Slimmer version of the PS Vita is coming to North America

The redesigned, slimmer version of the PS Vita is coming to North America. Already available in both Japan and the UK, the latest version of the handheld sports a smaller body and swaps out the original’s OLED screen for an LCD display — it’s 20 percent thinner and features slightly improved battery life. The North American version will be released as part of a bundle alongside sci-fi shooter Borderlands 2 for $199.99. It also comes with an 8 GB memory card, as well as six different DLC packs for the game. 

The redesigned “slim” PlayStation Vita, the PCH-2000 model, will be released in North America this spring as part of a $199 Borderlands 2 bundle, announced Sony’s John Koller during a press event in Los Angeles this afternoon. According to Koller, vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America, the PS Vita version of Borderlands 2 will feature four-player cooperative play and cross-platform compatibility with save games from the original PlayStation 3 version of the game. It will also include six downloadable add-ons that Gearbox Software has released to this point. Iron Galaxy Studios is co-developing Borderlands 2 on PS Vita, and that version will by published by Sony Computer Entertainment.