http://www.gamrreview.com/review/90453/killzone-mercenary-psv

Woot?

I just... I just don't get some reviewers for Vita.  I'm all for expressing what they want; and pointing out flaws where there are flaws and scoring accordingly (for example, a few reviewers said the campaign was too short; or that they didn't like the controls or AI of Killzone Merc).

Yet, the Metacritic quotes still have a place for things like this.

Metro: "The real test for Mercenary is whether the game would stand out if it was released on a home console, but the answer to that is probably not."

EGM: "The crowded control scheme, uninspired campaign, and limited multiplayer options are completely outclassed by most home-console shooters."

I honestly don't think it'll ever change by this point.  Whatever damage Sony has done by advertising this as "console quality on the go" (I assume that's why games on Vita get reviewed like this, because logically I'd hope people realise they're playing on a handheld) seems permanent.  Vita games will get compared to their home console equivalents and no amount of pointing out time and time again that Vita isn't a home console will make any difference.

Oh well.  At least Runa liked it!

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2013/09/04/big-in-japan-sale-save-on-tales-of-graces-f-resident-evil-ragnarok-more/

EU sale.

Some mighty fine PSP/Vita stuff in there.

Well, that's certainly part of it. Since the debut of PSP, Sony has raised expectations to a ridiculous degree by insisting that their handhelds are a PS2 or PS3 in your pocket. Problem is, they aren't and are really always about a generation behind.

The other thing is that when you make games like Uncharted or Resistance or Killzone or Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed that are kind of the ugly little brothers of the home console entries, most players will always be painfully aware of the disparity in quality. There's really no way around that. The more faithful the recreation in terms of gameplay (Killzone: Mercenary as opposed to Killzone: Liberation), the more your attention will be drawn to what's different. The people who play those series are particularly sensitive to bells and whistles like graphical quality and bombastic presentation, so the handheld versions just don't hold up.

I think this is what Scott Moffitt was trying to say when he was talking about the difference between Sony and Nintendo's handheld strategies, but he got it pretty wrong by positing that Sony's games are just big, overlong home console affairs that don't really work for the shorter bursts of play that he (wrongly, I'd say) thinks handheld players prefer. The real difference is that Nintendo treats its handhelds as a first priority and makes games for them that will work to flatter the hardware, and which are in turn flattered by the hardware. Whereas Sony insists that it can recreate everything you love about console games on a handheld, and that just can't really be done with most of these modern day franchises for which presentation is everything.

I mean, I don't recall many people saying that Gravity Rush or Soul Sacrifice were "good... for handheld games". They were largely received as simply good games, period.

i saw it, some nice sales in there indeed... terrible timing for me though. at least it lasts 2 weeks so maybe i'll still be able to make use of it.

I just got Killzone Mec and damn is this game beautiful. "Sign" I should of pre order that game so i would of received a free sackboy/helghast keychain. Oh well.

This game can't be beautiful, it's on the Vita and not a home console AND it has a day one patch. Nice try.

I am reading some criticism for KZ: Mercenary and like Uncharted: GA the reviewers are marking it down because it did not live up to their console counterparts but then again why would they need to compare something that is made on a handheld against its console brothers?

Have you seen the new Zelda on 3DS, its a piece of shit. overhead view lol. the home console games have been 3D since the N64.

Damn i got caught red handed. Oh well goes back to playing killzone. 

But really i cant stop taking screen shots every second.