At its Gamescom PlayStation press conference today, Sony announced a price drop for its handheld Vita.

Effective today, the machine in both its Wi-Fi and 3G forms will be priced at $199 in the U.S, down from $249 for the Wi-Fi model and $299 for the 3G model. It will be priced at 199 Euros In Europe.

Launched in February 2012, Vita has struggled to establish itself as a mainstream consumer device, in competition with handheld phones, tablets and Nintendo's resurgent 3DS. Earlier this year, Sony cut the price of the machine in Japan to 19,980 yen ($206) for both versions. At the time, Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said the decision was "region-based" and prompted by exchange rate fluctuations.

Sony also said that it would be introducing price cuts for Vita memory cards, with the 4GB version down from $19.99 to $14.99 and the top-end 32GB card down from $99 to $79.

"PlayStation Vita's new price makes it an even more compelling value for gamers looking for the ultimate in portable gaming," said SCEA's Guy Longworth. "With a strong holiday lineup, plus integration with the highly anticipated PlayStation 4, now is the perfect time to become a PlayStation Vita owner."