@blakeyrat said:
@RaceProUK said:No - it's just Sony have no idea how to work an online store. Really, half the time on PS3, the store just craps out for no reason. Also, on some screens half the items are missing.
That error popped up every single time it tried to load a preview icon, so a single game page would pop up that error about 7-8 times. It was a lovely experience.
I get the exact same error in the exact same situation whenever I visit the PSN store on my PS3 over a WiFi connection. Using a wired LAN connection; no problem. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that Sony is sharing the WiFi stack between Vita and PS3 and it contains some horrible, horrible memory leak related to dropped/resent packets.
@blakeyrat said:
Oh. Probably goes without saying, but since it is a Sony device it uses proprietary memory card formats and a proprietary USB cable plug. The former I'll be generous and assume they have performance-related reasons for it... the latter? In-fucking-excusable! Especially since the STANDARD USB plug for this type of device is FAR SMALLER than the one Sony designed.
The non-standard form factor for the memory cards is actually just to prevent piracy. The official line, according to one of Sony's reps, is that the non-standard form factor means the cards can only be used together with a PS Vita, which in turn can only connect to and transfer files with a PC through a dedicated program written by Sony. (This being Sony, said program will probably be dripping with DRM and possibly other rootkit-like invasive anti-piracy measures as well. Also, they conveniently pass over the point that the Chinese will probably reverse engineer a USB-based card reader for the things anyway at which point everything comes down to the encryption of the data on the card, something a standard form factor card could cope with as well.)
I'd speculate that piracy is just an argument to placate the common consumer and that something else drove the decision. Realize that a memory card is pretty much a mandatory component to get any real use out of the handheld: games can't save to the built-in memory, only to a card. Moreover, games which rely on the creation of save data at startup (e.g. a 'systemdata save') sometimes outright refuse to boot without a memory card. If I remember correctly, this category of games included one or more of the high profile lauch titles as well.
Knowing this, look at the Vita's deceptively smart launch price, which is trying to edge as close to the 3DS's price point as possible. Then look at the price tag on those mandatory memory cards. Get it now?
@Lorne Kates said:
One thing I am curious about: given Sony's extremely overall shittiness as far as security, customer relations, hardware compatability, etc, etc... in addition to all the very valid issues you're experiencing out of the box... why did you decided to buy a Vita over one of the Nintendo handhelds?
Probably the Vita will offer games of types and in genres that appeal more to blakey. Games, after all, are its primary purpose. The service and hardware quality can be as good as you want them, if the games suck (to you) then a portable gaming device is worthless.
Also note that shoddy security works both ways: it could also make it much easier to jailbreak the device and install customized firmware and homebrew, i.e. you can expect it to have a jailbreak and mods available sooner. If homebrew is your fancy, then Vita is probably the better choice (and will also have more horse power available than 3DS).