Events 2012: PS Vita launch

Sony's second dedicated portable gaming platform, the PlayStation Vita, launched in North America and Europe back in February, bringing the phrase "rear touch" into our lives. As of this summer, the device had sold 2.2 million units worldwide, putting it behind even the pre-price-drop 3DS.

The first year of the Vita's life saw the system struggling to find a wide audience, thanks in part to its lack of mainstream appeal – there's no Monster Hunter in Japan as there was on the PSP, and the Call of Duty game we got was far from system-seller material. Truly great games were there for those who found themselves with the hardware, but those big franchises weren't there to entice everyone else.

• PlayStation Vita review: The hardware itself is beautiful, though the choice of a touch-only interface at launch caused some confusion. That has since been fixed. Other issues: like "what is Near?" remain.
• Status Report: the PlayStation Vita, three months in: We talked about the Vita's then-upcoming game lineup with Sony VP of Product Development Scott Rohde, just after an E3 during which Sony seemed strangely quiet about the Vita.
• Vita's PSOne support is a Classic blunder: When PSOne Classics support launched on the Vita, trying to find a classic game to play on the system was a messy, complicated process.