Sony’s much anticipated “Next Generation Portable”, the PS Vita, is now officially available in South Africa.
The device was launched by local distributor of Sony Computer Entertainment products, Ster Kinekor, at an event on the evening of 21 February in Johannesburg. Guests gathered to get some hands-on time with the device and celebrate as the PS Vita also became available throughout the EMEA regions on its official launch date of 22 February 2012.
Below we’ve gathered up all the information that you need to know about the device at launch.
PS Vita RRP
The PlayStation Vita will launch with the 3G version at a recommended retail price (RRP) of R3,599, and the Wi-Fi only version at an RRP of R2,999.
PS Vita 3G RICA registration
It has been confirmed that consumers picking up the 3G version of the PS Vita will be required to RICA the SIM in the device in accordance with SA law.
In Europe, Vodafone is the official data partner for the PS Vita. Ster Kinekor said that no similar deal has been finalised for the South African market, but they are working on it.
PS Vita SA launch titles
- Army Corps of Hell
- Asphault Injection
- Dungeon hunter Alliance
- Everybody’s Golf
- Formula 1 2011
- Little Deviants
- Lumines
- Michael Jackson The Experience
- Mod Nation Racers: Road Trip
- Rayman Origins
- Reality Fighters
- Ridge Racer
- Touch My Katamari
- Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
- Uncharted: Golden Abyss
- Unit 13
- Virtua Tennis 4
- Wipeout 2048
PS Vita peripherals
PS Vita launch peripheral RRP has also been announced. PS Vita memory cards are available in three sizes.
- 4GB Memory Card – R199
- 8GB Memory Card – R349
- 16GB Memory Card – R499
- AC adaptor – R149
- Portable charger – R499
- In-ear headset – R299
- Starter kit – R199
The 32GB PS Vita memory card was not mentioned in the pricing announcement. Ster Kinekor explained that the 32GB card has been postponed for launch in Europe and SA at a later date in 2012.
PS Vita Augmented Reality card bundles
PlayStation Vita will come bundled with six AR Play Cards and a voucher code to download three AR games, all for free. Those games are:
- Table Football
- Cliff Diving
- Fireworks
PS Vita Technical specifications
Platform name | PlayStation Vita |
Model number | PCH-1000 series |
CPU | ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core) |
GPU | SGX543MP4+ |
Main memory | 512MB |
VRAM | 128MB |
External Dimensions | Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largestprojection) |
Weight | Approx 279g (3G/Wi-Fi model)Approx 260g (Wi-Fi model) |
Screen(Touch screen) | 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLEDMulti touch screen (capacitive type) |
Rear touch pad | Multi touch pad (capacitive type) |
Cameras | Front camera, Rear cameraFrame rate : 120fps@320×240(QVGA), 60fps@640×480(VGA)Resolution : Up to 640×480(VGA) |
Sound | Built-in stereo speakersBuilt-in microphone |
Sensors | Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three axis electronic compass |
Location | Built-in GPS (3G/Wi-Fi model only)Wi-Fi location service support |
Keys / Switches | PS buttonPower buttonDirectional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)Right stick, Left stickSTART button, SELECT buttonVolume buttons (+/-) |
Wireless communications | Mobile network connectivity (3G/Wi-Fi model only)3G modem (data communication): HSDPA/HSUPA, GSM/GPRS/EDGEIEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode)Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR (A2DP/AVRCP/HSP) |
Slots/Ports | PlayStation®Vita card slotMemory card slotSIM card slot (3G/Wi-Fi model only)Multi-use port (for USB data communication, DC IN, Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In], |
Power | Built-In Lithium-ion Battery: DC3.7V 2210mAhAC adaptor: DC 5V |
Operating environment temperature | 5°C~35°C |
SupportedAV contentformat | Music-MP3 MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3, MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC), WAVE (Linear PCM)Videos-MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High/Main/Baseline Profile(AAC)Photos-JPEG (Exif 2.2.1), TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG |
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