Kotaku already broke that Sony had a ¥25,000 pricetag in mind when it began work on the PS Vita and that the company almost dropped the rear-touch feature. Sony's Shuhei Yoshida filled in more details with Famitsu, like that work began on the Vita in spring 2009 and that the current button layout was created with advice from third-party developers.
Read Kotaku's interview with Shuhei Yoshida here. [速報＠保管庫(Alt)]