The PlayStation Vita just got moderately more useful. A suite of apps is available today on the PlayStation Store including Flickr, Netflix, and "LiveTweet." That's the name of the Twitter app. No, we don't know why.

If you're a new Vita owner, you can get them all right now through the PlayStation Store. If you're a prospective Vita owner just waiting to see how the Netflix app shook out, you can see for yourself in this walkthrough from Engadget.

Today marks the actual launch date for the PlayStation Vita! Sure, you may have had one for a week, but let's act surprised nonetheless. We continue to update our launch guide, to help you find all the game reviews and features you need to know about.

Hardware

• PlayStation Vita review: "It offers the most power, the widest variety of input methods, and the most convenient method of getting new games, of any handheld system in history."

Games

• Uncharted: Golden Abyss: "... though Uncharted: Golden Abyss brings a little too much reality to Drake's day-to-day by making him polish artifacts in gimmicky touchscreen nonsense, there's still a good, if formulaic, adventure to be had." ★★★ 1/2
• Little Deviants: "So ... you get a virtual house filled with square-headed cats. You can't do anything with them. They just sit there. " ★★
• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3: "Even with the trouble I had pulling off combos, and the frustration of feeling lost and alone in the lobby, I still think this is an amazing port in many respects. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a game I would consider far too flashy to fit on a handheld, and Capcom accomplished it." (no score given)
• Lumines Electronic Symphony: "I come out of a 45-minute session feeling rested and kind of euphoric. How's that for an endorsement?"★★★★ 1/2
• Touch My Katamari: "Touch My Katamari is the best portable Katamari ever made by default." (no score given)
• Shinobido 2: "I must have killed the same fat merchant hiding in the same castle half a dozen times so far. To be fair, one time the merchant was wearing glasses, so it might have been a different guy." (no score given)
• Escape Plan: "It might sound backhanded to praise the ability to skip content, but being able to get away from unpleasant situations is in the spirit of this escape-themed game." ★★★ 1/2
• Army Corps of Hell: "I actually wish I had stopped playing after about, oh, five hours. Up to that point, Army Corps of Hell is a novel experience. "★★★

Other features

• Ultimate Controller mode: Vita and PS3 team up to play Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
• We calculate the memory card space required by the launch lineup -- or what we have of it
• Welcome Park: Vita's built-in tutorial minigame collection
• How to apply an update to a Vita game

News

• Some American Vita games have Online Passes
• Vita deemed relatively easy to repair following teardown
• Wipeout, Ultimate MVC3, and Hustle Kings have nice cross-platform bonuses
• SF X Tekken will have 12 more characters on Vita when it launches this fall
• GAME won't carry Ubisoft Vita games at launch :(
• Retro City Rampage is going to be on Vita!
• Oh, and so is "Call of Duty," if you're familiar with whatever that is.
• Cheap games at Amazon, GameStop, and Target

Escape Plan makes a far better showcase for the PlayStation Vita's control methods than, say, Little Deviants. It makes logical use of the front and rear touchpads and the accelerometer, as you prod, swipe, tilt, and otherwise cajole two characters out of a series of deadly traps.

Interacting with Lil and Laarg shows exactly what the capabilities of the Vita's alternate control methods are, but unfortunately throws their limitations into sharp contrast as well.

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Another big Vita week for the PSN update. Last week's "early" launch saw the additions of Escape Plan, Hustle Kings, and Super Stardust Delta -- that last one being the free 3G game. This week we see the addition of Touch My Katamari, perennial favorite Plants vs. Zombies and several augmented reality. Of course, for further pertinent PS Vita information, head on over to our Joystiq Vita launch guide.

PSN Plus subscribers can pick up six classic Sega titles for free this week, which includes the first two Sonic the Hedgehog titles, Golden Axe (call dibs on dwarf!) and Altered Beast. Also, don't forget to check out the demos for SSX and Shank 2. Check out the full list of this week's content over on the PlayStation Blog.

The surprisingly profitable Rayman Origins begins its 2012 hop from platform to platform on Vita, followed by 3DS on March 20, and PC on March 29. Yes, you should play it.

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Sony's Senior VP of its Worldwide Studios organization, Scott Rohde, tells Gamasutra that long software droughts, as experienced by the PSP, won't be the case with Vita.

"This time around, we started planning for development of [Vita] about three years ago, in terms of developing for the software, and how we were going to be able to transition," Rohde says. "I think that there were too many droughts of killer titles [for PSP]. There were too many long droughts, and I think we recognized that. And we've put a serious investment into our long-term PS Vita plans, so there's a lot of stuff in the works."

Of course, lack of software wasn't the only reason the PSP didn't see the success here it did in Japan -- piracy and the ineffective measures to protect the UMD format from it played a large part. Rohde says it was one of the first concerns, and one that he thinks Sony has addressed. "We needed to have something that would combat piracy from day one, and that's why the cards that you can purchase for the games are in their own proprietary format. And these days, so many people say the word 'proprietary' is a bad word, but it's something that we felt was completely necessary to make sure that people could not pirate these games. I mean, it's a custom security solution on each one of these cartridges. That is something that we are confident will protect us from piracy for the long term."

These topics are just a few in the massive interview with Rohde. Hit up the source link below to read the rest.

European retailer Game won't sell any Ubisoft Vita launch titles tonight during the midnight launch of the Vita, even though it is stocking titles from all other major publishers, including EA, Namco Bandai, Capcom, Codemasters and Sega. Game said it will not stock Lumines Electronic Symphony, Michael Jackson: The Experience, Rayman Origins, Asphalt Injection or Dungeon Hunter Alliance, according to a statement picked up by VG24/7.

Neither Game nor Ubisoft provided a specific reason for the shaft. Recently, Game has hit financial trouble and has closed numerous stores, laid off 46 employees from its corporate offices and is looking to sell its international arm.

The Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken will be the most populous of all. In addition to the PS3/Vita-exclusive Pac-Man, Mega Man, Cole, Toro, and Kuro, Capcom announced twelve extra characters on Vita as part of its Street Fighter 25th Anniversary celebration. The portable fighter will have exclusive access to Street Fighter's Elena, Guy, Cody, Sakura, Dudley and Blanka, and Tekken's Alisa, Christie, Jack, Brian, Lars and Lei.

There may yet be time for these new fighters to show up in the console game: Capcom said that the Vita version would be released in the fall. That gives the publisher plenty of time to release the characters as console DLC. In any case, where's our tiny arcade stick?

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The PS Vita has a system update lined up for tonight, preceding Wednesday's mainstream launch. Early adopters can update their systems to firmware version 1.61, which adds a Maps application to the home screen, allows for video recording in the Photos application, and allows for any ratings you make in the PlayStation Store to appear on Facebook. Additionally, the Discoveries screen now lists up to 100 players, as well as the number of times they've been seen.

The Content Manager Assistant app has been updated, and is available now both as a Windows and Mac download. Even if you've got version 1.60 already, you should make the jump to 1.61, as Sony says there are some systemwide performance improvements too. The latest firmware can be downloaded on the console over Wi-Fi, or can be updated from a PC or Mac with the Content Manager Assistant.

Here's the major advantage retail games have over buying the same games digitally -- the PSN versions of Vita launch games aren't subject to Amazon sales. The online retailer is offering a buy two, get one free deal on ... pretty much the whole Vita launch lineup, including Lumines Electronic Symphony, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Wipeout 2048 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Target and GameStop are doing similar deals, but their selections are further constrained. And by "constrained" we mean "Lumines is not included."