U.S. and Japan Get PSP Go Price Cut

Sony is reducing the price for the PSP Go significantly in at least two countries.

Sony has just slashed the price for its download-only handheld after after a somewhat rocky first year.

The PSP go is now $199 instead of $249 in the U.S., and ¥16,800 instead of ¥26,800 in Japan. There is no word yet about whether there will be a similar price cut in Europe or anywhere else.

This smaller version of Sony's PSP was released on October 1, 2009 in North America and Europe (November 1, 2009 in Japan) to mixed reviews. It was criticized by some for being too expensive, as well as for being incompatible with the original PSP's UMD format and its inability to transfer games from those formats. It experienced significant problems in Europe and Australia when retailers in these areas boycotted the handheld.

Although Sony never released the sales figures specifically for the PSP go, the company has sold 61 million units of all versions of the PSP combined since its initial release in 2004.