The PS Vita has been struggling in recent days. Sony’s newest handheld hasn't hit the market with quite the splash the first party developer was hoping. Luckily, a recent price drop in Japanese territories has proved more lucrative than anyone could have predicted.

Speaking at a presentation for One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 (translated by Gematsu), Hiroshi Kawano, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, said that the recent PS Vita price drop has quadrupled sales of the handheld in Japanese territories. Sony recently cut the price of both the Wi-Fi and 3G versions of the Vita to ¥19,980 or approximately 214 U.S. dollars. Before the price drop, the Vita was selling a little over 11,000 units a week in Japan. At four times the amount, the Vita is quickly coming up on the 3DS LL (XL) which topped the charts by selling nearly 50,000 units in one week, if all other numbers stay the same.

Sony president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida has previously stated that the same price cut will not be extended to American territories or other markets in which the Vita is sold, noting that decisions like this are made on a region by region basis. Hopefully the Vita’s sudden jump in sales may help him change his mind.

The PlayStation Vita is being marketed as an important accessory to the PlayStation 4. Sony’s recent PS4 event showed a variety of new functions that the Vita will have when the PS4 releases, including streaming remote play and expanded controller capabilities. Still, the Vita is the most expensive handheld currently on the American market, more expensive than some consoles! A price drop would certainly make the powerful little machine more appealing to the majority of the gaming masses.

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