The president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment believes that the success of the Nintendo 3DS proves that there is a market for handheld games consoles, thereby justifying the launch of the PS Vita next month (in the UK).

Speaking to the US PlayStation Blog at CES last week, and reported by Eurogamer, House said: "Normally we don't really reference the competition a lot when we talk about the PlayStation business, but in this case it's perhaps a little salutary that the sales of the 3DS - you know, having the advantage of releasing a little bit ahead of us - have been exceedingly good."

"I think that shows that there is, in general, a lot of demand for a gaming primary portable device, which is how I would describe Vita," he added.

"But you know, our device in contrast has just so much more to offer. What I think we've done is point to a market that really has started out with potentially casual games that are on other devices, but now wants a deeper, a better or more premiere gaming experiences."

He also believes that the launch line-up for when the PS Vita hits the UK on 22 February is very strong, and will help sales of the device pick up after its post-Christmas Japanese slump. The titles are, he said, "comfortably the strongest line-up we've had for any platform launch."