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Welcome to the Vita Hill Social Club. That's the name of the pop up shop where gamers around the United States are allowed to experience the Playstation Vita before it hits stores next month. The shops will be open until launch and allow gamers to try out various games on the Playstation Vita. Today was the official meetup for the Vita Hill Social Club in Boston Massachusetts. I was one of the people who attended, and I figured I'd share my thoughts about the experience.
Overall the Boston Vita Hill Social Club meetup was fun. I got there two hours early, and was able to play the Playstation Vita before the meetup began. I went so early because of the free t-shirt giveaway for the first 100 people that arrived. I expected to have to wait in line for two hours, but the store was open for people to play the Playstation Vita. I walked right in, registered for the PlayStation Vita Social Club, and minutes later had a Playstation Vita in my hand with Uncharted: Golden Abyss to play. Employees made it clear that they wanted me to enjoy my experience, and brought me juice and granola bars while I played Uncharted. It was cool.
The Playstation Vita is a fun piece of hardware. I really enjoyed the time I had playing Uncharted: Golden Abyss. The graphics were nice and the touchscreen controls were a nice touch. It kind of felt weird using the controls, but I bet I'll get use to them as I play the Vita more. The Playstation Vita is a wide. It's bigger than a cellphone, but it's not as heavy. I brought my Nintendo 3DS to make comparisons, and I'd say the Playstation Vita is lighter than the Nintendo 3DS. I can't really say the graphics to the Vita are better than the Nintendo 3DS though. In 2D the Vita wins hands down on graphics, but when the graphics in 3D on the 3DS look impressive as well.
At 4:30 we had to wait in line outside for the meetup to begin at 5:30. The hour wait wasn't so bad. Our host for the night, Sid Shuman, appeared and handed out free slices of pizza to the people waiting in line. The pizza was pretty good as I enjoyed having conversations with others waiting in line. The doors opened at 5:30 sharp and I was apart of the first group that got in the door. I received my free shirt, got more slices of pizza, and proceeded to play Uncharted 3 on the Playstation 3.
I was able to play the Playstation TV for the first time at the Vita Hill Social Club as well. The 24 inch screen is small, but the picture quality is impressive. I was captivated, by the level of detail in the picture quality of Uncharted 3 as I played it. I tried on the 3D glasses and they were interesting. It got dark as I put on the 3D glasses which of surprised me. I didn't have enough time to get the full experience of the 3D effect on the TV, but I'd buy one if I didn't already have a TV. I had to leave the Vita Hill Social Club for the next wave of people to experience the Vita, but I had a good time. I plan on buying a PlayStation Vita on launch day, but I might stop by the Vita Hill Social Club again.