Sony acknowledges technical problems with PlayStation Vita

Sony has acknowledged that it’s received a number of reports about technical problems with the PlayStation Vita, a  handheld gaming device that launched in Japan over the weekend.

The company said on its Japanese web site that Sony has gotten more inquiries than usual and it apologizes to customers for any inconvenience. The problems include the device randomly turning off, freezing or lagging during game play, and problems registering a PlayStation Network account.

Many new gaming systems have these types problems, but the statement from Sony suggests that they may be widespread for the Vita.

Cheap Ass Gamer founder David “CheapyD” Abrams uploaded a video explaining how he had to set up a temporary PlayStation Network account to download an update to fix a glitch that stopped him from using a pre-existing PSN account.

Sony sold about 321,000 units in its first two days of sales. But the positive reaction could very well be hurt by reports of technical problems.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.