While Sony's handheld was never likely to steal the limelight at Sony's E3 press briefing – just a few new games unveiled for PS Vita – there was nonetheless a spark of interest for those of a portable persuasion: Gaikai.

Sony is set to utilise the cloud gaming service it acquired in 2012 to stream PlayStation 3 games to Vita (as well as PS3 and PS4) bringing what the company claims is one the largest catalogue of titles on the globe to an even wider audience.

The caveat, however, is that it's a service that – initially – will be limited to the US, and won't include PS3's entire library to begin with.

Also, Vita owners won't have access from day one, either.

In the cloud

"The cloud gaming services will provide gamers on the PS4 and PS3 systems, followed by gamers on the PS Vita system, with immediate access to a catalog of critically acclaimed PS3 titles," said Sony in a statement released after the firm's E3 briefing.

"These games will be streamed using Gaikai’s proprietary network technology to deliver amazing gameplay that is fast and responsive."

The longterm plan is to up the number of games as the service rolls out to additional territories around the globe.

Nevertheless, one of the key messages Sony pushed during its briefing was that Vita remains a fundamental cog in its wheel, with PlayStation 4 having been designed from the ground up to work closely with the handheld.

Indeed, with PlayStation Mobile only notable by its absence, Vita's best bet longterm could be that it's able to benefit from what appears could be a very successful PS4 launch later this year.