Sony Execs Discuss Vita Multimedia Support & More
Several members of Sony’s development community as well as Corporate Executives spoke with Impress Watch this week about the upcoming PlayStation Vita. Some of the big names involved in the interview include Senior VP of Sony Computer Entertainment Yoshio Matsumoto and Head of Software Development Muneki Shimada. They discussed the type of multimedia support we can expect from the Vita, the custom memory cards and PSP backwards compatibility.
Multimedia Support
Out of the box Vita will support 720P video playback. This might cause some videophiles to complain that they are not getting true 1080P playback. Unfortunately the Vita’s screen only supports a maximum of 544 vertical pixels, anything beyond that range would have to be down sized.
Unlike the PSP you can play your pre-loaded music tracks over a game’s audio. The game’s audio would also still be played, presumably at a lower audio, alongside your own music. According to the interview all games will support this feature since it is built right in to the devices firmware, requiring no extra work from developers.
PlayStation Portable Backwards Compatibility
Muneki Shimada revealed that PSP backwards compatibility isn’t accomplished simply through emulation. Without going into specific details he explained that Vita accomplished backwards compatibility using a combination of hardware and software. He explained that future firmware upgrades will add support for additional titles.
Proprietary Memory Cards
The PlayStation Vita will use proprietary memory cards that must be purchased separate from the handheld. Muneki Shimada explained that Sony made this decision for two reasons. The first was to ensure that all Vita users have the same experience. Since there are differing classes of SD cards, for example, it is possible that users of cheaper or lower class cards could have experienced lag while playing games. The second reason for the proprietary memory cards is to prevent piracy. The PS Vita will not read as a “removable storage device” on a Windows computer. Instead you will have to use software specifically designed by Sony to move files to and from the Vita. Most of this is in attempt to thwart piracy – something that had may have hurt the PSP significantly.
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7 Responses to “Sony Execs Discuss Vita Multimedia Support & More”
720P isn’t bad at all
lots of games play at 720P already. Portable Ps3 indeed
I’m finding it hard to justify buying a PSV now. Sony say their SD cards are to stop priacy but let’s be honest here a lot of it is to do with charging high amounts of money for them. I’ll get it by the time Sony learns that their making the same stupid mistake they made with the PS3 by charging WAY too much for it.
don’t buy the cards, then….you can still play the games and save inside the game card itself right? if you plan on buying DLC, then buy the smallest and cheapest one 4GB, and swap the content you want to play with your PS3/PC…I don’t think that’s too troublesome, I’d be buying physical games anyway.
but you can only save on the card for certain games, not all of them. Uncharted needs a memory card unless you don’t mind replaying from the beginning all the time
Honestly I’m tired of the stupid argument of I can’t justify buying the Vita because of this or that, go buy an iPhone or android at retail price it costs just as much as the vita if not more. Memory cards are too much? Really? smartphones on the average run your phone bill to $100/month. Do the math thats $1200 a year and people don’t complain thats to much to play their mobile games and thats a yearly payment but the vita is a one time purchase. Memory card to expensive or not, it’s still a better choice
there will be people that will buy this on day 1 and there are people that will wait for a price cut , but don’t expect to pay not as much money when you buy a brand new console if its portable or home console.