During Sony's PlayStation 4 unveiling, Gaikai's David Perry made an interesting announcement.
Not the name of the console itself, mind. The PlayStation 4 is the official name, but someone beat Perry to that punch.
Perry's big announcement was that the PlayStaiton Vita would serve as the "ultimate companion device" to the PlayStation 4 and will allow for instantaneous transfer of a game from the PS4 to the Vita.
Indeed, more widely, use of a second screen, whether Vita or Sony phone or tablet, is integrated into PS4's architecture.Beam me up
This feature is similar in effect to Cross Play, with some notable improvements.
If all works as described, players will be able to suspend and transfer a PlayStation 4 gaming experience to their Vitas with a push of a button.
Gaikai's servers will play an important part in all of this, as they'll power the experience and the Vita will act as a client that grabs information from the remote servers.
We'll be interested to see how this trend develops, but it looks to be a step in Sony's PS4 campaign to shift the focus of gaming away from the living room and into the world of mobile.
Fantastic. Can't wait to be playing ps4 games on Vita! I had guessed that would be the case but the Netflix of gaming from Playstation Cloud for Vita is just amazing news.
I'm really (really, really) excited to see how Vita will integrate with PS4.
I love my PS3, really I do, but - and I know that many will consider me crazy when I say this - I love my Vita more. Far more! And if Sony get this right, I can see myself adding a x10 to that statement.
Indeed, going waaaaaay back to a time when KFC takeaways were a once a year luxury, and Nintendo's Game & Watch devices were at the sharp end of cutting edge technology, I've always been about the handheldsters.
Every time a new Playstation title comes out with separate PS3 and Vita versions (which aren't cross play supported), I always go for the handheld option. The fact that my wife and kids (especially the kids - damn you Nickelodeon!!) tend to hog the TV has a little to do with it, but it's chiefly the fact that I can play my favourite titles anyplace anywhere. And all on that stunning OLED screen to boot!
Yup, I'm very excited to see what the next twelve months or so will have in store for Playstation fans. But better yet, I reckon that Sony's young whippersnapper, that I traded my 3DS XL in for, will finally get its chance to shine. And shine it will.
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