Sony endeavored to steal the show this week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.
Looking to take mobile gaming to the proverbial next level, Sony raised the curtain on its next-generation gaming device dubbed the PlayStation Vita, which is expected to go on sale before the madness of the 2011 holiday shopping season.
The new device is aimed at competing with the likes of Apple’s iPod Touch and the plethora of smartphones and tablets on the market. After the device was first unveiled in January, the show on Monday revealed other details, including the name and basic price.
Priced at $250 – or $299 for the 3G version – the Vita is Sony’s latest effort to control as much of the mobile gaming market as possible, a difficult feat given the stellar competition posed by the likes of Apple and Nintendo.
Similar to Apple’s initial iPhone carrier strategy in the US, Sony revealed this week that AT&T will be the exclusive carrier for the Vita.
The PlayStation Vita boasts a quad-core processor as well as quad-core graphics to go with dual analog sticks and front and rear-facing cameras.
Although Sony believes it is offering “competitive” pricing on the Vita, more than a few analysts believe that Sony has attached a dauntingly high price tag to make the Vita truly capable of reaching mass-market appeal.
“That’s fine for core gamers who want to play games all the time, but it’s too expensive for the mass market,” Dan Ernst, a Hudson Square research analyst, tells Yahoo Finance.
The global games market is projected to reach $65 billion this year, an increase from $62.7 billion last year.
