Sony Playstation Vita Launches

Sony has today launched its new handheld gaming console here in the UK – The Playstation Vita. It’s available in two ‘flavours’, a Wi-fi version, and a Wi-fi + 3G version.

Sony Playstation Vita

The form factor is broadly similar to the PSP, but what’s under the hood has undergone a major overhaul. Here’s what the Vita packs:

• Multi-touch 5″ screen
• Multi-touch pad on the back of the device
• Three-axis gyroscope and accelerometer
• Front and rear camera
• Two analogue joysticks

For those into handheld gaming, this is an impressive piece of kit, and may inspire a little more that the Nintendo 3DS for playability. For the technically-minded, the new Vita has a 4-core CPU, and packs 802.11N and Bluetooth.

The Slimline Playstation Vita, from below

First Impressions

Although it’s an impressive looking and well-specced piece of kit that feels very comfy in the hand, it’s not cheap, and there are a few things to bear in mind. It seems that you can expect about 3½ to 4 hours of heavy gameplay from the Vita on a single charge. The Vita only supports MP4 video format. Vita games are a little pricey, and for downloaded content, you’re going to need a memory card, which isn’t supplied. Sony had also done it again by creating a propriety media format – so you can’t just use any old Micro-SD card, you have to buy a non-cheap Sony PS Vita Memory Card for your downloads.

We can apparently expect the obligatory Facebook and Twitter social networking apps at some point in the future.

New games that take advantage of the Vita’s clever hardware will be appearing soon, and the console is also capable of running existing PSP games, as well as a back-catalogue of Playstation content from the Playstation store.

The Playstation Vita costs £209 here in the UK at launch (Playstation Vita from Amazon), but if you’re after one, the deal at ASDA seems to be the best at the time of writing – £197. There’s also a £100 trade in on a Nintendo 3DS. Best deal: Playstation Vita UK

Vita – Hit or miss?

We’d be very interested to know what our listeners have to say about the Vita… Are you drooling about the prospect of a high-spec games console for your pocket? Or does the idea of paying £200 for a gadget like this leave you cold?

Indeed – is there a future for handheld gaming devices such as the Playstation Vita or Nintendo’s 3DS – or is the future tablets and mobile phones that also act as our games console, video player and eBook reader?

Got a comment? Want to hear us review the Vita? Please add your thoughts below…