I use my PlayStation Vita every day and the majority of the time it acts as an MP3 player to keep me entertained with podcasts and music. My daily commute usually involves firing up Super Stardust Delta then switching over to the music player and listening to a podcast whilst I game.
Due to the limited space on the memory card I only keep twenty or so MP3s on my device, usually the latest podcasts from Radio One and Five Live, the TSA podcast, a couple of random tunes and half finished versions of tunes and mixes I am working on so I can listen to them and decide what needs changing even though I’m not in my studio.
This Sunday I’m jetting off for my two weeks holiday and to complicate matters further I have recently moved, which means I have no internet access until Virgin install my new broadband connection.
As I knew I would have no internet connection before I moved I fired up iTunes and downloaded a plethora of podcasts, tunes and audio books and spent a good few hours carefully selecting the perfect playlist for the 22 hour flight to Hawaii.
The move went well and I have spent most of this week unpacking and arranging my life. Last night I finally got round to setting up my computer and thankfully it had survived the journey and sprang merrily to life.
I connected up my Vita, wiped a couple of demos off the memory card to clear some space for my holiday playlist, fired up Content Manager and…
[drop2]“You must be connected to the internet to use Content Manager”Obviously that cannot be true, I must have misread the message so I try again.
“You must be connected to the internet to use Content Manager”
I will not describe what happened next but it did involve questioning the parentage of Sony and the use of colourful and fruity language.
You cannot use Content Manager for PlayStation Vita unless you have an internet connection.
That means I cannot transfer my holiday playlist to my Vita and for the next month I am stuck with the same couple of podcasts and a smattering of half finished demos.
This is utterly, utterly ridiculous.
There is not a single reason why Content Manager needs to talk to the internet when all I want to do is transfer a rare remix of ‘Ooh Ahh Just A Little Bit’ by Gina G to my console.
Why on earth does Content Manager need to talk to the internet? Surely not to check for a software update, all the other Vita apps work without being online. Frankly it’s rather worrying, are Sony gathering data on what I transfer to my Vita?
I do love my little PlayStation but I use it for music more than games and this stupid requirement has left me with a multimedia brick for the next month. There is no way on hell I am sitting on an aircraft for 22 hours without music – so there is only one thing to do.
I’m going to go and buy another iPod and do you know what Sony? It will transfer all my music to the device without being connected to the internet. The Vita will be left at home and the money I was going spend on Vita games for my holiday will be spent on iTunes instead.
Do you know what will happen when I come back from holiday, Sony? I’ll keep the iPod in my pocket as it’s smaller and my Vita will be left at home. I won’t be using it every day and I sure as hell will be buying fewer games for it.
I suspect the Vita is going to sit on a shelf at home and gather dust. To be honest it’s somewhat of a surprise it still exists, I could have thrown the damn thing against a wall I was so annoyed last night.
Epic fail Sony, epic fail.
dave87fez
Well thanks for the information, I didn’t realise Content Manager needed an internet connection…but the article does seem like it should have been sent to Sony Customer Services instead of tsa.com.
Saying that, I do go overboard myself sometimes when it comes to games/gaming etc. FIFA for the Vita’s got a glitched trophy and it’s not getting patched so I decided to wage a one-man war against EA lol. Actually got my money back on a 5 month old used game as well, earned mostly with a series of emails not unlike this very article!
mcphatty
Gutting! I can understand your frustration and bewilderment TC. Out of interest, where can we hear your Gina G remix when it’s done?
Tuffcub
Its on the interweb somewhere.
Alex C
Looks like it’s enough of an issue for some homebrew alternatives.
http://wololo.net/2012/03/18/open-idea-cma-open-source-tool-to-copy-files-from-and-to-your-vita-private-beta/
Alex C
Interestingly, your PS3 needs to also be online to copy from PS3 to Vita. I think.
R1MJAW
It does indeed, I had that very problem a few weeks ago. It was in the early hours of the morning and I had actually just switched my modem/router off before going to bed, but I thought I’d back up a few of my games from my Vita to my PS3 to free up some room on my memory card … lo and behold, it didn’t work due to no internet connection.
Obviously it wasn’t a major hassle, but it was annoying.
phantom5813
i feel your pain. i tried to copy stuff off my vita nd was told tha i need windows edia player to install content manager on my pc first. Why?? from what i remember, media player isnt used in content manager when copying stuff over at all. correct me ifim wrong please. granted i have been using my vita more since im trying to plat golden abyss but other than the short game of montezuma, i dont play it. my psp go get a hell more attention than my vita
jonny_bolton
I had a quick go at transferring music onto my Vita the other morning from work.
The issue I had was that I has to swipe the screen a stupid amount of time just to get down the artisits like to the C’s and D’s. Obviously this is due to the size of my music collection but surely there’s a better, more efficient way of transferring music.
Or maybe there is. Bear in mind it’s the one and only time I’ve used CM so I don’t really know all the features…
hol
Couldn’t you just get a cheap pay as you go 3G dongle to connect to the Internet? Worth a try surely?
da_siz
Random question…
I am going on holiday in less than 2 months and would like to play it by the pool. Is there any product that will make it easy to see the screen in the sun light?
Tuffcub
Yes, its called “Night time”
Vita Screen is unusable in sunshine.
da_siz
and how much does this “night time” cost?
JohnnyBoy
There is no way I would have gone on holiday without my Vita.
I didn’t use it that much while on holiday, but on the flights there and back it was worth every penny I spent on it. I normally hate flying (although diazapam helps) I was immersed in Resistance all the way to the Costa del Sol and back – barely said two words to the missus and kid…
Jim Hargreaves
In terms of this article itself, I can see where both parties are coming from.
Personally I ain’t bothered about the Vita’s multimedia security functions simply because I get the bulk of my content downloaded directly to my iPod. For me, the Vita is just about the games, and perhaps, the occasional photo or video.
In many ways TC is getting much more out of his Vita than me and a result and, being the music fiend he is, it’s understandable that he wants to ditch his Vita for another device.
Alex C
It’s also worth pointing out that TC has loads of money.
Tuffcub
Not after moving I havent
Bodachi
I’ve only ever used my Vita for music once really. Got all my music loaded up on my phone and get podcasts downloaded directly to it. I can see it being annoying not being able to transfer stuff other than games without a internet connection. I always take both devices out with me as I don’t enjoy many touch only games.