The slimmer, lighter PlayStation Vita model that was released in the U.K. recently will be arriving in North America this Spring, bundled with Borderlands 2 for $199.
The bundle contains the lighter PS Vita as well as a downloadable copy of Borderlands 2 and an 8GB memory card. It will also arrive with six pieces of DLC from the standard version of the game – Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty; Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage; the Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 1 (which raises the level cap in the game); the Collector’s Edition Pack; and the Psycho and Mechromancer class packs. Whether these add-ons will be included with retail copies of Borderlands 2 for the Vita is still unclear.
The slimmer PS Vita is 20% thinner than its older brother and 60 grams lighter, but it also swaps out the Vita’s OLED screen for an LCD one – resulting in a slight downgrade in picture quality for the portable console. The slimmer Vita also launched in Japan with six different colors to choose from, but North America will only receive the standard black edition at launch. It also isn’t clear whether the slimmer Vita will be available without Borderlands 2  but more specifics about the launch will no doubt be made available at a later date.
All-in-all, it’s a nice bundle for Sony to launch their redesigned Vita with. Borderlands 2 has a heavy focus on four player co-op and will also allow you to transfer save games from the PlayStation 3 version of the game, making the most of the Vita’s cross-platform features. Whether the redesigned Vita is an improvement over the standard model comes down to personal preference, but it’s clear that Sony has big plans for its portable console – here’s hoping for some more exciting announcements to come.
Still on the fence about the PlayStation Vita? Has this new redesigned model swayed your opinion either way? Let us know in the comments below.
