Gamers that have been hoping for a price drop for Sony’s PS Vita may have finally gotten their wish. Or maybe not.
Following a major (and likely temporary) price drop in Hong Kong only, Best Buy and Target are both listing the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi/3G models of the PS Vita at $200, a $50 and $100 mark down, respectively. Many retailers, however, including GameStop and Walmart, two of the world’s biggest game sellers, are continuing to sell the hardware at the normal prices.
As Joystiq was quick to point out, with Gamescom coming this week, if Sony were going to announce a price drop it would make sense to do it now. The Sony press conference is on August 20, and it’s possible that Best Buy and Target are just jumping the gun a bit and that Sony will have a major announcement regarding the PS Vita pricing during the show. Alternatively, the retailers may just be trying to take advantage of the increased excitement in the gaming fanbase that typically comes from a major event like Gamescom or E3.
The real question is whether this is a temporary sale, as the notice on Best Buy’s site suggests, or if it really is a long-hoped-for permanent price cut.
Almost since the day the PS Vita was released in February 2012, people have criticized the price of the hardware as well as its expensive peripherals, like the exorbitantly priced, proprietary memory cards. Yet Sony has remained steadfast in its pricing even as the Vita’s nearest competitor, Nintendo’s 3DS, has seen its sales explode – not coincidentally immediately after a major price drop.
Sony has big plans for the Vita when it comes to the upcoming PlayStation 4, but currently the hardware’s sales have been anemic; in 18 months, Sony has only sold just over 5.5 million units. Nintendo, on the other hand, has sold nearly 33 million 3DS units worldwide.
