Sony's Secret Strategy: Milk the Old, Kill the New

It looks like Sony had a very specific reason for holding the PS Vita until 2012. And that reason is: another rehash of the original PlayStation Portable is headed to retailers. The news came just moments ago during Sony's SNE live press conference at Gamescom, Europe's biggest video game expo. The conference is currently streaming on Sony's official PlayStation blog (European edition); those who missed it can tune in for a loop of the stream that will run for the next 24 hours. The new version of the old PSP will retail for 99 euro. Little is known about the device, but it appears to have flat start and select buttons (expect them to be touch-sensitive, just like the power button on the PlayStation 3), as well as flat volume controls and more prominent shoulder buttons. Exciting? Hardly. If you don't have a PSP by now, chances are you don't really want one. Will the new price point persuade a few European buyers to take the plunge? Surely. And with a reported 71 million PSPs already sold worldwide, Sony could potentially push that total to 80 million units – especially if the new model and price point come to Japan and the United States. While this might sound like a wise business move on Sony's behalf, it hints at something far more foolish, and a tad more sinister: in an effort to ensure that this “new” PSP sells well, Sony is holding back the PS Vita. After all: if the PS Vita were on sale at the same time as the PSP rehash, which would you buy? If you're serious about gaming, you'll get a PS Vita. If you're not, then you're not even in the picture because you likely bought an iPod Touch instead. Follow me @LouisBedigian