When Sony lifted the lid on PS Vita's name at its E3 press blitz, it was clear the console would come with a social focus, even if no-one was quite sure just what form that focus would take.

At the time, PS Vita's social tools appeared to be split between 'Party Room' – an Xbox Live style service – and Near, which looked to deliver a "dedicated social connection platform" designed to link players with one another.

In the latest expose detailed by TechCrunch, however, much of that seems to have gone out of the window.

The social trinity

Now the handheld's social efforts have been split three ways.

Near's remit has been scaled back somewhat, functioning as a tool to leave presents in set places for either specific people or a game's entire audience, including in-game items and challenges.

The Party platform looks to have remained largely intact, offering a cross-game voice chat system that runs in the background of play, aside from during team-based titles.

Finally, LiveArea now appears to act as PS Vita's social hub. The platform will deliver notifications, new downloadable content and updates for titles and, it's speculated, game promotions.

Even with this new info, however, it's hard to pin down exactly how all three elements will interact with each other, suggesting PS Vita's social toolset is still very much a work in progress.

[source: TechCrunch]