Last night in Hollywood, Sony held a ritzy launch party for the PS Vita, a much-needed replacement for the PlayStation Portable, and the new gadget was the belle of the ball. The hand-held Vita expands on the last gen PSP; pumps up the processing power, adds optional 3G, dual analog sticks, and a dazzingly bright, colorful 5-inch OLED touch screen.

Out of the box, we were impressed with features like the 3G connectivity (additional fees apply), front and rear cameras, motion sensors and augmented reality and the social media connectivity. (The Vita nationwide launch is February 22, but you can pre-order on the Sony site.)

But back to the party, which had celebs galore, and a game -themed futuristic space. Pete Wentz DJ-ed long into the night with Jesse Marco also taking over the turntables. All the stars were gifted the Vita and some, like Modern Familys' Nolan Gould, immediatly tore open the box and showed off his gaming skills, which were projected on an electronic game display wall.

The stud-ly Liam Hemsworth ( "Hunger Games") and Josh Duhamel chatted about the "biz" and Josh revealed himself to be quite the gadget geek.

"Hugo" star Chloe Moretz hung with Patrick Schwarzenegger, but left at 9pm clutching her PS Vita, to beat curfew.

Prices start at $249 for the new Vita. We'll let you know if it really is a game changer after we have logged some hours playing it.