During a relatively last-minute live-stream event this morning, Hiroshi Kawano – president at Sony Computer Entertainment Japan – announced that the Vita will get a price cut in Japan, bringing the cheaper Wi-Fi model down from 24,980 yen to 19,980 yen. At a drop in price of around 20%, that's a substantial saving, but will it make a difference to the popularity of the struggling console?
Despite a recent survey conducted by Famitsu finding that the Vita was the most desirable console for its readers, sales of the console in Japan have been consistently low. Perhaps the reason the Vita is the most desirable is only because the majority of Famitsu readers already own a 3DS, which regularly outsells the Vita several times over.
Sony is trying more than just a cut to get fans interested, however. Also announced during the live-stream, a new initiative sees all Japanese Vita owners get a free week trial of PlayStation Plus, which will allow them to play certain games – like Uncharted: Golden Abyss – for free and purchase others at discounted rates. There are also quite a few different colours for the Vita available, like “Cosmic Red” and “Sapphire Blue”, and the newly announced “Ice Silver”. Here in the UK, we only have black.
Also in the UK, we have no sign of our own price cut. Eurogamer contacted Sony to ask that very question, and was apparently told:
“The price cut announced today is for the SCE Japan region only. We have nothing to announce at this time regarding pricing within the our own region.”
Would you buy a Vita at 25% less than its current price? Or do the console's problems go beyond that of expense?
