Sony has used this week's Tokyo Game Show 2011 exhibition to outline more details of its next handheld gaming console, the PS Vita. The announcement included a lineup of titles and accessories to be available at the launch date, which is set for December 17 in Japan.
Initially there will be 26 games available for the PS Vita, while currently there are more than 100 titles in development, according to Sony. Games to hit the shelves at the date of launch include Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, F1 2011, Virtua Tennis 4, Little Deviants, and Dynasty Warriors Next. Sony has also announced the PS Vita's battery life, which isn't very impressive - three to five hours of gameplay, five hours of video playback or nine hours of music playback. It will reportedly take two hours and forty minutes to fully charge the console.
As previously revealed, UMD cards will not be supported, with a proprietary memory card format being used instead. "Some PS Vita software titles may require the use of separately sold memory card for saving game's saved data while some software titles are capable of saving it on to the PS Vita card itself," Sony's press release says. Therefore, it appears that a memory card will be required to play some titles purchased online and such accessories won't come cheap, being priced at US$28 - US$123 depending on capacity.
Sony has also listed first-party accessories to be available on the date of launch. These include memory cards (4, 8, 16 and 32GB), AC adaptor, USB cable, cradle, in-ear headset, protective film, card case, case, pouch, carrying pouch (black) and travel pouch with cleaning cloth and wrist strap. A car adapter and portable charger will be made available in Spring 2012 (northern hemisphere).
Sony has confirmed the PS Vita's pricing in Japan at JPY24,980 (US$325) for the WiFi version and JPY29,980 (US$390) for the 3G/Wi-Fi model. 3G coverage in Japan will be provided by NTT DoCoMo, with two data plans available: JPY980 (US$13) for "Prepaid data plan 20h" or JPY4,980 (US$65) for "Prepaid data plan 100h." The PS Vita's AT&T data plans in the U.S., as well as availability outside Japan still haven't been announced.
