Sony at E3: Its New Vita Handheld May Make Nintendo Cry

Forget the PlayStation Network outages. Sony (SNE) thought small at last night's Electronic Entertainment Expo, and in a good way -- it devoted most of its keynote to the new PlayStation Vita handheld, a game player that doubles as an extension of its PlayStation console. Best of all for Sony, it looks like it may be able to beat Nintendo around the head and shoulders with the Vita, seeing as how a similar Nintendo device isn't expected until a year later. Oops.

A new way to game
Previously called the Sony NGP, the details of the PlayStation Vita -- including its touchscreen and the fact that it runs Android -- have already been outed. But Sony delivered two impressive surprises last night.

First, just like smartphones, the PS Vita will be wirelessly connected and will be available in two flavors -- Wi-Fi only and AT&T 3G, at $249 and $299, respectively. Sony was mute on the AT&T service plan pricing, though the audience booed when it announced AT&T would be the lone carrier. Regardless, the base price is super competitive to the Nintendo 3DS and the Apple (APPL) iPod line -- the Vita's natural competitors.

Second, the PS Vita will have a symbiotic relationship with the PlayStation 3. Last night Sony showed it two different ways:

• Continuous Client: Play a game on the PS Vita, make it to a particular checkpoint, put away your PS Vita, and pick up the game at the very same place on the PlayStation 3. It is a simple, but groundbreaking technological achievement that'll promote sales of both systems as well as game development across both platforms.
• Level creation: Certain games, like the kart racer Mod Nation, will use the PS Vita to control the action happening on the PlayStation 3 game. For instance, a Sony spokesperson spent two minutes creating a race track on his PS Vita and, seconds later, his friend was able to race on it using his PlayStation 3.

Not good for Nintendo Continuous Client and level creation are remarkable on their own, but they are even more striking because Nintendo is likely going to announce similar details for its own Nintendo Wii 2 later today. The Wii 2 has reportedly swapped the Wii's popular motion controls for a touchscreen setup, using a screen-based controller or even Nintendo's new 3DS handheld device.

Nintendo is also expected to have intimate interactions between players using the handheld touchscreen and players focused on the TV screen. The rub is that Sony's PS Vita will be out this holiday, while the Wii 2 isn't expected until next holiday. Sony has a serious head start here.

Has Sony redeemed itself from the online security breaches that kept its PlayStation Network down for more than a month? No, as Sony Computer Entertainment America President and CEO Jack Tretton only offered a five minute apology last night with no explanation of why. However, the company is releasing a cool, well-priced, smartly designed handheld device that will further PlayStation 3 growth and stand strongly on its own, too. This week's announcements is a good start towards redemption.

Photo courtesy of JoshMcConnell // CC 2.0
Related:

• E3: Do or Die for Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft
• How Quickly Can You Hack the PlayStation Network Again? Try 2 Days
• Microsoft at E3: Forget Games - Hey, Here's Live TV on Your XBox!
• Sony's Sexy, Smart NGP Portable: Odds Against Apple Better with Android

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