Borrowed a friend's Vita; how do I sign him out?

[Brandon Debes]

Hey, Vita friends. I have never played any PlayStation console or handheld, but a friend of mine insisted I borrow his PS Vita to take on holiday with me. So I thought I would play some TPA on it (and Zen 2, which comes out while I'm on the beach). I created a PSN account on the web, but I can't figure out how to sign this device out of my friend's profile or install mine and switch to it or whatever. Some googling suggested that I needed my own memory card, so I bought one (I see Sony still insist on dumb, expensive, proprietary media formats for everything ). But even after pulling out his memory card and inserting mine, the device still appears to be logging in to the PSN as him. Can any of you more experienced PlayStation folk tell me where I'm going wrong? Thanks in advance.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

I dont know about the VITA maybe this will help Brandon.
http://www.google.com/url?q=http://...kQFjAC&usg=AFQjCNEEFpW6Ps-vfScePPCOtiaizJCBjw

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

I dont know about the VITA maybe this will help Brandon.
http://www.google.com/url?q=http://...kQFjAC&usg=AFQjCNEEFpW6Ps-vfScePPCOtiaizJCBjw

 

[Brandon Debes]

Thanks. I did find and read through that guide in my searching. But it's dated from before the US release of the hardware, so I was hoping the situation had changed since then. I'm pretty hesitant to do some of the steps in that process to a piece of hardware which I do not own. Have Sony not addressed this issue since last December? My understanding is that their previous generation of handhelds supported multiple profiles. If this is still the only way to go I will probably just be bummed for a minute and then just buy and play stuff on his PSN account and give him cash for whatever I end up spending.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

my guess is you got to hook it up to a PS3 and do the account management creat new user under existing activated account or deactivate his account then creat new user/account to activate or use his account change billing information to your credit card then delete that info when you give it back.

 

[Sinistar]

Might be a good idea to allow someone who owns a Vita to answer his question? The Vita allows ONE USER ACCOUNT , the only way to "sign out" is to wipe his account by deactivating the Vita from his account and then doing a factory reset . You'd better ask your friend if it's ok to wipe his account and have him deactivate the Vita himself. Sony did not want the Vita to be shared , they were trying to force people into buying one Vita per child or adult. Once the Vita is reset all games and apps related to the account , on the memory card will stop working , (all games bought from the PSN store) cartridge chip games bought in retail boxes still work , but might require new games to be played (not sure if game saves will work) . So basically ask your friend to deactivate the Vita from his account , which will require the password he uses . When you're done borrowing the Vita , you deactivate the Vita from your account , and do a factory reset and then hand him back the Vita , all he will need to do is reset up his account and re-activate under his own PSN account, all the games / apps will then work on the Vita again. AGAIN it is important you both deactivate the Vita first , before factory reset .

 

[Metalzoic]

Sinistar is correct.
What I would suggest is that you just use your friends account. Return the memory card you bought. Purchase TPA and Zen on his account, and when you're done tell him those 2 games are his birthday/christmas present.

That would be less of a mess.

 

[Brandon Debes]

Wow. That's messed up. Thanks a lot for breaking it down so clearly for me. But yikes, best of luck with that, Sony. I heard on a podcast that NPD showed the Vita was outsold 2:1 last month by the PSP. So maybe people have finally had enough of their anti-consumer tactics.

What I would suggest is that you just use your friends account. Return the memory card you bought. Purchase TPA and Zen on his account, and when you're done tell him those 2 games are his birthday/christmas present.

I am going to do exactly this now. What a weird state of affairs though. Thanks a lot, both of you, for the help and clarification.

 

[Sinistar]

Vita 's potential market was ruined when Nintendo set a precedent by lowering it's price on 3DS last year , now gamers expect it as a rule , not realising how the PS Vita is so far ahead in features compared to the 3DS , and let's face it Sony is ruining the Vita market with it's low-key approach with a piece of hardware that demands to be advertised to get any notice , and it's not getting the marketing of even the Sony Experia line . They really let down the early adopters with the almost non-presence of the Vita at E-3 this year. Once you try your friend's Vita out , you will come to your own opinion . Sony just killed their optical drive division , which means Sony branded optical drives will either disappear or have contractors making them , it's another sign that they are not doing well financially .

PSP used units are about $60-$70 , it's about to become a aftermarket hardware console , some folks like me , are buying PSP 3000 model which have better features than the model 1000 ( I wanted one in Silver and the ability to hook it to TV / monitor )

 

[Metalzoic]

Wow. That's messed up. Thanks a lot for breaking it down so clearly for me. But yikes, best of luck with that, Sony. I heard on a podcast that NPD showed the Vita was outsold 2:1 last month by the PSP. So maybe people have finally had enough of their anti-consumer tactics.



I am going to do exactly this now. What a weird state of affairs though. Thanks a lot, both of you, for the help and clarification.

No problem.
The update yesterday actually made it even worse.
Sony changed it so now the memory cards themselves are also locked to a single account.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488830

 

[bavelb]

Wow. That's messed up. Thanks a lot for breaking it down so clearly for me. But yikes, best of luck with that, Sony. I heard on a podcast that NPD showed the Vita was outsold 2:1 last month by the PSP. So maybe people have finally had enough of their anti-consumer tactics.

Giantbomb ftw eh

About the profile
If you had access 2 memory cards, you could have profiles on either one from my understanding, but they just removed this I found out. So it's not a one time stupid mistake but a continued policy and yes it's beyond comprehension why they are activily ruining their own product.

Man I would really like to be able to convince myself to buy a Vita... but I just don't see the software coming at all. Apart from Zen and TPA, and for those 2 DLC driven games I already committed to the 360.

Vita 's potential market was ruined when Nintendo set a precedent by lowering it's price on 3DS last year , now gamers expect it as a rule , not realising how the PS Vita is so far ahead in features compared to the 3DS , and let's face it Sony is ruining the Vita market with it's low-key approach with a piece of hardware that demands to be advertised to get any notice , and it's not getting the marketing of even the Sony Experia line . They really let down the early adopters with the almost non-presence of the Vita at E-3 this year.

I disagree with your statement Nintendo ruined Vita's potential market with its pricecut. I think the 3DS was vastly overpriced which was also the general consensus in the press, and it is now in a good pricerange. The Vita always was perceived as good value for money on the hardware side, but there just aren't any systemseller games out,or projected (the E3 presence made up my mind on not getting a Vita and made me buy Pinball FX2 tables instead of waiting for Zen2 for its crosscompatibility with Vita). Sony basically handed Nintendo the victory, when it was their (shrinking) market to take after Nintendo fuimbling the ball coming on the field.

 

[Sinistar]

You can read into my statement any way you want. Fact: Sony has never lowered it's new console in the same year ever ! For potential buyers (the market) to expect Sony to lower the price (before a new model change) in the same year as it's premiere release , is unrealistic . Nintendo is paying the piper with lower profits thanks to their new MSRP , and Sony should want to shoot themselves in the foot too? The Vita is a self contained portable game player/media player with blutooth capability . You can stream your PS3 to it , and it's a digital camera with a touchscreen . It's also quite energy efficient , compared to the PSP with UMD drive . Nintendo will always win the kiddy market , and the overgrown kid market . Sony only needs to court the teen - adult gamers who want a more sophiscticated gaming device and experience , and not cheap phone games.

 

[Brandon Debes]

a more sophiscticated gaming device and experience , and not cheap phone games

Just FYI, you are among the last of this rapidly dying breed.

 

[Metalzoic]

Hmmm... Here is how I would review the Vita.

Not nearly as well designed, well built or well thought out (either hardware or software) as it could have, or should have been.
Under-powered tech that was dated before it even released and feature-wise a big step back from the PSP.

Rather than building on everything the PSP already did well and already had in place, they started from scratch with
all new mistakes. Overall a disappointing let down and wasted potential, but really no more than I expect from Sony these days.
If it were in my power I would probably fire nearly everyone responsible for its development.

However, with all that said I do still enjoy it and I'm having fun with the games.