The mysterious new BioShock game announced for PlayStation Vita during E3 is a new game rather than a port, series mastermind Ken Levine has told IGN.

"That's a new game. That is going to be strange and surprising to people, in the same way," Levine explained. "I think when we launched Infinite, people said, "Wait, what, what are you doing?" I think we always want to surprise people. If I'm just saying, 'Here's BioShock 1 on Vita'... Let's say we potentially do, you don't need us to do that, somebody could make that happen if they wanted that to happen."

"For us, it's like, 'Hey, here's this weird experiment you want to do.' Experiments always carry risks, though. That's been the experience of working on BioShock Infinite. And working on BioShock. People saying, 'This is weird, risky, I don't understand.' I'm fortunate that I get to do things that are risky, my team gets to do things that are risky. "

Asked whether the Vita game was a tie-in with the upcoming Infinite, Levine replied, "All I'll say is that it's its own thing, being built from the ground up, yes."

And that's all we know for now, gang.

The Vita handheld, formerly codenamed the NGP, is due to launch in the US at the end of this year, priced at $249.99. Sony has stated that it won't necessarily launch worldwide simultaneously, and unconfirmed reports say it might be released in early 2012 in some regions, including the UK.

For more on the games coming to Vita, check out our software lineup list, correct as of the end of E3 in June.