The PlayStation Vita portable console recently titillated Japanese fans with an official release date, but now there’s happy news of a type we can all enjoy. Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed to IGN that the company intends to introduce an external battery peripheral for the Vita, which should expand the device’s three- to five-hour battery life into more comfortable territory. In his words, "if you’re flying from New York to San Francisco or vice versa, you’ll have no concerns." Those transcontinental flights typically take around six hours, but for us to have "no concerns," we’d expect the battery-augmented Vita to last for at least seven. It’ll be interesting to see what this external power pack will look like — the rear of Sony’s new console serves as a secondary touchpad, meaning that the extra battery won’t simply attach to the back as one might otherwise expect.

Update: And just as we were pondering the look of it, we’ve come across an image of the external battery pack, courtesy of Sony’s Japanese press release. It’s dubbed a portable charger, carries 5,000mAh of energy, and will be available in the spring. Price is marked as "undecided." Hit the link below for the full list of 16 PS Vita accessories. Thanks, sbf717!

Source: IGN, via Eurogamer