Wednesday 27 November 2013

Playstation Vita TV (Known as Playstation TV in US/EU)

Well as many of you might of known, I've mentioned that i had wanted a PS Vita TV since it was announced in September . Its now November and they have been released in Japan, I've been checking Play-Asia and eBay and found some offers. it turns out Otaku was listing one for $149.99 + $12 postage (tracked). Which comes to around £110. But i did make an offer for everything (The console + tracked delivery) for $160 which when paid with Paypal, came to about £102.44. So that was ordered Friday evening

I worked an extra day this week due to Dickensian Night happening this Friday, and since a customer wanted to have a lesson with me and was only in Tavi on the day, so i worked, i did finish at 6:30pm or so. But i found it had arrived withing 5 days, that's quick, even quicker than chinavasion with £12 delivery from DHL (That had customs, this didn't ?). So when i arrived home, i found it, looking at me, i undid the outer packaging and you can see the box below.

The box, sealed up, with the PSVita TV logo infront of me, i was excited but i had to pace myself.
So, after the evening was sorted, everyone else went to sleep and i started to get this review underway, It was quite cold in the kitchen, but i made sure to get what i needed before i started. With a Figure 8 cable, my fake DS3 and i did get the usb cable to pair it part way through, but i was ready. You can enjoy the review below, which includes what was in the box, setting it up and looking through the PS Store, but there are bits i have missed which i will cover in this, so do read on...




The Unboxing and setup 

Well Getting the seal off was quite tricky. But the box has a nice PS feel to it, advertised what was available, the interface and of course, parental control, trademarks and safety regulations. Have a look at the unboxing pictures below:
The top of the box, with the logo and some of the bubbles

The back of the box, with detailed descriptions as well as the Reigon, HDMI trademark, Parental controls and something that looks like a date on the right hand side

The Right side of the box, with the Mode numbers, POS Bar code, URL for more info and where it was made, well china for obvious reasons :D

The bottom of the Box, which has sony's trademarks and "FOR SALE IN JAPAN ONLY". But many have been lucky to import.

The Left hand side of the box, with the pictures of the interface, mentions the ability to play PS1 and PSP games (You'll See later). Also the sony icons as well as the GUI is shown.

So with the box shown, its time to look inside. Now there isn't much to show you inside but a list of what is actually included is as follows:
  • The Console itself
  • A HDMI Cable, 1.8m, standard V1.4
  • An AC adapter, which can support 100-240V (So maybe its not just localized for Japan perhaps ?)  and the cable to plug it in to the mains, which is a figure 8 cable, so you can buy a local cable for your country, plug it in and not worry about using adapters. I was actually running around before i left work, looking for a 240V to 110V adapter aha. 
  • A manual which folds out and is double sided, it even tells you how to replace a battery in a Dualshock 3, which isn't mentioned in a PS3 manual, funny that ???. 
  • A warranty card/booklet. 
  • Some notices on small sticker type labels
Now this is a nice amount, when you open the Box, the console is the first thing you see, which you have to take out before you can get to the other items. So i'm going to show you whats in the box:
The left side of the Console itself

The right side of the console, with the PSVita Logo on the slot where the games are inserted

The back of the console: with a power button, slot for PSVita Memory Cards, USB 2.0 Port, HDMI port, 10/100 Ethernet port and the power jack, supporting DC 5V

The bottom of the console, with the Sony logo and some of the detailed information

The front of the console, with the Sony logo and a tiny LED

The top of the comsole, with the PS logo, in a nice silver finish.

The bottom half of the rear of the manual, it even mentions how to replace a battery on a dualshock 3. Thats impressive

The top half of the rear of the manual, More safety notices

The bottom half of the front of the manual, which shows the UI, the dualshock 3 and how to use the sticks as the either the front or reach touchscreen

The back of the Warranty booklet

The inside of the Warranty booklet

The Front of the Warranty Booklet

The Figure 8 AC cable to plug into Japanese sockets

The actual AC adapter itself, which allows for 100 - 240V and steps it down to 5V


A bog standard HDMI V1.4 cable, Looks good for a added extra and helps you get started. 

So the unboxing was quite nice, with everything to get you started if you already own a PS3. After getting everything plugged in, turned on, i started to set the console up, it was quite simple, although i did forget that O is enter and X is back, unlike the Western settings, which is X for enter, O for back. But it was easy to navigate, even getting "Trial access to Playstation Network" was a unique idea, but it technically is on PS3 but i never used it.

After you set it up, or when its normally turned on, you see this. The home screen

Once it was set up, it was like a normal vita but there was a popup on how to use the home screen, well with the d-pad and analog sticks. there was 2 parts, since there was more features then what could of been fitted on one screen. You can even make folders by pressing /\ (That i didn't mention in the video). Afterwards, i went to the settings to get the wifi setup, this is quite simple, although my router always has to fuck me over, i'm going to cut to the chase, but after a few attempts, it worked fine. Then i checked the PS store after updating to 3.00 OFW. There were some good apps as you saw, some of the standard vita apps had been ported over, Torne, Livetweet, NicoNico, Youtube and others, all free too.

The testing. 

At this point, the video ends and i continues to do some extra tests. I did decide to start playing the one game i've always wanted to play on the Vita, which is of course Ridge Racer. I inserted it in the slot, which is tricky to comprehend if you have badly bitten fingernails, i even tried using the cable ties for the hdmi, which worked the first time, but not the second time, it exposed the wire inside lol. But once i got the cartridge in, i found it needs an update, it said ver 1.02, which i hoped would of allowed it for Vita TV compatibility, but alas it was an update in April 2012. Alas it didn't make the game compatible :(
The latest update for Ridge Racer on the Vita TV. 
Afterwards, i downloaded the games i have on my JAP PSN account, which were some free ones, very interesting that the PSP demos don't work, but the full games do. So i had the chance to play some LocoRoco Midnight Carnival, i didn't play much but it felt like it should be, as well as being able to download other conent while playing, which was nice, even the PS3 doesn't let that happen for some games. The upscaled quality is not too bad (Patapon 2 cutscenes are quite bad, but the tv was at 1080i) and also it allows you to add functionality to the right stick, which might be useful for some games.
Playing LocoRoco midnight Carnival and a notification that mentions i've download a PS1 game, in this case its a demo of Devil's Dice, which i still don't understand.


The Verdict:

Well with some things covered, its time to give you my opinions. I'm sort of glad i did get the console, the concept for what i've wanted to do for a while is there, yes i've been able to do it with my CFW PS3 but the emulator for the PSP remasters isn't as good as the vita's. But since there is no UK or even Western release planned, for now at least...The console is restricted if i wanted to buy a ramdom vita game from CEX, Game et, there is a chance that i might of not bought one of the 304 compatible games that is compatible with the Vita TV, i'm surprised Ridge Racer isn't compatible . But the UI is fluent and really easy to use, even if the X and O are swapped

omracer' Rating: 7/10

Pros:

  • Looks beautiful and small
  • Easy To use
  • Has alot of potential, as a mini console and as a Smart TV box (Well for Japan currently anyway)

Cons:

  • Linked to Japan only, so you need a JAP PSN to get around
  • Not compatible with many vita games, especially EU and US games, PSP and PS1 games are mostly fine. 
  • 1GB of storage is basic but a 4GB card is recommended. 

Well that sums this review up. This won't be the last time i mention about the Vita TV, but for now, expect some more reviews, maybe Christmas Present ones. 

omracer :)