Sony will not release its PlayStation Vita in the United States and Europe until 2012, the company said Thursday, meaning the powerful new portable gaming system won’t be on store shelves during the vital holiday shopping season.

The handheld will be available by the end of 2011 in Japan, and early next year in the United States and Europe, said Sony Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai in Tokyo, as reported by the Associated Press.

PlayStation fans who watched Sony’s E3 press conference this year might be a little surprised by the new launch date. After all, didn’t Hirai say something a little different last June?

“This entire package of all these incredible features will be available starting from the holiday season this year,” Hirai said then.

Though perhaps Hirai meant “starting in Japan,” Sony executives have had a tendency to make statements that can be read in multiple ways.