Sony : "No More 3rd Party Support For Vita" .

 Just the other day Sony made a rather nasty announcement concerning the Playstation Vita in that Sony will no longer be supporting 3rd party games for the handheld console. This is bad news for those like me who have invested heavily in the PS Vita. Sony announced that the Vita will focus mostly on indie titles and PS4 remote play. So now that the days of Persona 4 Golden and triple A Vita titles like Killzone Mercenary gone, what are we going to do with this $300 paperweight? Well, I have an idea....... invest in digital PSP titles. Still keep your hard copies of Dragons Crown and Gravity Rush, however, the Vita's PSP library is rather large and bursting with great games.
 Which PSP games should I get for my Vita you ask? Well, the answer to that question is easy even if you initially do not agree with me. I have spent over a thousand dollars on digital games from PSN, a majority of it for the PS Vita and I can tell you that some of the very best games for Sony's handheld are PS1 classics and PSP games. The digital collection of PSP titles are amazing and contain some of the best games of all time and are truly timeless in that you can never grow tired in playing them. These kind of games are the best because they can offer hundreds of hours of gameplay, many different endings and replay value galore. Who cares about AAA Vita games that you can beat in less than 5 hours when you can invest between $10-$20 on a timeless classic which never grows old and seems as though it was meant to be played in the palm of your hand for many, many months.
  One of the very best games that fall into the above category of timeless greats which offer almost endless play value is the classic PS1 game turned PSP remake "Final Fantasy Tactics : The War Of The Lions". This is the premier game of all time and if you never even liked Final Fantasy games .... its still all good because this does not play like a FF game in that it is a tactical strategy game and the best ever made on any platform. This game runs for $10 on PSN as a Vita download and I give you my word is one of the best boredom killers all of all time and is easily worth $20 instead of the $10 asking price. Sure, this game will kick your teeth in if this is your first ( or even second ) tactical RPG, however, if you can figure out the mechanics and master the first few stages after a few re-starts ...... you'll be on your way on one of the greatest video gaming adventures you have ever embarked upon.
 So, to make a long story short ...... Sony has turned its back on the Playstation Vita just as we all feared they would. They continuously fail to announce new games besides cheep indies and HD remakes. They announced that they will no longer support 3rd party AAA development for the handheld console as to focus on indies and PS4 remote play. So while your waiting for that AAA title or 3rd party game you want badly but shall never come..... why not pick up Final Fantasy Tactics  War Of The Lions and spend the next few months mesmerized with ways to create better classes with stronger magical attacks that shoot down from the sky in a cornucopia of colors.

Minecraft Coming To PS Vita With Cross-Buy.

 In what's probably the best news for Sony's struggling handheld to date.... Minecraft has been confirmed for the Playstation Vita to be released in August. Even better news is that it is cross-Buy so if you have purchased the game on PSN the Vita version can be downloaded for free. This is huge news for the Vita as it will represent the only viable portable version of the highly popular game yet. An IOS version of Minecraft has been released but is universally recognized as horrible with very small worlds, less crafting and bad controls.
 Now a comprehensive and complete portable version of Minecraft with multiplayer is available soon and could represent a nice boost to Vita sales as the power and fan base of Minecraft is strong enough to move units for Sony. I can only imagine that a special Vita/Minecraft bundle will be available and I also imagine that these will sell off the shelves. Just imagine being able to bring your vast world created out of blocks and other materials wherever you may go whether its on vacation or sitting in a doctors office.
 The news for the PS Vita just seems to be getting better as it ages and ages well. With a vast log of video games including triple A titles, indies and classics alike things may just start looking up for the Playstation handheld. There is no exact release date as far as I could find, however, it will release in August and since I did in fact buy Minecraft from PSN I will be sure to download this version swiftly at launch. Thank you Mojang we love you.

Free To Play Model Destroying Video Games

  Everyday gamers are beginning to see more and more games that are so-called "free to play". These games represent the inevitable decline of the gaming culture as a whole. What started out as an experiment to see if some extra money could be made on the side for extra content morphed into a complete nightmare for every gamer. Now, the so-called "free to play" model is fast becoming the standard for more and more games usually the more addictive sort for obvious reasons. The allure of games that are "free" ensnare gamers into actually spending more money than they would if they just purchased a game at full price.
 I would much rather purchase a game that I am interested in at the $60 price tag for a triple A title than get a "free" game which can ultimately cost anywhere from a hundred dollars to thousands of dollars just to win or progress at a decent speed without having to wait for days just to move forward in your progress. This new "free to win" method is nothing more than a con game that banks off of games which the developers and verily their stockholders know are very addictive for maximal effect on the gamers wallet.
  Even worse is the discovery that these "free to play" games are trying to target young children with names like candy----- ect. in the hopes that these children can talk, or rather, beg and cry enough to their parents to have them kick out their credit cards as to pay for their children's expensive new hobbies. This is what developers are now calling the future of gaming (in reference to free to play) and are working on more and more clever ways to implement the most effective money sucking methods imaginable just so that one can progress in an addictive new game.
  Don't get me wrong here ..... I see nothing wrong with developers trying new methods, however, these same methods are becoming more seriously alarming. Instead, I suggest that these developers raise the price of games slightly for a better profit and just leave the free to play model behind. Trust me it would be much better than the rapidly approaching alternatives. Not only are free to play games deceptive with their hidden costs and addictive gameplay, but, at the same time creating great damage to the video game industry and compromising the quality of new games altogether.

                                                                                                           J30-06K


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Playstation Vita : The Good And The Bad

 The Good :

1. The Vita is one of the most powerful gaming handhelds ever created and launched to rave reviews. IGN scored the system 8.5/10, Cnet.com gave the system a 4/5, The Gadget Show gave it a 4/5 and in 2012, the PS Vita won T3's "Gaming Gadget Of The Year" award beating Nintendo 3DS and more. There is no doubt that the Vita system is a worthy handheld gaming device.

2. A beautiful 5-inch(16.9) OLED multi touch capacitive touchscreen that can produce 17 million colors. The OLED screen is one of the very best features of the system and is simply breathtaking to look at while playing a quality game or just watching youtube video's.

3. Even though AAA titles are few there are troves of quality indie games that alone make the Vita worthwhile as a handheld gaming device.

2. Most of the best PSP (Playstation Portable) games from Sony's last generation handheld can be downloaded to the Vita making it even more versatile.

3. Solid design which gives the Vita owner confidence that their hardware is sturdy and safe from being easily broken. There have been very few reports of hardware problems with the Vita which require a replacement unit.

4. Playstation 1 support (PS1 Classics) which put some of the best historical games ever made right in the palm of your hand and on the go. Nothing is better at killing time than playing FF7 while waiting in a doctors office. These older games look amazing on the OLED screen and can be adjusted any way you see fit like utilizing dual analog sticks if you so wish.

THE BAD :

1. The Playstation Vita is very costly and comes with many hidden additional costs. At launch I paid $250.00 for the Vita alone(WiFi) not counting the $40 and sometimes even $50( yes, Black Ops I'm looking at you) games and a quality case($30) you will surly need for your shiny new piece of hardware.

2. Lack of third party games (non Indie) and failure to bring some of the best native Japanese Vita games to the West.

4. High cost of the best PS1 games and verily the PSP games.

5. Most of the features of the Vita like rear touch pad and tilt control are hardly ever put to use in the games for the Vita which makes the price seem even more unnecessary considering these things are why it is so expensive to begin with.

6. Finally and worst of them all are the "proprietary" memory cards which are ridiculously expensive and the 64GB card almost impossible to find and if you do will set you back $100.