Skip to main content

Do new colors and PlayStation Plus make up for the lack of a PS Vita price drop?

ps vita price drop
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Sony didn’t just announce a grossly overpriced new PlayStation 3 at its Tokyo Game Show event on Wednesday morning. It had a little bit of news to share about the PlayStation Vita as well. The game announcements were less notable than those at the Gamescom conference in 2012 unfortunately. Reason being, most of the games announced are targeted only at the Japanese market. There’s little likelihood that the big-breasted-ninja game Senran Kagura or Monster Hunter clone God Eater 2 will be making it to the US anytime soon.

PlayStation Plus for the PS Vita, on the other hand, will absolutely be a selling point for the struggling portable in the coming months. Sony already confirmed that PlayStation Plus would extend its reach to Vita at Gamescom but it was only at TGS that pricing and release info was made available. Vita gets PlayStation Plus in November for $18 per month or $50 per year, and that fee will net you discounts on myriad downloadable games and free access to others.

Recommended Videos

Sony also announced a couple of new Vita colors, namely a snappy red console and a nice blue one as well. These are only confirmed for Japan at the moment, but Sony never shied away from releasing new PSP colors with regularity. The US will still get access to the white PS Vita when it comes out bundled with Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation in October.

Sony already said in August that it didn’t plan on a PS Vita price drop before 2013, but it’s still disappointing to have TGS come and go without Sony attempting to incentivize a purchase of the handheld. The Vita’s a great gaming machine, with some quality games. Gravity Rush, Sound Shapes, LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, and others have made the Vita’s first year more memorable than PSP’s first three years on shelves combined. At $250, without one of Sony’s expensive proprietary 32GB memory cards, Sony just doesn’t have a machine to entire people yet. They’re spending on Kindle Fire, on the iPhone 5, on the iPod Touch, and even Nintendo 3DS before they are Vita. The only thing that Sony can do to lure them in is to either drop the price, or bundle both the PlayStation 3 and the PS Vita together at $350, positioning it as a Wii U competitor.

Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
PS6: everything we know about the PlayStation 6 so far
A PS5 DualSense controller.

It sounds like we're going to learn more about a next-generation PlayStation sooner rather than later.

In early 2024, Sony Senior Vice President Naomi Matsuoka told Bloomberg the following: "Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle." While she didn't outright say that a PlayStation 6 is in the works, we can assume that the company is already looking ahead at its next console.

Read more
You can play the new Death Note game for free with PS Plus
L and Kira holding game pieces around a chess board, stacked with other game pieces. The Death Note Killer Within logo is in the center.

Death Note Killer Within - Announcement Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games

Bandai Namco announced a game based on the popular anime and manga series Death Note, and if you are a PlayStation Plus member, you'll be able to take part in the investigation for free.

Read more
Best PlayStation Plus Deals: Save on Essential, Plus and Premium
Best PS Plus deals

Gaming on consoles can be a lot of fun, and while some gaming PCs can be a lot more powerful, they also tend to be a lot more expensive. Of course, if you're on the PlayStation 4 or the PlayStation 5, then you're likely going to need to grab yourself a PlayStation Plus subscription service from Sony directly. That allows you to play multiplayer games and access online servers and, depending on your subscription, also gives you access to a library of free games every month, so you don't have to spend your money on extra games except for titles that don't appear on PS Plus on release.

Also, while you're here, be sure to check out these excellent PS5 game deals and PlayStation deals that include some great games and accessories you can get for a great price.
What is PlayStation Plus?
Along with online multiplayer and other in-game network features, a PlayStation Plus Essential membership grants you access to exclusive discounts and other promotions. Perhaps the most notable benefit of PlayStation Plus is that every month, Sony gives subscribers one PlayStation 5 and two PlayStation 4 games that are free to download. You have one month to add these free PlayStation Plus games to your library.

Read more