Sony will slash the price of its PlayStation Vita handheld game consoles by up to a third in Japan, it said Monday, weeks after it cut its sales target for the device following weak holiday sales.

Sony is hoping developers are interested in working on games for its PlayStation Vita and Android-based devices, as it launched a beta test Thursday of a new cross-platform SDK.

Sony will fully restore PlayStation Network service to users in Japan this week, ending a two-and-a-half month suspension of service, and bringing to a close an embarrassing incident that began with the largest known loss of customer information by a company.

Japan's console and portable gaming market sank 16 per cent in the first six months of the year as new software failed to make a splash and sales of hardware fell, according to data released on Thursday.

Millions of PlayStation users are once again able to shoot, fight and race their way through online worlds after Sony resumed online gaming service late Saturday and Sunday in many major markets.

Thank God Steve Jobs isn't on the Supreme Court.