The Sony PS Vita launches in the UK on 22 February, priced from £229 (wi-fi only, 3G also for £279). It is undoubtedly the most powerful handheld gaming device yet, but can that cut it these days? The last PSP launched into a world before the smartphone existed. Now it's up against not only Nintendo's doing-quite-well-actually glasses-free 3D handheld, the 3DS, but also iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile smartphones with app stores loaded with games. Is the PS Vita good enough to carve its own niche in your pocket against that competition? Read on...

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On paper, and in the hand, the PS Vita is immediately impressive. The five-inch 960 x 544 OLED screen is huge and bright (and a capacitive touchscreen - more on which below); the quad-core ARM processor is backed with 512MB main memory and 128MB VRAM, and there are cameras, GPS, wireless connectivity etc. It's not wild hype to compare the power available to putting a PS3 in your pocket. Truly, the PS Vita outpowers every other handheld gaming device.

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As well as impressive specs, the PS Vita is loaded with a host of flashy touches. Not only, for instance, is the five-inch OLED a capacitive touchscreen, with very accurate multi-finger response; the back of the PS Vita is also a touchpad too. That back touchpad is noticeably a bit less accurate - although not massively so. But it's also the start of the PS Vita's problems. The touchpad has yet to find any exciting implementation in the launch lineup of games. Instead, it most often seems to annoy with accidental touchpad presses occuring as you move your hands gripping the sides of the Vita.

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The PS Vita does have its faults - and almost all are to do with Sony's insistence on loading it with absolutely everything it can. Perhaps, as with the Sony PS3, this high-price, high-spec approach will eventually pay off. But at least on the initial raft of games, the gyroscopic tilt motion sensor seems an unneccessary extravagance prone to gimmicky use. Sony's decision to use a proprietary memory card system and USB port also will cost consumers extra, for little perceivable benefit. Stranger still are the twin cameras - dreadfully low-quality VGA things front and rear (and no flash). For still and video capture they won't match even the most lowly smartphone. At this price a handheld, surely they could have managed a few megapixels more?

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What absolutely isn't a gimmick - and perhaps will prove to be the Sony PS Vita's best selling point is its inclusion of twin analogue sticks. These tiny thumb nubbins may seem trivial - but they allow for radically improved controls for just about all types of games. As third-party manufacturers stick all manner of awkward add-on sticks to Android and iOS smartphones and Nintendo is forced to release a bulky second stick peripheral, the PS Vita's twin sticks, touchscreen and wealth of buttons makes controlling even complex games a dream in comparison. Playing a Vita is as ergonomic and intuitive in the hand as a PS3 or Xbox 360 controller.

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Sony also makes good use of linking the Vita with its PS3 home console. Sony has already demonstrated remote play on the Vita using Killzone 3 - one of the most complex and resource-intensive games on the home console. That means if you have wi-fi and your PS3 is on at home, you'll be able, using the Vita screen, to play remotely many top-quality home console games. You'll also be able to play on some games (WipEout 2048 in the launch list, for instance) multiplayer PS Vita v PS3 online. And you'll be able potentially to play and save a game on the PS3, then continue on the Vita version, as well as use the Vita as a screened PS3 controller. If you've got both consoles, that's utterly smart.

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Less smart, so far, is the PS Vita's embracing of its handheld, go-anywhere capabilities. It’s just not as well connected as the smartphones many of us already have in our pockets. Obviously missing is the phone bit - meaning that to carry a Vita you still also need to carry a mobile. Roll on the Sony PS Vita/Android smartphone hybrid. Also a bit underwhelming so far are the mobile Trophies and Near apps (which find other Vita users physically near you). But these may grow (alongside apps for Twitter, Facebook etc) as the system goes to full launch. Vita’s ‘Party’ program offers friend-chat across games. That means you can chat to your FIFA-playing mate while you’re on Wipeout – though we’re not convinced there’s huge demand for such a thing.

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So far, the Sony PS Vita is also struggling to match smartphones for mobile bite-size gaming fun. Launch titles such as Little Deviants, Reality Fighters and Everybody's Golf simply don't provide enough innovation or excitement for their £20 (or more) price points. They'd be just fine at 69p, though. In Sony's favour there will be a library of download-only titles for a few quid (Sony has yet to announce exactly how much), including launch titles such as Super Stardust HD, Escape Plan and MotorStorm RC. Furthermore, there'll be PSP emulation (including access to cheaper PSP Minis games), and even download games and casual ones can boast the improved visuals and control systems that the Vita can deliver. But against that, Sony's casual lineup still fails to impress when put against rival smartphone app stores - which run to thousands of often high-quality games, mostly much cheaper than what Sony seems set to charge.

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What are well worth it, and truly show off the Vita's power to stunning effect, are the more serious 'core' games. Uncharted: Golden Abyss, WipEout 2048, FIFA and Unit 13 coming soon after launch all look and play incredibly impressively. This is proper home console gaming, completely unavailable on any other handheld platform, shoved into your pocket. The only let-down? There's clearly been some kind of edict from Sony for developers to ensure every game shows off every feature of the system - they've all got tilty-screen, camera-using, stroke-the-screen stuff implemented. In Uncharted in particular, this often actually detracts from the amazing visuals and cracking gameplay!

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The Nintendo 3DS has struggled, perhaps due to its high initial price, perhaps due to consumers not being won over by its glasses-free 3D gimmick, perhaps because most gamers now own a smartphone. Will the Sony PS Vita also struggle? At that price, almost certainly - it's nearly twice the cost of a 3DS and more than some smartphones. If you only occasionally buy games, and want something to just fill time on the bus, the PS Vita's an over-the-top solution, for now. If, on the other hand, you're a committed gamer with some post-Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket, there are several top-quality games already in the lineup and no other handheld device comes close for gaming controls and power - the Vita is a home console power, in your pocket.

Score: 8/10

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