That "early 2012" window Sony announced for the Vita launch in North America and Europe might not be so early after all. Amazon has just updated its listing for the handheld with a projected ship date of March 31 of next year. GameStop's online arm has followed suit, meaning the two retailers likely know something we don't.
With the portable scheduled to release in Japan on December 17, that'd mean a four month wait for the West. While unfortunate, it'd be identical to the lag time North America saw for the PSP, and considerably shorter than the whopping eight and a half months Europeans had to endure last time around.
Then again, the Vita will be region free, so there's nothing to stop you from importing one well in advance of its US release. Just make sure you brush up on your Japanese first.
Sony will likely announce a final launch date for the system sometime before the end of the year, so stay tuned.
