Featured Post

Possible new PlayStation Portal model pays homage to the Vita's OLED

While much of the focus on PlayStation's next steps is the PS6 and PS6 Portable , the two-year old PlayStation Portal could be getting a revamp according to those pesky internet rumours.  Update : Hints at pricing are around £/$250-299 for the new model, but everything remains deeply in rumours territory. Presumably the goal is to hit the 10% (currently 7%-ish) adoption rate among PS5 owners, something that would make it a bone fide hit gadget.   The recent February  PlayStation State of Play  saw no announcement. But, PlayStation needs to make Portal more a core member of the PS5 family, rather than the distant cousin that most of its appearances suggest.  As the improvement in connectivity and streaming tech, proven by many gamers enjoying their PS5 or PlayStation Plus streamed content from around the world, an updated Portal Pro could be on the cards.  Possibly featuring a 120Hz display and an OLED screen in honour of the mighty Vita, that'd be coo...

Hey Sony, here's your 'things to fix' list on the PS Vita

Any Vita using PlayStation fan should know where this article is going, but Sony needs a firmware update pretty soon to prevent some handhelds getting thrown and broken.

1. Golden Abyss and the Black Market map of confusion.

What the hell happens? Tap the map on the Live Area screen, it takes you to near, you press the near button and nothing happens. I get warnings about not leaving Near and returning to the game, there's certainly no treasure. What are you supposed to do, it makes no sense? Then you finally go back to the Black Market app, there's no items to trade, I finished the game, I should have something right? Then it asks you to "post updated trade offers." Confusing is not the word.

If games are supposed to link to apps, then the handover needs to be fluid and end in either a positive result or a "nothing to see here, go back to your game" message. Don't leave users hanging, confused or how about you just ditch Near as there's more confusion in this app then the rest of the Vita's utilities put together.

2. That "Please wait" hell

This screen can appear three or four times on some games. Plus a couple of bonus "connecting to PlayStation Network" screens as well. If a game needs the network, just an icon in the corner will suffice. Don't ruin the integrity of the game with these horrible interruptions. I don't know if its lazy game programmers or a Sony-enforced message, but make it stop please!

3. Memory is king

With the PS Vita hamstrung by those silly over-priced memory cards, why isn't the size of each file clear marked as the very first thing on each PSN entry? Why isn't there a little memory card icon similar to the battery charge one showing how full it is, or more practically, how much room is left. Why wait until you've paid for the game or chosen the app and tried to download before giving you a warning that there's not enough space.

I hope all of these issues can be fixed by a little bit of firmware trickery. But with more games planning on using Near to trade goods, like Phantasy Star, that app needs a great deal of work. It really feels like someone at Sony had a good idea but didn't quite know how to execute it, especially with the two different models of Vita to confuse things.

Anything else you'd like Sony to address?

Currently playing on my Vita/PS3/PS4/PS5


Any news or interview requests, please contact psp2roundup@gmail.com Please note, As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.