Sony revealed at this year’s Tokyo Game Show the launch date for their new handheld “PlayStation Vita” in Japan, the handheld with hit Japan on December 17, 2011 but no release date was given for North America or Europe, but it is likely to be in 2012.

The price was also revealed for the 2 handheld versions which are wifi only and 3G versions respectively. The price of the wifi only version is 24,980 Yen which is $324.79 and the 3G version is 29,980 Yen which is $389.80. The dollar prices are not official they are just the currency conversion.

The 3G versions plans in Japan are 980 Yen ($12.74) for 20 hours and 4,980 Yen ($64.75) for 100 hours.
The price are interesting especially with the fact that Nintendo dropped the price of their 3DS this year and the 3DS is the Vita’s biggest competitor and Nintendo did learn to their misfortune that launching at too high of a price can hurt the game sales.

According to Gamasutra Sony Japan President Hiroshi Kawano did say “We have made no changes to those prices” on answering questions did the 3DS price drop effect the pricing of the Vita.

Source: Gamasutra