Miscellaneous Thoughts
There's a lot to keep in mind when it comes to the two latest dedicated portables. "You can't play sales". That's what people say when you compare hardware sales. The thing is, that's not necessarily true. The system that sells more (shut up, Wii owners) is the system that gets the most support. As of right now, the Vita isn't exactly setting the world on fire with its hardware sales. The risk isn't great but the possibility is there. Unless the Sony does something different with the Vita and figure out some way to get people to actually buy the thing, it may very well be a dying system. The history of the gaming industry is littered with systems that were technically superior to their competition but died a premature death. One need only look at the competitors that tried to take on the Gameboy, only to fall by the wayside. On paper, the Atari Lynx, Turbo Xpress, Game Gear, Nomad, and many more should have trounced the inferior, monochrome console but certain decisions doomed them. Sony needs figure out what they want the Vita to be and market it as such. It's an amazing piece of hardware an it would be a tragedy if the Vita fails simply because consumers don't know what to make of it. Why would developers take advantage of the powerful hardware if the audience isn't there to buy the games? You can't play sales.....but sales are everything.
The 3DS retails for around $170. It supports any SD card that you may have laying around the house. The Vita sells between $250 and $300 depending on whether 3G connectivity is something that interests you. The Vita also uses a proprietary storage medium. While a large memory card for the 3DS can be had for a very low price, a memory card for the Vita can run you anywhere from $20 to $100. You get a little more if you pay a little bit more, but if money is an issue, price is definitely something to consider [side note: I have a 3G Vita ($300), a 32GB memory card ($100), 3 retail games ($140), a carrying case ($20). Vita gaming is not cheap!!].
And then, there's the 3DS. Early adopters of Nintendo platforms know the drill. You buy the console and then you buy it again....and again.....and again..... It's a cycle we know very well. There's a section early on in the Bible that some people call the "begats". The Nintendo lore is similar. "The Gameboy begat the Gameboy Pocket. The Gameboy Pocket begat the Gameboy Light. The Gameboy light had a child known as the Gameboy Color....." And it continues up to the present. Multiple iterations of Gameboys, Gameboy Advance, and DS fill Nintendo's catalog. Yes, Sony did it too (PSP 2000, 3000, Go) but many feel that the next version of the 3DS is going to be the one that "gets it right" and that it will be announced, soon. A second analog, a bigger, brighter, screen, and a more modern design are just a few features that people feel will be a sure thing with the coming of the inevitable redesign. Do you really want to buy now when something better is just over the horizon? Nintendo does make transferring data from console to console extremely easy. With that being the case, does it ease one's mind that their content will be safely transferred or does that make them worry that their system will soon be the "old version" when the better model comes out?
There's plenty of reasons to buy one over the other. It's up to you to decide which ones are the most crititcal to you. And with all of these factors in mind, it's time to decide the winner. Playstation Vita or Nintendo 3DS? There can be only one....
