Sony is claiming that demand for its PlayStation 4 console is still outstripping supply for the most part, even after the end of the 2013 holiday shopping season. The company held a media event today to give members of the press an update on the PS4, as well as announce that the thinner model of the PlayStation Vita portable console will be coming to the U.S. this spring, following a launch in Japan last fall and in the UK last week.
IGN reports that a slide during Sony's media presentation stated, "PS4’s are generally sold out at all retailers although regular supply is refreshing the channel." Sony did not give any updates on specific sales numbers. In early January, the company said it had sold 4.2 million PS4 units worldwide by the end of 2013.
A whopping 90 percent of all PS4 owners connect the console to the Internet, according to Sony. The older PS3 console took three years to reach a 70 percent Internet connection rate.
The biggest news is that the new and improved model of the PS Vita will finally make its way stateside this spring in a special bundle that will cost $199.99. That includes the console itself, an 8 GB storage card and a free copy of the PS Vita port of tbe FPS-RPG hybrid game Borderlands 2. The PS Vita version will also include six of the game's DLC packs.
The new PCH-2000, and Wi-Fi-only, PS Vita is 20 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than the original models, and adds an internal 1 GB of storage. It also replaces the original's OLED display for an LCD screen that will help extend the console's battery life to up to six hours for games, versus just five hours for the current model.
It's currently not clear if the new PS Vita will completely replace the older models in the U.S. market, nor if Sony plans to release the console without a game bundle at some point.
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