The handheld market is in decline. Of this much, there is little to argue with. Though the 3DS has picked up steam in the time since the hardware's price drop and the holiday run on all things video game, its launch was still something of a wake-up call for Nintendo. After sending the 3DS out into the wild with little support beyond the token notion of 3D being awesome and an array of games that barely bothered to showcase the supposed awesomeness, the company found itself scrambling to recapture the attention of gamers who all but dismissed the system outright.

That initial failure of the 3DS sounded a number of alarm bells among the various talking heads of the industry in regards to all things handheld. Suddenly, the iPhone/iPad was the portable gaming device of the moment. Nintendo had begun to look like a stubborn dinosaur, unwilling to adjust its strategy in the wake of the coming iOS tide.

While all of this hand-wringing and shouting was going on, another player sat quietly in the corner of the room. With its own new handheld system on the horizon, one might think that Sony would be doing everything it could to shout down the foretold death of the handheld console. You'd have expected them to come out guns blazing, blasting everyone with the myriad technical marvels of their new system as loudly as possible. You half expected the word Vita to be plastered over every billboard, every TV ad, for the entire six months prior to the system's North American launch in February.

Intriguingly, Sony hasn't done that. Apart from this year's E3, where the Vita's pricing and initial lineup of games featured rather prominently, Sony has been oddly quiet about the upcoming console launch. The company's focus has been squarely on this holiday season's PlayStation 3 lineup, and word regarding the Vita itself has been largely relegated to various Sony press events, where games were simply on display for the playing, without a ton of fanfare.

There is something kind of great about that approach. Rather than trying too hard to capture everyone's attention, one gets the feeling that Sony is quietly preparing to go very, very big. Rather than tire itself out early, before everything was prepped and ready to show, the console maker has simply stayed in the background, silently amassing a shockingly strong lineup of launch (or, at least, launch window) games that more than ably show off the various technical delights of the system. It's like that episode of The Simpsons, where the Yakuza are fighting the mob on the family's front lawn. Sony is like that little guy in the white suit who does nothing. Homer knows he's going to do something awesome when the time is right, but until then, he just stands there, waiting.

While Sony Computer Entertainment America waits to unleash the Vita on the mostly unsuspecting public, its Japanese counterpart has just launched the console in its native country. While the relatively paltry couple of months between now and then likely means that few will bother to import the system, it occurred to me that very little has been said in regards to which of the Vita's various launch games actually look like titles worth picking up a system for. The good news? There look to be several.

Over the last few months, I've had the chance to play the vast bulk of the Vita's early lineup, and while these have only been brief hands-on sessions, I've come away more than pleased with how most of these games are coming together. While it's been par for the course for a while now that consoles tend to launch with a fairly meager offering of games, the Vita's launch (and the weeks that follow it) look primed to actually buck that trend.

But enough chatter. Here are five games that any prospective Vita owner ought to be paying rapt attention to. I can't guarantee they'll be great in the end, but they nonetheless impressed me in the short bursts in which I've played them.

---

Sound Shapes

Jonathan Mak's follow-up to the critically acclaimed Everyday Shooter has garnered much of the buzz for the system coming out of E3, and rightfully so. Essentially a "musical platformer," the game gives you a ball to navigate through worlds filled with notes. Collecting the notes is both vital for completing the level, but also for completing the song that plays underneath the stage. The music itself is timed with the obstacles and pitfalls of the level. It's not completely dissimilar to Everyday Shooter's methodology of intertwining the soundtrack and the shooting of enemies, but here, the soundtrack plays an even more important role.

Both times I've seen Sound Shapes, I've had the chance to check out the robust level creation system, which is one of the game's more heralded features. I am awful with level creators, but the relatively simple interface, mixed with the intuitive front- and rear-touch controls make designing levels not only relatively easy, but actually kind of fun. It's an incredibly sharp-looking, gorgeous-sounding game that, despite its premise, isn't even one of the weirder Vita launch games. It's a perfect example of how for Vita, Sony seems totally willing to embrace the fringe sides of gaming often relegated to the PlayStation Network Store on the PS3. It's also a hell of a lot of fun.

Escape Plan

This is one of the more recently-revealed titles for the Vita lineup, and also one of the most intriguing. Developed by the same studio that previously brought us Fat Princess, Escape Plan revolves around a pair of captives--the sprightly Lil and the lumbering Laarg--have to navigate a series of pitfalls and traps in order to escape an elaborately constructed prison. Similar to the sort of gameplay inherent to the Lemmings series, each character moves as you instruct them on a set path. Your goal is to move them, as well as the various traps, using both the front- and rear-touch mechanics. In one case, you might need to make a path using unextended platforms. Simply tapping on them from the rear will cause them to jut back into a navigable place. Maybe you need to get to a higher place? Just move Lil over to an air hose to blow him up into a balloon. Just be sure to watch out for traps, and to not run out of air before you get to the top.

I am perhaps not selling the cleverness of this game's mechanics to the best of my abilities, but I assure you that's in service of not spoiling some of the cooler late-game puzzles I got a brief look at. The game will often toss a number of different objectives at you in rapid-succession, requiring you to both think critically and think quickly. Coupled with the game's wonderful, black-and-white cartoon art style, and a charming, Warner Bros.-inspired sense of humor (albeit a very violent spin on that kind of cartoon slapstick), Escape Plan really impressed me quite a bit. Fortunately, it sounds like this one will be hitting right around launch. Here's hoping it pans out as well as it showed.

LittleBigPlanet

Perhaps this one is a bit of a given. LittleBigPlanet on the PSP was a pretty great game, and this version looks to be no different. Actually, perhaps that's a poor choice of words. It's actually quite different, thanks to the various touch mechanics of the Vita. Yes, you can still control the game using a proper analog stick, but the levels I saw mixed and matched the front-touch, rear-touch, and motion-detection to craft a variety of new ways to bring Sack Boy and his pals to the end of a level.

Though Media Molecule doesn't have a direct hand in the development of this latest LBP, you'd be hard-pressed to notice the difference. Mechanically it feels very much like the LBP of old, except with a new array of mechanics to play around with, both in the main game and in the robust level creator, which series fans undoubtedly recognize as the franchise's bread and butter. If you're a fan of LittleBigPlanet, and have any intention of buying a Vita, I can see no reason why you wouldn't want this.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Here's the interesting thing about Uncharted: Golden Abyss: I've played it twice now, and I sincerely have no idea what the plot really entails. Yes, I know the basic boilerplate we've all gotten, but truth be told, I haven't really cared too terribly much about the few story details I've ingested thus far. They're fine, par for the course even with what this series typically entails--Nathan Drake adventuring his ass off for one reason or another--but my mind has typically focused elsewhere. Namely, on the graphics.

Look, visuals aren't everything, but every system needs a big, flashy visual showpiece at its launch. Uncharted is unquestionably that showpiece. The game looks sharper than anything I've ever seen on a handheld console. Full stop. No, it's not quite up to the snuff of Drake's best PS3 adventures, but of course it isn't. What's wrong with you?

The gameplay is more than functional--Sony Bend, who has been developing this in conjunction with Naughty Dog, has ably captured the feel of the console games on the Vita--but if there is one game you're going to want to show off your shiny new electric video gaming trinket with, it's this one.

Gravity Rush

Known as "Gravity Daze: The Perturbation Born In Her Inner Space On The Way Back To The Higher Spheres" in Japan (how great would it have been if Sony America had kept that title?) Gravity Rush just looks cool as all hell. I use that somewhat glib description because truth be told, I haven't got a clue what the heck is going on in this game. I just know it looks awesome.

All I do know is that you play a heroine named Kat (who actually has a pet cat), a woman who has the ability to bend gravity to her will. As you traverse through various cel-shaded environments, fighting off various bad guys, all you have to do is press a button and use the right analog stick or the system's motion sensing to rejigger Kat's own center of gravity. Doing this will allow her to reach new areas she couldn't previously, and even aid in combat.

It's a remarkably fluid game, filled with colorful visuals and a gameplay mechanic that lends itself toward quite a bit of experimentation and discovery. It's also just a lot of fun, as evidenced by my brief time with it, in which I actively refused to put it down until I absolutely had to. The mixture of the combo-based gameplay and gravity-bending action is just downright addictive. Thankfully, this one also looks to hit on February 22nd, alongside the system itself.

---

The Vita still has a lot of hurdles to overcome. There is the perception issue, the one that has hungover since the days of the PSP, that says Sony isn't ever going to be anything but the third place finisher in the handheld market. There is the very real competition that helps fuel that perception, with iOS gaming continuing to soar, and the 3DS now trending upward. There is the rumored pricing of memory cards ($120 for 32 GB), a number Sony says may not be final, but would be detrimental to the health of the system were it true.

The one thing the Vita won't have to worry about at launch? Games. And that's a huge burden to have off a new console's back. This is a lineup that has, at the very least, convinced me that I want one of these things. Now all Sony needs is a few million more like me.

Here's hoping.

The handheld market is in decline. Of this much, there is little to argue with. Though the 3DS has picked up steam in the time since the hardware's price drop and the holiday run on all things video game, its launch was still something of a wake-up call for Nintendo. After sending the 3DS out into the wild with little support beyond the token notion of 3D being awesome and an array of games that barely bothered to showcase the supposed awesomeness, the company found itself scrambling to recapture the attention of gamers who all but dismissed the system outright.

That initial failure of the 3DS sounded a number of alarm bells among the various talking heads of the industry in regards to all things handheld. Suddenly, the iPhone/iPad was the portable gaming device of the moment. Nintendo had begun to look like a stubborn dinosaur, unwilling to adjust its strategy in the wake of the coming iOS tide.

While all of this hand-wringing and shouting was going on, another player sat quietly in the corner of the room. With its own new handheld system on the horizon, one might think that Sony would be doing everything it could to shout down the foretold death of the handheld console. You'd have expected them to come out guns blazing, blasting everyone with the myriad technical marvels of their new system as loudly as possible. You half expected the word Vita to be plastered over every billboard, every TV ad, for the entire six months prior to the system's North American launch in February.

Intriguingly, Sony hasn't done that. Apart from this year's E3, where the Vita's pricing and initial lineup of games featured rather prominently, Sony has been oddly quiet about the upcoming console launch. The company's focus has been squarely on this holiday season's PlayStation 3 lineup, and word regarding the Vita itself has been largely relegated to various Sony press events, where games were simply on display for the playing, without a ton of fanfare.

There is something kind of great about that approach. Rather than trying too hard to capture everyone's attention, one gets the feeling that Sony is quietly preparing to go very, very big. Rather than tire itself out early, before everything was prepped and ready to show, the console maker has simply stayed in the background, silently amassing a shockingly strong lineup of launch (or, at least, launch window) games that more than ably show off the various technical delights of the system. It's like that episode of The Simpsons, where the Yakuza are fighting the mob on the family's front lawn. Sony is like that little guy in the white suit who does nothing. Homer knows he's going to do something awesome when the time is right, but until then, he just stands there, waiting.

While Sony Computer Entertainment America waits to unleash the Vita on the mostly unsuspecting public, its Japanese counterpart has just launched the console in its native country. While the relatively paltry couple of months between now and then likely means that few will bother to import the system, it occurred to me that very little has been said in regards to which of the Vita's various launch games actually look like titles worth picking up a system for. The good news? There look to be several.

Over the last few months, I've had the chance to play the vast bulk of the Vita's early lineup, and while these have only been brief hands-on sessions, I've come away more than pleased with how most of these games are coming together. While it's been par for the course for a while now that consoles tend to launch with a fairly meager offering of games, the Vita's launch (and the weeks that follow it) look primed to actually buck that trend.

But enough chatter. Here are five games that any prospective Vita owner ought to be paying rapt attention to. I can't guarantee they'll be great in the end, but they nonetheless impressed me in the short bursts in which I've played them.

---

Sound Shapes

Jonathan Mak's follow-up to the critically acclaimed Everyday Shooter has garnered much of the buzz for the system coming out of E3, and rightfully so. Essentially a "musical platformer," the game gives you a ball to navigate through worlds filled with notes. Collecting the notes is both vital for completing the level, but also for completing the song that plays underneath the stage. The music itself is timed with the obstacles and pitfalls of the level. It's not completely dissimilar to Everyday Shooter's methodology of intertwining the soundtrack and the shooting of enemies, but here, the soundtrack plays an even more important role.

Both times I've seen Sound Shapes, I've had the chance to check out the robust level creation system, which is one of the game's more heralded features. I am awful with level creators, but the relatively simple interface, mixed with the intuitive front- and rear-touch controls make designing levels not only relatively easy, but actually kind of fun. It's an incredibly sharp-looking, gorgeous-sounding game that, despite its premise, isn't even one of the weirder Vita launch games. It's a perfect example of how for Vita, Sony seems totally willing to embrace the fringe sides of gaming often relegated to the PlayStation Network Store on the PS3. It's also a hell of a lot of fun.

Escape Plan

This is one of the more recently-revealed titles for the Vita lineup, and also one of the most intriguing. Developed by the same studio that previously brought us Fat Princess, Escape Plan revolves around a pair of captives--the sprightly Lil and the lumbering Laarg--have to navigate a series of pitfalls and traps in order to escape an elaborately constructed prison. Similar to the sort of gameplay inherent to the Lemmings series, each character moves as you instruct them on a set path. Your goal is to move them, as well as the various traps, using both the front- and rear-touch mechanics. In one case, you might need to make a path using unextended platforms. Simply tapping on them from the rear will cause them to jut back into a navigable place. Maybe you need to get to a higher place? Just move Lil over to an air hose to blow him up into a balloon. Just be sure to watch out for traps, and to not run out of air before you get to the top.

I am perhaps not selling the cleverness of this game's mechanics to the best of my abilities, but I assure you that's in service of not spoiling some of the cooler late-game puzzles I got a brief look at. The game will often toss a number of different objectives at you in rapid-succession, requiring you to both think critically and think quickly. Coupled with the game's wonderful, black-and-white cartoon art style, and a charming, Warner Bros.-inspired sense of humor (albeit a very violent spin on that kind of cartoon slapstick), Escape Plan really impressed me quite a bit. Fortunately, it sounds like this one will be hitting right around launch. Here's hoping it pans out as well as it showed.

LittleBigPlanet

Perhaps this one is a bit of a given. LittleBigPlanet on the PSP was a pretty great game, and this version looks to be no different. Actually, perhaps that's a poor choice of words. It's actually quite different, thanks to the various touch mechanics of the Vita. Yes, you can still control the game using a proper analog stick, but the levels I saw mixed and matched the front-touch, rear-touch, and motion-detection to craft a variety of new ways to bring Sack Boy and his pals to the end of a level.

Though Media Molecule doesn't have a direct hand in the development of this latest LBP, you'd be hard-pressed to notice the difference. Mechanically it feels very much like the LBP of old, except with a new array of mechanics to play around with, both in the main game and in the robust level creator, which series fans undoubtedly recognize as the franchise's bread and butter. If you're a fan of LittleBigPlanet, and have any intention of buying a Vita, I can see no reason why you wouldn't want this.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Here's the interesting thing about Uncharted: Golden Abyss: I've played it twice now, and I sincerely have no idea what the plot really entails. Yes, I know the basic boilerplate we've all gotten, but truth be told, I haven't really cared too terribly much about the few story details I've ingested thus far. They're fine, par for the course even with what this series typically entails--Nathan Drake adventuring his ass off for one reason or another--but my mind has typically focused elsewhere. Namely, on the graphics.

Look, visuals aren't everything, but every system needs a big, flashy visual showpiece at its launch. Uncharted is unquestionably that showpiece. The game looks sharper than anything I've ever seen on a handheld console. Full stop. No, it's not quite up to the snuff of Drake's best PS3 adventures, but of course it isn't. What's wrong with you?

The gameplay is more than functional--Sony Bend, who has been developing this in conjunction with Naughty Dog, has ably captured the feel of the console games on the Vita--but if there is one game you're going to want to show off your shiny new electric video gaming trinket with, it's this one.

Gravity Rush

Known as "Gravity Daze: The Perturbation Born In Her Inner Space On The Way Back To The Higher Spheres" in Japan (how great would it have been if Sony America had kept that title?) Gravity Rush just looks cool as all hell. I use that somewhat glib description because truth be told, I haven't got a clue what the heck is going on in this game. I just know it looks awesome.

All I do know is that you play a heroine named Kat (who actually has a pet cat), a woman who has the ability to bend gravity to her will. As you traverse through various cel-shaded environments, fighting off various bad guys, all you have to do is press a button and use the right analog stick or the system's motion sensing to rejigger Kat's own center of gravity. Doing this will allow her to reach new areas she couldn't previously, and even aid in combat.

It's a remarkably fluid game, filled with colorful visuals and a gameplay mechanic that lends itself toward quite a bit of experimentation and discovery. It's also just a lot of fun, as evidenced by my brief time with it, in which I actively refused to put it down until I absolutely had to. The mixture of the combo-based gameplay and gravity-bending action is just downright addictive. Thankfully, this one also looks to hit on February 22nd, alongside the system itself.

---

The Vita still has a lot of hurdles to overcome. There is the perception issue, the one that has hungover since the days of the PSP, that says Sony isn't ever going to be anything but the third place finisher in the handheld market. There is the very real competition that helps fuel that perception, with iOS gaming continuing to soar, and the 3DS now trending upward. There is the rumored pricing of memory cards ($120 for 32 GB), a number Sony says may not be final, but would be detrimental to the health of the system were it true.

The one thing the Vita won't have to worry about at launch? Games. And that's a huge burden to have off a new console's back. This is a lineup that has, at the very least, convinced me that I want one of these things. Now all Sony needs is a few million more like me.

Here's hoping.

VITA GAMEZ

Not a bad launch. Much better than the 3DS launch. At least 5 games worth checking out here.

Yeah it's getting to the point where there are too many games to choose from. I'm getting Little Deviants with my first edition bundle, I bought Modnation Racers in full already because Best Buy fucked up and on the site they are selling it for $25 which when it comes out it will be like other games at $39, Gravity Daze looks amazing from the gameplay I've seen and LittleBigPlanet looks like a great version, I hope my PS3 costumes will work. Also I got Valkyria Chronicles 2 waiting to be downloaded on this bad boy. I'm still on the fence about Uncharted but I'll probably buy it along with Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 as long as it has cross platform play which Seth Killian has hinted at when giving demos. I too hope that memory card pricing isn't final, it would hurt them out of the gate.

A strong launch lineup is going to do a lot for the Vita. A weak launch was what ruined the 3DS for me. I mean, I'm getting one no matter what because of P4P and Uncharted, but there's a ton of great looking games coming for it.

I don't play handhelds, but if I did I would get this over the 3DS any day of the week.

I'm still on the fence in regards to buying a 3DS or Vita, but I think at this point there are more Vita games that interest me than there are 3DS games.

The Fat Princess people, the Epic China-owned Titan studios, went bust last year, so I don't think Escape Plan is from them.

Great article good to see someone among the giantbomb staff giving the vita it's fair shake

Don't forget Shinobido 2, the sequel to one of the most fun games on the PS2. I'm gonna have to get a Vita just for that.

Oh wow, this launches tomorrow? Had totally fallen off my radar.

The best launch game is going to be Wipeout 2048.

Though the 3DS has picked up steam in the time since the hardware's price drop and the holiday run on all things video game, its launch was still something of a wake-up call for Nintendo. 

I can't wait until it comes to Europe. Might be a day one-thing for me.

Vita looks like a great device. I'm legitimately excited for it, I'm so sick of shitty mobile phone games it's about time the handheld systems picked up storm again.

@ajamafalous: Today, in Japan. For North America, February.

It's gotten to the point where I've had to save up $1000 to buy all the games that interest me. Hopefully some of the ones I'm interested in turn out to be crap so I'm not broke for the rest of next year since I have no self control.

Im still contemplating whether I should get this or not....  This is great article Alex. 

"Nintendo had begun to look like a stubborn dinosaur, unwilling to adjust its strategy in the wake of the coming iOS tide."

This statement isn't just a reflective look at Nintendo, rather, it's a look at the entire Japanese video game market as a whole. And the only person seemingly willing to make a change is Shigeru Miyamoto who is letting the younger generation develop games for a change. I respect that.

Movies like Grandma's Boy references the Japanese gaming market really well by displaying the ridiculousness of filtering game ideas through one person instead of having a round table brain-storm with multiple people that generates creative ideas.

To put it simply, Japan needs to adjust by following the trends of the industry, while maintaining innovation, or else they'll be left behind. In all honesty, and I could be wrong with this, but isn't Nintendo, Konami, and Namco the only successful companies within the gaming industry of Japan right now? Here in the states we have over 20 - at the least. Yeah, something is wrong there.

@msavo said:

Yeah it's getting to the point where there are too many games to choose from. I'm getting Little Deviants with my first edition bundle, I bought Modnation Racers in full already because Best Buy fucked up and on the site they are selling it for $25 which when it comes out it will be like other games at $39, Gravity Daze looks amazing from the gameplay I've seen and LittleBigPlanet looks like a great version, I hope my PS3 costumes will work. Also I got Valkyria Chronicles 2 waiting to be downloaded on this bad boy. I'm still on the fence about Uncharted but I'll probably buy it along with Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 as long as it has cross platform play which Seth Killian has hinted at when giving demos. I too hope that memory card pricing isn't final, it would hurt them out of the gate.

RE: Valkyria - is this a PSP game or a PS3 one? I loved VC1 on my Playstation, but i never finished it and might be more likely to play if I can load it up on a Vita...

im sold on the trophy support almost alone

Don't forget MLB 12 The Show. It's supposed to be pretty much identical to the PS3 version and you can also share saves between them. So you can start a season on PS3, move your save to Vita and continue on where you left off.

I'll wait until P4 The Golden is out. Some great launch games thou, off to a better start than the 3DS at least. 

Launch games that actually seem interesting? We really are in the future.

I spend about 2 hours on transit each day, so I have actual use for a portable gaming system and I often want a bit more than iOS can offer. I think the price of the system is fantastic, I think the memory cards are a bit on the expensive side but actually in line with what the prices for Memory Stick Pro Duos are. I think the launch line-up looks great but nothing is screaming "Killer App" to me yet.

Regardless of the Vita's success I know that Sony is going to be pushing real real hard on the software front so even if 3rd party support fails to materialize (though I suspect 3rd party Japanese support to be strong) I know that Sony themselves are going to release some interesting games for the system

Great article, Alex. It's nice to see someone at GB is actually able to talk about the Vita without looking down their nose at it while scoffing.

That said, I'll probably hold off from being an early adopter as the price after memory card is still a bit much and my own taste in games has me somewhat less excited for the initial wave of releases (besides Gravity Daze, which looks a lot of fun, and maybe the new Katamari title). On top of that, there are a bunch of games I'm excited for coming out on other consoles around Vita's launch date.

I'm only interested in Sound Shapes and Gravity Daze for launch. But the real reason I won't be picking this up until some big price drops, is the memory card bullshit.

Navarro continues to demonstrate that he's the best writer on the giantbomb crew.

All I want for Christmas is a new Lumines.

@malnourish said:

All I want for Christmas is a new Lumines.

I believe Lumines is a launch title if not launch window.

If the FFX remake is coming out for Vita like it is said to be, I will most likely preorder. Still waiting for my Amazon trade-ins to clear though...

hey that's a pretty nice selection for launch.

@buzz_killington: Weird. The producer I talked to specifically cited Fat Princess. Maybe it's some of the cast-off developers?

The lack of Wipeout in this list is disturbing, it's a launch title too!

I guess something had to give to make this list 5 titles. Vita's launch lineup is looking to be one of the strongest ever.

Now if only I could afford one :(

@Protome: Wipeout looks good, but it's also more Wipeout. It didn't quite hit me the way the other games did. Similar reaction to Resistance, for instance.

I'm on board. iOS gaming holds nothing for me and I'm waiting on a redesigned 3DS to buy into that. Vita launch should be good.

Looks neat. The PSP has given me many hours of entertainment, but I wish it had made a bigger impact in the States. Hopefully the Vita will do better.

@Alex said:

@buzz_killington: Weird. The producer I talked to specifically cited Fat Princess. Maybe it's some of the cast-off developers?

I did a little bit of research, and apparently Titan ended up splitting off into two groups: Carbon Games, who is working on some game called AirMech, and Fun Bits Interactive, who is working on this. Now you know!

Good job, Alex. Its refreshing to see someone talking about the good things about the Vita (the games), and not its apparently premature death.

Uncharted, wipeout and gravity rush look pretty darn cool to me. Sound shapes looks kinda nifty too

I want this but dont want to pay $250 for it, ahhh the debate continues.

Wow, someone on this site who can talk about the Vita without making it sound like the freaking Ngage 2! Anyway, looks great. Dying or no, handheld gaming will always have a use to me. No matter how many people play them and tell me how great they are, smartphones/tablets are never going to give me the gaming experiences I want.

I already have mine preordered.

Already got my Vita preordered along with Uncharted and Gravity Crash. Now all I need is some sweet, sweet Lumines,

people on gaf sayings uncharted controls like shit... hmmm. Wonder if that will get an 'aim patch' like UC3 ;)

Nice im very interested in gravity rush and sound shapes thanks Alex.

@Luchalma said:

Wow, someone on this site who can talk about the Vita without making it sound like the freaking Ngage 2! Anyway, looks great. Dying or no, handheld gaming will always have a use to me. No matter how many people play them and tell me how great they are, smartphones/tablets are never going to give me the gaming experiences I want.

I agree with every statement in this post so I'll just quote it rather than typing out the same thing in my own words.