The player

JOE GRIFFINtalks to one of the first game developers for Sony's upcoming mobile device, the Playstation Vita

SLAP BANG in the centre of London’s Piccadilly Circus, a temporary space has been taken over by Sony. This is an event for the Playstation Vita, their powerful new hand-held device which will be available early in 2012.

Games on display include a new Unchartedspin-off (graphically very similar to the beautiful PS3 versions), a new Wipeout(through which Vita owners can play against PS3 owners) and numerous third-party games.

Pete Smith, executive producer for Ex Dev, is there to talk about Vita's Little Big Planet (LBP).

"I think initially there was expectation for bringing the whole LBPexperience across," he says in a warm Liverpool accent. "Once we got our hands on the device we realised it wasn't about replicating it. It was about beating it and improving it and using the feature set of the Vita, all those new features that the PS3 hasn't got which are so suited to a hand-held device – the front touch, the rear-touch and things like that. It was about using and maximising those.

" LBPhas always been about innovation and creativity, never replication," he adds. "And in the early days the challenge was to work out what the Vita is. Once we realised we were going to build a new game from the ground up, then it was quite easy. Not only can we put the features into the game, but we can insert tools for those features so people can make their own games and that's when it gets really exciting and your head starts to hurt a little bit!

"I think when the game launches and creators and gamers get their hands on these tools and realise how powerful the device and the LBPtools are, it's going to be such an exciting time."

The elephant in the room is the smart phone – a machine that has decimated its predecessor and is eating into the hand-held console market too. "I've got a smart phone and I play games on it," admits Smith, "and when I've got my Vita and I play LBPand Unchartedand the likes, I'll probably still play smart phone games. But you're not going to get the kind of experiences that you can get from [those games] on a smart phone.

" LBPis vast. We've got all of the tools and features from LBP1and 2, and the DLCand additional tools. You're not going to get that in a 59p app. If someone replicates it on a smart phone, I'll take my hat off to them!"