PlayStation Vita vs. Nintendo 3DS

The Sony PlayStation Vita is finally here, officially marking the beginning of the "next" handheld game console generation. It's no longer a battle of the Nintendo DS versus the PlayStation Portable (the DS won), but a contest between the Nintendo 3DS and the PlayStation Vita. One is a two-screened device with glasses-free 3D and Nintendo's impressive crop of first-party properties. The other sports a 5-inch OLED screen, innovative controls, and enough processing power to put it in the range of the PS3. Games and tastes may vary, but between these two radically different handhelds one has to come out ahead. We're going to compare them both in every way that counts to see who comes out on top.

Portability
As handheld game systems, both the PS Vita and the 3DS are small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, but larger than almost all cell phones. In terms of size and shape, the Vita is little larger and heavier at 3.3 by 7.2 by 0.7 inches (HWD) and 9.2 ounces to the 3DS' 2.9 by 5.3 by 0.8 inches and 8.3 ounces, but not enough to make a difference. The 3DS wins in portability not because of its size, but its shape. Since it's a clamshell design, you can toss it in your backpack and be certain that the screen is protected from scratches, and the analog controls won't be jostled too much. You'll need to add a case to your Vita.
Winner: Nintendo 3DS

Price
This is a simple distinction, and the 3DS comes out on top. The Nintendo 3DS is $169.99 and has everything you need to play games out of the box (except downloadable games, which require an SD card). The Wi-Fi-only Vita is $249.99 and the Wi-Fi/3G version commands a $50 premium, and each requires an additional $20 minimum for a memory card to play most games. 3DS games peak at around $40, while Vita games can reach $50 each.
Winner: Nintendo 3DS
Processing Power
No question the Vita is more powerful. The 3DS is a solid step up from the DS, and has managed to do a very good job of producing PS2-like graphics in games like Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Tales of the Abyss, but it doesn't come close to the Vita's quad-core Cortex-A9 CPU and its near-PS3-level graphics. Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 rival their PS3 equivalents in graphical prowess. The Vita simply has more muscle inside.
Winner: PlayStation Vita

Controls
Both the Vita and the 3DS added vital controls to their predecessors' designs, but the Vita wins by virtue of not needing an aftermarket accessory for full control. Both handhelds have an analog stick or pad and a touch screen. The Vita adds a second analog stick, giving it a PS3-like control scheme that makes first-person shooters and action games much easier to control. You can get a second analog pad with the Circle Pad accessory for 3DS, but you shouldn't have to add it after the fact. Most games work well with the single analog pad (though first-person shooters suffer), and if Nintendo wanted it to be an integral part to the control layout, it should have put a second pad on the 3DS in the first place. The Vita also has a rear touchpad, but it feels like more of a novelty than an important element. Either way, the Vita has dual analog sticks right out of the box, so it prevails.
Winner: PlayStation Vita

Screen
This is a clear case of technical superiority versus gimmickry. The 3.5-inch, 400-by-240-pixel (effective, per eye) display on the 3DS is impressive because it lets you watch 3D content without glasses, thanks to a filter system that splits up the screen into two different images, with one for each eye. The Vita's display, on the other hand, is a remarkably bright and colorful 5-inch touch-screen OLED with a much higher 960 by 544 resolution. Even if you take into account the 3DS's auxiliary 320-by-240-pixel touch screen, the Vita still delivers more pixels, and they look much better.
Winner: PlayStation Vita

Internet Connectivity
Built-in Wi-Fi means you can go online, browse the Web, and download games on both handhelds, but the Vita offers two helpful features the 3DS lacks. First, the 3DS has Nintendo's typical anemic online service. You can't easily track friends online or communicate with them, and multiplayer games aren't simple to set up. The Vita uses the PlayStation Network/Sony Entertainment Network and offers friends lists and a Parties feature for keeping your friends together and gaming. The Vita also offers a 3G version, so you can stay connected almost anywhere, albeit with a hefty fee of $14.99 for 250MB per month or $30 for 3GB per month through AT&T DataConnect.
Winner: PlayStationVita

Game Selection
The 3DS is less than a year old, but thanks to backward compatibility, its game library positively dwarfs the Vita's. Several dozen 3DS games are already available, and every game on the DS can be played on the 3DS, along with DSi games, and certain Virtual Console games. The Vita, on the other hand, uses a new card format for games, and in America there is no way to turn your old PSP UMDs into playable games on the Vita. You have to re-purchase them. A few hundred PSP games are available on the PS Store, but not the entire library. Since the Vita just came out, only a handful of games are available right now, with most big titles still a few months away.
Winner: Nintendo 3DS

And the Winner is...
On hardware specs, the Sony PlayStation Vita is clearly superior to the 3DS, but the best way to judge a handheld gaming system is on its ability to game. Since the 3DS has had a very long head start and supports every DS game, its library is much bigger and more convenient for users of the previous handheld. The Vita makes no concessions to PSP owners, besides letting users download PSP games they previously purchased in the PlayStation Store if they're part of the list of compatible titles. Still, the Vita has a solid library for a system that's only weeks old, and more new and backward-compatible games are on the way, it's not quite as much a disadvantage. Games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss are visually stunning and play very well with the Vita's dual analog sticks, offering a gameplay experience comparable to a PlayStation 3. That kind of potential, along with an online service that's far superior to Nintendo's online support, makes the Vita a better handheld gaming system overall.