Communications giant AT&T has announced the 3G data plans it plans to offer for Sony’s next handheld, and you might not like what you see.
The following nugget of information was tweeted by the official PlayStation account earlier today:
CES update: @ATT announces wireless data plans for 3G/WiFi PS Vita: $14.99 for 250MB, $25 for 2GB — no contracts
In answer to the question you’re all now wondering, yes, those figures are the monthly prices for cellular data access on the Vita. We’re going to make the assumption that accessing the ‘net via standard WiFi won’t count against your download totals — but, then again, this tweet is all the solid info we really have on how the new portable gaming system will interact with online content.
Oh, and it should also be noted that these monthly rates are in addition to the $300 price tag Sony has promised for the 3G-capable version of the Vita. For comparison, the iteration that can only connect to WiFi sports a $250 retail price. Both versions of the system launch on February 22.
So, who would like to be the first person to slam AT&T for stereotypical corporate greed backed by a marketplace that only avoids the descriptor of “monopoly” insofar as the courts are concerned? It’s kind of them to offer these rates without any sort of contract, but the fact that I have to point that out as a positive is really just an indicator of how we’ve all just come to accept that cellular providers are horrifying examples of capitalism driven to its ethically bankrupt extreme.
Alternately, who would like call me a filthy communist while silently praising the holy memory of Ronald Reagan?
We could really go either way with this one.
