When a company sells an optional add-on to a product, one usually assumes that it is just that -- optional. According to Famitsu, however, the PlayStation Vita's expensive memory cards aren't something you can just ignore, with some games refusing to even boot up without one inserted.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss is one such game. It won't work unless you drop mad bank for an extra memory card. Famitsu has stated that these cards are "pretty much a requirement" for anybody wanting to play on Sony's new machine, which goes hand in hand with last week's news that game saves would be demanding them.
I was impressed by the Vita's $250 price point, but it seems that's not the true cost of the machine once we factor memory cards into the mix. This is what we in the industry would call a "dick move" on the part of Sony, but I'm sure some of you think it's completely fair. I look forward to the defense of this one.
More From Famitsu's PlayStation Vita FAQ [andriasang]
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
1:00 PM on 10.26.2011 | 
But no, more proprietary hardware. :|
I'm not excted for these new handhelds. I more excited for the Wii U.
Anyway, if Vita games are going to incorporate DLC, then a mandatory memory card doesn't surprise me at all.
That $250 price tag didn't fool me for a minute, scumbag Sony.
Every modern form of video game-computer tech requires some kind of data storage for content. I'm just glad it's not limited to what they decide to give you like Apple did with my 16GB iPad.
I'm just hoping the memory cards aren't too overpriced,but I'm sure they will be ;(
Instead of turning trees into dollar signs though, he's turning people into them.
Still, it's stupid that the Vita doesn't come with any memory stick at all, even just a 1GB one to save stuff on. Would it kill Sony to drop that extra 5 bucks for a cheap memory stick? That 250 price point is still pretty high, despite what everyone thinks. The only expensive tech in the Vita is the OLED screen, everything else is pretty cheap these days.
As long as they don't go making the 3G mandatory for anything, then I'd officially give up on the Vita. I'm just afraid someone will do that and screw over pretty much everyone in the process.
THAT IS, UNTIL BERT RACCOON WAKES UP
Unless you will never buy anything from PSN, you WILL need a bigger size memory card, making the actual price of the Vita somewhere over $300. It's a giant bait-and-switch and is just stupid.
The 16gb memory card is going to be $80 here, with the 32gb being $110. And even then with game sizes becoming as big as they are, you're still going to fill that awfully fast.
What on earth did the 3ds do right???
I'm neither surprised nor phased by this.
At this point, I almost want the whole damned industry to collapse. The amount of money that goes into enjoying a hobby like videogaming is becoming absurd, to the point that it's less a hobby and now pretty much a lifestyle for some people. And the greed that suffuses the entire industry from top to bottom is amazing. Online passes, overpriced proprietary hardware, false promises and switcharounds, it's getting fucking ridiculous.
There's running business, and then there's running a racket.
This road we've been going down in gaming does not bode well.
Is there no possibilty of using the internal memory of the device?
So many failures, and yet, they learn nothing. They do.t expect you to, either.
So many failures, and yet, they learn nothing. They don't expect you to have learned anything either.
Heck, even if Sony had opted to go with the Mem Stick Pro Duo, at least PSP owners would have been able to go on without buying a new card. But, there you go. That's what boggles the mind most. Sony *already* had a proprietary format for their products, but here they've decided to completely ditch that on the Vita and develop ANOTHER proprietary format that works ONLY with the Vita. Brilliant!
I wouldn't even mind if it wasn't a proprietary card, but alas, that would be a sensible thing to do.