Sony's Post-Valentine's Day Present: Vita Due out February 22nd 2012
posted Sunday Oct 23, 2011 by Jon Wurm
The PS Vita first came to our attention in January of this year when it became known that Sony was working on its next generation portable (NGP) device that hopefully wouldn't not be a PSP re-hash... again. We got a glimpse of what we could expect the hardware to be but were left in the dark as to whether Sony would actually improve the device besides beefing up the hardware or not.
Five months later, at E3 2011, the Vita came to light and everyone's speculation was surprisingly put to rest by a very good Sony keynote. This is something they desperately needed after extensive PSN outages in April that went unresolved until May 14th after Geo Hotz tweeted a major PSN security flaw. Their keynote was also an extension of the Welcome Back for Sony's handheld gaming devices that had been floundering for years. The key changes that will give the Vita a fighting chance are the addition of a new Android-like operating system that has replaced the old XCrossMediaBar, the PSN functionality that is incorporated with Vita and addition of touch-controls, which were demonstrated through an Uncharted: Golden Abyss demo.
Sadly, a few months after the great news, Sony broke some bad news to the U.S. and Europe about when they could get these devices in their pants. Hit the break to find out more.
In traditional Sony fashion, a few months after E3 they announced that only Japan would see the device by the end of 2011 which will not help Vita's chances for success as the hype generated at E3 could have helped Sony come back strong. It also means that Sony will miss out on the retail golden quarter and the opportunity to explode the device out into all their major markets. The good news is that on October 19th Jack Tretton announced the Vita will make a nice belated Valentine's Day gift with its February 22nd official release date.
For those looking to get their hands on the ultimate in handheld entertainment, I'm thrilled to let you know that starting on February 22, 2012, PS Vita will be available at major retailers in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe.
Hallelujah, I suppose. I'm still excited to get my hands on one but not as much as I was in the months following E3.
