How can this be? Sony's new handheld console already passed through the FCC and was even leaked on a UK Blockbuster flyer that stated an October release date. Yet apparently these clues count for nothing, because Bloomberg reports Kazuo Hirai as saying that the Vita won't launch in the US and Europe until early next year -- with only Japan getting the device before Christmas. Why would Sony be content to miss out on all that festive trade? We have absolutely no idea, but it looks like we'll have to email Santa a revised wish list.
Sony will launch its next portable gaming console, the PlayStation Vita, in Japan this Saturday, with the company being positive about the product's short term sales prospects.
Although the Vita has been launched too near to Christmas to derive significant sales from it, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc President, Andrew House, revealed that pre-launch orders had surpassed the initial stock allocation in Japan, although he refrained from giving exact numbers.
The console will go on sale in Europe and North America towards the end of next year. The Vita will be the first major product to be launched by Sony in five years, after the launch of the PS3.
It will be the first console to come with a quad-core system on chip (and the second product after the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime) with four GPUs, 512MB RAM, a front-facing and rear camera, a touch interface coupled with motion features found in modern smartphones and a large 5-inch 960x544 pixel capacitive touchscreen display.
The Vita will sell in the UK for £230 on Wi-Fi only and £280 on 3G, which is expensive for a gaming console but relatively affordable for a device that's essentially a smartphone without the talk capabilities.
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