Sony admits that it would "love to be further along" with sales of PlayStation Vita, but believes that "judging [the] console before it has had its first Christmas is preposterous".

Speaking in the latest issue of MCV, PlayStation UK MD Fergal Gara admitted that the release schedule for PlayStation Vita "did dry up during the summer," but that new releases should "ignite" hype for the handheld in the run-up to Christmas.

"We'd love for us to be further on," Gara told the magazine. "And the release schedule for Vita was rather like the release schedule for the industry this year, in that it did dry up during the summer. We had that incredible summer of sport and very little focus on gaming.

"But the great news is that we have got the content in place. We have got the cash to invest in terms of marketing and retail to really ignite it this Christmas. To start judging a console before it has had its first Christmas is preposterous, really. And we are giving it everything we have got."

PlayStation Vita has struggled to sustain sales since its release in February.

It was revealed yesterday that the console had finally managed to crack 1 million sales in Japan.

Vita's success this Christmas will no doubt lie in the hands of four key titles: Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, Need For Speed: Most Wanted and FIFA 13.

FIFA 13 released late last month. The game was criticised for featuring "no significant differences" to February's FIFA Soccer.