Sony’s much anticipated next-gen handheld games device, the PlayStation Vita, went on sale today. It sports a 5 inch OLED screen, dual analogue sticks, motion sensor (SIXAXIS), front and rear cameras, a rear touch pad, and the familiar PlayStation ‘trianglecirclecrosssquare’ buttons.
At launch there will be 25 games on offer, including:
- Uncharted: Golden Abyss
- WipEout 2048
- Everybody’s Golf
- Lumines
- Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition
- FIFA Football
Those PlayStation Vita games will soon be joined by:
- LittleBigPlanet
- Resistance: Burning Skies
- Bioshock
- Assassins Creed
- Call of Duty
If that’s not enough play for you, the connectivity of the PlayStation Vita can see you kicking’ it social media-style on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, plus Sony is developing its own social media apps for the device, with “Near”, “Party” and “LiveArea”. Or there’s the entertainment world of movies on Sony’s PlayStation Video Store.
PlayStation Vita pricing
Two models of PlayStation Vita is available, with pricing as follows:
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- PlayStation Vita Wifi – RRP $349.95
- PlayStation Vita 3G/Wifi – RRP $419.95
The keen-eyed among you will note that at that price, the Vita is dearer than the 160GB PlayStation 3, and only $30 cheaper than the 320GB PlayStation 3. The Vita does fit better in a bag than the PS3, but, on legal tender paper, it seems a pricing gamble, especially so in an extremely app-friendly portable games world. That price may be something on which to keep an eye.
Vodafone is also offering the PlayStation Vita and data plans:
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- Postpaid: $55 per month ($40 per month for the PS Vita 3G/Wi-Fi and $15 mobile broadband plan) over 12 months (total minimum cost is $660) with 1.5GB data and bonus 4GB Memory card.
- Prepaid: $419 for the PS Vita 3G/Wi-Fi with 200MB of data and bonus 4GB Memory card.
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Comments?
So, what do you think? Does the integration with the PlayStation environment, games and movies, make this an attractive device to buy? Or are you happy loading up your smartphone with game apps?
Scroll down to the Leave A Reply section, I’dl one to hear your thoughts on the PlayStation Vita or see debating the pro and cons amongst yourselves. Or you could head over to the TechStyles Page on Facebook – people are chatty there too.