If you're in the market for both a Sony PlayStation 4 and a PlayStation Vita as part of the same purchase and you live in Europe, then does Sony have the deal for you.  The company is experimenting with the idea of selling both devices in a single box for a single price as part of what it's calling the Ultimate Edition.  That's a lot of PlayStation for a lot of money: £499 (approximately US$815) for the pair.  Eurogamer has the story:

Sony UK has worked with retailers to encourage what it calls a "soft bundle" that includes both consoles. Some shops won't be able to offer the deal because of PS4 stock availability, but the expectation is most will from tonight alongside the launch of the PS4 in Europe.

"We're working with our retail partners to put across that proposition as well as we can," Sony UK boss Fergal Gara told Eurogamer.

"It'll come to market in a few different shapes and guises. You may walk in and get a great deal on 'buy a Vita when bought with' type deal. So if you buy a PS4 you can get a Vita for X. And others will say, well here's the Ultimate Bundle and you get all those bits in it.

"But as a base price point, in other words for the two consoles, we expect the gamer to be able to pick that up for under £500. It's not a hard bundle pack at this point in time. It's us working with the retailer to effectively deliver a soft bundle."

So, basically, Sony and it's retail partners think they're on to something here, but are still trying to figure out how to best price and market the bundle.  Eurogamer goes on to point out that buying the pair at once like this is really only about a £10 savings, so there's not much to be gained by buying the bundle instead of staggering the two purchases across whatever period of time is financially comfortable.  I can understand why Sony wants to make this happen considering how much it's designed the PS4 with Vita capabilities in mind (Remote Play, second screen material, cross-buy, etc.), but I'd think it'd take a bit more than this to inspire prospective owners to make this big of a leap at once.  As a so-called soft bundle, it shows that Sony and retailers are still playing with the format and the pricing.  Over time the price will come down a little or a game or two will be included in the box.  The deal will get better.  Everything has to start somewhere.

(Image via Kotaku)