Bonus Post - Playstation Vita Official NA Pricing!

The image above was the lovely one greeting those who happened across the Playstation Blog today, or specifically this article which puts an end to the speculation and whatnot about what Vita things are going to cost.  As with anything and everything anywhere ever, they're bound to make some people happy and some people less so, but that's just how it is.  You will be pleased to know that the Memory sticks and indeed, some of the other accessories are priced much less than previously rumored (even after the update of lesser prices being possible), though some will still argue that they're too high-priced yet.  Regardless, it's a rather moot point on anyone's concept of why the Vita should support other memory formats and comparing prices because, well, it doesn't.  Kind of sucks for some people, but that's just how it is, so either deal with it or move on.  Sony aren't the first ones to charge more for proprietary things, nor will they be the last.

Anyways, the blog post also lists the Twenty-Five(?!) Vita games that will be available on the North American Launch on February 22nd as well as ten other launch window titles from First and Third party developers.  Here's the bad(?) news, however, in that the price range of Vita games has officially been confirmed as $9.99-49.99, which may or may not be a surprise to you depending on your position.  I was under the impression that the highest end Vita games would be $39.99, but I guess it's just ten bucks and I doubt a lot of games will be at the highest pri-.....Well, I can hope that a lot of devs with put out their games at $30 or $40, but we'll see.  Though, enough prattling, here's the lists as a direct copy/paste from the Blog post linked above.

SCEA Launch Day Titles
Escape Plan (PSN Only)
Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
Hustle Kings (PSN Only)
Little Deviants
ModNation Racers: Road Trip
Super StarDust Delta (PSN only)
UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss
wipEout 2048


Launch Window Titles
Gravity Rush
MLB 12 The Show
Reality Fighters
Unit 13

Third Party Publisher Launch Day Titles

Army Corps of Hell	Square Enix, Inc.
Asphalt Injection	Ubisoft, Inc.
BEN10 GALACTIC RACING	D3 Publisher of America
Blazblue: Continuum Shift EXTEND	Aksys Games Localization, Inc.
Dungeon Hunter Alliance	Ubisoft, Inc.
Dynasty Warriors Next	Tecmo Koei America Corporation
F1 2011	Codemasters
EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer	Electronic Arts, Inc.
Lumines Electronic Symphony	Ubisoft, Inc.
Michael Jackson The Experience	Ubisoft, Inc.
Plants vs. Zombies (PSN Only)	Sony Online Entertainment LLC
Rayman Origins	Ubisoft, Inc.
Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen	Namco Bandai Games America Inc.
Tales of Space: Mutant Blobs (PSN Only)	Drinkbox Studios
Touch My Katamari	Namco Bandai Games America Inc.
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3	Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition	Sega of America

Launch Window Titles

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7	Warner Bros. Interactive Ent. Inc.
Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention	NIS America, Inc.
NINJA GAIDEN ∑ PLUS	Tecmo Koei America Corporation
Ridge Racer	Namco Bandai Games America Inc.
Silent Hill Book of Memories	Konami Digital Ent. America, Inc.
Supremacy MMA: Unrestricted	505 Games

Worth mentioning are...quite a few things, really.  Dynasty Warriors NEXT, Disgaea 3:  Absence of Detention among a couple others can be considered officially announced for the West with this, I imagine, as I hadn't heard of any previous announcements saying as much.  Also with this, Escape Plan has officially been outed as a PSN only title which shouldn't surprise me in the least, but it does a bit.  I hope this has a positive effect on its length and overall quality, as it's generally the retail puzzle games that fall into the normal pitfalls I described the other day when I featured Escape Plan as one of the trailers that interested me and was on the official Playstation Youtube channel and was easy to get to.  Not that PSN-Exclusive is an indicator of anything, but it could suggest a smaller, more focused experience is what I was getting at.

Something else that's a bit surprising is the fact that Reality Fighters isn't actually making the launch but rather the launch window, meaning a month or two post-launch, meaning March or April.  This is only surprising because, well.....seeing Reality Fighters doesn't instill me with the feeling that it is a quality game that requires extra months of polish.  Not only that, but with AR and the Cameras being a thing for the Vita, you'd think they'd want that out right off as an example for people.  Regardless, that's a thing, I suppose, and perhaps it's not as bad as I anticipate, but we won't know til it's out.  Still, I'm sure there's other somewhat surprising things there, of which the fact that 35 games are going to be available for the system likely by the end of March if not more is one of them.

Anyways, I promised Accessory Prices, so here they are.

4 GB Memory Card	February 15, 2012	$19.99
8 GB Memory Card	February 15, 2012	$29.99
16 GB Memory Card	February 15, 2012	$59.99
32 GB Memory Card	February 15, 2012	$99.99
Starter Kit with Memory Card	February 15, 2012	$39.99
In-Ear Headset	February 15, 2012	$19.99
Carrying Case	February 15, 2012	$19.99
Travel Pouch	February 15, 2012	$19.99
Protective Film (2 pack)	February 15, 2012	$9.99
Card Case	February 15, 2012	$5.99
Cradle	February 15, 2012	$19.99
Portable Charger	Spring 2012	$49.99
AC Adaptor	February 15, 2012	$14.99
Car Adaptor	Spring 2012	$14.99
USB Cable	February 15, 2012	$14.99

I don't know why/how that transfered as a table but screw it, I'll take it.  Like I said, some of the accessories (at least the ones that are on both lists) have been priced less (unfortunately the Portable Charger is the same price; I wouldn't have minded a Ten-spot less on that) with the most notable examples being the Memory sticks, with all of them a good $10-20 less than we have been previously led to believe.  As such, the 8 Gig stick or even the 16 Gig stick are much more palatable price-wise which means you're in luck if you're worrying about having a lot of space for your games (and don't want to re-download things a lot).  All in all, I don't see anything too bad outside of maybe the USB Cable, but that's an extra one anyway, and what -doesn't- come with a USB cable anymore?  Lots of things, but you know what I was getting at.

February can't come fast enough still.

Bonus Post - Random News Dump

This has just been one of those days where a lot of actual news and information comes out, but nothing about it is really substantial enough to go on and on about in the way that I do.  So it's one of those days where I contemplate just grabbing said news pieces and popping them together in one big news dump.  And this is also, obviously, one of those days when I actually just go through with it instead of finding something else to write about or taking one of the topics and really elaborating on it which generally leads to me saying things I've said before.  Regardless, there is a bounty of knowledge to share here.

The first and likely biggest news I have is that an International Version of Final Fantasy Type-0 is being made.  Not that I said 'biggest', not 'most positive' or 'most negative' or anything of that sort since, to me from what I've seen, there's nothing really to push it either way.  With any other company, you see International Version or Edition and think "Yessss, here it comes to North America" but, as is the case with Squeenix, there are several well-known examples of this thought being false.  These International versions are almost always stuck in Europe if they manage to get out of Japan at all, so hearing one is being made for Type-0 doesn't instill me with any confidence as, to my knowledge, there's no mention of an overseas release and obviously "International Edition" isn't enough on its own to carry that weight.

I would so very much love to have Final Fantasy Type-0 in my hands in the best way possible; freshly bought from a local retailer without any of the hassle.  While the fact that the PSP is region-free is a relief if this version of Type-0 stays exclusive to Europe (if it makes it there at all), it doesn't help put me at ease completely as I honestly hate the hassle involved with importing something (even if you can argue that there is little to no issue with it) and would rather not do it if I have any choice in the matter.  I'm just going to wait for something more of an official announcement that the game will hit US shores before I really start celebrating, because if it's announced, that is exactly what I'll do.

In other Japan/Europe-centric news, it was announced earlier today that the circle pad add-on for the 3DS is heading to Europe in a bundle with Resident Evil:  Revelations.  Being that the circle pad (Apparently called Circle Pad Pro) was born directly of Capcom's money, I would suggest this is an appropriate delivery and tells of a truth that people likely aren't willing to embrace just yet; the 3DS is going to need a second stick for a good few games and will likely be trapped in the nebulous pattern that was created with the Wii and Motion Plus of "is it or isn't it required" until a Nintendo property finally uses it and firmly instills it, where practice and execution will have taken quite a period of time that leaves you with games you can't play or a second stick you can't use. (or have little use for.)  Either that or you're going to have to look into a bulky add-on being required for your enjoyment lest you just buy a whole new handheld when it comes out with one built-in.

Of course, this bundle (and likely individual sale) is only announced for Europe for now and Capcom USA has said there's no plans for a release of it in America.  Which is either a lie, or the truth and you'll just have to buy both separately here, because an outside of Japan foray for the Circle Pad Pro accessory likely means it'll be all around the world before you know it or want it.  Still, the discomfort of the larger device (or at least the bulkiness of it, it might actually improve control by being larger) is a small price to pay for the precision that two sticks provide and the familiar feeling we've grown attached to, and it's just such a shame that nobody else had the foresight to put two sticks on their device from the sta-hahahahahaha.

The last bit of information I want to put out there is by no means one of the generally 'important' pieces of news and info out there, but it's something I'm personally excited for, so it's going up.  Yakuza:  Dead Souls, which as we know is a thing that is happening got a new trailer put out and while it's not the same as the -awesome- character trailers for Yakuza 4, it is very stylish all the same and likely the first of many as Sega has no problem making advertisements on the internet where you likely aren't going to find them unless you look for them, meaning you are not the target demographic.

Much of Yakuza:  Dead Souls is still a mystery to me and that's just the way I like it, though I will likely crumble and take a look at whatever other trailers come out for the game between now and March.  Let's just hope they're as great as I know they can be.  And that they don't spoil any major parts which I highly doubt they would but it's Sega and fucked if we know what's going through Sega's collective hivemind at any given point.  Speaking of which, I'm going to throw out one last bit of information that came from the Playstation Blog post showing off the trailer to begin with.

This is a classic "Goddamnit, Sega" moment right here because they just won't commit to anything.  One of the comments from "UltimaDestroyer" says "im so excited for this game! cant wait to fight zombies in kamurocho!! how soon will the cut content list be revealed?  ps – pass along word that we want valkyria chronicles 3 dammit!!" which is replied to by Kellie Parker who is apparently the Community Manager for Sega of America.  The reply?

"We’re excited that you’re excited! Also, Valkyria 3 request noted. Stay tuned for more info!"

I am scorn-facing so hard, Sega.  So very hard because I got tired of this song and dance with Yakuza 3 and I really don't want to go through it -again- with Valkyria Chronicles 3.  Hopefully they will be a little more forthcoming with information about it sooner rather than later, because I think a lot of us have tossed away our torch for now, meaning any news could potentially fall on deaf ears besides the ones of those most dedicated who aren't enough, sales-wise.

Vita Accessories Priced?

Update!:  It's worth mentioning that the actual prices have been announced and are less than the ones listed below almost universally.

So, The Examiner just put out the fact that GameStop's website has stealthily priced quite a bit of the Playstation Vita's accessories for everyone to check out and/or flip out over.  Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of the latter going on because "argh proprietary arrrgh" which only seems to come out on a Sony product or maybe I'm just a little hypersensitive to it.  Just saying they're not the only ones who go with proprietary formats is all, and there's actually (at least somewhat of) a reason here in the simple case that proprietary formats are at least an attempt at keeping your device safe.  With the way the PSP went, it's no surprise that Sony's going this way and of course everyone will whinge about it anyway.

Regardless, if you want to check out the GameStop prices you can go here where I think I pretty much have them isolated (albeit with a few games and the two systems) or you can just read to the end of this sentence and then check out the list I will shamelessly copy/paste.

• 4GB PlayStation Vita Memory Card - $29.99 (24.99?)
• 8GB PlayStation Vita Memory Card - $44.99 (39.99?)
• 16GB PlayStation Vita Memory Card - $69.99  
• 32GB PlayStation Vita Memory Card - $119.99  
• PlayStation Vita AC Adaptor - $19.99  
• PS VITA Armor GameCase - $7.99  
• PS VITA ArmorShell - $12.99  
• PlayStation Vita Car Adaptor - $17.99  
• PlayStation Vita Card Case - $9.99  
• PlayStation Vita Carrying Case - $19.99  
• PlayStation Vita Cradle - $19.99  
• PS VITA Crystal Custom Case - $19.99  
• PlayStation Vita In-ear Headset - $19.99  
• PS VITA Nerf Armor - $17.99  
• PlayStation Vita Portable Charge - $49.99
• PlayStation Vita Protective Film (Two Pack) - $14.99
• PS VITA Pull N Go Folio - $29.99  
• PlayStation Vita Starter Kit - $29.99  
• PS Vita Starter Kit - $24.99  
• PS Vita Trigger Grip - $17.99  
• PlayStation Vita Travel Pouch - $19.99  
• PlayStation Vita USB Cable - $14.99

So, as you can see the Memory sticks are front and center here and as you may know, whether a Vita game will use a stick or the cart itself for saving is a bit up to every game in question.  (Unless, assumedly you just get the game digitally in the first place) so it is very likely that you can get a game with the save-on-cart feature and not even worry about the stick right off.  Of course, I'm looking for a stick to grab on some of my PSP games at the very least and while I was originally thinking about just grabbing a 4 Gig (as I've mentioned in the past how I'm surprised at what a 4 gig can really hold), the 8 gig is tempting me on those prices alone.  $45 for 8 gigs isn't the most attractive proposition, of course, but just taking what's there, I could get 4 for $30 right off and need another 4 gig later or save half of that and just get an 8 right upfront.  It'll probably last me a while, regardless.

The only thing I can really pick out here that bothers me a bit is the Portable Charge, which was something I've talked on in the past and was really interested in grabbing.  I still probably will someday, but $50 is a little steep unless the extra battery life is really noticeable (more than the base battery is what I'm looking for here) which is likely something we won't know about until it's closer.  Regardless, I doubt these prices are surprising anyone and, in the end, it's really not that big of a deal but everyone will make it out to be one.  Then turn around and buy a 4 gig 360 only to later buy a hard drive for it that'll cost them more than if they'd just bought the system with an actual hard drive in it and keep on keeping on.  Which is really what's bothering me here, clearly.  I'm just tired of seeing all these promotions and sales for the 4 gig model because what the hell can you do with 4 gigs on a console?  A console that practically begs you to install your games on it?

Regardless, that's another rant for another day.  The main draw here is the accessories and their pricing, which is above and likely concrete.  Always take this stuff with a grain of salt, of course, as Gamestop has been known to mis-price things on their website before when there's a long time between release and the product itself, but these are about in-line with what anyone could expect, so there's really no reason to go against them at the moment.  And hey, at least you know before Christmas, so you can start prodding people into gift card purchases to the retailer of your choice, yeah?  I know it's what I'm doing.

Update!:  It should be noted that the prices of the smaller Vita Memory sticks might be lower than GameStop lists and as we all know, none of these prices have been confirmed by Sony yet.  Regardless, it's not hard to imagine these prices (though the 'corrections' are a mild bit more palatable) will be correct.  We'll just have to see, though!