I don't think I've ever just had a post with trailers in it for the games coming out for the Vita when it hits its February 22nd release date in America. This is mostly because the trailers have only recently started to come out in English (that I know of) and also because I haven't really wanted to consolidate all the Vita games I want since that is all sorts of money that I don't have. If I have, I'm pretty sure it was with Japanese trailers and was a few months back so for all we know, it's new to us now. Regardless, that's what I'm doing because it's what I want to do and with the frequent internet outs, I can't keep calm long enough to write something nice out because the internet cutting out whenever it seems like it won't/shouldn't fills me with so much rage. So much. Because it's bottom-of-the-barrel DSL and has been terrible for the years we've had it, but at least it was fairly, uh....reliable? Non-reliable -and- shitty is not something I'm going to tolerate.
Anyways, the first trailer I'm queuing up is for the only game I have pre-ordered on the Vita which will not be a surprise to you because most every other person interested in a Vita knows of this game as 'the game' to get when you pick up your shiny new handheld. Uncharted: Golden Abyss likely won't be as great as the two that came before it, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (which stand on equal ground as far as I'm concerned), but I at least expect it to be the same quality as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune in that it'll be the first outing on the system, before they've mastered the wizardry necessary to make it mind-blowing. Remains to be seen if it will be, but I have some faith in Sony Bend and I imagine they've worked closely with Naughty Dog and Sony's First/Second Party coordinators, so I think my faith is well-placed.
As you can see, it's not quite as bright, vibrant, nor quite as crisp as we could hope, but that could be the difference between watching it on youtube (in 360p in my case) and playing it in person. And I'm not exactly sold on all the optional control methods, but I will grant that they are that indeed - optional - and that's the important part that should be at least touted. I'll try them and if I don't like them or they actively impede my progress, I'll switch them off, but at least I'll give it the old attempt. The game deserves at least that much, I think. In the end, I expect another Uncharted adventure which is a prospect enough to get me excited for it, which is why there is $5 credit residing in the GameStop database implicitly stating I will own it.
Up next is the game that, if Uncharted: Golden Abyss didn't exist, would be -the game- that I would have to have. As it stands, I still have to have it, but I'm not sure what the fundage is going to look like come February, as I have to consider how much GameStop credit I have in card form, how much I am probably getting for Christmas, and what the difference is between that and the pricetag for the system, a memory stick (which we still don't officially know, price-wise) and Uncharted. Basically, Gravity Rush will be the second game I own for the Vita, but the time between its purchasing and Uncharted's purchasing might be extended or it might not.
If you could sell a game on style alone, that game would be Gravity Rush assuredly because the look of it is so gorgeous that it practically sold me alone. Then the actual concept of the game sank in, and that's what cemented it. I've gone over Gravit y Rush before, but it remains to be said that the game looks like something you'd expect from further down in the Vita's lifetime, not right at the start. It's possible that the gameplay might be a little more basic (minus the fairly original concept of using gravity as it does) which would point to 'launch title' but that still remains to be seen. And it will be seen with great anxiousness and curiosity at some point.
Next up is the other "No surprise" game that I'm looking forward to for the Vita. LittleBigPlanet (for the Vita) has been the subject of quite a few excited fanboy moments for me, especially with all the different showings it's had and will continue to do so. It's one of many games announced/shown off for the system that doesn't quite have a release date yet, but that's only because "Not soon enough" isn't a valid date for some reason. And if nothing else, the people at the helm of this one know how to make quite an enjoyable trailer.
From the looks of it, it's looking like it's trying to be LittleBigPlanet 2, but in your pocket, which is tantalizing for me. I think the problem with LittleBigPlanet 2 for me is, quite simply, that it's on the PS3 and number one, I have far too many games for that already, and two, I don't play the PS3 near enough to even get through that gaming library as is. I'm not expecting LittleBigPlanet Vita to have the same level of inter-connectivity with LBP or LBP 2 as LBP 2 has with the first game, but it would be nice. They have said in the past that your entire costume gallery from the PS3 installments will be available to you on your Vita game, but we'll just have to see on that, since I've yet to see it trumpeted off again. You know that I love me some costumes, but this likely won't be a deal-breaker for me. Maybe.
And finally (as I decided not to get any trailer not from the Playstation Channel and barely looked as it stood) we have one of the more intriguing games for the system that I'm not yet sold on. Escape Plan has charm and character and a style all its own as does Gravity Rush, so I have to compliment it on that much at the very least. However, I'm just not too sure on the game for various reasons.
The goal is, obviously, to make you think "Oh, a good puzzle game" when you watch that trailer because of the neat and innovative uses of all the different things the Vita can do. Of course, the goal of every trailer for every puzzle game is to make it look good and clever, when very seldom are truly both of those things. Where some stumble by 'overthinking itself' and making it too easy or 'overestimating itself' by making it too hard ('How the fuck was I supposed to know I had to hit that first to get this thing to happen?!'), very few manage to find that precarious balance upon which a puzzle game is claimed "just hard enough" to make you consider it, but never enough to toss your controller/handheld away in frustration.
Yet another pitfall puzzle games hit is basing puzzles not only on figuring them out, but giving ridiculous restrictions on how it's accomplished ("Flip a lever to drop a ball on the other side of a wall that you could only find by running around like an idiot. The ball is used to weigh down a platform that is only accessible for the brief window in which the lever stays flipped, giving you a 0.7 second margin of error. GOOD LUCK!") which is far and beyond the reason I've quit a number of puzzle games. Yelling "I KNOW HOW TO DO THIS, WHY WON'T IT WORK" does nothing, nor does it make any fun occur. I see every puzzle game as a game that can have any of these issues which is why I approach them all with caution. That is mostly my hesitation for Escape Plan, so we'll see how that weathers when more on it comes out.
There are plentiful other titles for the Vita that I could probably find trailers for (Sumioni, Samurais and Dragons, etc.) and throw them here to show you that, yes, I do want quite a few Vita games, but I won't do that right now. Assuredly when the Vita gets closer to launch on our fair shores, I'll have more trailers than I'll know what to do with besides post them up here. And that is a day I almost cannot wait for.
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