I think it looks like a really smart piece of kit, the front screen is an OLED which are supposed to produce really crisp displays, and it's a fairly decent size as well. The touch-sensitive back panel seems a bit like a gimmick to me, but it will be interesting to see how it is utilised in the games. Some are already using it pretty well I believe (Escape Plan and Uncharted).

At the minute though, £230 is just too much for a handheld imo. Once it comes down in price a little and/or has a decent catalogue of games I am interested in, then I may consider picking one up.

What's it like with regards to demos/trials? i.e. Can you go on the PS Store and download a demo for a PS3 game and play it, or do they only play Vita/PSP/PS1 games? Does it even play PSP games?

I agree that the price is steep, £40 for a 16GB memory card as well is hefty, does it not come with any memory installed?

Perhaps shouldn't comment until I've got my hands on one, but looks to me like Sony have missed the mark with the Vita. The console itself is too expensive, then you've got the additional cost of the memory card (as usual, proprietary Sony - should be built in with expandable micro-SD, or generic SD based). The games seem to be retailing around the £30 mark - how do they intend to capture the casual market when you can buy an iPad for not much more than the cost of a Vita, and get games such as GTAIII for £5 on the App Store? The iPad does a lot more and is far more fashionable (which is the main reason they sell).

The OS looks awful too. Considering how slick their MediaCrossBar (or whatever it is called) interface on their Bravias/PS3 is, I'm shocked they've gone for something so horrific on the Vita. Speaking of which, the name (whilst not the most important factor) is terrible. All the best Sony products have built on the existing brand (Bravia, PlayStation, Walkman), they should have stuck with the PSP name somehow.

Seems to me they're trying to capture the hardcore and casual market and they'll fail at both. It's a shame because when Sony get things right they can't be bettered, it's just that they make so many mistakes in this market that can't be papered over.

I have a Vita and iPad. Difference in the quality of the games is night and day. FIFA is essentially the PS3 version to all intents and purposes. FIFA on iPad is good to a point but massively flawed in terms of graphics and gameplay. If you want games for under a fiver that are limited by lack of physical controls iPad is fantastic. If you want PS3 quality stuff then the Vita achieves something very close to that on day 1. Oh and it shows the 3ds up terribly (which I used to have but have flogged).

OS is ugly, agreed. Vita browser is functional, nowhere near as good as iPad, million times better than Ps3 or psp browser. Name is largely irrelevant- they cold called it the Playstation Percy if it delivers this level of quality. Great cross play potential. You can already play against PS3 player on Wipeout. If they implement that for the likes of COD and Fifa...

I must say the games I've seen footage of, Uncharted and FIFA, do look very impressive. If Apple can support a hardware joystick addon for the iPhone it'll be a big kick in the teeth for the PS Vita/DS.

There are already joystick addons for the iPhone and all other phones. But games on the iphone are terrible on the whole. There are some things that work well on them, but all the 'good' games on mobile systems are the simple ideas, plants v zombies and fruit ninja etc, games with no depth to them at all. Mobiles are some way off proper gaming systems yet, in terms of scope. Developers don't spend much on mobile systems, not because they aren't lucrative, they clearly are and are growing, but because of the end price. Most mobile games are a couple of quid, so there really isn't scope to spend that much time on them. The market systems are also not conducive to this, you get a week or so in a prominent position then you are moved off to become one of many games people won't see unless they are looking specifically for you.

The Vita isn't in a good position to compete with the DS range. As with everything by Nintendo, the Ds is utter rubbish and is played by mindless children, but it sells regardless of the quality of the games. The DS range has become 'the norm' for parents who know nothing about games. Their kid gets to 3 or 4 and they buy them a DS, with their favourite character game. The Vita in terms of tech looks brilliant and I'd love to have a go on one. But the price is prohibitive, particularly for the games. Are the games all online now? Is there no physical disc anymore?

Someone asked about the memory cards you need - Amazon were doing a pretty good deal where you got a free 8gb mem card and a game for £15 when you bought the vita. I'm not sure if it's still on but it was the best deal I saw leading up to launch.

If you buy a retail copy of a vita game, they each arrive on their own memory card. If you buy them off the PS store then the best thing to do is just keep them all on your PS3 hdd and just transfer over 1 or 2 games temporarily - nobody really has 3 or 4 games on the go at any one time.

A friend of mine got his vita yesterday, and the only initial criticism he had was the o/s on there. Everything - including your friends list - is run via an app rather than being integrated, which could prove annoying due to the constant launch times/signing in every time you start up the console.

However well (or poorly) the vita does over in the western hemisphere will not affect the crazy sales figures they will get in asia. The original psp was absolutely massive over there, I expect this one to be exactly the same as soon as the latest monster hunter game comes out, for some reason that game is like a religion over there

I had a go on the FIFA Football game on Vita, impressive how they squeeze so much out of a handheld.

I will hold off until the next version of the Vita is released, when the design will be improved, there will be a better back catalogue of games, and it will be cheaper. I'm not sure if that FIFA has Ultimate Team but if it does then that is very impressive. Tempting to buy one just so I can play Ultimate Team on the go.

If they could have made it shaped like a normal controller but with a flip up screen it would be great

Thinking of buying one tomorrow. Does everywhere on the high street have them in stock or will I have to buy online?