Sony Announces PlayStation Vita, Revolutionary Portable Entertainment Device

[btarunr]

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) announced PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) (PCH-1000 series) as the official platform name for the next generation portable entertainment system at E3 2011. With an RRP of €249 for the Wireless model and €299 for the Wireless/3G version, PS Vita will launch in the global market starting at the end of 2011.

"Vita", which means "Life" in Latin, was chosen as the most appropriate name for the next generation portable entertainment system as it enables a revolutionary combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real world context as SCE aims to transform every aspect of a user's daily life into an entertainment experience and an opportunity to play.



PS Vita incorporates a beautiful 5-inch multi-touch organic light emitting diode (OLED) as the front display and a unique multi-touch pad on the rear.

Together with the front touchscreen and the rear touch pad, PS Vita offers new gameplay experiences never before seen on any device, allowing users to interact directly with games in three dimension-like motion, through "touch, grab, trace, push and pull" finger motions.

PS Vita features two analog sticks which enable a wider range of game genres to be brought into the portable experience, such as shooters, action titles and fighting games.

Exciting and attractive new games are scheduled to be released from SCE Worldwide Studios, including Uncharted Golden Abyss, Little Deviants, Everybody's Golf (working title), Reality Fighters (working title), Hustle Kings, ModNation Racers (working title), Wipeout 2048 (working title) and Super Stardust Delta, as well as from a broad range of additional game developers and publishers, which will deliver value only possible on PS Vita.

By having both Wireless and 3G network connectivity, together with various applications, PS Vita will enable infinite possibilities for users to "encounter, connect, discover, share and play" with friends wherever they are.

On 27 January 2011, SCE announced the first PS Vita application, "near", which will come pre-installed on the system. It will let users discover what games PS Vita users in the vicinity are or were recently playing, as well as letting them share their game information. "near" also enables location-based gaming features such as gifting, in which a user can access virtual game-related items that other users are sharing, through checking in at geographic locations that others have also visited.

The virtual items can include content unlocked from games, such as character costumes, weapons and treasures. Sharing these items between users adds a unique dimension to the portable gaming experience on PS Vita while enhancing the social connectivity among the PS Vita community.

Additionally, PS Vita will come pre-installed with a newly developed application called "Party". "Party" is an innovative application for a portable entertainment system which enables users to enjoy voice chat or text chat not only during online gaming, but also when users are playing different games or using different applications such as the Internet browser.

With "Party", which offers a new form of social networking, and "near", which enables users to share their game information with other users anywhere, any time, users can dramatically expand the boundaries of interactive communication.

In addition, a tutorial application called "Welcome Park", developed specifically to guide users through the PS Vita system's brand new user interface such as the front touch display and the multi-touch pad on the rear, will come pre-installed. By playing "Welcome Park", users can easily become accustomed to the three dimension-like finger motions used on PS Vita.

SCE will vigorously promote PS Vita towards the launch as the next generation portable entertainment platform and work towards expanding the portable gaming market.



PlayStation Vita product outline

• Platform Name: PlayStation Vita
• Model number: PCH-1000 series
• CPU: ARM Cortex-A9 core (4 core)
• GPU: SGX543MP4+
• External Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
• Screen (touchscreen):
  - 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED
  - Multi touch screen (capacitive type)
• Rear touch pad: Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
• Cameras:
  - Front camera
  - Rear camera
  - Frame rate: 120fps@320x240(QVGA), 60fps@640x480(VGA)
  - Resolution : Up to 640x480(VGA)
• Sound:
  - Built-in stereo speakers
  - Built-in microphone
• Sensors:
  - Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer)
  - Three-axis electronic compass
• Location:
  - Built-in GPS (3G/Wireless model only)
  - Wireless location service support
• Keys / Switches:
  - PS button
  - Power button
  - Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)
  - Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)
  - Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)
  - Right stick, Left stick
  - START button, SELECT button
  - Volume buttons (+/-)
• Wireless communications:
  - Mobile network connectivity (3G/Wireless model only)
  - IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1x1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure Mode/Ad Hoc Mode)
  - Bluetooth 2.1+EDR （A2DP/AVRCP/HSP）
• Slots/Ports:
  - PlayStation Vita card slot
  - Memory card slot
  - SIM card slot (3G/Wireless model only)
  - Multi-use port (for USB data communication, DC IN, Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In], Serial data communication)
  - Headset jack (Stereo mini jack) (for Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In])
  - Accessory port
• Power:
  - Built-In Lithium-ion Battery,
  - AC adaptor
• Supported AV content format:
  - Music: MP3 MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3、MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC)、WAVE (Linear PCM)
  - Video: MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC)、H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Hi/Main/Baseline Profile (AAC)
  - Photo: JPEG (Exif 2.2.1), TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG

[lnd2288]

very nice i wish they can make a windows/psp/handheld portable console to run all types of games would be so awesome. great product tho.

[Wile E]

I really wish they would support more A/V containers and formats. Still no mkv, ogg vorbis, flac or subtitles.

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by lnd2288

very nice i wish they can make a windows/psp/handheld portable console to run all types of games would be so awesome. great product tho.

That's possible when either of the two happens:

• Microsoft creates "WOWARM" along the lines of WOW64 (a compatibility layer that runs Win32 applications over Windows ARM, complete with DirectX and .NET).
• Intel stops sucking in miniaturizing x86 architecture to the market where ARM has no alternative.

[Mussels]

they just had to choose a name really similar to vista, didnt they.


the fact that it can do 120FPS is sheed mind boggling, that is awesome.

[cheesy999]

I might wait for the price of the 3g to get below 200 before I get one, everything else looks great though,looks like an excellent replacement for an already great device

[-1nf1n1ty-]

Gah I never thought I would buy a handheld after the gameboy advanced, but this is really making me consider it. looks great and the games look great too, tough call. Would sure be better than using my laptop on an airplane,bus,car trips, etc.

[piotrekhc]

Graphics pants and that price omg, if they want to sell some of them price should me 199 for wi and 249 for 3g, its gona be fail.Shame coz I was lookin forward to it but now it look like im not gona be buing it.

[n-ster]

1024*640 or 1152*640 would have been a much better screen option IMO

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by n-ster

1024*640 or 1152*640 would have been a much better screen option IMO

maybe, but at the refresh rates they've done it'll be one hell of a smooth gaming experience.

[KieranD]

PSVita has been known about for ages, the name was leaked before.

This little bugger has some nice looking graphics! I like that it has 2 analogue sticks and a gyroscope for tilt controls. Should be interesting, it definitely looks like a more finished package compared to the 3DS but we will have to see what the games are like on both systems as i think that will be the deciding factor.

120FPS?

PSVita looks like the finished article compared to the 3DS. IMO the 3DS could have had a kickass launch with Zelda and a few other great games and made use of its headstart on the PSVita.

EDIT: $250 is about £150 but i really doubt it will be that price in the UK, i bet maybe £200.

[tkpenalty]

Considering the PSP was PS2-level in terms of hardware... what does this mean fro the PSV?

I think this PSV will greatly overshadow the 3DS... its a true next gen piece of hardware. Xperia play looks stopgap in conparison.

Isn't this technically a smartphone? Why is it only 299 euros for such high end hardware?

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by tkpenalty

Isn't this technically a smartphone? Why is it only 299 euros for such high end hardware?

because they'll make their money back from the games/software/peripherals.

[Frick]

Do want and do want homebrews!

[Thrackan]

It's called Vita because Sony's life might depend on its success...

Seriously though? Handheld gaming doesn't do anything for me anymore. I owned the original PSP, and although it was fun for a little while, and a decent large-sized MP3 player for another little while, it was just too limited to take off.

I say this flops.

[Andrei23]

This might work if they get minecraft on it

[n-ster]

Originally Posted by Mussels

maybe, but at the refresh rates they've done it'll be one hell of a smooth gaming experience.

thoses are the CAMERA'S framerate, not the screen. IE: the camera can record at that speed. Notice how it's under camera and how it's double the fps for 1/4 of the res, just like in cameras

and 1024x640 or 1152x640 isn't THAT much more demanding, while still giving a nice graphical boost and a more standard resolution

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by n-ster

thoses are the CAMERA'S framerate, not the screen. IE: the camera can record at that speed. Notice how it's under camera and how it's double the fps for 1/4 of the res, just like in cameras

and 1024x640 or 1152x640 isn't THAT much more demanding, while still giving a nice graphical boost and a more standard resolution

then i quite misread.

[shk021051]

because they'll make their money back from the games/software/peripherals.

vita hack could nightmare for sony

[happita]

They didn't mention how much RAM this thing has..

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

Not sure.. somehow the Social Connectivity + sony's online security is somehow questionable imo.. with all that personal information floating in there.

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by n-ster

thoses are the CAMERA'S framerate, not the screen. IE: the camera can record at that speed. Notice how it's under camera and how it's double the fps for 1/4 of the res, just like in cameras

and 1024x640 or 1152x640 isn't THAT much more demanding, while still giving a nice graphical boost and a more standard resolution

I think the resolution is fine for a 5" screen. If it has a 10" screen I would agree with you, but on a 5" screen the resolution they picked is more than fine. With a screen that small you wouldn't be able to tell the difference unless you were holding the screen an inch away from your face.

[Thassodar]

*Unhooks from wall.*

"Alright lets play some games with random people!"

*3G ON*

[Battery low!]

"Son of a bit-"

[AphexDreamer]

I like what I see! I can't wait to see what it can do when it gets hacked! Minecraft anyone!

[NC37]

Vita=Worst name for a game console ever.