Lots and lots and LOTS of maintenance periods lately. It can't be just maintenance, surely? Wonder if they're building up for some additional features.

I look forward to seeing the reviews of this later in the year. I enjoyed the Sniper Elite V2 demo, but was put off by it being 'yet another' WW2 scenario - so I'm hoping Ghost Warrior 2 is a decent game.

@get2sammyb Never played that one, but would like some like Beach Head 2, Crazy Comets, Sanxxion, Hawkeye, Uridium, Raid over Moscow etc.

Never was a Sega fan, so I won't be buying any of these. Wish they'd get some old C64 classics.

Really, really want this game. I've had trouble playing anything else since #Uncharted3 - everything else seems weak by comparison; story, presentation etc. just don't match up. Only another Naughty Dog game can measure up!

Hoping for some gameplay at E3... perhaps even news of a demo, and a release date of this year.

Oh, has there been a drought? I hadn't noticed. The games I bought at launch are still keeping me busy alongside my PS3. I'm not in any rush for new games yet.

I got a 360 in mid-December with 2 games. Used it to play Forza 4 a lot until Christmas Eve. It's only been on about 3 times since then, and I haven't bought any more games for it. Clearly that format is doomed too, then.

But seriously... like Sammy, I suspect/expect there'll be lots of Vita goodness at E3.

Once again, I have to say - I can't wait for this, but I've no idea why; it should be everything I hate, but there's something about it which screams "Buy me!" at me.

I'm looking forward to this. As I've said before, I have no idea why, as it should be everything I hate in a game... but for some reason it's had my interest since the initial announcement. It's very odd.

But then, Mass Effect 2 should have been everything I love in a game, yet I found it tedious. Ho hum - go figure!

@Kayoss - What has 'catering to my needs' got to do with anything? The article is about what has been announced, and what may be at E3.

I merely said that the games mentioned do nothing for me, and suggested what I'd like to see at E3, given that - y'know - these games have already been shown.

I have nothing against the God of War series, I just can't play them (or beat-em-ups) because I've found they give me severe hand cramps within 20 minutes or so. As for Battle Royale, well... just not my thing at all, and I'll leave it at that.

I know many, including Sony themselves, will see Ascension and Battle Royale as "heavy hitters", but neither do anything for me. I've never had any interest in the God of War games (mainly because button-mashers give me hand cramps) and Battle Royale is far too 'Nintendo' for me.

I'm hoping to see something genuinely new and impressive at E3 - perhaps a first showing of Quantic Dream's new game, and some announcements of new exclusives, whether they be first or third party. There are also supposed to be some 'huge' Vita games in the pipeline, so some info about those would be nice. Perhaps even, despite the denials, something about PS4. Hey, I can hope!

Doesn't look any worse than the gratuitous T&A in any Dead or Alive game.

Sorry, can't get excited over CGI showing no gameplay.

Especially when it's from Bugthesta Softworks. No, wait... I mean Bugfest Notworks. No, that's not it... umm... a-ha! BugTester NotWork! Yes, that's them.

Analysts, eh? Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em...

Well, you can shoot 'em, but not legally. Probably. Which is a shame.

I just want to see another Just Cause game, I don't care if it's on PS3 or PS4!

It remains my most-played PS3 game in terms of hours - 138 according to my Raptr stats - and that's currently 8 more than I've put into GT5. I've got the Platinum, but I still haven't completed it to 100%.

I haven't played it for a while now, but it's one of few games that I'll keep for as long as I have my PS3, because I'll keep going back to it even after I get to 100% - it's just that much fun.

@get2sammyb - I'm not sure about Uncharted. I'm a huge fan, and would love it... but historically, Naughty Dog don't bring a franchise from one platform to the next.

As for the console's release - I'm not worried about it being first, as long as it's better and they aren't more than something like 3 months behind. That said, there have already been rumours from neutral parties that the next PlayStation will be more powerful than the next Xbox, which is something I can believe, since Sony are always ahead on tech, and MS seem to be 'dumbing down' in recent years.

None of them will affect me, but it's disappointing.

I've actually been in favour of the Online Pass, but this shows that it is a flawed system. Well actually, no it doesn't. What this shows is that publishers are able to abuse it.

I think this shows that games which require an online pass should come with a guarantee that any servers they use will be guaranteed to remain online for at least 2 or 3 years. Hopefully the industry will do something about this themselves, because if they don't, I can see there being many, many complaints - and perhaps, eventually, the need for some kind of independent industry watchdog/regulator to ensure people aren't getting ripped off.

Won't be bothering with this one. Loved them originally, and the first PS3 outing, but after that... meh. No real desire to play the PS2 games again either.

Put me down as another one who doesn't care. I've had a 360 since December, and I don't find Achievements/GamerScore at all compelling, as it's just a number which grows indefinitely.

I certainly wouldn't call myself a Trophy Whore, as I have many games with unearned trophies. But when there's a game I really like, I'll do my best to get the Platinum. I know they're both virtual items based on a score, but to me there's just something about the Trophy system and its levels which seems more definitive and worthwhile than Achievements and an otherwise disconnected total score.

I was hoping they'd be close to unveiling Just Cause 3 by now.

Absolutely love JC2. According to my Raptr stats, it remains my most-played game at 138 hours, and although I have the Platinum, I still haven't quite reached 100% complete. Awesome game.

Great article, Sammy, and I tend to agree with pretty much every word.

With all the current raving about Mass Effect 3 (and previously, ME2) playing with emotions and 'attachments' to characters, I have to say I personally never felt it with ME2. Despite containing everything I should like, ME2 never really 'clicked' with me, and I didn't care much for the story or the characters. By the time I completed it, I was pretty much glad it was over. I haven't bothered with ME3, and probably won't.

The point of saying that, is that despite people's claims about those games, I felt more emotional response during the 7 minutes of that KARA video than I did throughout the entire 66 hours I spent playing ME2. If QD can transfer that into a full game, it'll be a heck of a title. Heavy Rain was a good start, and a great game, but some parts of it were awkward. KARA shows there's still much that can be done, and credit to Sony for pursuing it.

I only bothered doing what I had to do for the trophy. Didn't bother creating anything, as I didn't have the time or inclination to learn how to. And the vast majority of those I played were utterly ridiculous, unfinished and/or broken. Some ended without doing anything, others simply didn't end. The whole UGC thing really needed detailed instructions, and some sort of quality control measures.

Loved the game, though.

I can't help wondering if Microsoft's policy has anything to do with this. You know, the one that says to developers, "you can't put anything on other platforms which you don't put on our platform, otherwise we reserve the right to sulk like children and refuse you a license."

"Honestly, after spending time with Vita, I felt like I didn’t pay enough for it."

Very bold statement from Chris there. But he's absolutely right!

I bought flOw and soon tired of it. I never bothered with Flower. And I wasn't at all interested in Journey... until I played the beta last year.

I fell in love with it, and have been waiting eagerly for release ever since. I really want to find out more about that foreboding building which appeared at the end of the beta. Roll on the 14th!

I never played the Crash games on PS1, but have enjoyed every ND game since the first J&D. Daxter became one of my favourite characters, so I bought this on UMD when it first came out and absolutely loved it.

I sold the UMD after completing it, but if this is one of the games which works on Vita (I haven't checked yet), I may well re-buy it in digital form. Now that I have the Jak & Daxter games again due to the HD Collection on PS3, it's the only one I'm missing.

I've got it installed, but used it once.

The Twitter app is one of the best I've used, including Android and PC - love it! We need a Google+ app, though.

I've already got one coming from PlanetAxel for a little over £60, but it's good to know they're coming should I need another.

Can't believe they 'misjudged' demand. Given that they are essential for several games just for save purposes (let alone digital downloads), and that title list for launch was more or less the same for Europe and the US, I just don't see how they could think that there'd be any less demand here than anywhere else.

There were also enough articles on websites about it as soon as it was known (which was well before release), and there was lots of talk about it from UK/Euro citizens on the various social sites as well.

I think Vita has had a very successful launch in the West, and for the most part, Sony have done themselves proud. The decision on the 32GB cards was about the biggest mistake they made, but let's face it, it wasn't huge or fatal, and they seem to be moving quickly to correct it.

@TOMBOY25 - Ah, then that is quite surprising, and extremely cool. This article is the first I've read of this deal existing for games other than Motorstorm, and I just assumed that it would be for new purchasers only. Happy to be wrong!

Hmm... so if you buy Hustle Kings on one format, you get the other free. Presumably this won't extend retrospectively to those of us who already bought Hustle Kings previously? A shame, but also understandable.

Still, those are great prices for games which I was going to buy anyway. I wouldn't exactly complain about low prices, but I do hope that Sony are charging enough to actually make money on them. I greatly appreciate everything that Sony give us for free (and let's be honest, they give us a <i>lot</i> for free), but I don't want them to consistently lose money.

On the subject of whether or not third parties will join Sony in lowering prices on Vita, I think this will prove to be a critical test. I've believed for a while that some publishers are using the profits from the much higher priced console games to subsidise the low cost of Android/iPhone games, which I don't see as fair - even considering the fact that phone versions aren't a patch on console versions.

Publishers often say that the high prices are down to development costs, but Vita is reportedly very easy to develop for. Of course, I don't seriously expect Vita prices to be as low as the phones, but - for example - if the next NFS game is £4.99 on Android and £40 on Vita (as opposed to, say, £20), I'll be curious to know why.

My only disappointment is that we in Europe didn't get a similar option, especially as sales suggest we are generally Sony's most loyal customer base outside of Japan.

@Dak_n_Jaxter - I think I remember reading somewhere that it may actually be the best game in the series. If that's the case, it must be bloody fantastic, as Uncharted 3 will take some beating.

Great idea. I just hope it's not a requirement to get them all for a trophy!

Looks interesting in terms of subject, but I have serious doubts about this game.

I don't know where people get this idea that a portable game should be cheap. Why should it? Because Android and iPhone games are cheap? Bollocks.

I have no reservations at all in paying full price for a portable game such as Uncharted, because I know it's going to look and play like its PS3 cousins. Phone games are utter crap, pure and simple. If you want a true mobile gaming experience, you'll need a Vita, or at least a 3DS.

Like @DarkKirby I do not see any lasting appeal in the likes of Angry Birds. I tried it for about 10 minutes, then deleted it... tedious beyond belief. As is the case with 99% of Android/iPhone games. I've had an Android phone since the end of July 2011, and I've already given up even looking at the games available because they're that pathetic.

Personally, I'd much rather pay £40 for 10 hours of Golden Abyss or any 'proper' game. That leaves me feeling much less ripped off than than repeatedly paying 50p for games which are deleted in under 10 minutes. And I think any serious gamer would feel the same.

@Mason - Is it flawed? Yes, clearly. But it's also understandable, to an extent.

The pricing aspect I've already covered. As for 'yet another format', I speculated several months ago that it's probably down to piracy concerns more than anything else. I don't know the technical ins-and-outs of the various card formats, but with piracy being so rampant on PSP (and DS), I suspect Sony wanted to try and create a more secure format to store digital games on. Something that's not already an industry standard is (probably) a decent first step, since they can only be read/written in a Vita, and not any existing PC hardware.

I don't know what the costs of developing a new memory card format are, but I don't think Sony would have invested in one just for the hell of it. Why do I think that? (a) They're already losing money hand-over-fist, so why invest in reinventing the wheel when they already have a perfectly good format on the market, whose sales would no doubt be increased by Vita? and (b) recently, they've started putting SD card slots in their latest digital cameras, camcorders etc., which suggests they are willing to use existing formats when possible.

I'm sure if they felt Memory Stick (or SD card) was a viable secure format to use for the Vita, they'd have gone with it.

@Mason - Do we need another card format? Probably not. Does it really matter that we have one? To me, not in the slightest. Okay, so all of your equipment uses SD cards in one format or another, and you can use adapters. With me, it's exactly the same, but with Memory Stick. My having to switch to SD for one piece of equipment (my phone) is no less inconvenient than anyone else having to use the new Vita cards.

Okay, so the Vita cards are more expensive, but as I've said, the Vita is sold at a loss, so Sony have to make money from somewhere. I'm sure Sony could have sold cheaper cards, but then they'd have priced the Vita at a profitable price-point, (probably £350 to £400) which would have ensured next to zero sales. Eventually the price will of the cards will drop, and/or companies like SanDisk will offer cheaper versions.

That aside, I don't see myself needing more than one or two cards. With the built-in ability to back up games to PS3, PC or MAC, you won't actually need that much on-board storage.

Finally - is it a good thing that games on physical media will (possibly/probably) be cheaper than the digital versions? No, not at all. But I don't see how that's any different on Vita than it is on PS3, Xbox or OnLive - they all currently charge excessive, full RRP prices for digital games.

Really looking forward to it. If it's not for you, fine - don't buy it.

On the one hand you're saying that the memory cards don't seem to offer large enough capacities for the digital versions of games; on the other, you're saying that physical media is likely to be cheaper anyway, so why bother with digital downloads. Asked and answered, I'd say.

Too big to fit in the pocket? Does anyone actually envisage putting a £200+ console with a large, exposed screen in a pocket anyway? I sure as hell don't. If I'm not using it, it'll be in its case, and that alone makes it impractical to put in a pocket. It's the same with my PSP, and also my mum's DSi, which when in its case, is also too bulky to be considered 'pocket friendly'.

Price? Fine by me. The 3G console, 16GB memory card (would be 32GB if they sold them here), 2 games and a solid carrying case still cost way less than my phone, so I don't view it as particularly expensive. And it plays far better games.

The cost of 3G? Largely irrelevant. You can use any SIM, so stick a giffgaff unit in there and it's £5 for 500MB, £7.50 for 1GB or £12.50 for 3GB. And with no contract, you only need top up when you need to make use of it. 3G need not be a continuous cost unless you want it to be. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

Different memory cards? Not an issue. Buy a digital camera, it uses one format; buy a mobile phone, it uses another format; buy a game console, it uses another format. It's just the way things are. I had to buy my first ever MicroSD card for my phone (and an adapter to use it in my PC) as it wasn't a format I'd had need of before, but never gave it a second thought.

Memory card slot a bit tricky to open? Stop biting your nails!

Of course Sony are going to look to make some money on accessories, as the Vita is selling at a loss. If accessories were cheaper, you'd probably be looking at £399 for the Vita, and everyone would be moaning about that. People seem to expect everything for next to nothing these days.

It seems to me that after the initial 'wow' at Vita's reveal, the entire gaming world has now suddenly remembered that they're not supposed to enjoy Sony's products, and are looking for every minor detail, no matter how irrelevant, just to say something negative.

There's certainly scope for Vita to be used as an extension to PS3 games. I posted the following on my G+ account yesterday...

One thing I'd like to see in future PS3 games is the ability to use Vita as a level creation interface/tool. I don't mean simply the ability to create levels on the Vita and be able to use them on the PS3 version of the game - I mean to actually be able to use the Vita and its touch inputs as an extension of the in-game editor on PS3.

One of the things that put me off creating levels in the original LBP was all the fiddling around required to position things with the DualShock3, then needing to undo it and re-do it if you got it slightly wrong. I simply found it too time consuming, and it tried my patience. It seems like it would all be much easier on the Vita.

As another example, you could use the Vita in GT5 when creating a track to draw the layout, ModNation style. And use it as a digital camera in Photo Mode - using the motion sensors (or sticks, if preferred) to move around the car (which could appear on the Vita's screen as well as the TV) and pressing the right shoulder button to take the photo. Think along the lines of Forza 4's AutoVista mode with Kinect, only far more involving and interactive.

I'm sure people can also think of many more creative ways to use Vita simply as an extension to PS3 games, as well as making games specifically for it. These are just a few things that came to mind watching the video.

Wow, that's impressive. She opens the box to find a PlayStation Vita and a charger! Who'da thunk it?

I really don't see the point of unboxing videos.

Love the redesign!

My only minor grumble is that you've moved away from the Disqus comment system - I really like that, as it lets you keep track of what you've said where.

"It arrives now as a fully-fledged downloadable game unlike anything players have experienced before."

Except Mercury on PSP in 2005, followed by Mercury Meltdown, Mercury Meltdown Remix, Mercury Meltdown Revolution, and Mercury Hg.

It's about as unique as the next Mario game.

Haven't used mine for a while for anything other than Flight Control HD.

I am really looking forward to Sorcery, though. Not sure why, though - in theory, it's the kind of game I should really dislike (I'm not into spells, potions, all that Harry Potter kinda crap), but I've been looking forward to it since it was first announced.

Yep. $119 will probably equate to between £89 and £99 here in the UK. I'll be going straight for the 32GB card.

It will be interesting to see how some of these work with the screen being mobile. Games like Flickball I can see working with PS Eye on PS3, as you have a fixed camera and a fixed screen to look at. With the Vita, both the screen and camera are (obviously) constantly moving, so I can imagine the game being quite difficult to play. Unless they plan on coming out with a Vita tripod...

Hmm. I was very impressed with Sony's first-party list yesterday - no less than nine games on there that I want. And it's probably just as well, because looking through this list, I see nothing I want other than perhaps Virtua Tennis 4.

Not on that list: Super Stardust.

No less than NINE games I want, and that's only Sony's first-party stuff. Expeeeeeeennnnnsive!

@Rambo-Hamster - @Musterbuster doesn't have any info regarding the US Vita and whether it's locked to AT&T. He suggests contacting one of the US team.

@Rambo-Hamster - I'm not sure. It could be unlocked in Europe due to anti-competition laws or something like that. I've asked @MusterBuster (of the SCEE team) on Twitter if the US model is locked to AT&T and will post here again if I get a response.

@ James - http://giffgaff.com/goodybags#data