Vita: Sony won't repeat PSP mistakes

Sony has pledged to right the wrongs of the PlayStation Portable with its successor, the PlayStation Vita.

One of the first questions Sony asked itself when creating Vita was how to improve on the PSP's controls.

"What we didn't do right with the PSP was where we started when we began the development of PlayStation Vita," president of Sony's Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida told Eurogamer sister site Gamesindustry.biz.

"We were very happy with having something very close to the PS2 experience in a portable format with the PSP, but we didn't do a good enough job creating the proper interface to really play games with graphics in 3D.

"The lack of a right analog stick, for example. That's something we wanted to attack with the PS Vita because we wanted to enhance the portable core gaming experience and we have to do it right."

Another problem faced by the PSP, Yoshida said, was that its visuals were rendered outdated by high-definition home consoles soon after release.

This is why Vita features touch-screen controls, a rear touch pad and motion sensors as well as enhanced graphics and dual analog nubs.

"The other thing was that after a couple of years with the PSP people get used to looking at pretty pictures and especially after the launch of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 the expectations for graphics moves on," Yoshida said.

"Just having great graphics on a pretty screen wouldn't have been enough. That's why we spent so much time innovating with user interface devices like the touch pad or camera and motion sensors."

Vita is without a release date or UK pricing. Announcements are expected at German show Gamescom next month.