PS Vita sold half million units to consumers since its launch on December 17, 2011 in Japan and December 23, 2011 in Asia. PS Vita launched concurrently with 24 software titles from both 3rd party developers and publishers and SCE Worldwide Studios.

The PlayStation 3 platform continues to grow in popularity with consumers across the world. The PS3 system exceeded 3.9 million units worldwide during the holiday sales season, and continues to build momentum and remains on track to reach its annual sales target of 15.0 million hardware units worldwide in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012

The PSP platform continued its growth, attracting a broader range of users with its enhanced line-up of software titles from 3rd party developers and publishers as well as from SCE WWS. Worldwide PSP sales exceeded 1.6 million units during the holiday season. The PSP systems continue to perform well with PSP-3000 series, the popular PSP system in Japan and North America, a wide variety of PSP software libraries, and PSP-E1000, exclusively released in Europe and PAL territories without Wi-Fi connectivity feature at an attractive price point of €99 in November 2011.

SCE will continue to deploy various measures to further expand the PlayStation business with strong support from users as well as 3rd party developers and publishers, and will vigorously enhance the world of computer entertainment system that is possible only on the PlayStation platforms.

Sony in their Gamescom conference announced to launch a new affordable PSP. This new PlayStation handheld will be restricted to PAL regions and will sport a slightly revamped design. Sony has pegged the PSP at €99 and low price means exclusion of some features, which in this case will be no Wi-Fi. UMD will still be present.

The PSP E-1000 will be available in fall later this year.

The October launch rumored a few days back for PlayStation Vita has been squashed by Sony. Sony’s Kazuo Hirai has confirmed that the PlayStation Vita’s “end of 2011″ launch will only be applicable for Japan. The new handheld will be launched in Japan this year whereas UK and US will get it next year, missing the very important holiday season.

Also, when asked if Sony will follow Nintendo to cut the price of their upcoming console, Hirai denied it saying PS Vita is power packed and “there is no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price.”

[Via Yahoo]

Sony announced a price cut for its PSP handheld console (PSP-3000) that will make the console one of the cheapest in the market. Starting Feb 27, consumers will be able to buy the console for just $129.99. Needless to say, this move is clearly influenced by the NGP that is expected to reach the retail market in this year.

Also, Sony’s PSP Entertainment Packs will now sell for $159.99.

[Via PSBlog]

Here are the full specifications and official images of the new Sony PSP, codenamed NGP (Next Generation Portable). During the unveiling, Sony revealed the new console to have most advanced CPU and it certainly is. The new PSP will come with a processor based on qua-core ARM Cortex-A9 and PowerVR’s SGX543MP4+ GPU.

Full Specifications:
CPU: ARM Cortex -A9 core (4 core)
GPU: SGX543MP4+
External Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
Screen (Touch screen): 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED
Multi touch screen (capacitive type)
Rear touch pad: Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
Cameras: Front camera, Rear camera
Sound: Built-in stereo speakers, Built-in microphone
Sensors: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic compass
Location: Built-in GPS, Wi-Fi location service support
Keys / Switches: PS button, Power button, Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left), Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square), Shoulder buttons (Right/Left), Right stick, Left stick, START button, SELECT button, Volume buttons (+/-)
Wireless communications: Mobile network connectivity (3G), IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1) (Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (A2DP/AVRCP/HSP)

Sony has finally unveiled the PSP successor. Codenamed as NGP (or Next Generation Portable), the PSP2 boasts some interesting specs. On the design front, the new PSP comes with a “Super Oval” design that is claimed to be created for long play sessions and has added the much-needed dual analog sticks as well as front and rear touchpads.

Delving into the hardware, Sony has fitted the PSP2 with the “most advanced CPU” along with a 5-inch touchscreen OLED display sporting a resolution of 960×544 resolution, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, dual cameras (front and back), gyro and motion sensors and a new media slot. Sony has made way for its UMD discs in lieu of these new media cards that look like SD cards. Although it looks a proprietary one with the curvy sides.

Other few things you’d find are new user interface, location-based services and augmented reality support.

It will be available in this year before holiday season.

[Via Engadget]

While we’re hoping to see the first glimpse of PSP2 today at an event in Tokyo, PSP’s cellular sibling has got a detailed preview. The team over at Engadget managed to lay their hands on the PlayStation Phone, which will be marketed under the Xperia brand as Xperia Play.

The preview was based on a prototype so it is obvious not all things which we see will make in the retail unit but overall, Engadget seemed positive about the device. The phone they tested was responsive and fast, benchmark scores were comparable with today’s high-end Android devices and of course, provided an excellent gaming platform.

Read the full preview here.

We’ll definitely know if Sony is going to reveal PSP2 in couple of days but Nikkei, Japan’s business daily is throwing some more details on the PlayStation Portable successor. According to the daily, the new PSP will have an OLED display as well as 3G support from NTT DOCOMO. 3G data will allow users to have a multiplayer bout anywhere and anytime, thus relying less on Wi-Fi hotspots.

A little more info claimed by the newspaper is that the PSP2 will have a larger screen and a new processor, both of which we’ve heard previously.

[Via Engadget]

Sony’s plan to unveil the PSP2 at an event in Japan on January 27 could turn out to be true. Bloomberg has published a report that cites their two sources claiming to reveal the updated gaming console on January 27 in Japan whereas the oft-leaked PlayStation Phone in February at the Mobile World Congress.

The report also says that Sony will target two companies with its two launches – Nintendo with its PSP2 and Apple with its PlayStation Phone.

Moreover, Sony is also expected to reveal the strategy that will allow all its networked devices to take advantage of the content by sharing games, movies and music across other Sony products.

Sony is looking to give the first glimpse on its upcoming PSP2 handheld console if the latest report is to be believed. VG247 claims that Sony is holding a “business overview and strategy meeting” in Tokyo on January 27 and “very select press” is invited where they’ll get a look at the PSP2.

PSP2 is codenamed as VITA and is rumored to be in the hands of developers for at least one year.

Moreover, another report from MCV suggests that Sony is claiming the new PSP2 to be “as powerful as the PS3.” This of course, is nothing but hyperbole but indicates that PSP2 will be capable to deliver better graphics.

Additional rumored features include an HD screen, dual-stick controls and even a media format, which we assume will be the UMD.

As for the launch, the console is expected in Q4 2011 launch, mostly before October.