San Francisco – Speaking on a panel here Tuesday, Sony’s
U.S. game business head, Jack Tretton, revealed that the long-awaited
PlayStation Vita handheld gaming device will be released to the U.S. market on
Feb. 22, according to reports.
During the Web 2.0 Summit, Tretton said PlayStation Vita
will be positioned to compete with gaming-enabled smartphones, including the
iPhone 4S, and will include such games as Uncharted Golden Abyss, which can be
controlled with a finger swipe across the device’s touchscreen.
The PS Vita, which will carry a $299 suggested retail for Wi-Fi/3G-enabled
version and $249 for a Wi-Fi only version, will also roll out to Canada, Europe
and Latin America on the same day.
The Vita will make its global debut in Japan in December.
The new Vita will have built-in integration and sharing support
using a number of social networks, including YouTube, Twitter, Skype and
Facebook.
According to VentureBeat, Tretton said that Sony has 17
million gamer fans on Facebook and 24 million PS3 users on the PlayStation Home
social network.
