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.


PlayStation Vita product outline

• Platform Name: PlayStation Vita
• Model number: PCH-1000 series
• CPU: ARM Cortex-A9 core (4 core)
• GPU: SGX543MP4+
• External Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
• Screen (touchscreen):
  - 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED
  - Multi touch screen (capacitive type)
• Rear touch pad: Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
• Cameras:
  - Front camera
  - Rear camera
  - Frame rate: 120fps@320x240(QVGA), 60fps@640x480(VGA)
  - Resolution : Up to 640x480(VGA)
• Sound:
  - Built-in stereo speakers
  - Built-in microphone
• Sensors:
  - Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer)
  - Three-axis electronic compass
• Location:
  - Built-in GPS (3G/Wireless model only)
  - Wireless location service support
• Keys / Switches:
  - PS button
  - Power button
  - Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)
  - Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)
  - Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)
  - Right stick, Left stick
  - START button, SELECT button
  - Volume buttons (+/-)
• Wireless communications:
  - Mobile network connectivity (3G/Wireless model only)
  - IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1x1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure Mode/Ad Hoc Mode)
  - Bluetooth 2.1+EDR （A2DP/AVRCP/HSP）
• Slots/Ports:
  - PlayStation Vita card slot
  - Memory card slot
  - SIM card slot (3G/Wireless model only)
  - Multi-use port (for USB data communication, DC IN, Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In], Serial data communication)
  - Headset jack (Stereo mini jack) (for Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In])
  - Accessory port
• Power:
  - Built-In Lithium-ion Battery,
  - AC adaptor
• Supported AV content format:
  - Music: MP3 MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3、MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC)、WAVE (Linear PCM)
  - Video: MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC)、H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Hi/Main/Baseline Profile (AAC)
  - Photo: JPEG (Exif 2.2.1), TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG