THE BUZZ: Sony confirmed the official release date of the PlayStation Vita during its pre-TGS press conference, and also released some new images of the hardware.

Sony announced Vita will release December 17th in Japan, priced at 29,980 YEN for the 3G version and 24,980 YEN for the WiFi version. The console will arrive with 26 titles, however Sony mentioned that this will rise to 100 during the console’s launch window. Japanese pre-orders will start October 15th.

Launch titles include:

• BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend
• Project N.O.E.L.S.
• Fish On
• Dynasty Warriors Next
• WipEout 2048
• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
• Lord of Apocalypse (Square Enix)
• F1 2011
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma
• Army Corpse of Hell (Square Enix)
• Michael Jackson: The Experience (Ubisoft)
• Shinobido 2: Tales of a Ninja (Acquire)
• Virtua Tennis 4 (Sega)
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss (SCE)
• Hot Shots Golf 6 (SCE)
• Gyokugen Dasshutsu Adv: Zennin Shiboudesu (Chunsoft)
• Dream Club Zero Portable (D3 Publisher)
• Disgaea 3: Return (NIS)
• Dark Quest: Alliance (Ubisoft)
• Ridge Racer (Namc,o Bandai)
• Tales of Innocence
• Gravity Daze
• Metal Gear Solid HD (Konami)
• FIFA 12 (EA)

EGM’s TAKE: We believe that the Vita has amassed one of the strongest launch line-ups to date and with the number of titles set to rise to 100 within the console’s launch window, you can’t cite a lack of software as a reason for not purchasing one.

Has this impressive launch line-up convinced you to take a chance on the Vita?