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.
If you’re 
planning to get a 3G-enabled PlayStation Vita when it launches next month, be prepared for monthly data fees that are on par with the iPad.
AT&T has revealed its pricing plans for the system, detailing a pair of options designed to accommodate light and heavy users of the network.
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.
After remaining 
eerily quiet for months on when gamers outside of Japan would get their hands on the PlayStation Vita, Sony has finally come clean.
The next-generation handheld gaming system will go on sale in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Latin America on Feb. 22 of next year, just over two months after it goes on sale in Sony’s home country.
Scratch the PlayStation
Vita off your note to Santa.
Sony confirmed Thursday that its new handheld system won’t launch in the U.S. or Europe until 2012. While not officially a delay, the announcement still surprised a lot of people, who expected the company to push hard for a widespread launch before the holiday season, since that’s such a crucial sales period for the industry.
Gamasutra editor-at-large 
Chris Morris questions whether today’s major Nintendo 3DS price drop is enough to “resuscitate” long-term hardware sales in a world of smartphones and Angry Birds.
Welcome to the post-iPhone world, Nintendo. We were wondering when you’d take those blinders off.
Thursday’s announcement that the game giant would be slicing the price of the 3DS by nearly one-third after just four months was significant on a number of levels. But as the mobile gaming world continues to evolve at a breathtaking pace, it may not be enough to secure the system’s long-term future.
Chris Morris: Journalist 