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Europe usually gets the proverbial shaft when it comes to the video game world. Given that a number of popular developers hail from either the United States or Japan, Europe can be left out of the publishing cycle in embarrassing ways. Sometimes games never even show up on their shores, despite being everywhere else. With the recent update to the PlayStation Vita, however, our European brothers and sisters are finally getting some love. Whereas North America is able to download a grand total of nine original PlayStation titles, Europe will be able to grab 129.

Sony announced the U.S. and European launch date for their follow-up to the PSP, the PS Vita. The PS Vita is set to launch in Japan in December, and will follow with its U.S. and European launch only a couple of months after, on February 22, 2012. Some may be disappointed that the PS Vita launch window will miss U.S. holiday season, but it'll actually come as boon to those who are already going to be very busy and could use both a breather for themselves and their wallet. Notable franchises the system will be launching with include an original Uncharted, LittleBigPlanet, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

The PS Vita will launch with two models: A Wi-Fi only model at $249, and a 3G (which still has the Wi-Fi, of course) for an extra $50, putting the model with fancier connectivity options sitting tight at $299. Sony has yet to slip word on the pricing structure for the 3G model, or if it'll even be offered on multiple carriers as of yet, as I'm sure people who, for example, already pay a pretty penny for a data plan on Verizon would like to just roll their 3G Vita into that, rather than have to pay for a separate carrier and separate data plan. However, it wouldn't be surprising if PS Vita owners had their own special 3G plan that is structured differently than phone data plans. One can only assume that we'll get wind of the pricing soon enough.

The Tokyo Game Show, obviously hosted in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the two major gaming conventions hosted outside of North America, with the other being Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. As one might expect, the Tokyo Game Show is often awash with Japanese developers and has, in the past, been host to many of the Japanese developers' game revelations, announcements and declarations. But with the Japanese gaming industry’s stagnation as of late, Tokyo Game Show has increasingly become home to fewer and fewer announcements, with other conventions, like the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, increasingly revealing those tidbits of news that Japanese developers might have previously saved for TGS. That said, TGS still is home to a number of noteworthy items so here’s a brief recap of TGS 2011 for those at home.

Sony has confirmed that the battery life of the PlayStation Vita -- the Windows-style named follow-up to the PlayStation Portable -- will have roughly 3 to 5 hours of battery life when playing a game, with the battery life maxing out at around nine hours when in standby mode, as well as when in music playback mode. It should be noted that these battery life figures aren't taking being connected to the Internet into consideration. The battery will take 2 hours and 40 minutes to fully charge from a depleted state.

Back when the currently flailing Nintendo 3DS was announced, we reported that the battery life was roughly the same, providing around 3 to 5 hours of battery life when playing a 3DS game, so it looks like Nintendo has nothing to fear from Sony on the next-gen handheld gaming battery life front. The first iteration of the PSP faced similar dismal battery life figures, but as any PSP fan knows, the unit received various battery upgrades throughout its lifecycle, from extra battery packs, to stronger batteries that fit right inside the standard battery slot, to stronger batteries eventually releasing with newer versions of the device. Only time will tell if the Vita receives these battery upgrades, but one can only assume said upgrades are an inevitability.

(via VG247)

The Nintendo 3DS is not exactly off to a great start. After launching at an unrealistic price point of $250 only a handful of months ago, the system has already been slashed down to $170. According to a rather poignant post from Nintendo, this was done to increase sales of the hardware which would in turn lead to more software sales and future development. If you can’t get the console in the hands of the consumer fast enough and build a market for games, you’re basically doomed. But the Nintendo 3DS isn’t the only handheld coming to market. The PlayStation Vita from Sony will be trying to force its way into the scene sometime over the next year and it’s not like the PlayStation Portable had an amazing reputation in North America, especially compared to the Nintendo DS. Hopefully, the debacle that was the Nintendo 3DS launch will provide some pointers for Sony’s handheld.