E3 2011: PlayStation Vita Revealed, Prices Start at $249

Sony has officially presented the name of its upcoming portable console, scrapping the old Next Generation Portable name and replacing it with the PlayStation Vita, abbreviated as the PS Vita.

While the NGP was showcased at the beginning of the year, Sony waited until the E3 2011 conference to really kick off its stream of announcements regarding the new portable console, which is going to replace the aging PSP and PSP Go.

Now, after quite a lot of speculation, Sony has officially dubbed the new handheld device the PlayStation Vita, which means life in Latin and is meant to enable a "revolutionary combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real world context."

But while the name wasn't that important for those who were interested in the device, Sony also presented pricing details during its E3 gathering, saying that the standard PlayStation Vita, with just wireless connectivity, will cost $249, while the 3G-enabled device, has a price tag of $299.

The Japanese company also confirmed that it is partnering up in North America with mobile phone carrier AT&T, and all of the 3G-enabled PlayStation Vita devices are going to use the existing infrastructure of the American company.

Besides highlighting the already-known features of the Vita, including its 5-inch OLED touchscreen display, the touch sensitive trackpad on the back of the device as well as the twin analog sticks, Sony also took the chance to promote the games that will be out for the device when it's going to be launched.

Many of them were already presented to the world at the end of last week, as part of a pre-E3 gathering focused on the new handheld, and include Uncharted: Golden Abyss, LittleBigPlanet, or Ruin.

Plenty of other games from Sony itself, like Little Deviants, Hot Shots Golf, Reality Fighter, Hustle Kings, ModNation Racers, Wipeout or Super Stardust Delta, as well as ones from third-party publishers, including EA, Ubisoft or Capcom, are also going to be released for the Vita.

A few special features, similar to how the StreetPass system on the Nintendo 3DS works, were also presented.

"Further enhancing your entertainment experience are new PS Vita features, such as “LiveArea,” an interactive space for each PS Vita software title that allows you to access the latest game information through PlayStation Network; “near,” a pre-installed application that lets you see what other PS Vita users in the vicinity are playing; “Party,” which lets you voice chat or text chat while playing games or using the Internet browser; and “Welcome Park,” a tutorial application designed specifically to guide you through PS Vita’s new user interface," Sony said.

As of yet, the PlayStation Vita still doesn't have a concrete release date, but Sony is still confident that it can deploy the handheld later this year, just in time for the winter holiday season.

Until then, check out some of the new PS Vita screenshots below.