Sony will miss a Christmas launch for Playstation Vita

GAMING COMPANY Sony will not be launching its Playstation Vita handheld gaming console later this year in both the US and Europe, missing the key pre-Christmas shopping season.

Sony originally promised that it would launch the device, which is a greatly enhanced successor to the Playstation Portable, late this year, with a phased rollout around the world.

Gamers' hopes were dashed today, however, as Sony EVP Kazuo Hirai revealed that the huge American and European markets will not see the Vita in time for Christmas, according to the Associated Press.

Hirai said that the US and Europe will have to wait until early next year, but refused to call the move a delay. We'll likely see the Vita hit these markets in the first quarter of 2012.

Hirai said that Sony will still launch the Vita in Japan by the end of the year, but he did not reveal any dates, which means Sony could even miss out on the holiday season there, which is one of the busiest times of the year for sales of consoles and games.

The problem for Sony is that the Vita could follow the example of Nintendo's 3DS, which failed to launch at its original planned time last Christmas. It eventually came out in February in Japan and March elsewhere, but less than six months later Nintendo was forced to cut the price due to slow demand.

Much of this was likely due to many people's reluctance to buy into the 3D fad, but another major factor was it missing the Christmas shopping period.

Hirai was under pressure from reporters in Tokyo to push the price of the Vita down following Nintendo's decision, but he said emphatically that the price will remain as is, which he claims will be "very affordable".

This delay is good news for Nintendo, which might be able to ship many more of its 3DS handheld console this Christmas, thanks to its up to 40 per cent price cut and slim competition from Sony. µ