Sony evolves PlayStation Suite, makes Vita a PS3 controller
Mobile manoeuvres
Sony has detailed plans for the evolution of PlayStation Suite, as well as announcing a Vita update that'll see the handheld become a PS3 controller.
The PlayStation Suite, which has been renamed PlayStation Mobile is heading towards various Sony-certified handsets, among them Acer tablets, the forthcoming WikiPad and, of course, the PlayStation Vita, sometime this autumn.
As with Google Play and Apple's iTunes App Store, Sony's platform allows users to buy a game and subsequently download it to all of their devices. As it stands, around 85 developers have pledged their intent to create games for PlayStation Mobile.
The Japanese firm also highlighted an upcoming update for the PlayStation Vita that'll see it become a controller for PS3 consoles, similar to Nintendo's two-screen offering with the Wii U.
The update - set for rollout on 28 August - also includes an increase in the number of titles playable on multiple devices and the ability to import music playlists from a PlayStation 3 or iTunes.
When Sony said the PS Vita and PS3 combination was superior to the Wii U setup, it hinted that such features were on their way. With these features now officially confirmed, Nintendo's job seems much harder. ®
COMMENTS
Re: What nonsense
"PS3 uses an ancient Bluetooth level and G-standard wifi, there will never be a decent second-screen solution like the WiiU has at the hardware level. Anyone who has tried remoteplay knows this."
Well that's nonsense. The PSP's remote play was perfectly capable of playing movies and video content over the screen and wifi.
It's also not beyond the bounds of possibility that the Vita could act as a smart controller for certain titles. e.g. to show a map on the screen, or inventory, or current objective, or provide shortcuts for some functions, or act as the video / voice chat link while playing. etc. It might require the Vita be running some kind of client app but it's technically possible.
It's quite clear that the possibilities of this arrangement are far richer than anything a Wii U device could offer.
Personally however I think the idea is probably a gimmick and will be something of a niche. Not everyone has a Vita so it does not seem likely it will be put it to much use outside of 1st party titles.
Re: What nonsense
Your lag comment is utter nonsense. The Vita is a full handheld console on it's own, unlike the Wii U controller that has little local processing power. On the Wii U the remote screens are rendered by the Wii U and sent to the controller. With the PS3+Vita the remote screen can be rendered by code running directly on the Vita itself. There is nothing in the architecture that would make the lag any worse than the Wii U and in fact it should be much better since there is far less info being transferred between the two systems.
Games on the go.
Something the Wii-U can't do, is start playing a PS3 game with the vita as a controller, and then carry on the game on the Vita on the move, and then move the gaming back to the PS3 later on.
However this clearly needs the dual-play games that come with a Vita and a PS3 version in the box at a slightly increased price. Other games just work in the Wii-U mode of using the mobile console as a controller.
Still it's nice to have both options...
So, having finally gotten around to copying the GameCube/GBA control set-up
They only have a little longer to wait for the Wii-U to see what in-game implementations they can copy too...
Truth is, the only things that work like this are multi-player games, where your local map/inventory etc. can be hidden from other players. But with no studios interested in multiplayer now online play is the norm (where hiding the view from other players is not an issue), and the unlikeliness of enough people with portables gathering around one console to play, these features are going to see about as much use as the Tingle Tuner. About the closest you're going to get to a 'killer app' is a Blu-Ray remote.
I like the idea AC "Games on the go." suggested, that we could switch between mobile/ps3 gaming seamlessly, but, I wonder how often anyone would use it.
Me, me, all the time, me. Sony call it "continuation play", and the complete lack of games currently supporting it is why I don't currently have a Vita. If I could play inFamous 2 at home, then continue it in my lunch break on my Vita, and pick up where I left off after work, that would be utterly bitchin'. It's the best touted feature of the Vita IMO, and no-one's bloody well implemented it!
