PlayStation Vita's rear pad a touchy subject

LOS ANGELES (AP) — There's a suspicious knock on the wall.

A dimwitted henchman working for an evil mastermind named Bakuki goes over to investigate the strange noise and then — WOOSH! — his blotchy body splatters across the room after a giant blade surprises him from behind. That's just one way players can flick their fingers to help heroes Lil and Laarg evade trouble in the cartoony video game "Escape Plan."

That suspicious knock on the wall didn't come from mashing a button or thumping a touchscreen but from tapping the back of the PlayStation Vita, Sony's new high-powered handheld console released Tuesday in the United States and Europe that features a touchpad located …