The release estimates approximate gaming time on Vita to be between 3 and 5 hours; watching videos will get you about 5 hours; and listening to music in standby mode will go for about 9 hours. It's important to note these figures are based on the screen brightness being at the default setting with headphones plugged in and Bluetooth off. The game-playing figure is for when you're not playing online; 3G or Wi-Fi usage could drag any of these figures down even further.

Fortunately, it's estimated that it will only take 2 hours and 40 minutes to fully charge from an empty battery with an AC adapter. I say "fortunately" because that's almost an hour better than the 3DS, which takes about 3 hours and 30 minutes to fully charge. That system is often criticized for its battery; it, too, provides only about 3-5 hours of gameplay. There have been third-party solutions, but Nintendo attempted to mitigate the problem by including a charging cradle -- something you'll have to pay extra for with Vita.

What some will definitely find upsetting about the contents of the Sony press release is the pricing of its proprietary memory cards. Internal storage seems to have been sacrificed in order to keep the system's price as low as it is, making the memory cards more necessary. There are four different memory card sizes planned for release in Japan on December 17 alongside the system: 4GB (2,200 yen, about $29), 8GB (3,200 yen, $42), 16GB (5,500 yen, $72), and 32GB (9,500 yen, $124). Those seem incredibly expensive, and it immediately makes the prospect of using the system for all digital games -- Sony has said more than once that all Vita games will be downloadable -- much less attractive.