Sony announces worldwide PS3 price cut to $249, new PSP model

At the GamesCom video game conference in Germany today, Sony revealed its plan for the upcoming holiday shopping season. With the company's hotly anticipated PlayStation Vita handheld gracing only Japan in time for the biggest shopping days of the year, Sony will focus its efforts on making its current hardware as appealing as possible. The strategy? Make things cheap.

For starters, the Blu-ray-powered PlayStation 3 160GB console will get a $50 price cut to $249, bringing it within $50 of the lowest-priced Xbox 360 bundle. The price cut is universal worldwide, and effective immediately, so you should be able to walk into your local retailer or game shop later today and pick one up for the newly-discounted price.

And Sony has another trick up its sleeve. In a somewhat mind-boggling announcement, the company also pulled the curtain back on a brand new version of its current handheld gaming device, the PSP. With the new Vita handheld poised for release early next year, this new console is a bit of a mystery. It will feature no wifi connectivity — unlike every other PSP model before it — and has only been confirmed for sale in Europe.

The new PSP features a more rounded front and less glossy finish, and will carry a price of 99 euros. That price equates to roughly $140, which is $10 more than the current PSP models, though if Sony plans on bringing it to the U.S., the price will likely be adjusted to undercut its current lineup.