The PlayStation Vita is Sony's latest in handheld gaming innovation, taking many elements from the Sony PlayStation Portable while also improving upon them. The Vita will be officially released on Feb. 22, but Sony has given fans an early gift: the Vita Hill Social Club has launched an exposé series. Since Dec. 1, 2011, the Vita has been available to play at select Sony-sponsored locations across the country, including one convenient stop right off Central Square in Cambridge. The Vita Hill Social Club is open seven days a week, with a handful of Vitas to try out at your leisure, along with select demos for upcoming games. The club also holds a variety of parties, social events and gaming tournaments.

There are many new fascinating features in the Vita—the system is sleek and compact, fitting nicely in your hand, and is the first handheld system to feature dual analog sticks, making gameplay more fluid than ever before. The system also features a full 3G wireless system, adding online play to its repertoire. Additionally, there's the new Cross-Play system, which allows the player to pause a PlayStation 3 game and resume playing it on the Vita. You can also use both systems for cross-compatible online gaming.

But what is most immediately impressive about the Vita is its adaptive use of the touch-screen format. Not only does it have an enhanced front-panel touch-screen with the most responsive touch sensitivity I've yet encountered in a system, but it also has a back-panel touch-screen, a first in hand-held gaming. This addition may seem odd and unnecessary at first glance, but in practice it proves an addictive component. The most delightful example of dual touch-screen usage is featured in the game Little Deviants. The deviants are an odd group of tiny creatures who are out to fight against the evil "botz," and you assist them in this fight through a series of mini-games. One of these games has the player gripping both the front and back screens, pulling on them in order to launch the deviants across a wrestling ring, while another has you using the back panel to form hills, across which you roll the deviants, guiding them in the desired direction. These games are brief in duration but virtually limitless in fun.

In addition to the touch sensitivity, the Vita also includes a motion sensor—by far the best I've seen in a game system. Little Deviants also takes advantage of the motion sensor, but the most interesting usage of it comes in the new portable Uncharted game, Golden Abyss. The action-adventure series is already a powerhouse on the home consoles, but this portable version is shaping up to be every bit as good. The motion sensor also brings an added sense of danger to the Drake series, such as when you're crossing a breaking bridge and must tilt the Vita back and forth in order to avoid falling. You also use the sensor during the excellent sniper portion of the demo, in which you have to physically aim the Vita in order to find your target. This includes sometimes needing to actually move around 360 degrees, so the suspense is quite visceral. The graphics are also astounding, looking every bit as good as the original Uncharted game on the PlayStation 3. This is thanks to the Vita's enhanced five-inch Organic LED screen, which can display approximately 16 million colors, and showcases graphics of extraordinarily high quality.

The Vita also features a front-and-back camera system, which is useful not only for taking the perfect picture of yourself, but also for applying it to the Reality Fighters game, where you can actually graft the image of your face on a virtual fighter's head. You can then dress up your fighter, giving him whatever clothing, fighting style or weapon you choose, and set him off in a standard arcade fighting format. I can't begin to describe the thrill of seeing my virtual little "Aaron" wearing a gi, dashing across the screen while unleashing Matrix moves and beating his enemy into submission with a rubber chicken.

While the three above games are examples of the great fun to be had with the Vita, they are also perhaps exemplary of the system's limitations. There were two other games to try out at the Vita Hill Social Club, ModNation Racers: Road Trip and Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, but they simply weren't as interesting. Hot Shots is just plain boring (then again, what golf game isn't?) and ModNation Racers disappoints heavily by not featuring any usage of the motion sensor, despite every obvious inclination to do so. It's true that these releases are only demos, and perhaps such features will become available later, but right now the greatest risk this system finds itself facing is being dubbed as just another "gimmicky" gaming device. Like the Nintendo DS and the Wii, the most attractive features of the Vita are those aspects that don't lend themselves to serious gaming, and, as a result, Sony may be hard-pressed to find gamers taking the system seriously.

Then again, the handheld genre has never been about serious gaming. It's about a fun diversion on boring subway rides or a distraction from work. And if fun is the goal, the Vita certainly succeeds. There's a general vibe of sheer, all-encompassing joy that this system offers, which should make it a major crowd pleaser. All of these innovative qualities make the PlayStation Vita by far the best handheld system yet. Even if it's not for serious gamers, it will no doubt earn Sony millions, in addition to satisfying fans of handheld gaming. The Boston Vita Hill Social Club will remain open until Feb. 27 and is located at 579 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge.