Vita price not a reaction to Nintendo 3DS

Sony's $249 (€249) price tag for PlayStation Vita was not a reaction to the affordable pricetag Nintendo slapped on its 3DS handheld, according to Sony. 3DS was originally launched at the same price in the US in March - until Nintendo chopped a third off the device's RRP in July.Despite having a greatly superior feature set, Vita will launch at approximately the same RRP as its predecessor, Sony's PSP."$250 or €250 has always been our target price to hit for PS Vita, since the beginning of the development of the platform in 2008," Sony's global studios boss Shuhei Yoshida told the latest issue of Edge."We did not price PS Vita to match 3DS. Consumers have to see the value to shell out their hard-earned money, so each product must have the right price to meet the consumers' perception of the value proposition of each product. We believe €250 - €300 for the 3G/WiFit model - is the right price for PS Vita."Vita, which has been dubbed the "easiest PlayStation platform to develop for" won't be hitting Europe and the US until next year - but is set for release in Japan before the end of 2011. CVG Staff