PlayStation Vita can double as a PS3 controller

By Adam Rosenberg August 2, 2011

playstation vita — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nintendo doesn’t quite have the market cornered on tablet-powered next-gen video game experiences with its Wii U after all. Sony‘s upcoming PlayStation Vita portable gaming device is apparently capable of performing many of the same feats in connection with a PlayStation 3 that we’ve been told the Nintendo tablet will offer.

The confirmation comes straight from Sony Europe’s R&D manager Phil Rogers, speaking at the Develop Conference 2011 (via Eurogamer). “You could drive a display from a PS3 game, for example,” he said. “PS3 can send data down to Vita and Vita can display it. You could use the unique features [of Vita] – gyroscope, touch front and back – as a control device for a PS3 game.”

The possibilities open up considerably from there. Games with Wii U-exclusive features could conceivably be made to work with a PS3/Vita combo as well. That obviously requires a larger investment on the player side, but perhaps some of these elements could be worked in a la carte, in the same way that Sony already does with Move functionality.

“You can run software on both devices and use the network to sync the game states,” Rogers added. “And that’s pretty good, because you then have the processing power of PS3 doing that work, Vita [doing] fancy graphics – however you want to do it. You’re not sacrificing the PS3’s CPU to be able to have a rich experience on Vita.”

The new platform will also support a number of other features, including cross-platform play and remote play, with the Vita receiving content from the PS3. There’s also continuation play, teased at Sony’s E3 press conference with the RPG Ruin, which allows players to save their game on one platform and pick it up on another.

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Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

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