You're already checking where best to buy your console, exclaimed at the exorbitant price of memory cards. But what games will make your Vita experience complete?
Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Definite contender for essential purchase with your machine. While Bend mightn't be as good at storytelling as Naughty Dog, the game mechanics for this handheld version feel just right. This isn't the discount version that might have been expected, but a high-caliber action adventure.
Buy it because you want to show what lies beneath the hood of your Vita.
WipeOut 2048:
The racing champion that accelerates past all competitors. Yes, load times are inexcusably horrible, but the sensation of speed and track designs are top notch. It's WipEout in your pocket: what more do you need to know?
Buy it if you have missed wow-experience of the past WipeOut releases.
Pac-Man: Championship Edition
Remember, your PS Vita can play PSP games and Minis. Pac Man is the perfect game to just kill a few minutes - or hours, and at under a tenner won't break the bank. The neon-plated courses have never looked so good as on Vita's screen.
Buy it to get one of the best updates of an arcade classic for cheap.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Capcom is the master of the fighting genre, and its most perplexing series is back in full vigor. It is packed with game characters and offers great online functionality. The colours pop off the screen, and a more balanced gameplay makes this a good purchase if you can live with full-screen explosions, crazy whims and three-man tag-teams.
Buy it if you want the machine's best and most enjoyable fighting game.
SEGA Mega Drive Collection
Nearly thirty games on the cheap almost sounds too good to be true. This PSP game collection has a list that is bursting with classics. Sonic The Hedgehog 1 +2, VectorMan 2, Alex Kidd, Columns, Golden Axe 1 +2 +3, Shinobi III, Altered Beast amongst them, and the PS Vita's excellent analog stick is like having an arcade hall from eighties in one's pocket.
Buy it and get a host of portable arcade classics without sacrificing control.
Rayman Origins
There was great disappointment when we found out there was no multiplayer in PS Vita's Origins. The upside is that it makes you appreciate the excellent level design, and focus on the details found in each and every character. Mario and Sonic? Pssst. Rayman is this year's best platformer.
Buy it because you will have one of the world's best and finest platform games on your PS Vita.
Unit 13
It would be incredibly easy to skate over this title and conclude that it's full of generic missions with generic stories and generic villains and heroes. But listen: this is a handheld machine. Would you rather be fighting or labouring through cut-scenes when you're on the go? Unit 13 offers enemy AI and lots of content. So forget the nay-sayers and hop on the generic shooter wagon.
Buy it if you want a shooter that can both be played in small chunks and hour-long sessions.
Lumines: Electronic Symphony
Lumines: Electronic Symphony is perhaps not as eye-opening experience as it was for the PSP, but it's still a puzzler hell-bent on yanking your eyes, ears and brain into the future with a dizzying mix of epic beats and accelerating block building. With a wealth of great music tracks, this is the playlist gamers need on the go.
Buy it if you want music and puzzles for the train.
Everybody's Golf Vita
Everybody's Golf is a well-deserved success. It looks harmless and a breeze to play, but swings with a hefty clout when it comes to game depth and longevity. Even if you're not a golf fan, you'll find plenty to love here.
Buy it if you've never quite had the courage to buy a golf game, but would like to try the genre.
One Epic Game
Last but not least, there's this indie gem. It's plays as an endless runner, but is comedic gold with some fantastic cut-scenes as the title lampoons modern gaming traditions. Cue the hero of the hour rightly complaining in self-aware fashion at his plight. It's a a funny story and a game that actually lives up to its name.
Buy it if you want some laughs as well as an addictive - and cheap - game on your Vita.