Sony PlayStation Vita review - Telegraph That focus is - as you'd expect - squarely on games. More specifically, the Vita's goal is to provide portable gaming on par with the best home console titles. We've been here before, of course, with the Vita's predecessor PSP striving for the same ideals. However, while the idea that the PSP was a failure is a myth, even its most staunch defenders would admit it was a flawed device. And Sony has clearly learned important lessons. The Vita retains a familiar form, but its smooth curves and button placement make it far more comfortable to use. The console's graphical prowess may not match more recent PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games in terms of texture and effects, but certainly recall earlier games of this home console generation. Considering we're looking at the first wave of Vita's games, it's certainly an impressive achievement in raw power. Most importantly, the PSP's horrid, thumb-shattering analogue nub is no more, replaced by dual analogue sticks. More than anything else, it's these sticks that offer Vita's greatest advantage over solely touch-screen smartphones. While use of simple touch screen controls can work fabulously for bespoke games such as Cut the Rope and Infinity Blade, smartphones have yet to incorporate a satisfactory control scheme for more traditional titles. The Vita's analogue sticks are discrete and well formed, offering a precision and comfort that smartphones (or any other handheld console for that matter) simply can't match. If there's a downside, it's that the sticks naturally small size cannot entirely mimic the range of a home console control pad. Sony, however, has made the sticks just one part of a kitchen-sink control palette that could easily threaten to crowd the device. But despite the sheer number of input options, the Vita is neatly designed to incorporate them all. The bright, vibrant OLED screen takes up the lion's share of the Vita's chassis, allowing you to easily access the capacitive touch screen. Similarly, the way you naturally hold the device makes using the rear touch panel a cinch. The motion sensors don't seem to have added too much weight, while the two cameras are so unobtrusively placed they're almost invisible. The operating system is welcoming and slick, ditching Sony's "Cross Media Bar" for a smartphone flavoured touchscreen menu. It's all crafted to be fast and accessible, with easy access to Vita's perfectly reasonable internet browser and upcoming social apps for Twitter and Facebook. When you load up games, the initial screen will offer you shortcuts to online manuals, downloadable content and access to Vita's "Near" feature, which allows you to connect with other Vita owners in your area. The missteps tend to be old Sony idiosyncrasies. There is no internal memory, with data and games stored on pricey proprietary storage cards. And it seems unneccessarily fussy that the connecting cable that charges the console or connects to your PS3, PC or Mac in order to manage your content isn't a universal USB wire. Battery-life, meanwhile, clocks in at a good five hours of intensive use. Not brilliant for long-haul journeys, perhaps, but a decent length of time for a device that's juggling so much tech at once. While all the features work as well as you would expect them to, it's in the combination of the different control schemes that Vita shows its potential. Launch title Uncharted: Golden Abyss is arguably the device's best advert, providing lush visuals and bombastic action that looks and, crucially, feels the same as its PS3 counterparts. You can also use the touchscreen to throw grenades and switch weapons, the rear touch-panel to climb ropes and the motion sensor to fine-tune your aim. Uncharted is perhaps too overburdened with demoing the Vita's features, suggesting that feature-creep could negatively impact some titles. However, it shows that an astute mixture of the control schemes could potentially enhance traditional games, while creating experiences unique to Vita. Evocative puzzle-adventure Escape Plan makes terrific use of the multi touch front screen and rear touch panel, combining neat prods, pushes and pinches as you manipulate the environment from both front and back; shoving a bridge out by prodding the back of the console, for instance. It suggests that the rear panel, Vita's most intriguing and innovative control addition, is more than just a quirky curiosity in the right hands. Sony is keen to accommodate a broad spectrum of titles too. As well as the more expensive, high-end titles such as Uncharted and Wipeout, Vita will connect to the Sony Entertainment Network, allowing you to download slightly cheaper software such as Super Stardust HD. And to ensure Vita isn't missing out on a library of cheap, quick-fix smartphone games, Vita will also support PlayStation Suite, Sony's mobile games platform. If it all sounds too good to be true, it's because Sony's launch plan for Vita appears to have every base covered: terrific hardware, a strong launch line-up and a commitment to a wide range of software and features. However, the path to ruin is always paved with good intentions, and time will tell if this every thing to every man approach can be sustained. Sony will need to keep a watchful eye on its new baby, a device entering a fiercely competitive market with the odds stacked against it. There's no question that, providing the games library continues to impress beyond the launch window, Vita is looking to be the number one choice for those serious about playing games on the move. But can Vita appeal beyond that audience? Can it convince iPhone wielding commuters to pack an extra gadget and spend more money on more sophisticated games? In hardware terms, Vita has everything going for it. So while the accepted knowledge is that the days of the dedicated handheld console are coming to an end, Sony is not giving up without a fight.