Sony PlayStation Vita's GPS feature will be used in Disgaea 3

Having GPS functionality in Sony's impending handheld game device will be nice if you're ever lost on the road or happen to wander off while being immersed in a game. Or, if you're playing Nippon Ichi's RPG Disgaea 3, it will allow you to earn discounts on in-game items, gain experience points, and increase your mana. That's because the irreverent Japanese game will use the PlayStation Vita's GPS functionality to measure how far players travel in real life.

RPGs are all about big, vast experiences that require players to navigate through virtual miles of caves, valleys, and dungeons. So it's almost a fitting feature for Disgaea 3 to measure the distance you've gone in the real world. This will be captured by an in-game value known as your "Honor Quotient." As players increase their HQ, they will earn all sorts of enhancements within the game.

There have been a lot of unique ways that games have tried to tap into real-world elements. Some are the normal, to-be-expected kind, like augmented reality titles that use a system's built-in camera to incorporate real-life scenery in the background while others, like the Nintendo GBA's Boktai, which required players to go out in the sun and collect energy via the cartridge's built-in solar panel. Disgaea 3 will fit in nicely with those quirky titles.

via Shack News]