Telltale’s The Walking Dead PS Vita bundle also out next week

The PlayStation Vita is a great handheld. The PlayStation Vita is also an expensive handheld. At US $249.99 for the base WiFi model, it’s significantly more expensive than its primary rival, the Nintendo 3DS. While Nintendo’s latest on-the-go gaming solution continues to sell well–it has been the best-selling video game console for the past three months, surpassing even the Xbox 360 in the United States–the Vita has struggled at the back of the pack. The Vita carries a significant buy-in price, when you factor the console itself, the cost of games, and the almost prohibitively expensive proprietary memory cards required to play one of those games.

While Japan has cut the price of the Vita, and released software that’s spiked interest and driven sales of the device, there has been no such price cut in the West. But for at least one retailer, that’s about to change. Gamechup last week reported on a Target mailer being sent to customers for the week of August 18-24, which can be seen here:

The ad notes that both the WiFi-only and 3G/WiFi models will be on sale for the same price, $199.99, a savings of $100 off the 3G model’s regular price. PlayStation Lifestyle also reports that this coincides with the release of The Walking Dead PS Vita bundle that was announced at E3 this year, though they recommend you call your local Target store to confirm that the bundle will be available at the discounted price. Gamescom, Europe’s answer to E3, begins next week in Cologne, Germany, and may this drop in price could be a taste of a permanent price cut to be announced at the conference, but only time will tell. Keep it tuned to Sony Rumors next week as we bring you the latest from Cologne, and look forward to a Gamescom predictions piece soon.

Discuss:

Does a $199 price point entice you to pick up a PS Vita if you haven’t already? Do memory card prices need to drop as well to get you on board? Let us know in the comments.

[Via Gamechup][Via PlayStation Lifestyle]