Unboxing the Sony PlayStation Vita

Everything you need to get online with the PS Vita comes in the box, except for a memory card (though cards are bundled with some 3G/Wi-Fi models as a promotion).

The box's contents are spartan, with a PS Vita, a USB cable, a power adapter, instructions, and a set of augmented reality (AR) cards. If you want a cradle or a case, you're going to need to get it separately.

The PS Vita's documentation is minimalist, limited to a quick start guide and a safety brochure. It's still more paper than PS Vita games come with; retail PS Vita games are packaged with the game card and no instruction manual or other paperwork.

Like the Nintendo 3DS, the PS Vita can use its camera to play augmented reality games. It comes with these six AR cards.

To charge a PS Vita from a wall outlet, you need to plug the AC cable into the wall and the power brick, the power brick into the USB cable, and the USB cable into the PS Vita. A fold-out power plug on the brick itself, like on the 3DS' charger, would have been slightly more convenient.

Unlike the PSP, which used a mini-USB connection, the PS Vita uses a proprietary cable to connect it to USB devices.

The PS Vita's front is glossy, black, and smooth. It also seems to be a magnet for fingerprints, like most glossy black devices.

The rear touchpad fits seamlessly against the back of the PS Vita, placed between two rubberized finger grips. The decorations on the surface are the only indicator that it's not just part of the case.

The proprietary PS Vita memory card fits in a slot on the bottom of the device, between the USB connector and a lanyard loop.

The 3G/Wi-Fi version of the PS Vita has a SIM card slot on the left side of the device. It comes with an AT&T SmartConnect SIM card.

Retail PS Vita games go into a slot on the top of the device, like UMDs in a PSP or game cards in a 3DS.

Game cards for the PS Vita are barely half the size of game cards for the 3DS, and memory cards for the PS Vita are about the same size as microSD cards.