One of the victims of the smartphone and tablet popularity are hand-held or pocket gaming devices, from Nintendo with its new 3DS, and the Playstation Portable and others.
Playstation Vita, or PS Vita, will try its best to attract the “touchscreen” fans to buy a dedicated gaming device again instead of a dual-core processor phones that offer apps from markets like the iOS app store and the Android Market. According to a report posted by Stuff, the new PS Vita will arrive in Japan first on December 17, a perfect release date for a device that wants to capture the attention of the consumers again, currently living in the so-called “Post PC” era.
But instead of offering the device with a cheaper tag price, the PS Vita will, surprisingly, sport the “high-end” tag price of around $340 to $350 for the WiFi only model, and $390 to $420 for the 3G + WiFi variant. the device is obviously cheaper than an unlocked dual-core unlocked smartphone, but more expensive than the subsidized Android, or iPhone smartphone that only ranges from $99.99 to $299.99.
No words yet about the release date of the device in United States but reports have added that it will arrive in US market in Q1 or January to March time frame, which is a month or two ahead of the expected new iPad, the iPad 3 that could get an April release date if Apple will still follow its yearly device cycle.
Japan-based technology company Sony said the Playstation Vita will arrive in stores alongside 26 software titles, or games on December 17 and Japan’s popular mobile carrier, NTT Docomo, will provide the prepaid 3G plans for 3G + WiFi Playstation Vita users.
Under its hood, the PS Vita sports an impressive power. the new PSP device sports a 5-inch touchscreen with the resolution of 960 x 544. it also includes two cameras, two speakers, two analogue sticks, and a microphone. and instead of following the dual-core madness of the smartphones, the Vita device includes a powerful quad-core processor based on the ARM Cortex A9, challenging the Tegra 2 and other processors of high-end Android tablets and even the iPad 2′s A5 chip. Sony claims PS Vita owners will expect four to five hours of battery life.
Can the PS Vita compete in the post PC era with a quad-core-powered handheld gaming device packed with smartphone-like power?
Speaking with gaming site GameSpot at the Gamescom in Germany last month, Sony’s director of hardware marketing John Koller said that smartphones and tablets gamers will “come over to” PS Vita because many smartphone gamers are now searching for “deeper, richer, console-type experiences,” that game apps can’t deliver.
Apparently, smartphones with impressive specs, bundled with the ecosystem that caters many popular game apps will arrive this year and early next year. One of the much-anticipated is the iPhone 5 that will include dual-core processor, stylish design and an 8-megapixel primary camera claim multiple rumors. Additional reports have added that the new Apple smartphone will hit stores in mid-October.
Aside from the iPhone 5, Android manufacturers like Samsung, HTC and Motorola are also gearing up to launch their own gaming/internet capable smartphones this year. These manufacturers are also offering tablets that include dual-core processor and the latest version of the Android operating system. Surprisingly, Sony is also in the tablet market with the company’s own Sony Tablet S that includes “Playstation” certified capability.
According to the data published by Gartner, the smartphone sales will soar 56% or 468 million this year, while the tablet sales will grow nearly four times, to 69.8 million this year. Gaming devices on the other hand, is facing negative sales figure with one from Nintendo missing its sales target for the Nintendo 3DS despite price drop.