[omniusovermind]

I was in ebgames looking at the vita today. I was a bit surprised to see the selection of high quality games wasn't really any different than what's available on my PB. Mind you, the real analog sticks would be great but the games cost 4x the app world ones

[Crowezine]

To be honest, PlayBook isn't the greatest gaming machine. Neither is the Vita a good tool. It's almost as if they're trying to be each other - Vita tries to be more social with Skype, Facebook, etc. While PlayBook tries to be more gaming-wise with HD games like Modern Combat. Really, if you're into gaming, for a traveling machine, go for vita. But if you want a small amount of both, go for PlayBook.

[tfp]

I *hinted at* and received a PS Vita for Christmas this year and so far, I love it! I've taken it with me almost everywhere I've gone, except out to bars and restaurants lol While I enjoy gaming on my PB it just doesn't compare to gaming on the Vita. The added social aspect of facebook, twitter and Skype make it fun, but it still doesn't replace my PB for those activities. I only setup Skype on it to test my mom's connection on her Galaxy Tab as my brother in the States wanted to Skype with her. I don't need/use Skype so not having it on my PB is no biggie.

As for game selection, umm...what? What "high quality games" on the PB even compare with PS Vita games? And sorry but Plants vs Zombies, Jetpack Joyride and Angry Birds are not "high quality games". Find me something that truly compares with Assassin's Creed 3, Call of Duty Black Ops 2 or even Silent Hill on the PB and I will gladly acknowledge my mistake, which is tough for me to do lol I HATE being wrong. Now, are those games worth 4x the prices the "high quality games" on the PB, that's up to you to decide. For me, the simple answer is: yes.

[tfp]

To be fair, I take my PB with me EVERYWHERE even to bars and restaurants.

[Jean-luc_Picard]

As for game selection, umm...what? What "high quality games" on the PB even compare with PS Vita games? And sorry but Plants vs Zombies, Jetpack Joyride and Angry Birds are not "high quality games". Find me something that truly compares with Assassin's Creed 3, Call of Duty Black Ops 2 or even Silent Hill on the PB and I will gladly acknowledge my mistake, which is tough for me to do lol I HATE being wrong. Now, are those games worth 4x the prices the "high quality games" on the PB, that's up to you to decide. For me, the simple answer is: yes.

There are actual quality games on the PlayBook as well as those mobile games. There are all of the EA games (Dead Space, Need For Speed, etc.). They're probably the highest quality ones, but then there's also Gameloft games, which are ripoffs of high quality games (Modern Combat, Starfront, etc.). There is also Galaxy on Fire 2 HD. Vita I'm sure has way more high quality games, but PlayBook does have some fairly high quality games, and the same titles are often much cheaper (Dead space at it's highest price on PlayBook was $20 I think, which is the highest price of any of these games, and Need for Speed is free, whereas on the Vita it's around $40)

[omniusovermind]

I *hinted at* and received a PS Vita for Christmas this year and so far, I love it! I've taken it with me almost everywhere I've gone, except out to bars and restaurants lol While I enjoy gaming on my PB it just doesn't compare to gaming on the Vita. The added social aspect of facebook, twitter and Skype make it fun, but it still doesn't replace my PB for those activities. I only setup Skype on it to test my mom's connection on her Galaxy Tab as my brother in the States wanted to Skype with her. I don't need/use Skype so not having it on my PB is no biggie.

As for game selection, umm...what? What "high quality games" on the PB even compare with PS Vita games? And sorry but Plants vs Zombies, Jetpack Joyride and Angry Birds are not "high quality games". Find me something that truly compares with Assassin's Creed 3, Call of Duty Black Ops 2 or even Silent Hill on the PB and I will gladly acknowledge my mistake, which is tough for me to do lol I HATE being wrong. Now, are those games worth 4x the prices the "high quality games" on the PB, that's up to you to decide. For me, the simple answer is: yes.

Dead Space, modern combat 2,3, NOVA 2, Galaxy on Fire, Spiderman, Need for Speed, Asphalt 6, Shadow gun, all pretty much cover your high-def heavy hitters, and I don't see any larger selection than that on the Vita's listed library in that category. Then you have the not so high definition, but in depth story line titles like Bards Tale, Lara Croft, and some good strategy games like GLWG, Starfront etc.

What the Vita DOES have is analog sticks. What the PB has is all the functions of a tablet, plus the fact that its games only cost an average of $5 as opposed to an average of $30. I'll probably take a pass on Vita until they can double or triple their current selection of big name HD titles.

[mikeo007]

Dead Space, modern combat 2,3, NOVA 2, Galaxy on Fire, Spiderman, Need for Speed, Asphalt 6, Shadow gun, all pretty much cover your high-def heavy hitters, and I don't see any larger selection than that on the Vita's listed library in that category. Then you have the not so high definition, but in depth story line titles like Bards Tale, Lara Croft, and some good strategy games like GLWG, Starfront etc.

What the Vita DOES have is analog sticks. What the PB has is all the functions of a tablet, plus the fact that its games only cost an average of $5 as opposed to an average of $30. I'll probably take a pass on Vita until they can double or triple their current selection of big name HD titles.

Games like NFS and Dead Space are severely crippled on the Playbook (and any other tablet)vs the vita. Try playing NFS most wanted on a Vita, then try on an iPad. The tablet experience is by far inferior. That's why there's such a vast price difference in the games.

[omniusovermind]

Games like NFS and Dead Space are severely crippled on the Playbook (and any other tablet)vs the vita. Try playing NFS most wanted on a Vita, then try on an iPad. The tablet experience is by far inferior. That's why there's such a vast price difference in the games.

I'm not disputing that the Vita is a better gaming system, I'm just pointing out that already owning a PB with pretty much as good collection as it plus doubling as a tablet, for a fraction of the cost for games, leaves me with little incentive to buy a Vita.

[mikeo007]

I'm not disputing that the Vita is a better gaming system, I'm just pointing out that already owning a PB with pretty much as good collection as it plus doubling as a tablet, for a fraction of the cost for games, leaves me with little incentive to buy a Vita.

I'm not talking about the vita itself, rather the quality of the content in the games themselves. Not graphics, but the actual content.

Using my need for speed example, on a tablet it's just a series of races with simple mechanics. Very restrictive, almost a "bite sized" or demo bersion of the actual game. On the vita it's a fully fledged game that's almost identical to the console versions. Free roaming, lots of customization. It's just a better game. You get what you pay for.

[omniusovermind]

I can't wait until these toys reach the point where you can load your full tabletop console games into the portables. That's going to rock

[osbook]

I got both man and from personal experience there is no way to compare both.the social features for the vita aren't really thay great but in gaming the vita blows the playbook. honestly the only game I play on my pb is monster shooter is the only one that don't look blurry to me the rest look blurry and feel old. jetpack jouyride loads like 3x faster on vita. But again the playbook speakers and the media features it offers unbeatable to me. I have found my self using both at the same time playbook exclusively for social and media (music, movies, youtube etc..) and also the browser I research a lot of stuff all day eventhe dumbest questions and the pb is the best, and for gaming I use the vita (altough it need more games, ps plus is the key rigth now) realy the graphics are the best I've seen on portable but I'm preatty sure apple will beat it next year still the vita has more way to improve simply because of the buttons.

to be honest in gaming the vita blows the pb but you can't really compare the two...

[uncaringbear]

I used to own a PSP, and for me, its greatest feature was the ability to unlock it and run custom apps. The games were fun, sure, but it was more entertaining to screw around with community-developed programs, such as emulators. Of course, the gaming experience on a PSP/VITA is hard to beat when you compare it to any tablet, not just the PB. Having hardware controllers and buttons is night and day compared to the horrible touchscreen controls on tablets. I've slowly become better at playing heavy games like Modern Combat on the PB using the touchscreen controls, but give me hardware controls any day. Better yet, give me a keyboard and mouse!

I don't think it's really appropriate to compare a PB to a Vita when it comes to gaming. The latter is purpose-built and designed for gaming. The PB is designed to do much more, so both units have their strengths in different areas. But at the end of the day, I can game happily on my PB and have a good gaming experience on it, without feeling like it's been compromised too much. The fact that the games are cheap as chips on the PB is just gravy.

[RubberChicken76]

What the Vita DOES have is analog sticks.

Honestly, that's big for me. I really dislike the 'on-glass' controls for games like Modern Combat and Dead Space. Just doesn't feel right. I keep hoping RIM will enable wilreless controllers, so I can hook my PlayBook up to the TV and play with a regular controller.

I haven't tried a Vita, but it would strike me as odd that RIM would be able to outdo Sony in this area anymore than Sony being able to outdo RIM at messaging. It's Sony's core strength.

That said, my gaming expectations with PlayBook were initially low, so I've been actually quite surprised at the number of games on it and the quality as well. I wasn't expecting that on a "BlackBerry" and RIM seems to have put the pieces together for a better gaming experience than expected.

[GrahamB]

Yep got to agree with a few above

Vita's controls are light years ahead of any of the on screen stuff that the PB does.

I've found Asphalt 6 nothing short of painful to play the controls are so horrible

However, that's not to say that the PB is rubbish at games, far from it. Galaxy on Fire manages to work really well considering, and other touch screen stuff works exceptionally well providing there's no need for too much frantic play. Shadowgun really needs a controller

However, I'm loving both systems and both head into work with me on a daily basis

[omniusovermind]

Well well well, things just got got more interesting for mobile gaming. Have you guys checked out nVidia's new Project Shield that just got revealed at CES this week? This is going to be hard to pass up.
The only Con I see it having against it is the bulkiness compared to more pocket friendly tablets or traditional portable gaming devices but it has a lot of pros

-high end hardware
-has full sticks and buttons
-made by nVidia
-runs the full Android OS Jelly Bean which means that it's a fully functional Android Tablet on top of being a portable gaming device
-will have lots of developers on board
-is able to stream your PC games
-Steam support
-Android games cost an average of $5

If the Vita was able to do one single solitary thing, I would seal the deal and get one, even despite the fact that it doesn't run a full mobile OS: allow me to load my PS3 game saves and take them on the go to play on the Vita. But that wishlist item never materialized because Sony would rather make me buy $60 PS3 games as well as $30 vita games.

[416to604]

Well well well, things just got got more interesting for mobile gaming. Have you guys checked out nVidia's new Project Shield that just got revealed at CES this week? This is going to be hard to pass up.
The only Con I see it having against it is the bulkiness compared to more pocket friendly tablets or traditional portable gaming devices but it has a lot of pros

-high end hardware
-has full sticks and buttons
-made by nVidia
-runs the full Android OS Jelly Bean which means that it's a fully functional Android Tablet on top of being a portable gaming device
-will have lots of developers on board
-is able to stream your PC games
-Steam support
-Android games cost an average of $5

If the Vita was able to do one single solitary thing, I would seal the deal and get one, even despite the fact that it doesn't run a full mobile OS: allow me to load my PS3 game saves and take them on the go to play on the Vita. But that wishlist item never materialized because Sony would rather make me buy $60 PS3 games as well as $30 vita games.

Ummm... When I purchased playstation allstars for my ps3 I was given a free download voucher for playstation allstars for the vita. I don't know if that's the case for every game that is on both ps3 and vita, but I would assume they wouldn't make you purchase the same game twice. Also, it has become a regular occurrence for my friends and I to all be playing allstars, myself and an other on ps3 while the others are playing on their vitas. The experience is seamless provided their wifi connection is solid. Gaming on the vita is lightyears ahead of the playbook because you can literally play console quality games with people playing on their consoles without being in front of a console yourself.

[D.Vader]

For the most part (ducks for cover) I find most tablet games to be just a time waster kind of like skipping a rock across a pond. This is because it's hard to do heavy action with touch screen displays, there is a much greater lag in the input. Not saying it can't be done, but so far all of the shooters I have played on Tablets the AI was incredibly dumb and that was to make up for the input lag from the touchscreen.

Sure in screenshots the tablet games can look just as good as the PS VITA games, but at the end of the day those controls and buttons afford the user quick timing that is a requirement for the hard core gamers out there. Also that VITA rocks a Quad Core CPU running in the 2GHz range. I have both the PlayBook and PS VITA, mainly because Tablet gaming has been disappointing for me.

[D.Vader]

Ummm... When I purchased playstation allstars for my ps3 I was given a free download voucher for playstation allstars for the vita. I don't know if that's the case for every game that is on both ps3 and vita, but I would assume they wouldn't make you purchase the same game twice. Also, it has become a regular occurrence for my friends and I to all be playing allstars, myself and an other on ps3 while the others are playing on their vitas. The experience is seamless provided their wifi connection is solid. Gaming on the vita is lightyears ahead of the playbook because you can literally play console quality games with people playing on their consoles without being in front of a console yourself.

That isn't the case with every game, but it will start being more standard as time goes on. For example I don't expect to see a VITA version of God of War Ascension. BUT given Sony's acquisition of Gakai (the cloud company) they very well could use that to leverage more interoperability.