With Nintendo continuing to highlight exactly what not to do when you launch a handheld, Sony has taken to the stage at the Tokyo Game Show conference to lift the lid on PS Vita's launch date: December 17.

Well, in Japan, at least. Though commentators point towards a spring debut for the handheld in Europe and the US, Sony is yet to pin down a day for the platform's roll out in the west.

Pay to play

Instead, Sony looked to build up Vita's standing as a software powerhouse, detailing a slew of first and third party releases, including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3, Dynasty Warriors Next, Gravity Daze, Metal Gear Solid HD Edition, FIFA and Ninja Gaiden Sigma.

Also worthy of a mention were Everybody's Golf 6, Ridge Racer, Michael Jackson: The Experience and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend.

Sony also took time to again detail the platform's pricing structure in Japan, with the 3G edition retailing for ¥29,980 (£250/$390) and the standard wi-fi release coming in at ¥24,980 (£205/$325).

3G customers will have two choices of connection, both provided by NTT DoCoMo, with 20 hours coming in at ¥980 (£8/$13) and 100 hours hitting ¥4,980 (£40/$65).

Moving millions

While Sony will be hoping PS Vita performs better against 3DS than its predecessor did when faced with the might of DS, the firm also took time out to reveal the handheld's latest shipment total.

Since launch in December 2004, Sony has shipped 71.4 million PSPs around the globe. Estimates from VGChartz suggest around 6 percent – or 4.1 million – have been sold in the UK.

Vita, meanwhile, will benefit from PSP's back catalogue.

In addition to 100 PS Vita games being developed in time for the handheld's launch window, Sony confirmed around 600 downloadable PSP titles will also be on board from day one.



A full list of the games announced for PS Vita can be found over on Pocket Gamer.