You may have missed it among the barrage of E3 news this week, but Sony has changed the name of its new hand-held, formely known as NGP, to PlayStation Vita - Vita means "Life" in Italian apparently, though we have no idea how that relates to the successor to the PSP, or what major connection Sony has to Italy.

Anyhow, it's not about the name, it's about the hardware; and from what we've seen so far PlayStation Vita does look mightily impressive. The hand-held boasts dual analog sticks, front and rear cameras, front multi-touch display, multi-touch rear pad, GPS, six-axis motion sensors, and a three-axis electronic compass.

It sports a new game medium, a small flash memory based card, dedicated for PS Vita software titles and a Six-axis motion sensing system. Much has been made about Vita's online and multiplayer functionality, which can connect via Wi-Fi and 3G and includes full PlayStation Network access. This will include a“LiveArea” (a space for sharing with others. From here you can use “near” (lets users identify what friends in the vicinity are or were recently playing), “Party” (enables users to enjoy voice chat or text chat not only during online gaming, but also when they are playing different games or using different applications such as the internet browser), and “Activity” (it logs the latest accomplishments from people playing the same games.)

Multi-touch 5-inch organic light emitting diode (OLED) front display



Full measurements - 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm

Vita will support PlayStation network trophies and users will be able to play PSP and mini titles purchased from the PlayStation Store. At E3 2011 this week, Sony showcased some great looking games, the most impressive being Uncharted: Golden Abyss. You can see from the screenshots below that it does particularly nice on the multi-touch 5-inch organic light emitting diode (OLED) front display. Sony claims that 80 titles are currently in development for Vita, including entries from a host of familiar franchises, including WipEout, Street Fighter, Bioshock and Call Of Duty.

New Uncharted game showcases the graphical capabilities of Vita

The announced prices for Vita at the moment are: Wi-Fi version, ¥24,980 in Japan, $249 in the US and €249 in Europe, while the 3G version will cost ¥29,980, $299 in the US and €299 in Europe. Though no official sterling price has been announced, Amazon has listed Vita at 229.99/279.99 GBP. Sony has confirmed that PlayStation Vita will launch across all regions before the end of 2011. Tempted to pick one up?