#143 Sony announces price drop for handheld Vita

Cutting $50 from the price of the PlayStation Vita, the Sony handheld is to retail for $199 (€199, £179) with reductions of up to 33% metered out to its memory cards. Unveiling the news at the Gamescom 2013 PlayStation media briefing, accompanying a suite of new titles for the portable console, and plans to integrate it into the PlayStation 4 experience, the Vita is now the same price as the newly reduced 12GB PlayStation 3.

And over the previous weekend, some North American chain stores had foreshadowed the reduction by offering the Vita at the new price.

The cut mirrors a move made in Japan this past February and, just as Nintendo's 3DS was in 2011 given a meteoric boost by a cheaper price tag and a more appealing games library, Sony will be hoping for a similar upturn concerning the Vita.

"Starbound," "Fez," "Joe Danger," even PC and console hit "Borderlands 2," were profiled alongside a strong stable of indie titles including "Murasaki Baby," "The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth," "Helldivers," "N++," "Rogue Legacy," "Wasteland Kings" and "Volume."

The company can also lean on its PlayStation Plus membership scheme to make gaming cheaper for subscribers, delivering a regular line-up of complimentary games across PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3 and, from November, PlayStation 4.