PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) Open to Hands-On Demos at 3,300 US GameStop Locations

PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) hits shelves this month and GameStop (NYSE: GME) is giving consumers a first glimpse at the highly anticipated new handheld system. More than 3,300 U.S. GameStop stores now have playable demo units that provide a first-hand look at PS Vita's exciting new technology. In addition to the five-inch OLED multi-touch screen, front and rear touch pads, dual analog sticks, dual cameras and six-axis motion sensing system, players can experience a variety of games, including:

• UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss
• Little Deviants
• Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
• EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer
• ModNation Racers: Road Trip
• Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition
• Escape Plan
• WipEout 2048

"We are excited to be the first retailer where consumers can experience the PS Vita," stated Bob Puzon, vice president of merchandising at GameStop. "We are impressed with how the quad-core technology brings gaming to life and are confident consumers will be, too."

To help consumers trade up to the PS Vita, GameStop is offering an extra $25 on the trade-in of a Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS or Sony PSP system toward the purchase of the new system. To learn more about the trade up offer or to find a GameStop store with a playable PS Vita demo unit, visit www.GameStop.com/PSVitaDemos.

The PS Vita launches in the U.S. on Feb. 22, 2012, but eager gamers can get their hands on it a week early by pre-ordering the First Edition Bundle. The bundle, available on Feb. 15, includes:

• PS Vita 3G/Wi-Fi system
• PS Vita case
• Little Deviants game
• 4GB memory card
• AT&T DataConnect Pass good for one free 250MB data session ($14.99 value) upon purchase of one 250 MB data session
• PlayStation Network game voucher provided upon 3G activation on the AT&T mobile broadband network.

The bundle is valued at $435 and will sell for $349.99 - an $85 bonus value.

On Feb. 22, three additional PS Vita options will be available: a Wi-Fi model for $249.99, a 3G/Wi-Fi model for $299.99 and a limited edition PS Vita Launch Bundle that will include:

• PS Vita 3G/Wi-Fi system
• 8GB memory card
• AT&T DataConnect Pass good for one free 250MB data session ($14.99 value) upon purchase of one 250MB data session
• PlayStation Network game voucher provided upon 3G activation for $299.

This bundle is part of a promotional offer and availability is limited.

Source

Sony Announces PlayStation Vita, Revolutionary Portable Entertainment Device

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.

Source

The New Sony PlayStation Portable (NGP)

The New Sony PlayStation Portable.

- Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor
- 5-inch touchscreen OLED display with 960 x 544 resolution
- dual analog sticks
- 3G, WiFi, GPS
- a rear-mounted touchpad
- it has the same accelerometer / gyroscope motion sensing as in the PlayStation Move
- an electronic compass
- cameras on both front & back of the device.

Codenamed NGP and will revolve around five key concepts: Revolutionary User Interface, Social Connectivity, Location-based Entertainment, Converging Real and Virtual (augmented) Reality. It will be compatible with the PlayStation Suite and is backwards-compatible with downloadable PSP games and content from Sony's PlayStation Store.

Games will come on "new media," not UMD anymore, but unclear on what sort of flash memory is being used. Sony's rather proud of the fact it's offering the world's first dual analog stick combo on a portable device.

That touch panel on the back is the same size and positioned directly under the front OLED touchscreen, which allows for some pretty sophisticated controls when using the two simultaneously.

The new console's UI will be called LiveArea, which has a bunch of vertically navigable home screens and built-in social networking through PlayStation Network. You can jump between games and the LiveArea without losing your progress and comment on your buddies' great feats of mobile gaming.