PS Vita: Sony's latest attempt at cracking down on Piracy

It appears Sony looks to prevent piracy for the Vita by adding a brand new format to the already expensive Memory Cards. The new format prevents users from connecting the card to their PC's as regular 'mass storage devices', in other words you will not be able to transfer regular files as you would with the PSP to your portable device you need a special program like Apple's Itunes. While the PSP requires Windows-only utility Media Go to transfer games to Sony's proprietary Memory Sticks, users could still use them as mass storage devices for other files. This led to hackers eventually devising a way to load custom firmware, circumvent security protections, and play pirated games on PSPs.  Mac's will be heavily affected by the format because it will only be available to PC users when the Vita finally launches in Japan 12/12/11 and everywhere else on 2/22/12. (One of the only upsides to being a PC owner). Sony is intended to release a Macintosh compatible one soon.

If you don't already know the Vita's memory card are ridiculously expensive here's a rundown of the prices and sizes:

$24.99 for 4GB

$39.99 for 8GB

$69.99 for 16GB

$119.99 for 32GB

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Credit / Source: Eric Caoili over at Gamasutra .