Levitation, the ability to appear to defy gravities bonds, has long fascinated humanity. From flying carpets to flying nuns it has long been part of our culture. Quantum Levitation is such an attention grabber that even the latest marketing push by Sony has made use of Quantum Levitation.

The latest viral video to highlight quantum levitation it turns out is a fake, a brilliantly executed rendering of WipeOut 2048 in real life. The video uses computer generated graphics to render what is a simulated real life WipeOut 2048 slot car set.

Not intended as a demonstration of toys in the year 2048, which it actually achieves effortlessly but instead intended to be a part of the build-up to the world wide release of WipeOut 2048 and the PS Vita, all on February 22nd and 23rd. There are many other examples of this build up too, little snippets around the web that all point to the end of February release. With the cogs of the Sony machine slowly gaining speed finally the rest of the world will get a chance to test the PS Vita waters.

Controlled Quantum Levitation on a Wipe’Out Track

The truth behind the WipeOut video is that it is in all likelihood a product of Sony Entertainment, although there are no concrete links between Sony and the video’s. The original video certainly captured everyone’s imagination, with 2.7 million views in a month the video was a viral hit. The trick to making the video so convincing was that they didn’t go too far, simply building on the previous quantum levitation videos with a WipeOut twist of course. And of course Sony denying any involvement.

The team of 5 students from the Canadian University, CentreNAD Montreal were given six weeks to create the video, with cgi, real footage and a healthy dose of computing power they composited together a very impressive little video. The students made use of many modern rendering tricks to give the video a realistic look, from depth blur and motion blur to smoke effects and shadows the team were able put professional tools to great effect. The track was initially laid out as a series of marker points on the table top. The video was then shot with the tracer markers obvious. This part demonstrates a clever cameraman who had to shoot as if the WipeOut craft were flying about. Then using the marker dots the track and the craft are rendered to appear as part of the table top. No mention of Sony sponsorship is made during either of the WipeOut Quantum Levitation videos, but it’s unlikely that Sony would let just anyone use the WipeOut logo and graphics without permission.

With the release of the Vita worldwide set for February 22 and 23 Sony is obviously going to push hard in the next two weeks to get the initial sales, as well as trying to avoid the crash in sales that Japan suffered. The WipeOut video is obviously part of this build up to launch date. Europe, the UK, North America and Latin America will all see the PS Vita launched on the 22nd of February while the rest of the world including Australia will have to wait till the following day February 23rd. Pricing has been set at $250 USD for the Wi-Fi version and $300 USD for the 3G enabled model. Pricing will vary around the world so check locally and of course there is always the option to purchase online.

There are many other clues to the building momentum at Sony. UK mobile carrier Vodafone are also starting to push the PS Vita in the UK, advertising that they will start selling the 3G PS Vita on February 22nd. Demo units of the Handheld are starting to appear at 3,300 GameStop stores across America. Vita’s are being setup in demo stations with 8 of the most anticipated games available for a little hands-on time, games including the highly anticipated Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Sony is applying a little clever cross marketing with the demo stations covered in pre-order notices, tempting people to pre-order the console and guarantee themselves a shiny new PS Vita on release date. Possibly not a bad idea if you absolutely want to have hardware in your hands on the big day. EB Games, Games.com.au and JB Hi-Fi are also taking pre-orders in Australia. JB Hi-Fi will also have game stations setup for the Australian release.

Game prices and release dates are also starting to fall into place. Game pricing is a contentious issue, especially with mobile phone games selling for only a few dollars, Sony plans to sell premium games for 39.99 USD which may seem a little ambitious. Little Deviants, WipeOut 2048, Modnation Racers: Road Trip, Reality Fighters, and Hot Shots Golf: World Invitation, will all cost $39.99 according to Sony, via Amazon and GameStop they can be found for as little as 29.99. Sony’s big name releases like Uncharted: Golden Abyss are going to sell for the Über premium price of $49.99. Even with Sony’s offer of a 10% discount for digital purchases – online -, Amazon and other online retailers are still looking like an excellent option, beating Sony’s discounted prices.

Sony also has a backup plan to secure sales, the cheap and cheery mini games. To be typically priced at $5 USD these titles should be enough for casual gamers and quick time killers. While these games are an excellent option, filling a part of the gaming market left baron by high priced commercial games, Sony has a poor history of changing strategy. These types of games were widely available during the early days of the PSN network for the PS3, then they disappeareed. As long as Sony sticks with its decision these games should be well received.

LittleBigPlanet Karting is nearing completion and should be available for PS3 and PS Vita shortly after release. Testing has been underway for a while and you can bet that Sony want’s all of its big name games available for the new handheld.

In the build-up to the release Sony has renamed the PlayStation Network, now to be known as the Sony Entertainment Network – SEN -, the name change has already been rolled out to PS3 owners as part of the 4.10 firmware update. Let’s hope they have beefed up security.

The build-up to the world wide release of the Vita has begun in earnest. The sales in Japan were initially very impressive but fell off sharply, will this trend continue worldwide? Can Sony shake off the horrors of 2011 and get back on its feet, a new CEO and a new year. The initial Japanese release of the PS Vita in December saw Sony sell 320,000 units in the first two days, sales did drop off very quickly though after a number of negative press reports relating to bugs that had surfaced. Still updates have been released and by all accounts the PS Vita is ready for the big time. Show time it is at Sony, they need this one to work, expect the Sony publicity machine to get up to full speed this week in preparation for the world wide release of the PS Vita. Sony’s first new hardware in 6 years.

Related Article: ‘Quantum Levitation, The Flying Quantum Rug’. The Real Quantum Levitation

Wipeout Quantum Levitation Track: Secrets Revealed !

PS Vita – WipEout 2048 (gamescom 2011)