When it comes to portable gaming, Nintendo is clearly the king.
From the Game Boy to the DS, people associate portable gaming with the house Mario built.
Many other companies have tried to compete with Nintendo’s handhelds, but almost all have failed.
Sony introduced the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in 2004 as a direct competitor to Nintendo’s DS. While the PSP was far superior in hardware and graphical capabilities, a lack of games and a horrible initial ad campaign put the PSP behind the DS.
Even today, the DS is virtually untouchable from any competition. Nintendo has sold 146 million DS units worldwide as of last March, while the PSP has only moved 71 million units.
Not a bad number for Sony. Just nowhere close to Nintendo. However, Nintendo has moved on from its DS line with the introduction of its successor, the 3DS.
With a rough start thanks to the lack of games and high price, Nintendo has had some problems with the launch of the 3DS, which may leave room for Sony to make a move with its newest console. The PlayStation Vita is set for release later this year in Japan, and sometime in 2012 for North America.
Sony claims to have listened to its customers and packed the Vita with more bells and whistles than Freddie Mercury’s bicycle.
The Vita is set to have dual analog sticks, front and back multitouch capabilities, a 5-inch OLED display, front and rear-facing cameras and more processing power than both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, according to Sony’s website.
Spec-for-spec, the Vita blows the 3DS out of the water.
However, many people said the same thing seven years ago comparing the PSP launch to the original DS.
My initial hands-on with the new Sony handheld came in June at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, I wasn’t impressed.
Sure, the screen was gorgeous, but the gameplay didn’t look on par with PlayStation 3 graphics as Sony suggested. I also felt there were almost too many features packed into the handheld and I was starting to get overwhelmed.
Another big concern I have for the Vita’s success is the hidden costs.
Many were shocked at E3 when Sony announced that the feature-packed Vita would start at $249. But $249 isn’t the final price gamers will be paying to enjoy the handheld.
Aside from Apple, Sony is the king of overpriced proprietary accessories, and the Vita is no different.
Many games will allow users to save their data on the gamecard itself, but some people will want a bit of extra memory for saves or full game downloads.
While the 3DS supports — and includes with every purchase — an SD card, the Vita uses another one of Sony’s proprietary memory cards. The Vita memory cards will be sold separately in 4, 8, 16 and 32GB flavors and will range anywhere between $29 to $124.
For comparison, you could easily find a 32GB SD card for less than $50.
Another major concern of the Vita is the battery life. Many people ragged on the 3DS for its poor battery, yet the Vita’s battery only holds approximately three to five hours for games, according to a Sony news release.
That’s also with almost every feature, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, turned off — meaning many gamers should expect even less battery life.
Nintendo provides users with a charging cradle to more easily charge the battery for the 3DS, while Sony sells one separately for around $36 — another hidden cost.
With all of the great games already announced for the Vita — and more on the way — the packed amount of features and the shortcomings of Nintendo’s 3DS, it seems like the Vita will be nothing but a success.
The Vita has a much better chance to topple Nintendo than the PSP did. Unfortunately for Sony, history isn’t on its side when it comes to handheld gaming.
 
Adam Arinder is a 22-year-old communication studies senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.
 
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Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]