Sony PlayStation Vita Portable Game Player

Sony announced new social features for its upcoming PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) (PCH-1000 series) portable game/entertainment player formerly known as NGP. Applications for Facebook, foursquare, Skype and Twitter will be available at no charge.

“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. Sony is aiming to transform every aspect of user's daily life into an entertainment experience.

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 touch screen and the rear touch pad, PS Vita offers new game play 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. Also 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 games, and fighting games. Exciting and attractive new titles are scheduled to be released from SCE Worldwide Studios, including “GRAVITY DAZE”, “Uncharted Golden Abyss”, “Little Deviants”, “Hot Shots Golf”, “Reality Fighter”, “Hustle Kings”, “ModNation Racers”, “Wipeout 2048” and “Super Stardust Delta,” as well as from a broad range of third party game developers and publishers, which will deliver value only possible on PS Vita.

Also, by having both Wi-Fi and 3G network connectivity, together with various applications, PS Vita will enable users to find and discover what their friends are playing wherever they are. The pre-installed application near will let users discover what games PS Vita users in the vicinity are or were recently playing, as well as let users 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 internet browser. Through “Party”, which offers a new form of social networking, and “near”, which enables users to share their game information with other users anywhere, anytime, users can dramatically expand the boundaries of interactive communication.

Price and Availability
The PS Vita which will launch in Japan by the end of 2011, followed by the U.S. and Europe early next year as a Wi-Fi only model or 3G/Wi-Fi model for $249 or $299 respectively.

Specifications