PlayStation 4 Release Date Official: November 15

At Gamescom conference yesterday, Sony finally announced a PlayStation 4 release date. The next-generation console will launch in North America on November 15.

The gaming system will be available in Europe as of November 29 and is expected to be released in a total of 32 countries by the end of the year.

The announced release date will pit Sony’s PlayStation 4 directly against rival Microsoft’s Xbox One console, which is also expected to launch in November, at a yet undisclosed date. This will be the first time the two tech giants are releasing their consoles almost simultaneously.

The new console will be available in North America for $399. It will retail for £349 in the UK and for €399 in Europe.  The lower price tag, compared to Xbox One’s announced retail cost of $500 has driven PS4 pre-orders. Sony has announced at Gamescom that they already have more than one million orders for the next-generation console worldwide.

Sony also unveiled two new color options for the DualShock 4 controller: red and blue. Called Magma Red and Wave Blue, these color variants will retail for $60 and will be available in the U.S. later this year. The controllers will arrive in Europe together with the PS4, on November 29.

Here are the new DualShock 4 controllers: Magma Red and Wave Blue.

PS3 to PS4 game upgrade

Besides the PlayStation 4 release date, Sony announced a program to allow gamers who buy PlayStation 3 games to get a discount for the PS4 upgrade.  The value of the discount was not revealed.

Sony named EA, Ubisoft, Activision and Warner Bros. as partners in this PS3 game upgrade program, which so far includes the following titles: Assassin’s Creed IV, Watch Dogs, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4. More games will likely be added over the following weeks.

PS Vita gets a price cut

As of today, Sony’s handheld console PlayStation Vita will get a price cut and retail for $199 in the U.S. and €199 in Europe. The PS Vita price cut applies to both Wi-Fi and 3G systems and was first implemented in Japan this February.

Memory cards will also see significant price reductions, according to Sony. The company said the new price will make the PS Vita more appealing, given the upcoming lineup of games especially designed for the portable console and its integration with the much anticipated PS4.

What do you think of Sony’s latest announcements? Will the November 15 PlayStation 4 release date help Sony outsell Microsoft’s Xbox One?

[Images via playstationlifestyle & IGN]