Will [Terraria on Vita] happen? Certainly not. I'm amazed we're getting the PS3/360 versions and I worry for the amount of post-release support they'll see, so yet another version is inherently out of the question. A man can dream, however, and we know that I dream big. Or...well, in this case, little.
-Me from "In Which I Shamelessly Port-Whine" (February 7, 2013)
It is kind of a running theme that I am bad at predicting stuff. It's so bad that it's kind of a running theme pointing out that it's a running theme that I am bad at predicting stuff. If it ever gets to the point there it's a running theme pointing out that it's a running theme that it's a running them, it will be so meta that I will probably reach some sort of singularity and implode. Because of all of that, I shouldn't have been surprised when I looked in my twitter feed earlier today and saw this tweet leading to this Playstation Blog Post, my natural reaction should have been some sort of smugness in successfully extorting reverse psychology or something like that. Instead I just kind of went "Eeeeee!" and opened the link to check it out on the Vita browser. There was some degree of excitement in my actions, but I will let you guess as to just how much. We're getting interactive now.
You can check out the post if you like - in fact, I almost encourage it in some ways - but you're not really going to get a lot of information from it, since they didn't really give any. It's basically around four paragraphs saying "It's coming to Vita because a lot of people asked for a Vita version and we like the Vita because of it's control options. Terraria is also awesome, I hope you guys know that." and showing off a couple of fancy pictures, one of which I nicked for the above header image. Since it is (likely) from the console version which, obviously, the Vita version will be based on, it was on a flickr account (Playstation Europe's) which I am a fan of using for picture hosting and I didn't want to load up IGN tonight. This is a better picture than I would've gotten anyway.
All the information you would kind of want alongside an announcement, stuff like pricing, release date, improvements/changes to this version, as well as the Cross-stuff we might assume is there with the PS3 version (Cross-Buy/Play/Save) is missing, unfortunately. It's not surprising, though, nor is it too much of a problem since we know, unequivocally, that it's coming to the Vita. Personally, I'm going under the impression that it's going to release at the tail end of Summer for $9.99 and not support Cross-anything. It will be unfortunate, but at the same time, I will be able to build a bunch of shit on my Vita which is kind of all I ever want to do, so I can't be too upset with that. A little, perhaps.
I have already made suggestions as to alternate control methods that utilize some of the Vita's features in a way that isn't abhorrent (despite the insistence to some that it might be) so I'm not going to present them again and act like my idea has refined with time or become more attractive. Still, I would be surprised if touch screen support wasn't implemented in some way, though I suspect it will only be useful in Inventory management, hotbar selection and navigating the crafting menu. I would certainly hope that they wouldn't use the front touchscreen to try and aim the 'cursor', even optionally, because that...that would be abysmal with how small the Terraria blocks are and how much of the screen you block when you do that. The backscreen is attractive because of that, not obscuring things, but I'm sure gripes with the expected accuracy might hinder its use as well, even if it's just used as, again the 'cursor' and nothing more.
I suppose when Terraria for Vita is announced to release sometime Mid-May at $14.99 with Cross-Buy, Play & Save support, you'll all have me to thank for that, but until then I will hold on to my cynicism that isn't actually all that cynical considering the circumstances. Whatever the release date and in whatever form it comes out in, it's going to be a little late because I want it now. Still, knowing that it's coming in reality and not just my fantasies is comforting to say the least and for as tempted as I was to buy the PS3 version, I'm glad I held off since I will likely never play it on PS3 even if the Vita version ends up being Cross-Buy, much as I have never played Retro City Rampage on my PS3. Or Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. Or any other Cross-Buy game I've bought.
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