The PlayStation Vita won’t be going on sale in the U.S. and Europe until “early next year” according to Sony’s Corporation’s Executive Vice President, Kazuo Hirai.
The only region to receive the Vita by the end of 2011 will be Japan, meaning its launch will miss the lucrative holiday season overseas.
Nintendo recently cut the price of their Nintendo 3DS system, from $250 to $170. Regarding the Vita’s price, faced with the new price of its competitor, Hirai told reporters in Tokyo: “We packed so much into the device and made it very affordable. There is no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price.”
Hirai believes the two devices are targeted at different markets in the game business.
The Vita will cost $249 (and 24,980 yen in Japan) for the model with Wi-Fi, while the model with both Wi-Fi and 3G will cost $300 (and 29,980 yen in Japan).
