!Brian Blessed Voice! The PS Vita's Alive?

After wondering where they were for a while, Sony has finally dropped its U.S. Black Friday sales numbers. The Vita sold 160,000 units across the various bundles and offers. That's a decent haul for a "dead" system and if software picks up, should see it set for a decent holiday season.

Of course, at this point, selling anything would be good news. And, since the PS3 managed 525,000, the Xbox sold 750,000 and the 3DS did 250,000, the Vita is still at the back of the field. That figure is at least four times higher than the Vita's normal weekly output, and if it continues in that vein, then things are looking up.

The arrival of PlayStation Plus for the Vita has to be helping, (overall subscriptions for that were up 250%+ on the weekend). Now its just down to when Sony can do a permanent price cut, and show off a decent 2013 line-up that things might get back on the road without the endless "doomed" speculation.

With the usual rentaquote, Sony said: "We’re very pleased with the Black Friday sales results, especially the incredible reception for the PS3 and PS Vita bundles. The demand was very strong which quickly depleted our inventory across retailers nationwide," said Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America.

If inventory was depleted then the numbers could have been even higher, but as a backlash, how quickly will Sony be able to restock? You'd hope it must have plenty of unsold stock in warehouses. Now, if only Sony Europe would provide us with some comparable information, I'll be happy (Note, the Vita sold 9,400 in Japan last week. Down from 13,000 the previous week when the new colours arrived.)