Sony’s PS Vita launched across Japan this weekend into the clamouring hands of hundreds of thousands of eager gamers and early adopters, and despite a successful round of pre-orders, hundreds of people still lined up outside stores around the country to claim their handheld gaming machine as soon as possible.

It’s been reported that an initial shipment of 700 000 PS Vita units were made available to consumers for the launch (up from a previously reported figure of 500 000) in an effort to match demand for the device - it’s going to be incredibly interesting to see week-one sales of the device!

Launching on December 17th in Japan for ¥24 980 ($325 - Wi-Fi version) and ¥29 980 ($390 - 3G version), the PS Vita was flanked by the release of a huge range of games, including the following:

• BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend
• Dark Quest
• Disgaea 3 Return
• Dynasty Warriors Next
• Dream C Club Zero Portable
• F1 2011
• Fish On
• Hot Shots Golf 6 (Minna no Golf 6)
• Katamari Damacy
• Little Deviants
• Lord of Apocalypse
• Michael Jackson: The Experience
• Minnato Issho
• Monster Radar
• Nature of Night of Kamaitachi
• Niconico
• Project N.O.E.L.S
• Ridge Racer
• Shinobido 2: Tales of the Ninja
• Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss
• Virtua Tennis 4
• Yuusha no kiroku

For those who haven’t heard about Sony’s PS Vita and the device’s touch screen, rear touch pad, dual-analogue sticks, social connectivity features, super crisp and bright OLED screen (and more), you can quickly catch up with this great feature video:

PlayStation Vita - Features Trailer

If you want to get more into the nitty-gritty of the device and get a virtual tour, you can watch through one intrepid YouTube user’s impressions of the PS Vita with an unboxing video and a look at some of the online features of the device:

Playstation Vita - Unboxing and initial impressions

Playstation Vita - PSN store and general overview

The PS Vita may already be available in Japan, but when can the rest of the world see the device on store shelves? The PS Vita launches on February 22nd around the world, for $249 / £229 / €249 (Wi-Fi version) and $299 / £279 / €299 (3G version).

You can check out El33tonline’s previous coverage of the PS Vita for tons more trailers, screenshots and information, as well as features and opinion pieces to let you know what you can expect early next year.