The PlayStation Vita will launch in Japan on December 17 and in North America on February 22.

That much you know. But many have been asking about compatibility between Sony's new handheld and the PSP, and we've been hearing rumors about a transfer program.

Now, that program has been detailed , at least for Japan: if you want to transfer PSP games and save files to the Vita, you'll have to repurchase them digitally. However, if you can prove via UMD you already own the games in question, you'll get a discount. The fee to transfer most full-price games comes in at 1,000 yen or about $13, but others could cost more or less. More third-party titles will be available to transfer once the Vita is on store shelves, with around 200 games involved in the program.

Sony said studios like Square Enix, Capcom, and Konami would have titles on the list, but we have no further information at this time. So the question is, how important is this program to you? How badly do you need to play your PSP games on the Vita? Maybe it isn't as big a deal as it is with consoles, as you can just pick up the unit you wish to play; they don't have to be plugged into your TV all the time, or anything like that.