Sony PS Vita adds standard social features to its 'revolutionary' arsenal

When it's the nauseating buzz word of the decade, who can blame 'em? Sony's Jim Ryan revealed today during the company's keynote at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany that its upcoming PSP successor, the PS Vita, will have support for a number of social networks, Kotaku reports. Ryan touted that the Vita will allow players to access Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and even call their friends using Skype.

I can think of, well, hundreds of devices you can access all four of those services on, play games and (drum roll, please) ... make phone calls with. They're called smartphones, and they are exactly what Sony is looking at every time it utters the words "social gaming revolution." Honestly, I'd be more wowed if the Vita didn't include these features considering its aggressive approach to social gaming thus far. Not to mention existing PSPs can already make Skype calls and access Facebook.

Now, if game developers make liberal use of these social networks as gameplay mechanics, then I'd almost certainly be impressed. (And no, I'm not implying that FarmVille belongs on the PS Vita.) Pokes and prods almost aside, these features look to be supplemental to what Sony calls "revolutionary" social features like Near, Live and Party. But honestly, at this point, couldn't Sony have just made this the PlayStation Phone? Hey, I'm just sayin'. Check out video of the announcement below:


[Video Credit: Kotaku's Mike Fahey]

Do you think the PS Vita will be revolutionary when it comes to social gaming? Will this be enough for Sony to compete with the growing shift toward mobile phone gaming? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.