Cheap 99 Euro PSP Draws In Younger Audience, Sony Believes

Sony is adamant that its recently confirmed PSP E-1000 handheld console, which costs just 99 Euros, will really attract lots of younger gamers who didn't have enough money to spend on the regular PSP-3000 or PSP Go models.

Sony is getting ready to deploy the PlayStation Vita handheld platform later this year, in Japan, and in early 2012, for the rest of the world.

This doesn't mean it's forgotten about the current PlayStation Portable, as Sony confirmed at its Gamescom 2011 conference that a new model, the PSP E-1000, would be released in Europe and the UK for the low price of €99/£89.

According to the new boss of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Jim Ryan, this new product will appeal to a younger audience and is certain to score big sales this holiday season.

"You will see the audience skew younger," Ryan told MCV. "At €99/£89 it will make a great Christmas gift. It's a device to play UMD games. It's all for the audience. If we are going to take PSP very young - teens and much younger - they are happy to just play the game. If taking wi-fi out is the price to pay, we're happy to. The €99 price tag is a real barrier that we've got under which will help us lift off."

The PSP E-1000 drops not just the wireless connectivity as opposed to the regular PSP-3000, but also stereo sound, for example, but, considering the latter model is still priced at 130 euros, it's still a pretty good deal.

No word yet on when the PSP E-1000 is actually going to be put on sale but, until then, Sony Europe is offering a massive sale on select digital PSP titles which can be purchased from the PlayStation Store and transferred onto the future E-1000, via its Media Go application.