Polygonal Sony executive Kaz Hirai has confirmed that the PlayStation Vita will not be available to us round-eyes in 2011, with a release date instead planned for the next calendar year. The handheld was originally expected to be ready in time for Christmas.
Hirai is not presenting this as a delay, claiming that the company needed to make sure there was a strong software lineup for launch. This could be a response to the 3DS, which even Nintendo thinks is suffering due to a poor early library.
The SCE boss also declared that the Vita would not lower its price in the wake of the 3DS price drop, claiming that his company “packed so much into the device and made it very affordable” so there was “no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price.”
So there you go. I’m a little disappointed since I’ve started to really look forward to the Vita, but considering Nintendo rushed its own system to market, I very much respect a company holding back until its got a strong lineup. That already makes it more promising than the PSP.
No Vita launch in US or Europe this year [GI.biz]
