Don’t Even Bother With a 4GB Vita Card

We’re not fans of the fact that you have to buy an expensive memory stick separately simply to save games, but if you plan on buying two or more PSN games, you’ll be in serious trouble with a 4GB stick. - PSLS

[doctorstrange]

Seriously. Spending $20 to store one game (which you also have to buy) is stupid.

Had to import a 32GB

[TheFirstClassic]

Yeah, I'm either gonna get a 16 or 32 gig but I'm leaning towards the 32. The fact that you can use the right analog stick for psp games is going to make me download more on my Vita, plus I'm sure there will be plenty of psn games I'll want to download like stardust and escape plan.

[Sev]

I've had all four available card sizes. 16GB suffices, but I recommend going big or going home.

4GB and 8GB just aren't enough for anything but gamesaves. 8GB may be able to handle some PSN titles, but that's it.

[darthv72]

not too far down the pipe there will be 64 and 128 sizes that would take the price points of the current 16 and 32.

Now I know vita games are bigger but on my GO I have 5 psp games, 3 ps1 games, 4 mini's and a slew of songs and vids and I still have 7gb in reserve.

[SilentNegotiator]

"16GB suffices, but I recommend going big or going home"
-
That's pretty much the golden rule of buying memory.

Weren't game cards suppose to hold extra memory space for saves? I could have swore they said that they would.

[Ares84HU]

I think 32GB should have been built into the system, ESPECIALLY since some games ever require you to have a memory card and it would have been a benefit for Sony to have integrated memory so people could go on their online store and buy games which will could have been more profitable for them. I think it was a bad decision that they didn't integrate some sort of storage in the PSV.

[NatureOfLogic]

I'm in no rush to get a Vita, too much trouble right now.

[zireno]

Target gave me a 20 dollar gift card, and a 4 GB memory card for free, I bought a 16 GB with the gift card (obviously I paid the difference) and I'll be selling the 4 GB card, so I feel like that was a great deal :)!!!

[MaxXAttaxX]

Do some of you honestly think that they would have "32GB" built in for free?
You guys would pay $400 for the Vita alone? I see it as another reason to complain.

I bought an 8GB and only spent $280 in total with the system.
____

If you're planning on downlaoding all your games(for $5 less), then invest in a 16 or 32GB.
Otherwise a 4GB should be enough for save data and apps. An 8GB is better for storing more media.

P.S. You can download as many games as you want. You may only be able to store 2 games in a 4GB memory card, but you can always replace them.
Delete and re-download. It's common sense. Use it.

[badz149]

got it in with the Uncharted GA bundle. have LBP and MNR PSP on it too. I'm not too much of playing many games at the same time kind of people. so, I'll just download games I want on PS3 and copy them at will to my tiny 4GB when I want. not really a trouble for me...yet!

[ginsunuva]

Guys don't forget you can store your games into a pc or ps3.

[ChrisW]

Kind of reminds me when the 360 first came out and they only gave you a 64Mb memory card. You were screwed unless you bought a 20Gb Hard Drive if you wanted to download games. Oh well, it's all about the money.

[_Aarix_]

I just wish they had cloud storage for it :/ it would make a lot more use to the 3g in it.

[Jamzluminati]

Is there any onboard storage space?

[doctorstrange]

Nope. Well there's storage we can't access for FW updates, but that's it.

[nikoado]

I think you can store your game saves on SOME of the Vita game cards themselves.

For music and videos etc. you need a proprietary memory card. There is no internal storage.

[xAlmostPro]

DLC for games if you have a physical copy stores onto that card as well :) for physical games i think it's just gamesaves that go on your memory card..

there's a lot to get used to

[Ulf]

You don't need a memory card to save games, unless you download them (in which case you already HAVE a memory card).

They save on the game cards.

[doctorstrange]

No, read below comments. This is only for some games, others, like uncharted wont even load without a card.

[fluffydelusions]

I have an 8gb because it came free. I'll upgrade later I suppose.

[stunkilla]

i think that was a smart move as i too got a 8gb and will up grade to 32gb

[JaredH]

I'm fine with the 4gb right now since I have all my games, except Escape Plan and Super Stardust, on cartridge. The way I see it the ps Vita is too big to fit in my pocket anyway so I have it in my backpack with all my cartridges in the case that came with the first edition bundle. I'll need to buy a bigger stick later but I think I'll be fine for a while.

[f789790]

Exactly. I don't understand why everyone is so focused on cramming every game they have onto an expensive memory stick.

I got a 4GB for free and plan to get a 8GB later.

[NeoBasch]

32GB is stupid too. Games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss take up 4GB alone. That'd be approximately 8 games like Uncharted (I'm sure you could fit several more smaller ones). The point is if you're planning to go fully digital, also plan on redownloading a lot of your purchases, as this clearly isn't enough space. You wouldn't even have room for movies or music either.

Nah, I refuse to go digital for Vita games. I will go digital for PSOne, PS2, and PSP games though. Even then, the space is really limited. I'll get one when I can afford it, just to tide me over until they release the inevitable 64 and 128 GB sticks. The latter would be more to my liking.

[brodychet]

8gb shouldve been the lowest at 20$.

[salinidus]

what bothers me about the launch vita is that it requires a memory stick for it to play a game at all but it comes with no memory stick straight out of the box.....well at least there was non when these guys unboxed if check out the vid its freaking epic

[StraightPath]

wait for them fakes ones from china on ebay lol way cheaper. Sony prices rip off.
I been using a 32 GB on PSP for years now no problem using the photofast adapter and 2 sd cards. and another fake 8Gb i had works till this day. There are good fakes and bad fakes.

no good games on ps vita highest rated game is Rayman Origins

88% metacritic

while Golden abyss is going into the average rental sector with 80% metacritic.

[Horny]

Hotshots and wipeout are great too. I really like golden abyss. I'm actually having more fun with it then I had in uncharted 3. I also have to admit I'm enjoying the vita controls when it come to those puzzle games or zooming with the sniper.
I personally think its the best handheld I owned and I you can tell it has potential for great games.
I loved the gameboy as a child and I havent been impressed with anything recently until the vita which is bringing my gaming interest back to the point where I just want to play all my games on it.

[xtremeimport]

why didnt they build in some sort of storage device again??

[SilverBullet129]

Yup they should have taken a note from the Android phones, with how they have BOTH internal & external storage with micro SD cards (except in this case would be these memory cards for external storage).

[GraveLord]

Good thing going digital is optional!

If you're only buying physical copies of games then 4gigs is more than enough for game saves.

If you have PC or PS3 you can transfer Vita games and store them there as well.

[NeoBasch]

Is this confirmed? Because this would be really nice. Granted copying 4 GB files still takes a long time, but not as long as downloading.

[Dir_en_grey]

4 gig are just for saves.

IMO going digital vs carts is only for the luxury of not having to swap and carry the carts, but as of now it doesn't even save you money because the digital discounts they give your are around 10% off at the PSN.

Where as there are tons of deals going on everywhere for the carts.

Buy $50 Vita games or accessories at Toys R Us and get $20 gift card.

Buy 2 get 1 free deals at Target, Best Buy, GameStop, and Amazon, all until 2/25th though.

Price of physical carts also drop faster so I don't think you can really every get a "deal" buying digital versus physical media if you are willing to hunt for deals.

[mugoldeneagle03]

And I don't think I sold one 4GB card at all, which is really good news. Even most of the Mom + Children buying groups got at least 8GB ones and even 16's which was good to see.

Not that I don't have faith in some of my customers, but it went really well. Had 15 units total in (10/5 split in Wi/3G versions) and only have 1 wifi version left when I left at 8

Sold out of almost all our Vita games too. So a strong launch so far, better than the 3DS for our store by far

[Britainz-Fin3st]

Sev there are many people who will simply buy the vita and only use the card for game saves, so 8,16 and 32 is wayy more then theyll need.

Ofcourse there are some of you who download everything possible and will need all the space they can get.

[knifefight]

Yeah...it's fine if you're going to just save your games/screenshots and maybe download 1 game, but wow, if you want more than that, the 4GB doesn't make sense. I had no idea BlazBlue was 3.3 gigs o_o

[Megaman_nerd]

I'm not sure but I think high-res sprites take much more space to store than the same renders on 3D.

[coryok]

depends on quality, textures and colors used. one isnt necessarily bigger than the other. nathan drake in uncharted GA probably takes more storage then any single character from blazblue, though im not sure about the texture quality available in vita games

[dbjj12088]

I might do OK with an 8GB, but I won't hesitate to buy a bigger one once I start putting movies and music on my Vita.

[xAlmostPro]

I had to go for an 8gb today because i never pre-ordered a 16gb memory card with mine -_-..

by the looks of it it'll serve me well, i plan on importing a 32gb though just for game downloads, use my current one for any games that save up until then and then a couple of movies :D

[FinaLXiii]

This is one of the main reasons im not getting a vita anytime soon and im also still focused with the PSP.
PSP - cheap great quality games.

Gravity Daze demo really disapointed me i was expecting something more than a sailor moon ripoff.

[TheFirstClassic]

How is it a sailor moon rip off? Other than the black talking cat anyway.

[FinaLXiii]

sailor moon ripoff- female lead character that transforms into a fairy or some sort and its special attack is also by using the talking cat.

The only thing you do on the demo its jump and kick most of the time...

[wolokowoh]

@Hojo0003 The cat actually doesn't talk from what I've seen. It just meows. The kanji literally translates to the word Japanese people associate noises that cats make. If you actually could read kanji or played the Hong Kong/english version of the demo and weren't just making baseless assumptions, you'd know this. Also as person who admittedly watched Sailor Moon up until halfway though Super S(R was the best it went downhill from there), I can tell you the game is nothing like Sailor Moon. There is no boy being crushed on and the Negaverse isn't trying to come up with ways to steal energy from the humans. There's a dimensional vortex sucking people up that also is letting some sort of monsters out and animals who give people powers. What's weird is that after Kat(your character) saved the kid from being sucked in the black hole, they still complained about the house being destroyed and were pretty much blaming her. Also, the game's powers have nothing to do with throwing tiaras, using wands, eating foods, or buying jewelry. I fail to see any similarity.

[BubloZX]

@hojo0003

Virtually every female hero lead in Japan does that lol. Just like everybody powers up like dbz

[fluffydelusions]

I played gravity daze demo and found it amazing.

[TheFirstClassic]

I haven't played the demo yet, but I think you may be jumping to conclusions. The setting, story, and the powers Kat gets seems to be pretty different from sailor moon. And the lead character being female in both is kind of irrelevant, seeing as there are only two genders to pick from. HOWEVER! I'll have to play the demo before I make any eal opinion on it.

[tiffac008]

I played the demo and Kat is nothing like Sailormoon.

Kat does transform (sort of) to do her special attack and glows when she uses her gravity powers but she doesn't have a costume like Sailormoon.

Sailormoon on the other hand does not need Luna to do her special attack and doesn't do any actual physical fighting like Kat does.

So I think your off if your comparing Kat to Sailormoon.

[xAlmostPro]

Can i ask where you played the demo, if you haven't got your vita yet?..

Serious question(not sure if it's been out on psp or elsewhere before) :)

[wolokowoh]

He hasn't but an English language option for the Hong Kong demo exists. Unfortunately you'd need an extra memory card since Vita's is locked to an account. I got an 8gb(came with the Vita) and 32 gb so I used the 8gb for my Japanese account. Like I said in a previous post, the cat doesn't even talk in the demo. It meows. Only someone who doesn't know what the kanji says(therefore has no story incite to offer)and played the Japanese version or hasn't seen it in English wouldn't know this.

[SandwichHammock]

Agreed. I have two 4g cards due to 1.starter pack 2.promo at retailer: waste of time, swapping out these tiny things is donkey balls if you have regular sized (read: not tiny) hands. 32g either tonight or tomorrow.

offtopic: Sony needs to bring out a PSV content manager app for Android.

[coryok]

lol, im going to have two 4gb cards also, ill just store all my minis on one of them, which because of PS+ is like 40-50 minis lol

seems like a good use of a 4 gb card

[svoulis]

Most retailers in the US are doing some type of promotion with the Vita like buy one and get 25 dollar gift card (enough for a 4GB card),and some are even giving away 4GB cards withit, and over in the UK some buyers are getting 8GB cards with their Vita purchase.

[xAlmostPro]

amazon are doing vita + free 8gn memory card & £15 game

[Soplox]

I just bought mine in Amazon US and got a free 4GB MC.

[izumo_lee]

Actually games saves (as well as patches) are saved onto the game card not a memory card. The memory cards are for those who decide to download digitally than buying retail.

If you are buying retail for most of your games a 4GB is sufficient to handle most of your vita's functions. Also remember you can use your PS3/PC to store saves & content as well.

[doctorstrange]

Only a few games support on-game card save. Otherwise this wouldn't be a prob, but most don't

[izumo_lee]

Just re-read the online vita manual & you are right my bad. But still if people care about only playing games bought from retail & nothing else a memory card of 4GB (even 8GB) is more than enough to save data.

The larger memory cards like i said are for people who like to have things digital to store games, music, video pics etc. It is a choice, you can get the 32GB if you want but you do not have to.

*edit*
Joystiq wrote an article on how much data is needed to save or run a vita game. Not that big at all.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012...

[mttrackmaster38]

What doctorstrange said. Uncharted is one of those titles that needs a memory card to even boot up.

[BX81]

I got the 4gb. I'm not big on downloading games to a hand held. So I'll be str8 for now. The article makes it seem like carrying around a bunch of cards is a hassle but carrying the vita isn't. LOL.

[Sevir]

Last night when I picked up my vita from Sony Style Fashion Valley! But I think next week I'm gonna get a 32 gig card... It's an amazing device but Damn it they knew they'd bank more off mem cards being proprietary! Escape Plan and Gravity Daze were huge downloads :-( .... Still had a blast playing them however!

[ISKREEM]

I have no intent of purchasing a Vita until they have 64GB cards at a reasonable price. I'm not going to shell out an additional $100 for a 32GB card that won't even support my decision to go with digital-only in the long run.

[AceofStaves]

I guess it depends on the user. I have the 4gb card, and it suits my needs now. I'll upgrade later on, to grow my video library, but I can wait.

[WooHooAlex]

Same. I have the 4gb from the FEB and this will hold me over for a while. I have Michael Jackson, Super StarDust, game saves, 8 or 9 pics, twitter, netflix ... and I haven't even taken up half of the memory card yet.

I will just move games over to my PS3 when I'm not playing them or when I'm starting to run out of space.

[nevin1]

I assuming you got Michael Jackson for free?

[WooHooAlex]

lol, yep

[StupidDude]

How are you doing this?

I have an 8GB card, and I only have 1 PSP game and one demo, and, I only have 2 gb left.

What is taking up all of my space??

[gaffyh]

These guys ar 100% right, I got a free 8gb and it's almost full now. I am importing a 32gb from planetaxel.com who don't charge import duty, works out as £65 roughly

[StoneyYoshi]

Lockerz.com i can get a 32 gig for 77 bucks for using my points on that site.

[KROBOS9393939]

please tell this is not a scam and it actually works!

[wolokowoh]

It works. You watch a bunch of ads to get points. That's how they make money. The shipping for the sites is horrible though. It takes forever. If you're patient and have a decent internet connection I'd recommend it for you. Otherwise other sites will have deals.

[StoneyYoshi]

this is very true. my friend on my ps3 grabbed the 3g wifi model for 250.00
you can collect the points really fast too. they have some videos that are worth 300 points and you need about 1300 points to get the 3g vita for 250.

[MasterD919]

What about the possibility of cloud saving? For saved games of course...not media, movies or full games.

[Series_IIa]

I've got an 8gb but I can't seem to write anything to it?

[NBT91]

It should be fine in theory, but we all know we will fill it up within minutes of having it, even 8GB is questionable.

[rezzah]

It really isn't a problem, for now...

I just need to delete vids and demos when i am done with them. So I have can open space for any games I actually buy (physically).

[kewlkat007]

Question: doesn't the vita have enough Ram on board to store a couple of games? If not: Well that makes no fn sense. It's 2012.....

What is a 4GB card gonna do for ya...?

I think I'll be waiting to get the Vita, I was hyped about it but def not "I gotta have it today".

[NoTheMama]

Vita= great machine
Sony= sneaky, greedy bastards

[BubloZX]

Then what does that make the 4 gig 360 ?lol

[PSNTomaz]

This is no different than buying a 4Gb 360... Have forza 3 and i was already maxed out just by installing the game.. yes i could save a game but this was the only game i could save.

[Gaetano]

Just buy a game one at a time? Then store it elsewhere? Or redownload? Derp?

[TheGOODKyle]

I myself have a 4GB due to money constraints and would love a bigger sized memory card. However, I have Escape Plan, Netflix, those 3 augmented reality games, and Uncharted Golden Abyss. They all fit in my puny 4GB card. So it's not all bad...plus you can just delete your files or back them up when you're done.

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

So what else are the VITA memory cards capable of being used with? or are they just a overpriced 1 use kind of a card?

Like UMD's etc.. Sony needs to look into other ways of incorporating certain aspects of what they use into other devices to make them univeral!

I guess Sonys memory unit for the VITA is just like memory for a 360?

[Killman]

Having absolutely no memory already on the system was such a stupid decision. I also cannot stand that a 32gb card is $100, when my PS3 500gb HDD was $70.........

[tmoss726]

Wow so it's digital only and the Vita doesn't even have any memory built in? And it's propietary only? Well that mean's you spend like at least $270-$300....And the games of course so that comes to like $330-$350. For a handheld game system. Getting ripped off.

[Hallow]

I have the 8gb card and have Uncharted Demo, Hustle Kings Demo, Asphalt Injection Demo, Lumines Demo, Unit 13 Demo and all three AR games installed and still have 3623MB free not bad. BTW I Love this thing!

[amip17]

save it on your pc or ps3. sheesh.

[remanutd55]

i got a 32 gb now i have 24/ 29 gb lol

[trikster40]

Yup, I got the 8gb with my 3G bundle. I figured the size of the games would go down, but FIFA is like 1.3 Gb for the demo, 3gb for the full game. Screw buying digital copies.

[Mr Tretton]

Watch they'll end up releasing a PSV with 32GB (or more) built in memory later, they're just taking your money right now. The price you pay for first day.

[fearless212]

guys check this offer from amazon uk :)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/...

[Canary]

Love some of the fanboy arguments here.

No one would be complaining about the Vita's lack of on-board memory if it supported standard memory formats--SD/SDHC/whatever. It's a big deal because the Vita is a platform built around digital distribution and media content, necessitating the need for large amounts of memory storage, and Sony clearly recognizes that--hence the overpriced "proprietary" memory cards.

Which, from what I've heard, are just SDHC cards with a little bit of extra plastic to make SDHC cards incompatible--and to allow Sony to charge three times as much.

[Tommy334]

Next model will have 4G and a HDD

[Soldierone]

I got a 4GB card, after buying 3 games and the system itself I couldn't afford anything more. These cards are the only downfall about the unit I can find.

However I have 2 demo's, the 3 virtual reality games, and all the data from my games on it so far and still have 2 GB's left. Even got a video and a bunch of pictures on there.

I'm not saying it's too big, but the 4GB card will hold me over till the prices go down. Plus digital prices are not that much cheaper anyways, what maybe 5 bucks?

[clowncarcrash]

they shouldn't even made 4 gigs check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[kraze07]

100 bones for 32gb memory and no built in storage are absolutely ridiculous in this day and age and yet I'm still going to buy a Vita. The price I gotta pay for my gaming/tech addiction.

[tigertron]

I wouldn't get any smaller than a 32GB. The fact that they didn't launch in Europe is criminal.

[Adolph Fitler]

Hope your right Tretton.....But it sucks & WILL hurt sales due to the fact the idiots failed to put AT LEAST 32gigs of internal memory....I mean, what the? How much more could it possibly cost to include 32gigs? My 2-3yr old I-Phone3S has it & is less than half the size of psp.

Get Ken Kutaragi back Sony....It's too late for PSV & PS4....but only the genius that is Krazy Ken, can get them back on track with PSV2 & PS5.

[skyblue14213]

I prefer the hardcopy versions of games over the digital versions of games. I will just simply go to a retail store or an online retailer and spend a few more dollars for the hardcopy version of a game.

The author mentions that it makes sense to get the digital psn versions of games instead in which I disagree with. By me opting to get the hard copy version of a game I have something to show for it by actually having a physical product/game in my hand. Also the fact that you can't resell the digital version of a game if you wanted to, and the fact that you would have to also invest in a high capacity memory card to store games on it to be able to play the game(s) on the vita.

Also depending on my internet connection transfer speed rate it could take me a while to download a game to even try the "said" game out. I have basic dsl so a 4 gb game might take me at least a day or more from the time of purchase to download and have a chance to try it out, also if you are disappointed in a particular game you can't get a refund for the digital version of the game. Most people in the u.s I believe have basic dsl or even worse basic dial-up(56k) which would be a nightmare to download any high capacity game.

Imo the author does not make sense in claiming that it makes sense that digital versions of games are preferred over hardcopy versions of games. If and when I decide to get a vita I will be buying all hardcopy versions of games over digital versions of games if I can help it.

[pythonxz]

I've always preferred having the physical copy. Here are the advantages:

1. The cartridge interface has a faster transfer-rate(faster loading times) than the memory card interface for the Vita. (This is the opposite of what it was for the PSP (discs are slow))

2. Cartridge games are not bound to an account, therefore they can be played on another Vita, or even another account, with no problems.

3. Lack of major space usage is another advantage. I don't need to buy a more expensive memory card which would easily overshadow the amount of money saved on buy digital games. In other words, it doesn't matter that the digital games are cheaper, because I'd need to spend that money on the memory card anyway. Further, I'd eventually need to spend money on another memory card to store more games going into the future.

Unless a game is digital-only or it is an Atlas game (aka: Hard as hell to find), like SSD, I will not be buying digital games.

[Hallow]

Off topic:
Is it ok to leave the Vita in standby mode all the time?
Or should I power it off when not using it like overnight?
I noticed while in standby mode the home button oscillates blue, doubt that led will burn out anytime soon but still, what should I do?

[pythonxz]

Well, standby mode is a bit different from the standby on the PSP. It uses quite a bit more power because of the features it has for applications, such as near. I would recommend shutting it off if you don't plan on picking it up within an hour or so. It would just waste battery.

As for the LED in the home button, don't worry, it's normal for it to oscillate. Usually it does that when there is a message.

[Hallow]

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my vita question, very helpful!

[Razongunz]

i ordered a 16GB card with my vita on a online store. got my vita today but they sendt my card a day later so i.m now using my with to browse n4g, its about all i can do atm XD well i hope i get it tomorrow so i can download stuff and play my wipeout and uncharted ;P

[TBONEJF]

PSVita memory cards are freaking expensive. may be someone should remind him that not every one CAN'T AFFORD A 8GB OR 32 almost 50-100$.

[pythonxz]

I have a 4GB stick, but I am planning on upgrading when it gets too constricting. The only digital game I have is SSD, other than that, I have three physical games,(wipeout 2048, UMVC3, and Rayman Origins). I also have Persona 3 Portable and Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days and their games saves. In addition to that, I have music and screenshots of wipeout. I still have 1.8GB left. The way I use the space, I'm not so sure I need a larger card just yet.