Sony US Stores Cut Vita Price by $100

[Gahars]

The Vita is a sexy piece of hardware, if I do say so myself. There's some pretty impressive hardware under the hood, and that design is sleeker than the average Bond girl.

Unfortunately for Sony, that alone hasn't been enough to sell the handheld. It's struggled to find an audience, with many people citing its relatively high price as a major obstacle.

Well...

The majority of Sony’s US stores have reportedly cut the price of the 3G Vita by $100 to $199.97.

Employees at Sony stores in Denver, New Jersey and Las Vegas also told Joystiq that the platform holder is discontinuing the 3G Vita model.

It’s unclear if the discount is a short-term offer or a permanent price cut, and whether the firm actually intends to phase out the 3G Vita, as Sony has yet to give an official line on the matter, but we’ve requested comment from PlayStation’s UK arm.

Games Radar

...Shiiiiiiiiiit.

As you may remember, Nintendo made a pretty drastic price cut for the 3DS after its troubled launch, and that certainly seemed to help it pick up momentum. Sony, the copycat mafiosi, might just be following their lead and hoping for similar results.

Again, there's no telling if this is anything permanent, what's going on with the 3G model for sure, or what this means for the other model. It's all speculation and rumors at this point. Still, if true, this might give the Vita a much-needed shot in the arm - and level the playing field between the Vita and the 3DS, at least just a little bit.

 

[Veho]

Well, I hope it helps sales.

 

[GamerzHell9137]

Who the fuck wants the 3G version?
It would be better that they dropped the Wifi version from 250 to 150.
And does that mean that the Wifi version is still gonna be 250? That doesn't make sense at all.
Anyways, you still need to get a card for it.

 

[EyeZ]

That's a good price drop, if we get the same here in the UK I'll probably pick one up.

 

[heartgold]

Price isn't an issue and you know people spend 3x that on ipads and other electronics. It's the over priced memory cards and lack of appealing games to a wider audience.

I have yet to upgrade to 32GB, it's overpriced and i'm not falling for it. I would love to use the multimedia features on the vita like watch videos and download ton of digital games, sorry.

If they get more games, that alone will sell more hardware. AC liberation did impressive 600k worldwide, need more of that Sony.

 

[McHaggis]

Does anyone know if the US 3G model works on UK cellular networks? I have a few hundred $ in Amazon.com vouchers, so it might be finally time to import one.

 

[EyeZ]

Price isn't an issue and you know people spend 3x that on ipads and other electronics. It's the over priced memory cards and lack of appealing games to a wider audience.

The Vita gets a price, which in turn leads to more units being sold which should then encourage 3rd party developers, so it's a start in the right direction.

 

[Jayro]

Vita won't sell until the Vita's firmware gets hacked. Then it will sell like crazy, like the PSP did.

 

[heartgold]

The Vita gets a price, which in turn leads to more units being sold which should then encourage 3rd party developers, so it's a start in the right direction.

My point is considering the tech under the hood, it's impressive the price is cheap as it is. A further $100 drop will most likely hurt them, considering they are break even on current price, although I heard small loss, let's say break even.

They should look into other aspects without damaging or risking profit.

 

[EyeZ]

My point is considering the tech under the hood, it's impressive the price is cheap as it is. A further $100 drop will most likely hurt them, considering they are break even on current price, although I heard small loss, let's say break even.

They should look into other aspects without damaging or risking profit.

More units sold will increase the software sales, the software sales is where Sony will make their profit.

 

[heartgold]

More units sold will increase the software sales, the software sales is where Sony will make their profit.

Bro $100 is a steep drop on a product that hardly makes profit right now. It is risky because they need a lot of software sales and people to buy the overpriced memory cards to cover up.

No doubt it will sell more software but will it be enough for a huge drop.

 

[Ergo]

It's a clearance of one model that was produced in far fewer numbers than the Wi-Fi version--it'll have no effect whatsoever on sales or getting more, desperately needed, software, in the pipeline.

They need to both drop the price on the model they plan to sell going forward *and*, leading into that, have a series of 3-4 big games, tightly spaced over the course of 3-4 months, to generate some momentum. Failing *both* of these things, the Vita will continue to limp along.

(I say this as a (fairly disappointed) Vita owner.)

 

[EyeZ]

Bro $100 is a steep drop on a product that hardly makes profit right now. It is risky because they need a lot of software sales and people to buy the overpriced memory cards to cover up.

No doubt it will sell more software but will it be enough for a huge drop.

Seems to have worked OK for Nintendo and the 3DS, so I guess Sony is going the same road.

It's encouraged me to make the purchase and the software titles I will buy, which I wouldn't have without this reduction.

 

[BORTZ]

Cut the gd Wifi one and I'll pick that up.

 

[Qtis]

Does anyone know if the US 3G model works on UK cellular networks? I have a few hundred $ in Amazon.com vouchers, so it might be finally time to import one.

IIRC it's locked to AT&T for some reason in the US. The rest of the world has an unlocked model. May have changed after release, but I doubt it. So if you plan on using it in the UK, I'd pass it for now.

 

[Bladexdsl]

Well, I hope it helps sales.

it won't

 

[AlanJohn]

It's over, Nintendo is finished!

 

[xist]

Bro $100 is a steep drop on a product that hardly makes profit right now. It is risky because they need a lot of software sales and people to buy the overpriced memory cards to cover up.

No doubt it will sell more software but will it be enough for a huge drop.

It's not Sony dropping the price by this much but the retailer. As it is we don't know whether there's been any move by Sony other than announcing the 3G model is finished.

$200 for a Vita and an 8GB memory card is a great deal though.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

The 3G version works just as much as the WiFi version, just with 3G optional. So there's no reason to not get it if you're interested in the Vita.

Also Japan has shown that a price cut + enough software means the system will sell. It was second place in Japan last week I think because of A) the price drop and B) software.

The system isn't doomed to fail anymore, they know how to make it work. Now do it, Sony.

 

[raulpica]

I'll get a WiFi version when it sells for 99€. Not before.

Well, okay, 129€ would be fine too.