E3 2011: Is Sony's Focus On Vita A Sign Of The Future?

I think we all knew Sony's new portable would be a major highlight during the company's E3 presentation.

But I was a little surprised at the amount of time spent on this new handheld unit. Heck, they essentially closed their conference with a ton of Vita-related details and games, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, after seeing the Wii U revealed and checking out some recent statistics, I realized the gaming landscape, market and atmosphere is changing faster than we might've imagined.

Everything is getting smaller and it's as if everything has to be mobile, too. Considering that we can have a gigantic amount of power in the palm of our hands these days, and everyone is playing games on their cell phones, perhaps this switch is inevitable. Maybe that Vita focus is a prophecy. While I don't see portable gaming replacing standard console gaming on a TV any time soon, the emergence of certain new technologies has made me think. For a while, I was going, "is the Vita that big of a deal?" And then I looked around, realized I'm sort of a dinosaur and realized that, "yup, it is."

By the way, I managed to pull off the ultimate gaming contrast. It struck me as I was watching Vita during Sony's conference: I took out the original GameBoy (that's right, the big ol' gray thing) and started playing Super Mario Land 2. No, I'm not kidding. For whatever reason, I wanted to experience the single biggest handheld contrast in video game history. Come on. Tell me that isn't awesome.

Tags: e3 2011, ps vita, playstation vita, sony press conference

6/8/2011 9:04:34 PM Ben Dutka

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Comments (47 posts)

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Mdash0009
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:22:24 PM
Reply

That isn't awesome.
hey u told me to tell u.
I'ts awesome.

3 up, 3 down

Nas Is Like
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:59:43 PM

I had to re-read your post 10 times and I still don't get it.

3 up, 3 down

Mdash0009
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 10:26:48 PM

he said at the end " Tell me that isn't awesome" so i did.

3 up, 1 down

Claire C
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 11:00:16 PM

@Nas

It's just a poor attempt at humor. =^.^=

4 up, 3 down

Fabi
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 11:56:36 PM

Nas is like life or death.

And that is awesome Ben, never owned a GameBoy, but wish I did.

0 up, 4 down

GuyverLT
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:23:15 PM
Reply

It wasn't a surprise to me @ all that they spent a good deal on PSVita, that's something that really should have been expected really.

Now does that excuse the boring press conference... Hell NO!!!

Last edited by GuyverLT on 6/8/2011 9:25:26 PM

0 up, 8 down

godsman
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:27:10 PM

I understand what you are saying. There weren't that many moments where i hear the crowd goes wild. Even when Kobe Bryant walked on stage, no one was cheering.

Only time great moments were Uncharted and Vita price, but I wouldn't go as far as calling the whole conference boring.

4 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:48:16 PM

It was boring, not bad but bland and anti exciting for anybody who isn't a portable gamer.

3 up, 1 down

Axe99
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 11:53:29 PM

The conference presentation was definitely staid - very little animation going on by the presenters (although the Naughty Dog lads had a bit of verve to them), and Tretton's a soft-spoken kind of guy, he's not one to get the emotions running. Plenty of great stuff though, it was more how they presented it. Don't forget that Sony would have been pretty distracted by the network outage in the lead-up to this (these conferences take serious preparation), so I'm no surprised that everyone may have looked a little "can I got home and sleep now" ;).

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 4:54:05 PM

It's a press conference. the audience were not gamers first and foremost, they're journalists, all of whom are taking notes, and listening keenly. It's not the kind of event where there are huge cheering crowds.

0 up, 0 down

godsman
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:23:58 PM
Reply

I don't feel like there were any surprises for Vita games. Either we were out of wow's before E3 or we expected the updated PSP games. Only surprise is the price of Vita and Sony trying hard to make PS3 & Vita connectivity.

1 up, 0 down

gangan19
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:25:37 PM
Reply

It really has impressive graphics for a hand held system. And I believe it's gonna also be future proof because of the 3g...if it can give you internet access almost anywhere...you probably can do anything with it really.

3 up, 0 down

Eld
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:28:30 PM
Reply

They had to market Vita right now. It's something they are trying to sell this year.

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:51:51 PM
Reply

I dunno, Nintendo's stock fell as soon as the Wii U was revealed, lol. I know a lot of people love gadgets but I don't see how focusing on Vita could help Sony much. They just lost millions and millions of dollars and should be focused on software instead of hardware. I mean, yeah, talk about your new handheld but the conference should have assured people about what exclusive games were coming in the future for PS3 instead of talking about neckties and apologies and tiny fancy monitors.

Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 6/8/2011 9:52:33 PM

1 up, 3 down

Jed
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:53:12 PM
Reply

"everything is getting smaller..."

Ya, except for the wii U controller.

6 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 10:00:48 PM

Damn thing is a cubit if it's an inch. They better have a smaller one planned for games that don't use it.

1 up, 1 down

Jed
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 5:36:37 AM

That's what I was thinking. One of those controllers with the screen probably cost about $80.

0 up, 0 down

SoulController
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:53:51 PM
Reply

Ha! The old school spinach green screen gameboy! Memories...

I honestly believe were headed to "transfarring" gaming. Its not for everyone but look at the potential. What if there's a level your dieing to finish but you won't be able to be at home to play ps3 for a long amount of time? Kojimas taking a stab at it as well as that new action rpg game from the conference I can't think of at the moment. It could work, as long as it isn't a requirement but still gets some emphasis from the developer/publisher as a optional feature. I say bring it on

2 up, 0 down

SoulController
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 9:57:28 PM

Oh yea and this was definitely the most unsurprising, boring E3 ever. But I think its a sign of the times. You can't keep anything secrect from the internets anymore, unless you pull a Jaffee and lie...

3 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 10:02:14 PM

You're thinking of "Ruin" which looked like it would have been an okay game two generations ago.

2 up, 0 down

SoulController
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 5:21:01 AM

Yea that game. It does look pretty dated

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 10:23:29 PM
Reply

I think that Vita represents a stepping stone. The path was begun by Nintendo, PSP blazed quite a trail on it's own, and smartphones have paved many miles too. But Vita is the next step on that path towards a future where there is no separation between handheld and home console. There's a tone of network infrastructure to be put in place to allow the kind of bandwidth necessary, but I think that's where we are headed.

The closer integration with Vita and PS3/PSN/PS4 brings a lot of opportunities. This ability to save your game to PSN from your Vita and then load your game save from PSN on your PS3 to continue is one of those opportunities. I think where we are headed, there won't even be a need to save, you will simply turn off the game on one and pick up on the other.

I'm not under the misconception that the hardware will be available in the handheld to run the exact same game, but I think that the architecture of the two dives will become similar enough that the SDK will allow games to be built that run on either platform and dynamically adjust the render resolution depending on the platform. That way, the same game will run in both places and adjust itself to match the host.

The future should be interesting...

8 up, 0 down

sha4dowknight05
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 11:30:23 PM

I agree.

3 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 1:25:48 AM

but I think that the architecture of the two dives will become similar enough

Should read

but I think that the architecture of the two *devices* will become similar enough

0 up, 2 down

Jed
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 5:42:55 AM

I was excited when they started talking about connectivity between the psp and ps3, but that never really panned out.

Hopefully it will be a whole different situation with the Vita.

3 up, 0 down

Claire C
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 10:33:20 PM
Reply

It would have been a mistake of Sony not to highlight their new portable device during their conference. It's pretty important for them. If they don't spend time emphasizing and showcasing Vita's awesomeness it may not succeed like many of us are hoping it does. There are still plenty of games for 'dinosaurs' to play on the TV. ;)

9 up, 0 down

godsdream
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 10:58:09 PM
Reply

I don't play games in my iphone... I will never be interested in cellphone games and neither in pc games. But handhelds are a bit different, I had the original PSP just because I knew sooner or later there could be games I would be interested. I think the same will be with the PSVita for me, and now you have the plus of cameras, etc. But as a core gamer, I can say imho that games will never be the same on other thing that home consoles, so I'll stay with my core gaming at home (plus you have other things like surround sounds and other stuff to make your experience more awesome)

0 up, 1 down

Qubex
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 3:24:54 AM

"I will *never* be interested in cellphone games and neither in pc games."

Godsdream, the word *never* is quite a heavy word considering how fast technology is changing. It is likely you will upgrade your iPhone someday right? It is likely Apple and Android (and others) will come out with phones that are probably more appealing to play games on than they are now. There maybe new control schemes in the future... who knows what may be around the corner to entice you...

I think using the word *never* cuts you out of a lot of potential fun that awaits you... especially if the pace of technological change is anything to go by!

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

Last edited by Qubex on 6/9/2011 3:25:09 AM

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 9:56:21 AM

Qubex, Your post triggered a thought. I think you're on the right lines when you talk about Apple and Android producing phones more appealing to play than the ones now. PlayStation Suite should (if done right) be a part of that movement.

However there is something that Vita does, that none of those phones can do, and it's something that people laud Xbox Live for when it comes to 360's quick success in the US despite horrible hardware problems. Customer loyalty, and (I'll say it) customer inertia. Customers are loathe to change. There is a great deal of inertia there, as witnessed by the steadfast loyalty of those replacing Xbox 360s multiple times - because of their Xbox Live account and it's accumulation of 'stuff'.

Vita connects to PSN, and the PS3 (and I'll go out on a huge limb...and say the PS4 when it arrives too). Vita builds on the customer loyalty of the PSP by working with it's downloadable titles. It builds on PlayStation Suite by being a certified PlayStation suite device. Vita talks to PSN all the time, it's a PSN device. Vita gives gamers a second way to access the accumulation of stuff they have on PSN. what makes it perhaps better is that unlike Xbox Live, PSN is free. There are around about 18 million Gold accounts, and something like 37 million XBL subscribers , so nearly 20 million of them use the Silver account that only gets them firmware updates, not online play. PSN's free play for all element, sucks people in, and people accumulate 'stuff' there.

Customer inertia builds. Vita allows customers to play games on the move, and not lose their stuff. It also bridges to the mobile world with PS Suite, but not Android. It's clearly not a phone.

If you look at PC gaming and phone gaming, there is very little that acts like XBL or PSN. The App Store from Apple is about as close as it gets, and you can see Apple trying to integrate more and more into their service offerings. Just this week it was announced that iOS 5 has a messaging application. How many Apple customers immediately thought of saving money by killing their SMS service from their phone carrier. Apple sees that building in these services binds customers too them, not the carrier. Of course phone carriers may no0t take that lying down, so it remains to be seen what will happen.

The point though is that if you compare a gamer with Vita and a PS3 (and possibly a PlayStation Suite certified phone), against a gamer using a default Android phone and PC, there is a strong contrast. The Android/PC gamer has to take many additional steps to do more than use their phone as a USB drive. There is no real service level connectivity between their devices, and no gaming integration. The PlayStation bound gamer has PSN on two of their three devices, and PlayStation Suite on two of their three devices. They have that vertical integration in their products with shared services and content.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Windows Phones popping up on XBL with a virtual gaming environment that runs on the 360 and the phone so that XBL can sell games to both. Microsoft is smart enough to attempt that kind of vertical integration of services, and I expect they will.

Apple already has some integration of services, but they can (and will) do more.

So, back to Vita, I think Vita is smart in a lot of ways because it gives Playstation consumers another reason to stick with Sony and PSN. I think it also offers an attractive combination of gaming and other things to new consumers. But it's that vertical integration that Android/PC users miss out on.

1 up, 0 down

Fane1024
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 6:29:06 PM

Steam is doing the same things on PC. Windows Live tried and failed (yeah!).

I can't give details on Steam's features because I don't use it (no PC per se), but it seems to have a lot of traction.

Which doesn't relate to mobile gaming, of course.

Last edited by Fane1024 on 6/9/2011 6:31:58 PM

0 up, 0 down

sha4dowknight05
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 11:32:56 PM
Reply

I like Vita. I don't mind the name as I did before but still, but what really matters is the hardware and pricing and SONY did justice for all this E3 on that one.

I expect sales to shoot through the roofs with pricing like this since it's has lot's of cool games and features. Pretty much a mini ps3 on the go for the same price? Maybe, but close enough?

I like the VITA I hope for a day one purchase for me.

Anybody wonder that there are going to be these outragous ebay pricings of these things on there???

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 11:40:22 PM
Reply

I have Ocarina running on my android, but it freezes up sometimes and touch controls SUCK!

0 up, 0 down

SmokeyPSD
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 @ 11:58:57 PM
Reply

I really think the message is in the close relationship that the close relationship that the PS3 and the Vita and PS3 are showing to share. Loungeroom and the world at large getting closer together. Not one being left behind. I didn't feel that all from the conference.

0 up, 0 down

___________
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 3:20:55 AM
Reply

im really looking forward to it, but this is the exact reason why i was disappointed with there E3 presser.
i cant wait to get a psvita, BUT my gaming always will be on the ps3 till ps4 comes out.
vita is nice for on the go, but once im home the ps3 takes over.
so i dont like all this vita attention, sure its a new system and there trying to market it, but lets have some ps3 love too eh?

1 up, 0 down

Qubex
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 3:30:37 AM
Reply

"Everything is getting smaller and it's as if everything has to be mobile, too. Considering that we can have a gigantic amount of power in the palm of our hands these days..."

Ben, you raise some interesting points, but going by what you were mentioning in the piece, the very fact that Vita is edging ever closer to the power of the PS3 actually proves that in the future, having a console *brick* next to, above or under your television may not actually be necessary.

The only thing I think people will need in the future, will be a "docking station" of sorts. You take your uber-powerful portable out of your pocket, slot it into the docking station (which has ports such as HDMI out etc at the back), you then pick up your traditional controller - such as we have now, and there you have it; you are playing your HD PlayStation through your TV as if it were a console permanently stationed in the room...

When you are finished playing Uncharted 6, you simply pop the portable out of the docking station, and put it back in your pocket, and away you go...

Point is... as you so correctly pointed out... everything will probably continue to shrink, and most entertainment we enjoy today will be portable... the only difference is, where and in what will you be plugging your portable device into...

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

1 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 9:58:16 AM

As powerful as mobile devices get, I don't think you'll be able to beat a devices like the PS3 (or whatever the future devices are) because they can always throw more power and GHz at the problem. But, with good networking, the boundary between the mobile device and the 'base station' will blur out of existence - IMHO...

2 up, 1 down

Qubex
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 7:36:29 PM

I would be wary to use the word *never*... i just feel technology will surprise us all...

I think Intel were mentioning recently that they are about to begin testing the manufacturing of 22nm cpu's that would contain multiple cores. Even through their own admission, they expect workstation class power in the palm of your hands within 5 years at this rate...

Its not so much Moore's Law in speed anymore, its all about size and portability now...

This will affect the traditional console business in more ways than one... and in fact, after PS4 is released... expect a completely different landscape when it comes to how your entertainment is consumed...

But Highlander, saying this... the one big issue is content in gigabytes...

How do you play blu ray quality films through your mobile device when storage is still an issue... Storage may be the one thing that keeps the *brick* in its place for much longer...

BUT! and I say BUT strongly here... I won't use the word *never*, because I feel, that observing history, no reason why storage of ginormous size will be a problem for mobile devices... simply put, if the Cloud works out, and wireless network cellular technologies and their data plans become good enough and cheap enough... you could simply "doc" your super computer mobile device under the telly and then "stream" your blu-ray movie across as needed from your cloud locker... Or as people are doing now to some success - depending on your home broadband bandwidth, simply stream from your favourite video serving site like Netflix etc...

Its all there now for the mobile devices... its size and the power needed to power them on the go...

But I don't see this as an issue... the mobile devices can clock their speeds down when on the go saving battery life. When "docked" they can ramp up to full speed and you have PS3 as you have it now...

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 10:38:18 PM

I see what you're saying Qubex, but a base station in the home, a 'console' will always have more physical space for power, cooling and bigger chips. So even if the handhelds become more powerful than the current PS3 or some future system, the contemporary 'console' will be more powerful still, simply because it can be. Even if you dynamically alter the clock, you know as well as I do there's only so much you can ramp it up in that mobile device without heat being an issue.

I'm thinking that there will be two devices, a console or base system at home that maintains your personal library of media, games and whatever. The hand held will be a satellite device on the move able to stream content from the base at home. It will have it's own storage and local memory and processor, and games - for example - will play on both systems and simply dynamically alter the target resolution as needed to fir on the system in use. The ubiquitous, always on Internet will allow game saves and all manner of other status information to be exchanged with the base station, so that when you get home and dock, everything can switch to the big screen/system there. The two devices will be parts of the same system, integrated by the ubiquitous Internet and services like PSN.

0 up, 0 down

espey
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 6:03:39 AM
Reply

The Vita presentation foreshadowed Cross Game Chatrooms, let's hope they transfer this to the PS3, along with a new interface.

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 11:04:12 AM

You're probably going to need to wait for PS4 for cross game chat - I think.

3 up, 0 down

vicious54
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 8:57:20 AM
Reply

Awesome, now give me God of War please.

0 up, 0 down

maxpontiac
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 10:25:39 AM
Reply

They make the PS Vita a controller for the PS3, and I am sold no matter what.

1 up, 0 down

blakkternalx520
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 12:46:02 PM
Reply

but lets remember that my focus on Vita is not just the games, even though thats a big thing. Im also interested in all the things that the vita will be able to do. Party feature, Android and all the other extras that they announced. So this will be a preorder for me.

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 1:01:33 PM

Android? So far as I'm aware they've not announced Vita will run Android. They have said it will run PlayStation Suite software, but that's about as close as I've seen. Do you have a link?

0 up, 0 down

Beamboom
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 2:23:02 PM

Android??? On the Vita?

*pinching my arm* Am I dreaming here? If so don't you dare wake me up!

Last edited by Beamboom on 6/9/2011 2:23:33 PM

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 1:03:12 PM
Reply

Someone asked in one of the Vita comment sections if the Vita is region free. Apparently it it - according to an SCEE executive.

Here's the story.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35133/Report_PlayStation_Vita_Will_Be_Region_Free.php

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, June 09, 2011 @ 4:55:41 PM

Apparently it *is*...

I can't type at all today.

0 up, 0 down

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