Vita 2000 designer discusses cute speaker holes and broader colour based appeal

The head of the Vita 2000's design project at Sony Computer Entertainment, Mika Nagae, spoke to Weekly Famitsu about the ways the new Vita "targets new users" regardless of their" age or gender". Key to this plan is replacing the "high-class look" of the current black Vita with the more "accessible" pastel colours.

"We wanted the new Vita to be accessible by anyone, regardless of age or gender. So I discussed things with the designers, trying to come up with casual, yet fresh and unique colors we could use. The colors have been pretty basic up to now, but the new Vita is trying to change that image by taking a different approach to coloring."

This approach to broaden the console's appeal beyond the core even extends to the 2000's new speakers: "In addition, the speaker holes have also been rearranged into this kind of flower shape which I, at least, think is cute". The included 1GB of internal memory is also designed to alleviate some of the headaches for less savvy Vita owners, although Nagae did acknowledge that if the user was looking to download games, they'd have to purchase one of the larger memory cards.

Even the controls have gotten revamped to help newer players: "The shape of the buttons has changed as well; the buttons jut out a bit more, making them easier to push and control. Of course, the weight and fit of the system is still suited for gameplay, and it still feels the same as before to control. It's something that I hope people can try out for themselves".

The Vita 2000 is set to ship on October the 10th in Japan and hasn't been announced for foreign markets yet. Do you think a less "high-class" appeal might do Sony's sometimes struggling handheld?

Thanks, Polygon.