Sony had a hell of an E3 this year. Coming off of the public relations disaster that stemmed from the month-long outage of PlayStation Network, Qriocity and Sony Online Entertainment following a network security breach, the game publisher and console maker came out swinging with a brand new portable gaming device, the PS Vita. The power of the hardware is enough that accessing content available for both the PS3 and Vita in a cloud is possible, and it’s an advantage that Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima intends to leverage for all Kojima Productions releases moving forward.
Kojima revealed “Transfarring” at E3, a service which allows players to play PS3 games on the Vita. He spoke more about it in the latest Kojima Productions podcast, confirming that all future releases from his studio would be supported. He didn’t come out with a list, but Kojima is currently working on HD remakes of the earlier Metal Gear Solid and Zone of the Enders games as well as Metal Gear Solid Rising and a new, unnamed title running on the newly revealed Fox Engine.
Kojima said (via That VideoGame Blog), “We have a plan moving forward, where all of our major titles will have this transfarring functionality. So you’ll buy the next big game from Kojima Productions on PS3, and there’ll also be an NGP version [PSVita] and take it on the go.”
Many responded to the first reveal of the Vita with doubt. After all, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets provide a wealth of gaming opportunities, and they’re only going to offer more complex experiences over time. The Vita, as much as it is a “portable PS3,” is too narrow in its focus, some believe. Sony’s cloud storage, and the ability for both the PS3 and Vita to access content there — and, as functionally similar platforms, make use of the same content — counters that belief. Unlike the PlayStation Portable, which mostly stood apart from Sony consoles (other than Remote Play, of course), the Vita seems designed to complement the console experience.
In the example shown at Sony’s E3 press conference, an upcoming game called Ruin can be played and have player saves loaded on both platforms. Imagine doing this with any number of top-tier PlayStation 3 releases, leaving your house with the latest Metal Gear sitting in your bag and waiting to be played on the go.
