168 replies to this topic

[Ondore]

So after I bitched about Sony's memory pricing a few months back, Indy replied with this gem:

In Japan. You know, you don't live -in Japan-.

Well, Gamestop put out the US accessory pricing for the Vita. And look!

Spoiler

4GB PlayStation Vita Memory Card - $29.99
8GB PlayStation Vita Memory Card - $44.99
16GB PlayStation Vita Memory Card - $69.99
32GB PlayStation Vita Memory Card - $119.99
PlayStation Vita AC Adaptor - $19.99
PS VITA Armor GameCase - $7.99
PS VITA ArmorShell - $12.99
PlayStation Vita Car Adaptor - $17.99
PlayStation Vita Card Case - $9.99
PlayStation Vita Carrying Case - $19.99
PlayStation Vita Cradle - $19.99
PS VITA Crystal Custom Case - $19.99
PlayStation Vita In-ear Headset - $19.99
PS VITA Nerf Armor - $17.99
PlayStation Vita Portable Charge - $49.99
PlayStation Vita Protective Film (Two Pack) - $14.99
PS VITA Pull N Go Folio - $29.99
PlayStation Vita Starter Kit - $29.99
PS Vita Starter Kit - $24.99
PS Vita Trigger Grip - $17.99
PlayStation Vita Travel Pouch - $19.99
PlayStation Vita USB Cable - $14.99

So you can add $30 to the base unit if you want to save some percentage of games. Or if I want to take advantage of backcompat from the PSP games I'm going to have soon, I'm out $70 US at minimum. And since it's only being used in the Vita thus far, I can't even count on a price drop. Glorious.

[richrad]

Is it a proprietary card?

[mik]

It is. A new one.

[richrad]

Well. Fuck that.

[Indy aka Rex]

Uhh, FYI, that's not an announcement, those are a retailer's placeholder prices. Unless it's from SONY? It's not an announcement. GS uses placeholder prices (guesstimates) when they just want to have stuff up so people will pre-order, even if they don't have final retail prices. It could be higher, or lower.

They do it for games, they do it for hardware and they do it for accessories.

[SickBoy]

If it isn't via Sony (and I'm sure they're apprised of pricing intentions in many cases) it's probably on target -- right about in line with pricing for the M2 Memory Stick cards.

Doesn't seem too outlandish to me, but kinda sucks to be more or less required to tack on such extra costs. Mind you, do you want an HD experience for your HD console? Time to buy some cables... manufacturers will include the bare minimum wherever they can. I think a memory card should be a part of that, but obviously Sony's being generous, and letting their users make their own decisions about storage

[Tron]

It sucks, but the PSP had a proprietary memory card as well. Don't worry, some shit third party will make shit memory cards, and you'll lose your saves after you saved a few bucks.

[KnightAttack]

Y'know, you can complain all you want, but it wasn't that long ago that a 8MB memory card for certain game systems that were officially licensed were $30 a pop. Sure, you could buy the off-brand ones cheaper, but they corrupted saves often. If you want to go back just a little further. 120KB cards were $30 as well.



Even at that, when I bought my PSP, the biggest card available was 8GB at the time, and it was $120. I got on sale that week a 4GB for around $50.




This isn't that big of a deal.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Will the Vita have any on board storage at all or will it be like the 1000/2000/3000s that force you to use a memory card if you want to do any saving whatsoever?

[levitynyc]

Does the Vita allow you to play PS1 Classics?

[TheKurichan]

Does nobody have google?

Yes vita plays ps1 classics, was that a joke?

No internal memory.

[mik]

http://www.gamepro.c...aystation-vita/

[TheKurichan]

http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/223938/no-psone-classics-support-for-the-playstation-vita/

I stand corrected/bemused, I got my answer from the FAQ on Sony's website. So no ps1 classic support. That seems pointless.

[mik]

None in Japan. Nothing definitive here. But I wouldn't count on it at launch.

[PlayerOneStewy]

What's this about the memory cards being proprietary on the original PSP? Wasn't it just a Pro Duo card?

[mik]

Yeah. Originally they were only available from Sony, though. Eventually third parties made them too. Same will happen here at some point.

[PlayerOneStewy]

Are you saying the internet is being unreasonable?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I won't be buying a PSVita at launch because nothing at all interests me on the launch lineup, but I sincerely hope the system succeeds. I like the look of the system. I like the idea of the system. It seems like a much better design than the 3DS. When something truly awesome comes out for it, I'll jump on board. I realize my gaming tastes differ as a retro gamer looking at new tech. The PS3 didn't interest me at all until I saw 3D Dot Game Heroes by From Software. The Vita will need something like that to woo me over.

[Architecture]

[mik]

Wiki facts!

Edited by mik, 28 November 2011 - 01:02 PM.

[Owozifa]

Proprietary gets tossed around a lot, but what a mishandled and suggestive word it seems to be. Proprietary just means someone privately owns the rights to the tech, which could apply to just about any media format. Even DVD is subject to the DVD Forum, which is a grouping of companies, but you still need their approval to call your thing a DVD.

The only difference between a Memory Stick and an SD Card is who you do business with, and from the looks of things SanDisk has their hands in both of those pies anyway.

[Wenny]

Proprietary gets tossed around a lot, but what a mishandled and suggestive word it seems to be. Proprietary just means someone privately owns the rights to the tech, which could apply to just about any media format. Even DVD is subject to the DVD Forum, which is a grouping of companies, but you still need their approval to call your thing a DVD.

The only difference between a Memory Stick and an SD Card is who you do business with, and from the looks of things SanDisk has their hands in both of those pies anyway.

This is a good point. To expand on the differences in licesing, technologies like DVD or Blu-Ray have non-discriminatory licenses. This prevents Sony from denying a license to Microsoft or charging them more. It's seen as the first step to universal adoption.

While MemoryStick spent a portion of its life as a proprietary storage format it hasn't been for quite some time now. Architecture just doesn't like being wrong.

[PlayerOneCJ]

I bought sandisk mem cards for the PSP, I think at launch. The Pro Duo was a proprietary memory card that was also used in digital cameras though, right? If the Vita's cards are solely used in the Vita I wonder if we will see third parties making them - maybe not as quickly. Surely if they are Vita-only and not licensed to third parties the prices won't drop as fast. I imagine retail would be quite happy about that since memory cards are higher margin, and they'll probably already be concerned about losing sales to digital delivery.

[mik]

It will be slower than memory sticks. But it will happen.

[PlayerOneCJ]

Right, but they'll keep them high for as long as they can if there is no alternative from third parties. Like other first party accessories.

[minus_273]

is it still the case that you can't play any vita games without at least the $30 card?

http://www.engadget....-definitely-no/

will either save your progress to its SD card-like external storage or to the cartridge itself, as SCEI's not offering users any option for overlap or preference. Thinking you might save a few bucks and skip out on the external memory altogether? Well, my frugal gaming friends, think again.Unlike the PSP, titles for the system requiring an external save, in addition to some downloadable content, simply won't play without a memory card on board.

I bought sandisk mem cards for the PSP, I think at launch. The Pro Duo was a proprietary memory card that was also used in digital cameras though, right? If the Vita's cards are solely used in the Vita I wonder if we will see third parties making them - maybe not as quickly. Surely if they are Vita-only and not licensed to third parties the prices won't drop as fast. I imagine retail would be quite happy about that since memory cards are higher margin, and they'll probably already be concerned about losing sales to digital delivery.

Im going to go out on a limb and say sony has learned from MS on this and the memory formats will be locked down on the system. I expect encryption and no third party options. Not being able to load corrupted saves is one less avenue to jail breaking.

Edited by minus_273, 28 November 2011 - 06:32 PM.

[Architecture]

Wiki facts!

What point are you trying to make, exactly? It is a proprietary format, both in the proper and colloquial definitions. Does Canon use Memory Sticks as a storage solution for their cameras? How about Nikon? Pentax? Olympus? Does any electronics manufacturer besides Sony use Memory Sticks? Just because third parties are selling the cards themselves doesn't change the fact that it's a niche ecosystem.

Architecture just doesn't like being wrong.

The thing of it is, Wenny, I'm not wrong.

[Wenny]

The thing of it is, Wenny, I'm not wrong.

You sure are. You just linked to an image showing that Memory Stick Pro was a joint effort between two companies...that's already counter to the definition of the term as it relates to technology. That Sony was the only major adopter doesn't matter.

Beta and MiniDisc are proprietary technologies because they were developed and controlled by a single company...despite other manufacturers producing their own Beta and/or MD units. Memory Stick started out proprietary (as I mentioned earlier) but hasn't been for years.

[Architecture]

You sure are. You just linked to an image showing that Memory Stick Pro was a joint effort between two companies...that's already counter to the definition of the term as it relates to technology. That Sony was the only major adopter doesn't matter.

No, it isn't. Just because it was developed by two companies doesn't prevent it from being proprietary in the technical definition. And again, colloquially, the word "proprietary" has come to mean something different, and you'd be remiss to ignore it completely.

Beta and MiniDisc are proprietary technologies because they were developed and controlled by a single company...despite other manufacturers producing their own Beta and/or MD units. Memory Stick started out proprietary (as I mentioned earlier) but hasn't been for years.

Again, it's not about a single company, it's about the copyright holder issuing licenses to other manufacturers. Are you actually going to argue that the technology behind the Memory Stick has been made public domain by Sony and SanDisk?

There seems to be a problem on this board with regards to reading comprehension and logical thought progression.

[Wenny]

Again, it's not about a single company, it's about the copyright holder issuing licenses to other manufacturers. Are you actually going to argue that the technology behind the Memory Stick has been made public domain by Sony and SanDisk?

Public domain? How did copyright law enter into the discussion?

[Architecture]

It's really hard to find well-written information on this subject unfortunately, but it probably falls to patent holders than copyright holders. However, that's a stupidly semantic nit to pick and doesn't fundamentally change the question. I highly doubt you're too short-sighted to see past that, so I'm just going to have to assume you get your rocks off via obstinacy.

[Wenny]

It would help if you share your definition of "proprietary" since it seems to be a little floaty.

[minus_273]

It would help if you share your definition of "proprietary" since it seems to be a little floaty.

[gokieks]

This "is Memory Stick proprietary" argument was inane and irrelevant the first time we had it, and nothing has changed the second time around.

It's not proprietary in the strictest definition of the word (i.e. companies other than Sony/SanDisk can license/support it if they so choose), but it's effectively so because Sony was and is the only company who has pushed it towards consumer adoption. And whether it is or not has really nothing to do with the PSVita Memory Card, which actually is, at least at this point in time.

[Wenny]

Are you saying the PS Vita uses memory cards?

[Architecture]

Alright, gloves off.

Wenny, you are absolutely fucking retarded.

God, that feels so good.

[gokieks]

Are you saying the PS Vita uses memory cards?

They're being listed as "PlayStation Vita Memory Card", so yes, that seems to be what they're going to be called.

[Wenny]

They're being listed as "PlayStation Vita Memory Card", so yes, that seems to be what they're going to be called.

I bet they're going to be way expensive.

[Architecture]

Criminally expensive. $120 for 32GB of data? That's insane.

I understand why Sony wants to use its own proprietary format, but someone will still reverse-engineer the damned thing and find a way to put emulators and pirated games on the Vita.

[minus_273]

Criminally expensive. $120 for 32GB of data? That's insane.

I understand why Sony wants to use its own proprietary format, but someone will still reverse-engineer the damned thing and find a way to put emulators and pirated games on the Vita.

having to buy custom reader hardware is probably going to be a huge deterrent. It will probably also not use FAT .