Playstation Vita Gets Price Cut, Is Now $199 in North America

The Playstation Vita, Sony's powerful but embattled handheld console, is now cheaper for North American gamers. Clocking in at $199 for both the Wi-fi and the Wi-fi/3G models as opposed to the $249 and $299 the respective models once were, the price cut many had been expecting has finally come- and not only is the hardware itself cheaper, but the frustratingly expensive memory cards are as well.

Existing Vita gamers will be pleased to know that Sony has slashed prices across the board for the system's memory cards, which are sold in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB models, down to $14.99, $19.99, $39.99, and $79.99, respectively.

This decision was very likely influenced by the Vita's struggling sales as well as the PS4's upcoming release, as Sony has revealed that the Vita will act as a kind of companion device to the next-gen console. Rumors still abound that there will be a more expensive PS4 bundle available featuring both the console and the Vita, but it can be assumed now that such a bundle is probably far off.

As a Vita owner, I have enjoyed the use of my console and having a Playstation Plus account has given me access to some very fun experiences: Gravity Rush is an all-around excellent game, Uncharted: Golden Abyss is surprisingly strong, Disgaea 3 is fiendishly addictive, and news of its connectivity to the Playstation 4 are interesting as well. For those who were waiting, this is your chance.

Unless, of course, you'd rather put that $199 towards a next-gen console. That... makes quite a lot of sense, too.