Bought a Vita TV today - First Impressions = Not Good

[ACSeraph]

So I shelled out 14900 yen for the Vita TV value pack this evening, and I've just got it set up and running here. I'm sure some people here are interested so I'll give you a quick rundown of my thoughts so far. Also if you have any questions about it I'll do my best to answer them so ask away.

First off let me just say that it currently has some serious problems but I assume they will be fixed in the future. First the most important one not all Vita games will actually work on the Vita TV. I knew this prior to buying it based on Japanese reviews, but I was surprised by how serious of an issue it is. I just tried Street Fighter x Tekken in it and it wasn't supported. I can't really see any reason whatsoever that SFxT wouldn't be supported on it but there you have it, it's not. Phantasy Star Online 2? Not supported. I'm sure I'm going to see plenty more of this problem as I continue to try out my stuff.

My guess is that any game that has features requiring the touch screen (In SFXT's case the character color edit menus) will not be supported. Seeing as that's a lot of fuckin' games it doesn't bode well for the Vita TV. My hope is that it will support the PS4's controller with it's touch pad, but somehow I doubt it will.

So what did work then? I've currently only booted up Persona 4 Golden and Marvel vs Capcom 3. P4G looks like a PS2 game, because well... it is a PS2 game. Marvel on the other hand looks very impressive, comparable to the console version. So definitely the games look great on the big screen, if only you could actually play them.

PS1 classics also work, but who the fuck cares? More importantly PSP games seem to all be compatible, and actually run in full screen. I actually bought this thing specifically to play Darius Burst in full screen, so at least it hasn't disappointed on that front. However, I think there is some input lag when compared to playing on an actual Vita but I'm guessing this is primarily a result of the HDTV itself. It's pretty minimal though seeing as when I tested Project Diva Extend on it I was about to maintain perfects (cool) on it pretty easily.

Finally another potentially serious problem. The Vita TV counts as a second portable system on your PSN account. As you may know, you can only have two portable systems activated at any one time on your account. Since I'm sure a lot of people here own both Vitas and PSPs this is potentially a big problem (I for one am not happy about it). In order to use my Vita TV I had to deactivate my PSP (which I use regularly). Not cool Sony... Vita TV is not a fucking portable device, and the two system limit is ridiculous anyhow for serious players; I own 3 PSPs including a GO which has been rendered completely and utterly useless as a result of this limit. Just goes to show the dangers of digital distribution.

The verdict: If you want to play full screen PSP games then it's pretty awesome, but it's pretty shit at doing what it was actually designed to do. Hopefully it will improve with updates. Also beware if you already own a Vita and a PSP because you are going to have to deactivate one of them in order to use the content you legitimately paid for. God damn it Sony...

[Friendly]

Sony Japan said they'd increase the numer of portable systems that can be linked to an account to three with the launch of Vita TV. They also said game compatibility will be improved.
I was considering to import one from Japan, but after reading that (for now) the Japanese version can only be used with JP PSN, I decided to wait. Which seems like a good plan.


Oh yeah, set your HDTV to "GAME" if it has a mode like that; most hdtvs have terrible lag due to all the image processing.

[ACSeraph]

Oh yeah, set your HDTV to "GAME" if it has a mode like that; most hdtvs have terrible lag due to all the image processing.

Whoa I feel so derp right now... I didn't even know my TV had such a setting buried in all its Japanese menus until I thoroughly searched for it just now. No shit it totally gets rid of the slight lag feeling I was having. You sir, have changed my gaming life. Many thanks.

As for the increased limit on linked systems, I really hope they actually come through on that, because at this point I can confirm that they have not and it is a serious problem. I do think the Vita TV has the potential to really be something worth having, but at the moment its little more than my $150 Darius Burst machine.

[ACSeraph]

Just tried out every Vita game I own on the Vita TV, the results are abysmal. Of 13 games, only 5 work, not even a 50% success rate.

Supported:

Persona 4 Golden
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend
Dead or Alive 5 Plus
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus

Not Supported:

Mortal Kombat (It's a US game so I'm not really surprised with this one)
Phantasy Star Online 2
Street Fighter x Tekken
Silent Hill Book of Memories
Resistance
Ridge Racer
Hatsune Miku Project Diva f
Soul Sacrifice

[Friendly]

Lol, not even Soul Sacrifice? They were showing off the sequel on Vita TV. Oh well, I bet it will be added in the future.
Looks like Sony rushed Vita TV to the market as soon as the hardware was ready. The reason for this is obviously that they wanted to have something available for their Japanese customers during the western launch of PS4.

[Obiwanshinobi]

More importantly PSP games seem to all be compatible, and actually run in full screen. I actually bought this thing specifically to play Darius Burst in full screen, so at least it hasn't disappointed on that front.

Games on UMD as well? Local multiplayer in Power Stone or Monster Hunter would be all the merrier if one player used big screen, provided the picture quality is decent.

[Pretas]

You can't play UMDs on it, aside from downloads acquired with the Japanese UMD Passport system.

[Austin]

Man, that sucks. I was looking forward to the Vita TV, but it looks like the execution has been poor. Here's to hoping they correct some of these issues, particularly in terms of game compatibility.

[BryanM]

Sounds like a Vita with a HDMi output jack and a USB port would have been superior. I don't "get" this thing..

[boagman]

More importantly PSP games seem to all be compatible, and actually run in full screen. I actually bought this thing specifically to play Darius Burst in full screen, so at least it hasn't disappointed on that front. However, I think there is some input lag when compared to playing on an actual Vita but I'm guessing this is primarily a result of the HDTV itself. It's pretty minimal though seeing as when I tested Project Diva Extend on it I was about to maintain perfects (cool) on it pretty easily.

Question: compare the results of this with, say, a PSP2000 or later with the cord attachment to the television allowing you to play the games on your HDTV. Which is better or worse, or are they about the same? If you don't have the ability to make the comparison, never mind then.

Thanks!

[BulletMagnet]

He mentioned that Vita TV plays PSP stuff full screen, which a hooked-up PSP doesn't, which is an automatic plus in the former's favor. A UMD drive attachment for it would definitely be nice, akin to the GC's GBA player, but it'll never happen.

[Cagar]

Not Supported:

Soul Sacrifice

Just WOW

Thanks for the quick review, as I tend to be way too behind in modern console-stuff (other than shmups) ;P

Just hoping Friendly to post soon...

[Pretas]

Until this is compatible with 100% of the Vita library, I see it as being less of a Vita/PSP TV player and more of a Roku-like streaming media box with the added bonus of playing certain games, akin to the Xperia Play.

[ACSeraph]

More importantly PSP games seem to all be compatible, and actually run in full screen. I actually bought this thing specifically to play Darius Burst in full screen, so at least it hasn't disappointed on that front. However, I think there is some input lag when compared to playing on an actual Vita but I'm guessing this is primarily a result of the HDTV itself. It's pretty minimal though seeing as when I tested Project Diva Extend on it I was about to maintain perfects (cool) on it pretty easily.

Question: compare the results of this with, say, a PSP2000 or later with the cord attachment to the television allowing you to play the games on your HDTV. Which is better or worse, or are they about the same? If you don't have the ability to make the comparison, never mind then.

Thanks!

Like BulletMagnet said the fullscreen alone makes it vastly superior, but even beyond that the picture quality is just damn good at 720p. I actually have a full screen upscaler for PSP games but it doesn't look nearly as good as the Vita TV and also features some input lag. Plus using a dual shock is another huge bonus. Darius Burst looks and feels like a console game to me when played on the Vita TV.

[boagman]

Like BulletMagnet said the fullscreen alone makes it vastly superior, but even beyond that the picture quality is just damn good at 720p. I actually have a full screen upscaler for PSP games but it doesn't look nearly as good as the Vita TV and also features some input lag. Plus using a dual shock is another huge bonus. Darius Burst looks and feels like a console game to me when played on the Vita TV.

There's really two things I'm looking for here, beyond what you've already told me so far:

1. I'm wondering about the lag you keep referring to on VitaTV and your full screen upscaler: is that same lag present with the PSP2000 and cables, or no?

2. DB might play like a console game when on the VitaTV, but does it feel like an *arcade* game when you do that? What I'm getting at is this: does it feel akin to playing an early version of DB: Another Chronicle?

Just wondering.

[ACSeraph]

I no longer own my original set of PSP video out cables so I can't test it. I do remember being thoroughly disappointed with them though because the picture only filled about about half the screen and was also stretched incorrectly. Can't remember much about the lag though.

On the topic of the Vita TV's lag though I can say it was entirely my HDTV. After digging for the "Game" setting per friendly's suggestion the lag has disappeared. I can't detect it at all anymore.

Hmm does Darius Burst feel like an arcade game... Well, It looks like the arcade game for sure (though a bit more pixelated obviously, think PS2 quality). However there's no way for it to emulate that Darius experience that you get at the arcade. Like at the arcade the entire cabinet rumbles when shit starts going down, so it really really pulls you into the action. Also the PSP version is a pretty different game from Another Chronicle, both are good in their own ways, but one will not replace the other. Also I tested it and the Vita TV does not support arcade sticks at this point. That said I can't see Darius burst being presented much better in a home format than it is on the Vita TV aside from maybe having a higher polygon count.

I'm actually starting to feel like the Vita TV is a pretty good shmuping machine if you are satisfied playing on a pad. I got Salamander Portable on it and they look and feel great too. At this point I'm thinking I may try to buy all of the digital PSP shmups for it.

Here's my breakdown on PSP Cables, PSP Upscaler, and Vita TV running PSP games

PSP Cables:

- Pros

~ Can play UMDs
~ Cheap

- Cons

~ Runs in a tiny window
~ Stretched at the wrong proportions
~ Generally looks like shit
~ Must use the PSP itself as a controller

PSP Upscaler

- Pros

~ Runs in full screen
~ Can Play UMDs
~ Looks pretty good visually

- Cons

~ Must use the PSP as a controller
~ Some slight sound feedback
~ Some slight lag (even after setting to game mode)

Vita TV

- Pros

~ Looks totally crisp at 720p
~ Runs full screen
~ Pretty much lag free
~ Supports Sixaxis

- Cons

~ Can't play UMDs
~ Aparently also can't play Vita games despite that being the whole goddamn point

[Oniros]

I want to grab this once it hits NA for the sole purpose of playing Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles on my TV. Hopefully the compatibility rate will increase by the time it launches here.