PlayStation Vita Buyer's Guide

Posted on Friday, February 3 @ 16:40:00 Eastern by Daniel Bischoff

Sony's PlayStation Vita launches this month, meaning there's going to be a ton of new games and accessories, plus the hardware itself, that you'll have to pony up the dough for. Let GameRevolution take you on a guided tour of everything you need so your day one handheld experience is the best it can possibly be.

So you've preordered a PlayStation Vita.... Wait-- YOU HAVEN'T?! GET ON THAT RIGHT NOW! Seriously, there are a few awesome preorder deals, including Sony's PlayStation Vita First Edition Bundle:

PlayStation Vita First Edition Bundle: ... includes PlayStation Vita 3G/Wi-Fi Hardware, 4GB Memory Card, Little Deviants Game, Special Edition Case, 250 MB DataConnection Pass, and free PSN Game Download, and get your PlayStation Vita a week early.
$349.99

PlayStation Vita 3G Launch Bundle: ... includes PlayStation Vita 3G/Wi-Fi Hardware, 8GB Memory Card, 250 MB DataConnection Pass, and free PSN Game Download.
$299.99

PlayStation Vita Wifi: ... PlayStation Vita Wi-Fi Only Hardware.
$249.99

Why do two out of three Vita bundles include Memory Cards? Because Sony's proprietary memory cards are an absolute essential to getting everything out of your PlayStation Vita. It can be a little disappointing that in this modern word of flash storage and internal hard drives, the Vita takes a step back, but you can't blame the electronics giant for combatting piracy any way they can.

Memory cards will store your game saves and any games you download, which includes full retail PlayStation Vita titles you download from the PS Store, as well as PSN games and DLC. Here's the rundown of options--we recommend you go with a larger card since space will fill up fast if you're also storing music and movies for on the go entertainment.

4GB: $19.99 -- 8GB: $29.99 -- 16GB: $59.99 -- 32GB: $99.99

If you're dropping this many bills on an expensive piece of electronic hardware, you might consider picking up a few accessories to protect your investment. When you're spending this much on an item with a touch screen, you know you just have to get those screen protectors.

PlayStation Vita Protective Film - Two Pack: If you've got an iPhone or other touch-screen device, you know how gunky and ugly a screen can get after even light play. The Vita's gorgeous screen will certainly be dimenished after a long session of touch screen controls.
$9.99

PlayStation Vita Travel Pouch: There's no way you're fitting this thing in your pocket, and again, you're spending a lot of money. Don't just throw it in your bag to play contact sports with every other device you've got. The travel pouch comes with a compartment for the system's power adapter (5-hour battery life everyone!) and a handful of game cartridges.
$19.99

PlayStation Vita Cradle: If you're going to set up shop and watch movies on the plane or at home, you might want to invest in the cradle so your hands are free to do what they please... like eat greasy food. Once again, screen protectors... seriously.
$19.99

PlayStation Vita USB Cable: Got a bunch of music and movies already downloaded that you'd like to enjoy with the Vita? Get a USB Cable, use it, and be happy.
$14.99

Up next? The best games to buy at launch!

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Tags: sony, PS Vita

Comments

tinymhg
Joined: Jun 2011

Posted: Feb 3rd, 2012 at 4:51 pm
I think I'll be able to live without it for awhile.

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TurinAlexander
Joined: Sep 2006

Posted: Feb 3rd, 2012 at 10:04 pm
There's only one launch title I'm interested in, and I'm not so excited about it that I'm going to drop three hundred dollars to play it. And while I can't blame Sony for trying to combat piracy, that memory is painfully overpriced.

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Greywolfe1982
Joined: Jan 2008

Posted: Feb 4th, 2012 at 10:04 am
With the high price of the console and ridiculous price of memory, and the fact that all I'm really excited for is Uncharted and Ruin (er...Warrior's Lair now?) I might just be waiting for a price drop. Which given the sales in Japan seems pretty imminent.

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sg4real
Joined: Apr 2011

Posted: Feb 4th, 2012 at 11:03 am
Is this really worth it if you already own a 3DS?
I don't play the 3DS much lately... blame mw3

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Rinnon
Joined: Nov 2005

Posted: Feb 4th, 2012 at 5:29 pm
I'm not going to be buying a Vita on principle. I find the way in which Sony is requiring additional memory cards at outrageous prices to be extremely dishonest. It's a way of saying "Yeah, the Vita is 250 dollars!" and then tacking on extra costs without it needed to go on the original price point.

But maybe that wouldn't be such I big deal if I wasn't so positive they were price gouging us. These are basically Micro SDHC chips, in proprietary Sony form. You know how much it costs to buy 32 Gigs when you're NOT buying it from Sony? About 40 bucks. If you're not picky about brand names, you can get it for 30. There's absolutely no reason why Sony can't be offering every single one of those memory card at AT LEAST half of what they ARE offering them at.

You want to use Memory Cards as a way to combat Piracy? Fine. You want to force us to buy Sony branded memory cards? I can accept that too begrudgingly. But to then charge more than double what the same chip would cost otherwise is where I draw the line.

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sliverstorm
Joined: Jun 2007

Posted: Feb 13th, 2012 at 7:39 pm
This. It's a HUGE step backward from the PS3 allowing you to swap out hard drives on the fly, and, as Rinnon pointed out, totally unnecessary to boot. Sony is taking a page out of Nintendo's playbook on this one.

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sg4real
Joined: Apr 2011

Posted: Feb 4th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
I did a calculation of how much it would cost me if I'd buy what I want.

640$.....

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Snacko
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Feb 8th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
I think I'll wait a bit until a price drop. This seems like great hardware and the launch lineup is fantastic, but the price of external memory is just too high at this point.

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thewhiteark
Joined: Oct 2011

Posted: Feb 14th, 2012 at 9:09 am
Are those seriously being sold without a USB cable?! No words in the tongues of Elf, Man or Ent can describe such... avarice!

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danielrbischoff
Joined: Nov 2009

Posted: Feb 17th, 2012 at 10:07 am
I've discovered that the system DOES come with a USB cable.

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Lenin17301
Joined: Jan 2007

Posted: Feb 19th, 2012 at 9:46 pm
Oops, i preordered the first edition bundle AND a USB cable, I guess i'll have to sell one.

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BigTruckSeries
Joined: May 2006

Posted: Feb 17th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
I'll wait until they get a game I truly want before I actually buy one. I did write a review about the one I had to review:

epinions.com/review/sony-playstation-vita-console/content_579623554692

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