PlayStation Vita: On Store Shelves February 22nd.

We didn't really expect to wake up to a release date for PlayStation Vita this morning. But that's exactly what's happened. Let's get the hard details out of the way before we start all the rampant cheering and jubilation: PlayStation Vita will launch in Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East, Australasia and Canada on February 22nd, 2012.

The news was broken by SCEA president Jack Tretton at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco over night, and was later confirmed on the PlayStation Blog in all Sony's major territories.

To reiterate, Sony announced that in the US the PlayStation Vita would cost $249.99 for the Wi-Fi model, and $299.99 for the 3G model. Swap out the dollar sign for a Euro symbol and you've got the European prices. In the UK things are slightly different, with the Wi-Fi model costing £229.99 and the 3G version £279.99.

Launch titles are yet to be officially confirmed, but expect it to mirror portions of the Japanese launch. We'd be amazed if the likes of Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Ridge Racer and Wipeout 2048 didn't make it. Though we expect Sony will spread things out a little bit to keep the flow of software in the early months relevant.

The big news is two-fold here. Firstly it's amazing to finally have a date to look forward. But secondly it's great that Sony is finally preparing an (almost) worldwide launch. We did have fears that Europe would be made to wait longer than North America, but that Sony is committed to launching in all territories on the same day is fantastic.

February 22nd is going to be a big day. The wait starts here.