Sony PS Vita up for pre-orders on GameStop

The Sony PS Vita is now available for pre-orders at GameStop, where it's listed with a release date of December 31. The next-gen portable gaming device, originally codenamed the NGP, was officially unveiled during E3 2011 and is expected to launch first in Japan on December 17.

The device has been available on Amazon for pre-orders since last week and has been listed with the same December 31 release date. Pricing on both Amazon and GameStop are the same with the WiFi-only version running at $249.99 and the WiFi + 3G version at $299.99. The latter version will require a data contract with AT&T to take advantage of the 3G connectivity.

The PS Vita features a 5-inch 960 x 544 OLED touchscreen display with an additional capacitive touchpad on the back, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, two analog sticks, front-facing and rear-facing cameras, and various motion sensors. Sony has revealed that 26 game titles will be available for the handheld when it launches in December.