Today sees the UK launch of Sony's latest foray into the console market, and if you've been living under a rock for the past few months you might not know what all the fuss is about. Well, because we're charitable sorts around here, and because Sony have actually released a truck load of marketing and informative material to herald the release, here are the basics of what you need to know about the newest handheld system on the shelves... The device has already sold half a million units in Asia and North America, and the biggest challenge for the handheld will be clawing back some of the market from the 3DS, which has seen a strong year of sales, as well as convincing console gamers that mobile gaming shouldn't be completely considered an iOS and Android concern just yet. And the early reviews seem to suggest that the Vita will succeed, given the accomplishment and quality that Sony have achieved. Sony's head honcho Jim Ryan has recognised the difficulties faced in relation to the smartphone and tablet markets:
"Gaming on the smartphone and tablet is a reality and it would be foolish to stick our heads in the sand. We have to demonstrate that our device and the gaming experience is differentiated and we provide great value to justify the financial outlay they have to make to buy into Vita."
Sony have confirmed that the target market for the Vita at launch is a core of 18 - 25 year old males who were gamers first and foremost - a move which actively opposes Microsoft's recent broadening of XBox Live, but Ryan does concede that a development may well take place further down the line:
"When we get to year two and year three, we will try to broaden the demographic to bring in the younger consumer - the more casual consumer, perhaps."
The system boasts a 5 inch screen which dominates the front, along with a button set-up outlined below, two sturdier shoulder triggers than the PSP's notoriously flimsy paddles, and a rear pressure pad that will take some getting used to for some gamers. And ignore all of those claims that the handheld is difficult to hold - everyone said the same about the XBox controller, and the Playstation controller, and the Dreamcast controller and so on. Adopting a different grip is not the end of the world, and it certainly shouldn't be a deal-breaker.
Controller Buttons
Right / Left analog sticks D-PAD TRIANGLE SQUARE CIRCLE X R / L shoulder buttons START SELECT PS button Power button Volume + / - And here is all of the available information on the handheld in easily digestible promotional trailer-type form...
PS Vita Launch Trailer
http://youtu.be/Q8C5quD0a_0
PS Vita Augmented Reality
http://youtu.be/yoOK7xrSP7w
PS Vita Crossplay
http://youtu.be/WfBFx051pWM
PS Vita 3G Gaming
http://youtu.be/rXRfSgXAmoM The major question on everyone's lips is whether there is really room in the market for a £200 handheld with the advances in mobile gaming of the past year narrowing the window, and bringing high-quality games to the handheld market at very low prices. But the signs are good, and with around 30 launch titles supplementing the console launch, I will happily admit to being convinced. Pick up a PS Vita now - the best deal available comes in the shape of Amazon's bundle offer. For those of you who go in for the jargon, here are the Vita's system specs: Processors / PowerCPU ARM Cortex A9 core (4 core) GPU SGX543MP4+ Dimensions Width -7.2in Height -3.3 in Thickness- 0.7 in Hardware Specs Screen OLED 16:9 display 5 inches (diagonally) 960x544 resolution Approx. 16 million colors Capacitive multi-touch screen Memory Main Memory: 512 MB VRAM: 128 MB Rear Touch Pad Capacitive multi-touch pad Cameras Front camera, Rear camera Frame rate: 120fps at 320x240 (QVGA), 60fps at 640x480(VGA) Maximum 640x480 resolution Sound Stereo speakers Built-in microphone Bluetooth 2.1+EDR device Control Sensors Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer) Three-axis electronic compass Location Hardware Built-in GPS (3G only) Wi-Fi location service support Weight Approx 279g (3G/Wi-Fi model) Approx 260g (Wi-Fi model) Wireless Connections 3G: mobile network connectivity - AT&T in the United States (3G/WiFi model only) Wifi: IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1x1) (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/Wi-Fi model only) Multi-use port (for USB data communication, DC IN, Audio , Serial data communication), Headset jack (Stereo mini jack) (for Audio ) Accessory port Power Built-In Lithium-ion Battery (non-removable) AC adaptor And here are the details of all of the supported AV content formats: Music MP3 MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3 MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC) WAVE (Linear PCM) Videos MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC) H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Hi/Main/Baseline Profile (AAC) mp4 Photos JPEG (Exif 2.2.1) TIFF BMP GIF PNG