost of such a peripheral. If it follows the price model of the Vita's memory cards, it could be cause for concern, indeed.
Take a run through the enflamed Uncharted: Golden Abyss TGS demo
Whether you're curious about how the Vita's inputs will be utilized in Uncharted: Golden Abyss, or wondering what perilous malarkey protagonist Nathan Drake will get into this time around, the TGS demo walkthrough video posted above should satisfy your curiosity.
Katamari Damacy Vita details revealed, things get stretchy
Katamari Damacy is coming to the PS Vita and, as you might imagine, the franchise's clearly insane creators have some rather bold ideas about how to implement the handheld's many, many inputs. For instance, the touchscreen will be used to navigate the Prince's sticky sphere around the game's object-strewn environments, while the rear touchpad will "stretch the ball either horizontally or vertically to pick up more objects at once or squeeze through a narrow gap." We can't wait for more details about the title to surface. You just know the gyroscope is going to have some application, right? Maybe it'll let you control the King of All Cosmos' Royal Rainbows, or maybe it will give you the ability to wiggle the Prince's antenna. Forget it, we're just not thinking crazy enough. %Gallery-134103%
NIS America bringing Disgaea to Android, Vita; Neptunia and Clan of Champions headed to NA
In NIS America's continued efforts to put Disgaea games on more and more platforms, the company today announced that Disgaea: Netherworld Unbound is headed to Android devices later this year. Netherworld Unbound is an Android-optimized version of the original Disgaea game, though NIS says it'll expand on that by selling "characters, items, features, and more." The Disgaea heading to PlayStation Vita will also be launching in the US sometime in spring 2012. Beyond renaming the subtitle "Absence of Detention" (rather than the original's "Absence of Justice"), the Vita port adds "all-new characters, stories, and game systems." Beyond the Disgaea series, NIS is bringing "everyone's favorite JRPG with Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune as a weapon," Neptunia MK-II, to the US. Like in Japan, the game will remain exclusive to Sony's PlayStation 3, and it's expected to launch in spring 2012 as well. The company also announced intentions to bring the tentatively titled "Clan of Champions" from Tenchu dev Acquire Corp. to the US, and to both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. [Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice for PlayStation 3 pictured above.]
Visualized: PS Vita in eight unlikely colors, mockup game cards chill on the sidelines
We found a veritable rainbow of PlayStation Vita prototypes hiding out in the rear of Sony's TGS setup, surrounded by accessories, mock retail packaging, and faux game cards. PlayStation representatives assured us the colorful consoles were just for looks, and only the basic black will be available when the system launches in December. Hit the gallery below for a multicolored peek, or just skip past the break for a view of Gravity Daze's mockup retail box.%Gallery-134025%
Seen@TGS: Physical copies of PlayStation Vita games
You've heard about the "NGV," right? Sony's proprietary media format for the PlayStation Vita? If you haven't, that's totally okay, as Sony hasn't exactly been speaking about it very much. The company didn't actually mention it during its Vita-focused TGS 2011 press conference, or during its similarly Vita-heavy keynote. In fact, outside of a generic version shown off over the past year, we'd never actually seen a physical copy of a game for the upcoming PlayStation Vita. That all changed this morning, as we spotted the little NGV cards hiding in a glass case at the Sony booth, alongside their housing -- small blue Vita game boxes. Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Daze, and Hot Shots Golf (Everybody's Golf 6 in Japan) were all on display, as seen in the gallery below. Take a peek, they're adorable!%Gallery-134015%
PlayStation Vita augmented reality comes in two very different flavors
Sony Computer Entertainment head of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida has a carpet with a little monkey in it. Except the monkey's virtual, and he's using a PlayStation Vita to make the little guy appear. Thus is the Vita's "Markerless AR," an augmented reality application that Yoshida demonstrated with a smile on-stage during Sony's TGS 2011 keynote this afternoon in Tokyo. Yoshida also had a set of marker cards and "Wide Area" AR to boot, showing off a full-scale game played across a table with a handful of marker cards laid out to assist in the process. Yoshida's demonstration seems to indicate the the Vita will ship with a variety of AR applications when it launches this December in Japan -- perhaps even more than the handful of AR games that Nintendo's 3DS came packed with earlier this year. We'll do our best to nail down some more specifics this week as TGS continues.
PlayStation Vita's Torne app pulls in live TV streams served up from a PS3
Need another reason to be interested in the PlayStation Vita? Sony announced during tonight's press conference that it will tie in with the only-available-in-Japan Torne DVR adapter (PlayTV in Europe and nonexistent in NA) for the PlayStation 3. Once synced up, it allows users to remotely tune into live TV streams Slingbox-style, browse listings and remotely schedule recordings via an app on the portable device. It should be ready to go at launch, while the ability to export recorded shows to the Vita like one of Monsoon's boxes will be added later. For now however, we can only look on in envy and hope rumors of a PlayTV 2 eventually come true, and come out here.
PlayStation Suite SDK beta coming in November, offering new games in spring 2012
We haven't heard much about the PlayStation Suite for quite some time, but at the TGS 2011 opening keynote today, Sony announced that it'll finally be rolling out an SDK for said cross-platform framework in November. Furthermore, Sony's expecting new games and apps to be available for the PlayStation Suite in spring, which means willing C# developers will be busy over the next few months should they wish to deploy their software across certified devices -- these currently include the PS Vita, Xperia Play, Tablet S and the upcoming Tablet P. Of course, we're also hoping that Sony will convince at least one other manufacturer to get its NVIDIA Tegra devices certified for the PlayStation Suite, otherwise it'll be tough to get the ball rolling for everyone.
Torne application on PS Vita allows for remote TV recording and viewing
Sony's hardware-based Torne service is heading to the PlayStation Vita, albeit in application form. Sony head of worldwide studios Shuhei Yoshida introduced the application live on-stage during today's second keynote, demonstrating the ability to navigate television listings, remotely set up recordings, and stream television, all via the PlayStation Vita and its Torne application. Yoshida never stated an exact release date, but he implied that the application would launch with the Vita in Japan this December. And as you might expect, the application is thus far only slated for the Japanese market.
PlayStation Suite SDK arrives this November
Ever since introducing the PlayStation Suite back in January, Sony has been slowly meting out information on the cross-platform service. But Sony blew out the service this morning during the company's TGS 2011 keynote, revealing that the Suite's software development kit will become available for devs this coming November. A brief demo of a basic sidescrolling shooter, named "Zero Gravity," was also shown, demonstrating the cross play between PlayStation Vita and the Xperia Play. Unfortunately, no price or exact date was given for access to the SDK, but Sony reps did demonstrate the ease of using the SDK for cross-platform development. A simple animation was created using a Sony tablet, which was then pushed across a variety of Sony and Android platforms -- "No play, no life," it read. We tend to be more of the "no food/air, no life" crowd, but we'll accept Sony's statement for the sake of demonstration.
Lumines: Electronic Symphony preview: Vita's got a pulse
Seven years ago, PlayStation Portable (or PSP) and Lumines were essentially synonymous. If you had a PSP, it was because of Lumines. It may not have been reason enough to spend $250 for Sony's then unestablished handheld but, for any PSP owner, it was an essential part of their collection. I'm not prepared to say that Lumines: Electronic Symphony is reason enough to plunk down $250 (or more) for Sony's unestablished PlayStation Vita, but it's still fun for all the same reasons (and a few more). %Gallery-133707%
