If it is online only and limited to (year old) launch bundles, it sounds like them trying to clear out inventory they have little/no hope in selling without a significant price cut.

40% price cut and it is not even black friday yet...
This could be big in both directions.

Sony cutting the price by that much or retailers losing faith in the vita and reduce their stock

Shelf space in supermarkets is a very valuable asset and I'm sure Target don't want to waste a lot of shelf space on items consumers aren't interested in. Due to this, they're discounting them so they can have space for popular items like the iPad mini and Taylor Swifts new album during the holiday shopping season.

What? Did you read the OP? It's an online deal on the higher end launch bundle and only at Target. They're clearly just getting rid of old stock.

They take up warehouse space though, which is also very expensive.

This is to clear out inventory space, imo.

In japan they will do the same. They're offering an 3G exclusive vita bundle with a free game (that's extremely rare there - not even wii sports or Nintendo land get that privilege for example) plus a 4GB memory card for the same price as a stand alone system.

The other bundle is also 3G exclusive and will offer the 32gb for half the price.

I think the 3G version is stalling and going the way of the dodo.

Goes to show how popular that launch bundle was if they couldn't sell them after 8 months. Not looking good for the Vita this holiday season.

This is quite a deal for folks who have been holding out. But the 3G model comes with a monthly service fee, right?

All of the sku's involving the 3G model were unpopular i'm guessing. People just don't want to pay extra for it.

Only if you opt for one.

Without it, I think it's the same as a regular vita, so for this price this is the system to get.