New PS Vita coming stateside this spring in $199 Borderlands 2 bundle (update)

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.

The new PS Vita debuted in Japan last October, and Sony released it in the U.K. last week. It swaps out the original handheld's OLED screen for an LCD and features a narrower rear touchpad and rounded edges. It's also 60 grams lighter than the old model, a reduction of 15 percent, and 20 percent thinner. For more, check out our hands-on impressions from the 2014 Tokyo Game Show.

There's no word yet on whether Sony will also be selling the redesigned PS Vita by itself, or if the new model will completely replace the old one at retail. We'll provide more updates as we have them.

Update: While the redesigned PS Vita is available in six colors in Japan, the North American Borderlands 2 bundle will contain a black Wi-Fi-enabled handheld, along with a downloadable copy of the game and an 8 GB memory card. The six included add-ons are Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty, Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage, the Psycho and Mechromancer character classes, Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 1 and the Collector's Edition Pack. You can see an image of the bundle below, as well as a trailer.