At its pre Tokyo Game Show event, Sony unveiled a new version of its popular handheld gaming device, the PlayStation Vita. The new model is a slight upgrade to its predecessor however; this one appears to be more geared toward the casual gamer than the original Vita models.
The new device is about 20 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than earlier models and comes in six different colors, blue, white, yellow, pink, grey and black. It's battery life has increased from five to six hours as well. The device is boasted as being a more "affordable" model packing a 5-inch LCD display in lieu of an OLED screen. It comes with a gig of built in storage and an option for a new memory card that will upgrade it to up to 64GB, according to IGN.
The device goes on sale in Japan on Oct. 10. So far the company has not mentioned when or if the device will be making an appearance in the west.
The new Vita comes after Sony cut the price of the original PS Vita in the U.S. and Europe in an attempt to boost sales. The price of the handheld was similarly cut in Japan in February. Sales of handheld game consoles have slumped for Sony and others as people lean more toward mobile gaming on smartphones, according to BBC News.
In addition to the unveiling of the new handheld, Sony showed off the Vita TV, a tiny set-top box that will allow users to display their Vita play on a bigger screen. It will also work to stream games being played on a PlayStation 4 console to another TV. In addition, it can stream some media apps to the TV as well, such as Hulu.
So far the device will only be available in Japan but it is likely the new PlayStation Vita won't be exclusive to Japan.
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