UK Retailers give their take on the PS Vita's price. While I'm still trying to ease my anger at the lack of currency conversion between US dollars and Euros for the Playstation Vita price (which adds a whopping £77 to the price of the system in the UK, by the way), retailers are now starting to sound-off on what they'll most likely be charging whenever Sony gets around to releasing the system in Europe.

Several retailers have started posting prices for the system, a consensus of £229.99 for the WiFi only model of the system and £279.99 for the 3G model has emerged. The price for the cheapest model is comparable to the Nintendo 3DS' pricing scheme in the United Kingdom, although Nintendo's system has been on constant sale since it's launch back in March.

Sony has not yet confirmed a release window for the Playstation Vita in Europe, confirming only a Japanese launch which is set later this year.

PS Vita launching in Japan this year, "other" regions by March 2012. Although you can probably already work out what "other" regions will be seeing it next March at the earliest. If a western release of the handheld is pushed to March next year, it will mirror Nintendo's launch of it's new handheld platform; the Nintendo 3DS.

The news comes from a Reuters article which discusses Sony's stratergy towards the PS Vita, hoping that the company will see a return for it's money within three years, confirming that Sony will be making a loss on each PS Vita unit at retail, unlike Nintendo which it is speculated that each unit sold makes Nintendo profit. This strategy is not unusual in the video game industry as the subsidy on hardware is made up through game licensing agreements with publishers and the sale of peripherals for the system. @reuters.com

NGP becomes PS Vita, out this year, starting at £235. The dust has settled on Sony's late-evening/early morning (for UK'ers) press conference and perhaps the biggest news to take away from the stage show was that Sony's up-coming "Next Generation Portable" is now officially entitled "Playstation Vita" or "PS Vita" and will be released worldwide by the end of the year with an asking price of $249.99 (US), €249.99 or £235 for the WiFi model, $299.99, €299.99 or £275 for the WiFi and 3G model.

It was announced during the show that Sony is seeking exclusive partner deals for PS Vita's 3G mobile internet access, with American telecom company AT&T taking the slack in the States, much to the shagrin of the audience at the show which met the news with both laughter and groans. No other partnerships have been announced as of yet, neither have there been any confirmed launch titles anywhere in the world just yet.