Nintendo 
seems to once again be winning the battle of the handheld gaming systems.
Sony reports it has sold 2.2 million PlayStation Vitas worldwide through June 30th. That’s not a bad figure, but it falls woefully short of the 17 million 3DS units that have been sold.
Sony’s 
troubles aren’t getting any better.
The electronics giant reported a record loss for the 2011 fiscal year of $5.7 billion. More than half of that loss — $3.2 billion — came in the four quarter.
Usually, 
there aren’t a lot of deals to be found on a system’s launch day.
As early adopters and die-hard fans scramble to be the first on their block to have the latest gadget, companies capitalize on that fervor and have no trouble commanding full retail price, usually for several weeks or even months.
But the launch of the PlayStation Vita is a bit different than other devices.
Sony’s 
hoping for a big splash when the PlayStation Vita goes on sale in the U.S. next week, but the news from the company’s homeland is pretty discouraging.
Sales of the handheld gaming system in Japan for the week ending Feb. 12 hit an all-time low, with less than 14,000 Vitas being sold. That’s a drop of more than 3,000 from the previous week.
Sony’s next big 
hope for the handheld gaming market has made its debut in Japan, and while the numbers aren’t awful, they aren’t exactly stellar, either.
More than 321,000 Vita units were sold in its first two days on store shelves, according to Famitsu. That’s a bit shy of launch figures for Nintendo’s 3DS (371,000), though it nearly doubles what the original PSP boasted when it went on sale seven years ago.
Chris Morris: Journalist 