Sony officially gave its Next-Generation Portable a name, and it's not NGP or PlayStation Portable 2. Sony's new handheld is now called the PlayStation Vita, and between its now-confirmed features and newly announced price, it's shaping up to be a very fierce competitor to the Nintendo 3DS.
Most of the technical details we've known or has suspicions about for months. The Vita will have an OLED touch screen, dual analog sticks, back-mounted touch panels, and front- and back-facing cameras. While 3G will be available, Sony will also offer a less expensive Wi-Fi-only option.
Both the Wi-Fi and 3G versions will carry new networking features on the Vita. Sony's new social-networking system, Near, will connect gamers locally and online, and a party room feature will let players speak to each other through voice chat when they're playing different games. Several games, including the upcoming action RPG Ruin, will support cloud-based saving and save file transfers between Vita and PS3 versions of games, letting players put down their Vitas and pick up where they left off on their PS3s.
The 3G version of the Vita will be available exclusively with AT&T Wireless service. Amusingly, news of this resulted in the crowd erupting in boos and laughter, likely due to the infamous service issues regarding AT&T's last major exclusive contract, the iPhone.
The biggest news for the Vita was its pricing. Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai announced that the Wi-Fi-only version of the PlayStation Vita will retail for $249.99, and the Wi-Fi/3G version will retail for $299.99. This puts Sony's new handheld at equal footing with the Nintendo 3DS in price, a major advantage over Sony's last-generation handheld, the PlayStation Portable, which came into market at $100 more than the Nintendo DS. The Sony PlayStation Vita comes out this holiday season.
Nintendo, meanwhile, is expected to announce its next-generation console at a Tuesday morning press briefing. PCMag will be live-blogging the event starting at 9am Pacific.