E3 2011: PlayStation Vita Release Date, Battery Life, Region Locking Detailed

Since the official reveal that Sony is renaming its Next Generation Portable into the PlayStation Vita, a variety of new details have appeared about the new handheld console, including information about its intended release date, battery life, region locking systems or just how quickly it will become profitable.

Sony presented the NGP to the world at the beginning of the year, but only this week, during the E3 2011 conference, did the Japanese company present the name of the device, PlayStation Vita, and showcased some of the games that will appear for it.

Now, from a variety of sources, lots of new details about the device have appeared.

First up, Sony Computer Entertainment America boss Jack Tretton was quoted by Reuters as saying that the Vita is set to go on sale in its native Japan at the end of the year and that some territories might see the device appear in early 2012.

Sony has been reluctant to pin an exact launch date for the handheld console, but the aforementioned schedule, of Japan getting it first and then other territories like North America or Europe, is quite possible.

Next up, the battery life for the Vita was another hot topic during E3, with Sony declining to talk about it officially.

Off the record, however, Engadget reports that if the Vita isn't running any graphically-demanding games, like the recently presented Uncharted: Golden Abyss, the autonomy will be around the same one of the current PlayStation Portable, of about 5-6 hours.

Customers interested in the new console will be thrilled to hear that the Vita is currently planned to not have any sort of region locking on its games, meaning those with consoles bought in certain parts of the world can play any sort of game made for the device, just like on the PlayStation 3, for example.

This, according to IGN, could give the PS Vita an advantage over the Nintendo 3DS, which is under strict region locking.

Last but not least, Sony PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai confirmed to Reuters that the company hopes the PlayStation Vita is going to exceed the sales of the current PSP, of 70 million units sold around the world, much faster than its predecessor, and reach profitability in around three years.

As you can see, there are plenty of things about the PlayStation Vita that still need to be cleared out, so expect more official details in the following months.