We’re just a few weeks out from Sony’s U.S. PlayStation Vita launch, so now’s a great time to review what it is, how it works, what it’ll cost, what’s under the hood and what you’ll probably need to buy a la carte. Ready, set…

What’s a ‘PS Vita’?

A device formerly known as NGP, or “Next Generation Portable.” Sony announced this successor to its PlayStation Portable dedicated gaming handheld on January 27, 2011 (it had been rumored for months) with that unsightly codename. Six months later at E3 2011, the company revealed the device’s much smoother name would be “PlayStation Vita” (the Latin word vita means “life”).

What’s So Special About It, Design-Wise?

The Vita retains the PlayStation Portable’s hockey-rink-style shape, but it’s slightly wider and taller. That’s to accommodate the super-sized 5-inch, 960 x 544 pixel, OLED capacitive multi-touch screen capable of displaying up to 16.7 million colors. By comparison, the Nintendo 3DS’s top screen is 3.53 inches, the PSP’s screen is 3.8 inches and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone’s screen is 4.65 inches (the only smartphone I’m aware of with a full 5-inch screen today is Samsung’s unreleased Galaxy Note). The spec to pay attention to here is OLED (organic light-emitting diode), which means the Vita doesn’t need a backlight, thus improving contrast ratios and allowing for the display to be housed in a thinner, lighter design (the Vita weighs just 260g — that’s 20g less than the original PSP).

While Sony’s eschewing 3DS-style features like stereoscopic 3D (I say wisely) or dual screens, their contribution to the “look, innovation!” pool is the Vita’s rear capacitive multi-touch pad, a back panel wallpapered in Sony’s trademark face button symbols that your fingers can “tap” while wrapped around the handheld. You can use the rear pad to “shoot” the ball in a Vita game like FIFA Soccer, for instance, or to “zoom” the sniper rifle in a game like Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Oh, and the unit includes Sony’s six-axis motion-sensing system (a three-axis gyroscope plus a three-axis accelerometer).

In the “standard features” department, the Vita includes both front and rear facing VGA (640 x 480) cameras, stereo speakers, a microphone, a d-pad and four PS-style face buttons, Sony’s classic PlayStation button, “start,” “select” and volume buttons, a rechargeable (non-removable) Lithium-ion battery and built-in Wi-Fi (3G + GPS optional). Slot-wise, you’ve got a place to stick in PS Vita game cards, one for memory cards (the Vita lacks inbuilt storage memory), a SIM card slot (3G, GPS), a headset jack, a multi-use port (mini-USB) and an accessory port.

The Vita also includes dual analog sticks, and by “sticks,” I mean actual raised control columns with convex-shaped grips (contrast with the flush nubs on the PSP and 3DS). While Nintendo plans to sell a cradle-style peripheral for the 3DS that adds a right-hand joystick, the Vita’s the only gaming handheld on the block with dual analog sticks built-in.

What’s Under the Hood?

The Vita employs an ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor and a PowerVR SGX543MP4+ GPU. To put that in context, Apple’s A5 processor (used in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S) is based on ARM’s Cortex-A9 core architecture, and you’ll also find the dual core version of PowerVR’s SGX543MP technology in those devices (the ’4′ in the Vita’s GPU indicates the quad-core version, and the ‘+’ refers to features designed specifically for Sony).

How powerful is it really? Sony’s made several comparisons to the PlayStation 3. They don’t mean spec-for-spec, of course, just that the Vita’s games are expected to look much like PS3 games, detail-wise.

What Colors Does It Come In?

Sony’s offering the Vita in one color only at launch: “Crystal Black.”

Will My PSP Games Work?

The PS Vita will play PSP games, but won’t take the PSP’s UMD game discs, so if you want to play PSP games, you’ll have to buy and download them from the PlayStation Store. That said, you’ll have the option use the Vita’s second analog stick in select PSP games (to pan the view around in a first-person shooter, say) by simply remapping the controls.

Will It Support My Favorite Social Network?

Probably. While these are all “coming in early 2012,” Sony says the Vita will eventually have access to Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Flickr and Foursquare via freebie app downloads from the PlayStation Store.

What’ll It Cost?

The basic Wi-Fi model runs $249.99, while the version with integrated 3G will set you back $299.99.

How About Games?

While you’ll no doubt be able to buy games for less once developers have bite-sized Vita content up on the PlayStation Store, the average going price for a Vita game is currently $39.99 (a handful are $10 more, others are $10 less).

What Are the Launch-Day Titles?

From Sony Computer Entertainment America: Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, Super Stardust Delta, Little Deviants, ModNation Racers: Roadtrip, Wipeout 2048, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Escape Plan and Hustle Kings.

From third-party publishers: Army Corps of Hell (Square Enix), Asphalt Injection (Ubisoft), BEN10 GALACTIC RACING (D3), Blazblue: Continuum Shift EXTEND (Aksys Games Localization), Dungeon Hunter Alliance (Gameloft), Dynasty Warriors Next (Tecmo Koei), F1 2011 (Codemasters), FIFA Soccer (Electronic Arts), Lumines Electronic Symphony (Ubisoft), Michael Jackson The Experience (Ubisoft), Rayman Origins (Ubisoft), Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen (Namco Bandai), Tales of Space: Mutant Blobs (Drinkbox Studios), Touch My Katamari (Namco Bandai), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (Capcom), Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition (Sega) and just announced — Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus.

What Else Do I (Probably) Have to Buy?

The Vita ships without built-in storage (like the PSP before it), which means you’ll have to buy proprietary memory sticks (from Sony) if you want to save games or download content from the PlayStation Store (some games may let you save to the game card itself, but not all). Sony’s price lineup Vita-brand memory cards is as follows: $20 for 4GB, $30 for 8GB, $60 for 16GB, and $100 for 32GB. Note that it’s possible to backup or transfer data between memory cards, but you’ll need a PC or PS3 (as intermediary) to do so.

If you opt for the pricier $299.99 3G model, you’ll have to pay AT&T for the privilege (AT&T’s the exclusive wireless carrier for the system). An “AT&T Data Connect” plan for the Vita runs $14.99 per month for 250MB and $30 per month for 3GB. Both plans have 30-day recurring opt out options and include complimentary access to about 29,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots in the U.S. Note that the 3G feature is currently touted as a way to socialize with friends, sync news feeds, and play turn-based games — just like using your 3G phone tethered to your PC for Internet access, the connection won’t be fast enough to handle head-to-head racing sessions or first-person shooter square-offs.

You might want to budget $10 to $20 for a carrying case, too — remember that we’re talking a full five inches of OLED screen real estate you’ll want to protect.

Does It Support the PlayStation Network?

Of course, but what’s more (and unlike the PSP), PS Vita games now support PlayStation Trophies — Sony’s version of game achievements — too.

How Much Space Do Saved Games Take Up?

This varies by game, of course, but to give you an idea based on back-of-the-box specs, a game like Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 requires 4,096 KB, Uncharted: Golden Abyss needs 64 MB and FIFA Soccer will use a whopping 160 MB.

When Can I Actually Get One?

Both models go on sale in the U.S. on Wednesday, Feb. 22 (the system originally launched in Japan on Dec. 17, 2011).

[This post republished from TIME's Techland.]

Now, EA is taking the idea one step further with the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, an upcoming RPG that’s getting a lot of hype. People who buy the game new will get a voucher to download seven additional single-player quests for free. Folks who buy a used copy will have to pay extra for those quests.

Curt Schilling, head of Amalur developer 38 studios–and yes, also the former Major League Baseball pitcher–defended the online pass before a mob of angry forum posters, calling it a reward for early adopters instead of a punishment for used game buyers. He seems sincere, but regardless of how the news is spun, the end result is the same: If you buy used, you get an incomplete game. (Also, if you buy new, but don’t connect your console to the Internet, you get an incomplete game.)

I’ve seen no evidence that publishers’ crusade against used games will stop here. In the future, we may see meatier portions of single-player games withheld from people who buy used. We are, at most, a couple steps removed from having a game’s concluding chapters held at ransom.

This issue will eventually resolve itself, as future gaming systems emphasize downloadable or streaming games over disc-based content. But in the meantime, it’s going to get ugly.

Funny, though, how Schilling seems to understand the pointlessness of Online Passes, even as he argues in their favor: “We MUST make a profit to become what we want to become,” he wrote. “THE ONLY way we do that is to make games you CANNOT WAIT TO BUY!”

Bingo. Do that, and the Online Pass becomes irrelevant.

But now I can relive the magic for the first time, thanks to a new version of DONKEY.BAS for iOS. It’s 99 cents, is compatible with Game Center, and includes both iPhone and iPad versions. It seems to be a faithful rendition of the original, complete with blocky graphics and bloopy sound effects, and the same objective: Drive down road, avoid hitting donkeys. And it’s um, just as fun as it must have been back in 1981.

The new version is by Johnny Ixe; I’d love to think that’s a pseudonym for William H. Gates III. Probably not, though, so let’s hope that Microsoft doesn’t issue a takedown notice….

As Mashable reports, the Nintendo Network will offer the requisite connected console fare, including user accounts, online multiplayer, downloadable add-ons and eventually full game downloads.

Although Nintendo’s Wii and 3DS can already connect to the Internet for downloadable games, online play and a couple of streaming video apps, the company’s online services are limited compared to what Microsoft and Sony offer. Nintendo doesn’t currently sell add-ons for existing games, offer system-wide voice support or even allow players to choose an online nickname that other players can easily look up.

Nintendo is still being cagey about the particulars of its upcoming network, but there have been clues. Last July, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime told Forbes that Nintendo will allow other publishers’ networks–services like Valve’s Steam and EA’s Origin, I assume– to operate as part of Nintendo’s online service:

“So instead of a situation where a publisher has their own network and wants that to be the predominant platform, and having arguments with platform holders, we’re going to welcome that. We’re going to welcome that from the best and the brightest of the third party publishers,” Fils-Aime said.

How that’ll work remains unclear. Actually, see if you can make sense of the business jargon in Nintendo president Satoru Iwata’s statement on the matter: “Unlike Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which has been focused upon specific functionalities and concepts, we are aiming to establish a platform where various services available through the network for our consumers shall be connected via Nintendo Network service so that the company can make comprehensive proposals to consumers.”

Verbose statements to investors aside, I’m just happy Nintendo’s working on something.

Now, it’s official: Netflix will not rent video games, or at least it has “no plans” to do so, CEO Reed Hastings said in an earnings call. He did not elaborate.

Netflix had planned to rent video games as an optional upgrade for movie renters. The news excited me because both GameFly and Blockbuster have trouble sending out the newest games in a timely manner. I was hoping that Netflix, with its huge DVD operation, would be able to do a better job with new releases, or at least pressure its competitors to do so.

But without a spin-off, it’s no surprise that Netflix doesn’t want to make the investment. That money is better spent on acquiring more streaming content–the inevitable future of media consumption–instead of trying to rent more discs.

Kathleen De Vere’s “source with knowledge of the company’s decision” says Microsoft will phase out its points system by the end of the year, and that the change will affect the Xbox 360, Windows Phones and the Zune Marketplace. Mobile developers are reportedly being warned to plan their downloadable content and in-app purchases around the change in policy. Microsoft, not surprisingly, would not comment.

The current Microsoft points system is ridiculous for two reasons: First, the real-world value of points–$1 per 125 points–is confusing, although Microsoft has insisted it isn’t trying to mislead customers. Second, and more importantly, the points system doesn’t always allow you to buy exactly what you need. You can only purchase points in $5 increments, so you’ll always overspend on cheaper downloadable content, movies or music. (It used to be worse. Until April 2010, Microsoft only sold points in 500 or 1,000 increments, so you’d always overpay on a $5 or $10 game.)

Microsoft has been flirting with the idea of ditching its points system for years. In 2009, when Microsoft introduced full game downloads on the Xbox 360, it allowed users to see the games’ full dollar values, and pay the exact amount. When I asked Michael Wolf, Xbox Live’s senior marketing manager, if this was a sign that Microsoft was moving to direct credit card throughout the system, he said “It’s an indicator that we might, yes.” A year later, Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg told G4 that dollar-based billing “ is something that we’re looking at.”

Now, I think it might actually happen. Microsoft is trying to turn the Xbox 360 from a game console into a general entertainment hub. If the company wants a broader audience to buy lots of movies and music, and maybe even apps, it can no longer afford to use a payment system that overcharges users and doesn’t make any sense.

Razer is proudly not participating in that version of the future with Project Fiona, a concept Windows-based tablet that plays high-end PC games. The tablet has controller handles on either side of the 10.1-inch display, each with their own thumbsticks, buttons and triggers. Inside, there’s enough processing power to run games like Warhammer 40000: Space Marine and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on high settings.

When Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan was telling me all this a couple weeks before the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, I didn’t entirely believe the company could pull it off. But then I played with Project Fiona myself at Razer’s booth. I don’t know how the company did it–and I dare not fathom at what cost–but the concept actually works.

Well, here are a couple guesses: The tablet is roughly an inch thick, so there’s plenty of room to pack meaty specs inside, along with a fan to keep the system cool. Also, whenever I asked about battery life, I couldn’t get a straight answer. Razer is targeting a not-unreasonable sub-$1,000 price for the final product, so somewhere, there’s got to be a compromise to make this kind of tablet happen.

In fact, that’s what Razer will be figuring out before it brings an actual product to market toward the end of the year. As Razer’s Alex Shows told me at CES, there’s a balance to be struck between thinness and performance, and it’s also not clear yet whether Fiona’s winged controllers will be detachable. Razer plans to give concept tablets to developers and other partners to figure out what works best.

For now, though, I like the concept. Developers will be able to add touch screen enhancements for their games, but they won’t be required, and most games should work out of the box. Razer is also working on a partnership with the streaming game service OnLive, which raises the very cool possibility of starting to play a game on a home PC or TV, then resuming progress immediately on the tablet. The finished product will ship with Windows 8, so the touch screen will have a proper tablet operating system to run with.

The other thing to consider is that Razer primarily is in the PC gaming peripheral business, so I’m sure it’s dawned on the company to sell tablet controller attachments in addition to full-fledged gaming devices. For that to make sense, however, tablets need to be powerful enough to run high-end PC games in the first place. I’m glad someone is trying to make it happen.

Here are some more photos of Razer’s Project Fiona:

That means 3G for the Playstation Vita will cost $15 per month for 250 MB, or $25 per month for 2 GB, in addition to the $300 price of the 3G Vita itself. (A Wi-Fi only model will cost $250.) Both data plans will include unlimited access to AT&T’s Wi-Fi hotspots, of which there are 29,000 around the United States. The Vita launches on February 22 in the United States.

I’m disappointed that AT&T and Sony stuck with conventional data plans for the PS Vita. This would have been a great opportunity for AT&T to launch a shared pool of data among multiple devices–something wireless carriers have talked about doing for some time. I can’t imagine a lot of people will want to pay a recurring data charge just for a gaming device, especially when you get the same result by using a smartphone’s Wi-Fi hotspot feature, which would also allow for faster 4G data and connectivity with other devices.

Sony and AT&T are hoping to lure people into paying for data plans by offering exclusive in-game content when players check in at certain geographic locations. We may be able to judge the 3G Vita’s success based on whether game makers continue to produce these kinds of exclusives long after launch.

I checked out one of these controllers, Gametel, from a Sweden-based company called Fructel. The controller clamps on to an Android phone or iPhone–or pairs remotely to an iPad–and communicates via Bluetooth. It includes a directional pad, four face buttons and two shoulder buttons on top. Gametel’s built-in battery runs for about nine hours before needing a charge from either mini USB or Apple’s 30-pin connector, depending on model.

I didn’t get a chance to try the other controller, from ION, makers of the iCade arcade cabinet for the iPad (Engadget went hands-on with it, though). ION’s latest controller, the iCade Mobile, has the same button layout as Gametel, and uses Bluetooth to communicate, but it also has a unique dock that supports both landscape and portrait orientation.

As for supported games, Gametel’s website has a list of them, and they’ll be the same for any Bluetooth game controller, because they’re all using the same method to communicate with the smartphone or tablet. (They’re all just mimicking keyboard input.) Because of this, I expect more game developers will start supporting physical buttons, creating a platform within a platform for button-based games.

Unfortunately, these controllers are pricey. The iCade Mobile will cost $80 when it launches in Q2, and the Gametel currently costs 50 pounds in the United Kingdom. Fructel hasn’t set U.S. pricing, but hopes to launch the Gametel stateside this quarter.