Sony announced during its TGS 2011 press conference that the PS Vita, successor to the PSP, will launch on December 17th of this year in Japan. As of press time, no mention was made in regards to release dates in other territories. The most recent information from Sony on those fronts pointed to launches at some point during 2012.
A 20 hour prepaid data plan will be sold for 980 Yen (about $10), with a 4980 Yen (about $50) for 100 hours of prepaid data also being made available. Those plans will include gaming and messaging services. Sony also announced plans to connect Vita with 3G networks, cloud networking, and smartphone/tablet networks in some way or another. Exact details were not made available and our Japanese is, well, we don’t speak it.
In addition to photos, music, and video, the system also will have an app called “Near” that lets users communicate. You will also be able to extract and store data from a PS3 and PC and swipe it around on the handheld. And what would a modern gaming system be without social networking? Services such as Skype, Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare will have apps on the Vita. That’s right kids, now you can post about how much you love or hate a game while you’re playing it. Ah, technology.
[Image via Gamer Access.]
