NGP Becomes PlayStation Vita At E3 2011

The next generation portable device that we have been calling NGP for the last few months has a new name. Yesterday, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kazuo Hirai took to the stage at the E3 press conference in Los Angeles to confirm that the final name is PlayStation Vita and that it will retail at €249 and €299 for the Wi-fi and 3G & Wi-fi models respectively.

That wasn’t the only highlight of a press conference packed with new games, crowd-pleasing live demos and surprise announcements.

This time last year, Naughty Dog wowed us with that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves set-piece with Drake fighting an armed helicopter, and this year they brought a new level from Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception that pits our untucked hero against a squad of enemies on a sinking ship. They also brought this stunning trailer that the audience was lucky enough to see in 3D and on a screen bigger than any bus I’ve seen.

Marcus Smith of Insomniac Games was also on-stage to play through a never before seen section of Resistance 3 taking place in St. Louis that sees Capelli join forces with the Remnant, a group of rebels, to take out a dropship.

We love to see new games announced at E3 and there was an especially excited whoop when Sly Raccoon slinked onto the screen in the teaser trailer for Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time on PS3.

Dust 514 is another brand new title; a PS3 exclusive from CCP that syncs up with the hit MMO EVE online. Dust 514 is compatible with PlayStation Move, will have its own dedicated PlayStation Home space and will also have some kind of link-up with PS Vita.

PlayStation Move fans can also look forward to Medieval Moves, an action adventure from the creators of Sports Champions that features intuitive motion control in a fantasy world filled with enemies and contextual puzzles. Sticking with fantasy settings, Ruin was debuted, an action MMO on PS Vita and PS3 that allows the player to save their game on one system and pick up exactly where they left off on the other – a brilliant example of how your PS3 and PS Vita will work together.

Of course, PlayStation Vita was what many came to see and they were spoilt with an extensive line-up of games – it was revealed that more than 80 games are currently in development for the handheld.

One of the biggest surprises was the arrival of Yoshinori Ono to present a playable version of Street Fighter X Tekken on PS Vita, which includes an unexpected guest character: Cole McGrath from the inFamous series.

The press conference is just one part of E3 and we are going to be spending the rest of the week on the show floor filming a live video broadcast featuring interviews, banter and game demos; check it out here on the PlayStation.Blog over the next three days.

Hope you enjoyed this year’s announcements – there were many more than I’ve listed here. We always enjoy reading your feedback so tell us what you think in the comments and I’ll jump in tomorrow morning.

Time to watch Jane’s Addiction…