PlayStation Vita coming in February

Stuff.co.nz reports.

The new device, which hits stores in Japan on 17 December, will be priced at $249.99 for the WiFi version, and $299.99 for the 3G/WiFi version in the US market, significantly above rival Nintendo's 3DS, which now sells for $169.99 in the US.

According to The Guardian, PlayStation Vita is the follow-up to Sony's PSP console, which has sold almost 70 million units worldwide since its launch in 2004.

The new console boasts a five-inch touch-sensitive OLED screen, a rear touch-pad, rear and front cameras, and two analogue control sticks. All games will be available for download from the Internet, although some titles will also be released on a proprietary card format and sold through retail.

Sony president and CEO Jack Tretton broke the news at the Web 2.0 Summit, in San Francisco, then followed up with a post on Sony's official PlayStation blog, Time TechLand notes.

Tretton says the system has "more than 100 games currently in development globally that span many different genres"; though note the "globally" part means he's counting games in all regions, several of which probably won't crossover, say, from Japan to the US (or vice-versa).

Vita's ballyhooed arrival comes in the wake of declining dedicated gaming handheld sales, as well as surging competition from smartphones and tablets, whether iOS-based devices like the iPhone and iPad, or Google's flourishing fleet of Android-based phones.