While we've known about PlayStation Vita for ages, it was only this week – with days to go until its US and European launch – that the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. And the full picture is quite something.
You can talk about the size, the battery life, the proprietary memory cards and the competition all you like (and I will, shortly), but Vita's thorniest issue was always going to be the price of its games.
In the age of the app, releasing an expensive portable console where every game is £30-40 would have been suicidal. Sony always suggested it was going to avoid it, but by how much? That question has now been answered as Sony confirmed prices for its download-only launch titles.
And the news was pretty fantastic for gamers. The gorgeous, inventive, darkly humorous Escape Plan: a tenner. The intense, pyrotechnic Super Stardust Delta: £6.49. The excitingly fresh MotorStorm RC: £4.79.
That's not quite the free-to-69p range of iPhone games, but it's not a million miles away. And at that distance the argument about Vita games being qualitatively better in terms of content carries a lot more weight.
What it also means, crucially, is that Sony is prepared to take a punt on new ideas and price them accordingly. The worst thing that could happen to Vita is that it becomes a graveyard of lazy PS3 franchise ports.
Sony believes, plausibly, that there's still a market for big-budget blockbusters at full price – Uncharted is the poster child for that price bracket in the launch line-up, a spectacular action title with Hollywood production values.
But by offering another of its games for under a fiver, Sony is displaying a commitment to innovation and fresh thinking, which is great news for developers, gamers and Vita.
It's an encouraging start – but it's important Sony and others publishers follow through on it with a steady supply of quality content at all price ranges. It doesn't matter how powerful a console is – without amazing games, it's just an expensive lump of plastic stuck at the back of a drawer, or, worst of all, stuck in a warehouse, unwanted.
I've had one since before Christmas, more than enough time to tell you with conviction: Vita is the most capable handheld gaming system ever created. That should not come as a massive surprise, but the details matter.
There were two fatal flaws with the original PSP: its name was taken too literally in vision; and its name couldn't be taken literally in experience.
PSP really was "PlayStation Portable" in the sense that Sony seemed to think having a PlayStation 2 in the palm of the hand was enough in itself, without ever really demonstrating an understanding of how a handheld console could and should be different.
And by designing it with a single analogue control stick, it was hobbled from birth, utterly incapable of handling massive genres like first-person shooters properly.
Vita's greatest feature for gamers, then, is the addition of a second analogue stick – which means at the most fundamental level it's what PSP should have been: a Dual Shock pad with a screen. But it is, of course, much more than that.
With front-and-rear touch, two cameras and motion sensors, developers have a formidable toolset with which to create brilliant, unique portable experiences. That we're already seeing clever stuff like Escape Plan from day one bodes well for the future.
Of the impressively varied launch line-up, Uncharted is a clear highlight. While it never comes close to scaling the heights of Naughty Dog's PS3 epics, Sony Bend has done a far better job than many expected in capturing the scale and scope of Drake's adventures on the small screen. Elsewhere, stalwarts like WipEout, FIFA, Virtua Tennis and Everybody's Golf are reliably solid and impressive.
Should you go for 3G or wifi-only? Depends how you expect to use it: 3G's main benefit is in being able to use social-media functions on the go, check highscores, send and receive messages, use GPS and so on. If you can live without that, you'll save yourself a chunk of money.
The real ace up Vita's sleeve may prove to be Crossplay. Only WipEout takes advantage of this on day one, allowing Vita gamers to challenge PS3 owners in online racers. But for certain games, Crossplay will also allow you to play on PS3, stop, pick up your Vita and carry on from where you left off. If they handle that well and price the games properly, it could be massive.
Sony hasn't got everything right. The need for proprietary memory cards (a needless added expense for many) shows the company is still more than capable of shooting itself in the foot. But as the gamers' gaming handheld, it ticks more than enough of the important boxes at this stage.
I've no doubt there's a core army of PlayStation fans that will snap it up, but what remains unclear is whether Vita can attract big numbers of people outside of that group. There was no such thing as an iPhone when the original PSP launched and now the competition is daunting for a luxury, high-priced device at a time when the public is tightening its belt.
I struggle, for instance, to see Vita winning over women given its size and design – release it in as many colours as you like, and make the marketing and content 'inclusive', but that won't magically free up space in a handbag between the Kindle, iPhone and a thousand other terrifying things that men's eyes must never see.
Sony's UK boss Jim Ryan told me the company will "go young" a lot quicker with Vita – meaning target children. But will kids really want it, when they're already in love with their Nintendos and iPod Touches?
And even for gamers, as fabulous a piece of technology as it is, it's a tougher sell than ever when people are already heavily invested in the consoles under the telly, and more than happy with the quick fix thrills their phone offers on the move.
Those questions will only start to be answered from next week. For now, and in focus, PlayStation Vita is a fantastic handheld gaming system with bags of potential and good games already. If you like the sound of it and you can afford it, you're unlikely to regret the purchase.
And for those still on the fence, the prospect later this year of Call of Duty, without compromise and with proper online play, might prove too much to resist.
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