PlayStation Vita
The PlayStation Vita (プレイステーション・ヴィータ Pureisutēshon Vīta, officially abbreviated PS Vita) is a handheld game console by Sony Computer Entertainment.[12] It is the successor to the PlayStation Portable as part of the PlayStation brand of gaming devices. It was released in Japan and parts of Asia on December 17, 2011[1] and is expected to be released in Europe, Australia, and Latin and North America on February 22, 2012.[2][3]
The handheld includes two analog sticks, a 5-inch (130 mm) OLED multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, and supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and optional 3G. Internally, the Vita features a 4 core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor and a 4 core SGX543MP4+ graphics processing unit, as well as LiveArea software as its main user interface, which succeeds the XrossMediaBar.[7][13]
The device is fully backwards-compatible with PlayStation Portable games digitally released on the PlayStation Network via the PlayStation Store.[14] However, PS One Classics and TurboGrafx-16 titles were not compatible at the time of the primary public release in Japan.[15] The Vita's dual analog sticks will be supported on selected PSP games. The graphics for PSP releases will be up-scaled, with a smoothing filter to reduce pixelation.[16]
Hardware
The device features a "super oval"-shape similar to the design of the original PlayStation Portable, with a 5-inch (130 mm) OLED capacitive touchscreen in the center of the device.[17] The device features two analog sticks (unlike the PSP which features only a single analog "nub"), a D-pad, a set of standard PlayStation face buttons (
The PlayStation Vita will be released as two different versions: one with 3G support, and a cheaper version without 3G support.[22][23] The 3G service will be partnered with AT&T in the US and with Vodafone in Europe.
Unlike the PSP (2000 and 3000), the PlayStation Vita will not support video output or contain a removable battery.[24] Sony also confirmed during TGS 2011 that the battery would last 3–5 hours of gameplay (no network, no sound, default brightness level), 5 hours of video, and up to 9 hours of music listening with the screen off.[25] An external battery option was announced in an interview by SCEA Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida.[26] PS Vita is equipped with a storage media slot in addition to the PS Vita card slot, so that users can choose their memory capacity based on their use.
PlayStation Vita card
Software for the PlayStation Vita is distributed on a proprietary flash memory card called "PlayStation Vita card" rather than on Universal Media Discs (UMDs) used by the original PlayStation Portable.[13][27] PSVita memory cards will be available in size from 4 GB to 32 GB. 5–10% of the writeable space is reserved for data added by the user after purchase, such as game save data and patches. [28] The size and form factor of the card itself is very similar to the SD Card. Some media applications and games will require a proprietary PlayStation Vita card inserted to be used.[29]
Software
Unlike the PSX DVR, PSP and PlayStation 3, the PlayStation Vita does not use the XrossMediaBar interface. Instead it uses a touchscreen-based UI dubbed LiveArea, which includes various social networking features via the PlayStation Network.[13] At launch the PlayStation Vita web browser will not support Adobe Flash; HTML5. Cookies and Javascript however will be available.[30]
Several games have been announced for the device, including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, Hustle Kings, Everybody's Golf Next (Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational in North America), and Reality Fighters. As well as new iterations of Killzone, Wipeout, Resistance, LittleBigPlanet, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend, Ridge Racer, and Call of Duty.[31] In addition, several third-party studios showcased technology demos of the device by exporting existing assets from their PlayStation 3 counterpart and then rendering them on the device. Some of the games that were demonstrated include Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Yakuza: Dead Souls, and Lost Planet 2. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd was also demonstrated to be running on the device to showcase the device's backwards compatibility with downloadable PlayStation Portable titles, which was also shown to be compatible with the PlayStation Vita's additional analogue stick.[32] Unlike the first PSP, the PlayStation Vita will come with Trophy support for games.[33][34]
The device will also support backwards compatible with PlayStation Portable downloadable titles, PlayStation minis, PlayStation Suite games, PSOne Classics, videos, and comics from the PlayStation Store.[34]
Social networking apps, such as Facebook, Skype, Twitter, and foursquare, will be available to download for PlayStation Vita free of charge from the PlayStation Store. Information about this was released at Gamescom 2011.[35]
Layout
History
Pre-announcement
Rumors of a true successor to the PlayStation Portable came as early as July 7, 2009 when Eurogamer reported that Sony was working on such a device, which would utilize the PowerVR SGX543MP processor and perform at a level similar to the original Xbox.[36]
In addition on July 7, 2010, a report by the Wall Street Journal revealed that a new portable device is currently in development by Sony and that it "shares characteristics of game machines, e-book readers and netbook computers".[37] Prior to its announcement by Sony Computer Entertainment, several sites such as Kotaku,[38] VG247,[39] MCV[40] and IGN,[41] as well as the senior vice president of major video game publisher Electronic Arts[42] and Nikkei[17] had confirmed that the handheld existed. Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, had admitted in an interview that they were indeed developing new hardware in the PlayStation family of gaming devices.[43] Development kits for the handheld had reportedly already been shipped to numerous video game developers including both first-party and third-party developers.[44]
On November 17, 2010, VG247 released pictures of an early prototype version of the PSP successor showing a PSP Go-like design along with two analog sticks, two cameras and a microphone. The source of the pictures said that the pictures were of an older prototype version that had overheating issues, and that the design had subsequently been changed to that more similar of the original PlayStation Portable device.[39] Kotaku and IGN corroborated the story, also claiming that the pictures were legitimate.[41][45]
The device was supposedly unveiled internally during a private meeting during mid-September held at Sony Computer Entertainment's headquarters in Aoyama, Tokyo.[38] Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, revealed in an interview with UK video game magazine, Develop that when Ken Kutaragi left Sony Computer Entertainment, the new CEO, Kazuo Hirai, told him to engage SCE Worldwide Studios in the development of the next PlayStation. Yoshida also said that developers were present at the meetings from the very beginning when SCE was developing new hardware, and that SCE had to constantly keep talking with Worldwide Studios developer when developing the new hardware.[43] Further confirmation came on September 16, 2010, during an interview at PAX 2010, Mortal Kombat Executive Producer Shaun Himmerick revealed a successor to the PSP, referring to it as the "PSP2" and stating "...we have a PSP2 in the house and we're looking at the engine, like what can it support. Always a big thing for us is the performance. We're running at 60 fps, what can we do and do we have to build all the art assets over. We're definitely looking at them. PSP2 looks like it's a pretty powerful machine."[46][47] When asked about the PlayStation Portable successor during the Tokyo Game Show 2010, Shuhei Yoshida, said that he could not answer the question though he noted that "Personally, I cannot see Sony not making another portable gaming device."[48] On November 2, 2010 senior vice president of Electronic Arts, Patrick Soderlund, confirmed that he had seen the PlayStation Portable successor when asked about it in an interview though he could not divulge more details.[42][49][50] On December 22, 2010 Sony Computer Entertainment CEO, Kazuo Hirai, answered questions about a potential successor to the PlayStation Portable in an interview with The New York Times, saying that they would impress gamers in the handheld market by using a combination of touch screens and buttons rather than touch screen-only games on competing platforms such as the iPhone and iPod Touch.[51]
The device, then known by its codename Next Generation Portable (NGP for short), was announced on January 27, 2011 at the "PlayStation Meeting" in Japan by Sony Computer Entertainment president Kazuo Hirai.[52] The last time the name "PlayStation Meeting" had been used was in 2005 where Sony outlined the launch plans for the PlayStation 3.[53] In addition, MCV claimed that Sony has told publishers that the device would be "as powerful as the PlayStation 3". Sony later denied this, with the SCEA platform research manager stating "Well, it's not going to run at 2 GHz because the battery would last five minutes and it would probably set fire to your pants".[54] Sony also revealed that the device would be using a mix of retail and digital distribution of games and that Sony would gradually reveal more details during Game Developers Conference 2011 and E3 2011.[40]
Post-announcement
| Currency | Wi-Fi only | Wi-Fi+3G |
|---|---|---|
| AU$ | 349.95[55] | 449.95[55] |
| CAN$ | 249.99[56] | 299.99[56] |
| ¥ | 24,980 | 29,980 |
| € | 249[57] | 299[57] |
| GB£ | 229 | 279 |
| NZ$ | 449.95[55] | 549.95[55] |
| US$ | 249[57] | 299[57] |
On June 6, 2011 at E3 2011, Sony announced the name of the device would be PlayStation Vita along with release and pricing information.[12][58] The name was chosen because "Vita" means "Life" in Latin. The portable itself enables a combination of augmented reality gaming and social connectivity, along with the "Near" and "Party" services.
At the Game Developers Conference 2011, Sony revealed some details about the Vita cards during their Next Generation Portable panel. Another storage option, "Removable Memory", was also revealed to be available for the PlayStation Vita. Sony also said it's implementing a "single submission for both formats" to streamline the process of getting games approved for both card-based and downloadable releases.[28] Additionally, it was announced that only 3 of the 4 symmetrical CPU cores will be available to applications[18] along with two cameras feature, face detection, head detection and head tracking capabilities.[20] Following the Tokyo Game Show, Sony World Wide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida confirmed that the console would be region-free.[59]
Sony's Japanese arm told The Wall Street Journal that earlier reports—including those by SCEA president Jack Tretton—suggesting that Japan's recent earthquake would delay the release of the PlayStation Vita in some territories were outright "wrong". Sony representative Satoshi Fukuoka said he expects "no impact from the quake on our launch plan".[60][61]
In August 2011, Sony confirmed that the system would be released by the end of 2011 in Japan but not until "early 2012" in European and North American regions.[62] In October 2011, Sony announced that the system would be released on February 22, 2012 in Europe and North America.
Launch
On December 17, 2011, the PlayStation Vita was launched in Japan with 325,000 units sold in the first few days after the launch but sales dropped 78% in the 2nd week ending on December 25, 2011 to only 74,000 units sold.[63]
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