Video Game News: Sony Vita Release Date Confirmed For Feb. 22, 2012

CHICAGO – A release date has been set for the next generation of portable game playing from Sony. The Sony Vita will be released to the US, Canada, Latin America, and Europe on February 22, 2012.

Sony has worked hard to create a mobile gaming device that makes the Playstation Portable (PSP) look obsolete. With the Vita, gamers are not only able to have gaming on-the-go, but the system also offers Wi-Fi and optional 3G support. This all comes in a console with a 5-inch multi-touch OLED screen, a rear touchpad, cameras in front and back, and two analog control sticks along with games that can be downloaded from the internet and accessibility to social networking applications.

Games already in development for the Vita that should be available upon its release include: Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, LittleBigPlanet, FIFA, Uncharted, and Resistance.

The question that must be raised for anyone is whether the new system is worth it in mobile gaming. With the recent release of the iPhone 4S, which has had incredible sales, gamers may have already thrown down $200 or more for the smart phone that can handle high quality graphic games. Will these gamers be willing to throw another $250 into mobile gaming come February, just four months after buying a new smartphone?

Sony seems to think so. Banking on the hope that gamers are more interested in over 80 of their licensed titles already in production for the new mobile gaming device, the Vita will be released to the public a few months after the latest in smartphone technology, as well as a release that misses the rush of the Christmas season.

Will the latest in mobile gaming excitement trump the challenges of date release, other viable mobile gaming options, and high price tag? Color me skeptical.

[14]	By TIM MARTENS [15] Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com tim@hollywoodchicago.com [14]