Sony has announced the slim version of the Vita for Europe after teasing an announcement there, marking its first appearance in the west and another sign that it could be coming stateside sometime soon. The Vita Slim will hit the UK next week, on February 7, but Sony didn't say just yet when or if it will come to North America.

GameSpot reports that the PCH-2000 model will replace the old PCH-1000 model completely in Europe, and the old stock will be depleted as they sell out. It will also only come in black, as opposed to the variety of colors offered in Japan. All of this probably gives us some idea of what to expect when it hits our shores.

The slim model is 20% thinner and 15% lighter, with an extra hour of battery life and 1GB of built-in memory. It also swaps the OLED for an LCD screen, and did away with the 3G option in favor of wi-fi only.