In order to keep costs down Sony had to sacrifice certain aspects of the Vita, namely, internal memory. Like with the PSP, Sony will be manufacturing propriety memory cards for the PS Vita, though the costs are staggering and you will be ripped off. There are four different memory cards, each with their own ridiculous prices:
4GB Card - 2,200yen/$29, 8GB Card - 3,200yen/$42 16GB Card - 5,500yen/$72 32GB Card - 9,500yen/$124
With Sony promising that digital versions of PSP titles will be able to be played on the Vita, as well as taking a more aggressive stance in digital distribution, it is shocking that Sony would charge so much for the memory cards. The price point will be a significant barrier of entry if Sony is attempting to push digital distribution with the handheld.
On a more positive note, Sony has also heard the pleas of gamers agitated by lengthy firmware updates. While PS3 updates are nowhere as tedious as they used to be, they can still impede many just trying to play a quick game or two.
The above quote comes from Shuhei Yoshida, Sony’s President of Worldwide Studios, also known as the man who doesn’t recommend importing the Vita. Yoshida has always been very transparent in the past when discussing Sony’s mistakes, so hopefully Sony is taking an active stance when attempting to cut down the amount of time it takes to update the Vita.
The Vita has a lot of good going for it: a great line up of games, impressive hardware and the bonus that it is region free; it would be a shame if the memory card issue were to be a huge detriment to the system’s success. Hopefully Sony will lower memory card prices by the time the handheld leaves Japan.
The PlayStation Vita will release in Japan on December 17th, 2011, word of a North American or European release date will come “soon,” according to Sony.
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Sources: VG247, Game Informer
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