PS Vita to release in North America Feb. 22nd

Pick up your Vita just after Valentine's Day

By Kevin Douglas Femmel

(Oct 19, 2011) — Sony has announced their successor to the PSP, the Playstation Vita, will release in North America on February 22nd, 2012. The WiFi version will sell for $249, and the 3G version will sell for $299.

This will spur pre-orders, but for Sony could prove to be a mistake. The 3DS couldn’t sell well at $250, and the PSP has been long forgotten by consumers in America. The 3DS is now selling very well, and giving it a strong holiday sales boost with no competition may hurt the Vita’s chances.

A lot of parents will be buying 3DSs for their families this holiday. They likely aren’t going to like the idea of spending even more two months later on another portable. Combine that with the 3DS having stellar games like Kid Icarus, Resident Evil launching near the Vita release and you can see where this is going.

However, better late than never right? We will have to wait to see how consumers truly react to the Vita when it comes out this year in Japan, and early next year everywhere else.