Sony will release PlayStation Vita TV, a small, inexpensive television game console, at the end of the year in Japan, it said Monday.
The new console is, roughly speaking, identical to the hardware from Sony’s handheld PlayStation Vita game machine, but in a tiny (6.4 cm x 10.5 cm) white box that connects to your television. Players use the PlayStation 3′s Dual Shock 3 controller to play games.
PS Vita TV will launch in Japan on November 14; Sony did not say on Monday when it would make it available in other regions.
At 9,954 yen — about $100 — it’s a very affordable option, about one-quarter the price of Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 4. Then again, the price conceals the fact that a Dual Shock 3 controller, required to use the system, is not included in the basic package. A more expensive package including the controller will also be available on launch day.
Sony points out that the device will play, at launch, about 1,300 games. That’s because it can play all of the PSP and PSone games that are currently available to download via the PlayStation Network digital games service, plus many of the games that have been released so far for the PlayStation Vita platform. Sony said in a press release that the PS Vita TV cannot play all PS Vita games, since many of them use the touchscreen, motion sensors, camera and other inputs that are only available on the handheld unit.
Sony is positioning Vita TV as a great device for video streaming; at the Tokyo media briefing it stressed that you would be able to use the device to stream video content a wide variety of services.
Additionally, a “future system update” will allow you to use Vita TV to stream PlayStation 4 games — if you have a PlayStation 4 console in another room of your house, you will be able to hook a PS Vita TV up to another television in a different room and play the PlayStation 4 on that television, via streaming. (Although the press release did note that PS Vita TV only supports 480p, 720p and 1080i output.)
