TechStyles

PlayStation Vita – Sony’s next-gen portable gaming device

Sony PlayStation Vita

Sony’s next handheld gaming machine has been going by the name Sony NGP, but at the E3 conference today it was revealed that the device will be called the PlayStation Vita, and its release will be just under 6 months away.

The PlayStation Vita will have a 5 inch multi-touch OLED screen on top, and a multi-touch pad on the underside. The underside pad, and the regular Sony buttons and switches, offer up a whole level of control and complexity to games. There will also be a choice in PlayStation Vita models – Wi-Fi only model, or a 3G + Wi-Fi model.



Wi-Fi and 3G capability bring in a few new exciting ways to play games. Sony’s “near” app is loaded onto the PlayStation Vita, and in addition to showing what games nearby PS Vita are playing, or have recently played, plus share game information and share unlocked content from games, such as character costumes, weapons, and treasures, through something Sony calls “gifting”.

More interactivity with other PlayStation Vita user is the “party” app, that opens up voice chat or text chat during games or internet browsing. This also is pre-installed, as is “Welcome Park”, a tutorial program to teach you how to use all the controls – top and bottom, switch, screen and touchpad.

Sony’s games specifically made for the PlayStation Vita and available at launch will include Gravity Daze, Uncharted Golden Abyss, Little Deviants, Hot Shots Golf, Reality Fighter, Hustle Kings, ModNation Racers, Wipeout 2048 and Super Stardust Delta (all actual game names here are possibly working titles only). In between now and the launch third-party games will be announced.

PlayStation Vita price

Some PlayStation Vita pricing details were revealed, but unfortunately no Australian pricing was given. These are the US, Japanese and European prices, so look at these as a guide only:

Wi-Fi version

3G/Wi-Fi version

PlayStation Vita specifications

PlayStation Vita release date

The PlayStation Vita will have a global launch, somewhere near the end of the year.

UPDATE 3 August, 2011: In news this week, there will only be one country in which the PlayStation Vita will go on sale anytime in 2011, and that country is Japan.