With gaming on the go becoming ever more smartphone-shaped, some would say it was foolhardly to release a new dedicated handheld, such as the Sony PS Vita. The full-fat and full-price Nintendo 3DS struggled against the cheap yet powerful thrills offered by more versatile and ever-present platforms...

Five-inch OLED touchscreen; Quadcore processor; Launch games line-up; Five-inch OLED touchscreen; Quadcore processor; Launch games line-up

Expensive; Fiddly card ports; Focus on core-gamers; Expensive; Fiddly card ports; Focus on core-gamers

The Nintendo DS may have proved a huge worldwide hit, but Sony's PSP still managed to clock up a fairly impressive number of sales over the years.

Excellent 5-inch OLED screen; Two analogue sticks; Great graphics; Responsive touchscreen and touch-sensitive panel; Impeccable finish; Decent battery life given its performances

Position of analogue sticks (you have to bend your thumbs round to use them; Proprietary format memory cards; Quite bulky for a portable console

The PlaySation Vita is Sony's latest attempt to take portable gaming to new heights, and it finally hit UK shelves last week. With quad-core smartphones waiting in the wings and gaming apps aplenty, the company's refreshed PSP has its work cut out.

When the Sony PlayStation Vita arrives, it'll face stiff competition. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have become powerful, cheap and ubiquitous. And with great, inexpensive games readily available on a device that you're already carrying every day, is there any reason to spend...

The PS Vita carries the weight of great expectation on its diminutive shoulder buttons. Not only does it have to make a break from the foibles of the PlayStation Portable and PSPGo!

Sony's much anticipated response to Nintendo's 3DS is here. After an incredibly disappointing launch in Japan (where sales dropped exponentially in the second week of release), the PS Vita hits shelves across Europe and North America today.

While Sony has seen some success in the portable gaming market, it has always struggled to compete against Nintendo. With a solid fan base since the launch of the original Game Boy, Nintendo has always had a solid lead over Sony and their efforts in portable gaming.

great design; two analog sticks; blazing fast processor; spectacular screen; apps

proprietary memory cards; no video out feature; no Flash support; poor quality cameras; mediocre battery life; no 3G in Canada just yet

Should you buy a PlayStation Vita? If you want the best overall portable gaming experience, yes. Sure, the cost of getting started is probably more than you thought, but the Vita's fantastic launch line-up, laundry-list of features, cool apps, silky smooth OS and promising future definitely make a...

Amazing visuals on the 5-inch OLED touchscreen that look almost as good as PS3 graphics; Launch line-up is very impressive and allows for downloading of some games (including all first-party titles) over the PlayStation Network; Operating system is smartly designed; easy to use and ultra responsive,

Proprietary media and connections across the board; and even requires the purchase of a separate memory card to play most games and use most apps; Battery life could be better; and there's no way it can be replaced by the user; No video out; Anti-piracy implementations are a bit cumbersome to deal

The PlayStation Vita doesn't hit Australia until February 23, but it's now arrived in Japan. And Kotaku has already spent some quality hands-on time for this in-depth first look!

On the plus side it is stunning to play with. Games look amazing on the 5-inch OLED screen, which despite the size impresses with its crisp visuals, clarity and depth. I played about 10 minutes of two levels of the launch title Uncharted Golden Abyss and that was enough to sell me on the console.