Naysayers who expected the PlayStation Vita to launch with a whimper may find themselves eating humble pie, as the company reported that its latest portable console has racked up sales exceeding 1.2 million units worldwide, since its global launch on the 22^nd of February.  

While the console was launched in Japan on the 17^th of December, which was followed by launches in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, it only became available to the rest of the world this month.

Sony reported that the console has been met with strong demand in North and Latin America, Europe and PAL territories (of which South Africa is one). Software sales of the Vita’s considerable line-up of games have enjoyed an even stronger reception, surpassing the two million mark at both retail and on PlayStation Network since the global launch.

 

By comparison though, the Nintendo 3DS enjoyed sales of 1.3 million in its first week in Japan and the US. 

A clear demand

"PS Vita was designed to deliver the ultimate portable entertainment experience, and we couldn't be more thrilled with the reaction we're seeing from consumers and the pace at which PS Vita is selling," commented Andrew House, president and group chief executive officer for Sony Computer Entertainment.

"The market has responded and there is clear demand for a mobile device capable of providing a revolutionary combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real world context,” he continued.

 

House added that, in order to sustain the console’s momentum, the company was “working closely with 3rd party developers and publishers to ensure the best games and franchises possible will be available on PS Vita. ”

He further pledged that the company’s software line up for the remainder of 2012 will offer “something for everyone” in every region. The company also added that it would “vigorously promote the PS Vita as the next generation portable entertainment platform and work towards expanding the portable gaming market”.

To the point

In our initial and admittedly brief hands-on time with the unit, we found ourselves impressed, most particularly by the gameplay on offer. It truly felt like holding and playing a smaller compact PS3 in our hands, while the smoothness of gameplay and eye-popping graphics compared favourably to its larger, deskbound counterpart.