Famitsu Reveals New Playstation Vita Specs

Alexa Ray Corriea October 26, 2011 11:30 AM EST

Famitsu has released a few more tidbits on the Playstation Vita. Readers — we’re assuming potential buyers — submitted questions to the magazine and were rewarded with a good amount of information on the upcoming system.

On the issue of storage, Famitsu‘s advice is to suck it up and buy a memory card. Some games won’t require it, but in the case that there is no memory card and a game requires one (such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss), the game won’t even boot up. Some games will store save and DLC data directly onto the system.

The Vita does not support video output, but its card and trophy data can be managed from a Playstation 3 console. PS3 and Vita owners can also stream media from the PS3 to the Vita using Remote Play. In addition, the PS3’s firmware will be updated to support DVR capabilities on the Vita — but there is no indication yet whether this treat will be Japan-only or worldwide.

The Vita cannot use PSP memory cards and will visually upscale PSP software by smoothing out graphics via bilinear filtering. So those of you worried about PSP quality on the PS Vita need not worry about the putting-a-PS2-game-in-a-PS3 effect.

The following software titles will be installed on the Vita and available for use on launch day: Welcome Park (welcome screen and introductory tutorials), Party ( a chat and media sharing application), Photos and Camera, Music, Video, Near (a social application that allows players to interact with other Vita owners in their location), Browser (note that it does not support Flash but there is promise of this in the future), Group Messaging, Friends, Trophies, Playstation Store, Remote Play, Content Management, System Setting, and Network Operator (used to monitor 3G usage).

3G Vita owners in Japan will have the comfort of added parental controls; no word yet on whether the West will get these too. GPS can be used on the regular WiFi models but it will be slower in tracking your location than on a 3G model.

Upon turning on the system for the first time, the Vita will attempt to connect via WiFi. If there is no connection, the 3G will start up. If players are connected via 3G and they pass through a wireless hot-spot, the system will not automatically switch.