New Sony portable could sell for $299-$349 - EEDAR

Update: Sony boss Andrew House says unit will be "affordable"

Sony's Next Generation Portable games consoles could arrive on the market with a price tag of between $299 and $349 (£187-£219), according to one analyst present at the PlayStation Meeting today in Tokyo.

And Jesse Divnich of EEDAR told GamesIndustry.biz that he believes the NPG "will blow away Western audiences."

"The market is ripe for portable high-end gaming. The NGP will be a serious threat to all forms of portable entertainment," he said.

"After seeing the specs today, if the NGP can't succeed, it is clear that the portable gaming landscape has forever changed. The future of portable entertainment is in the hands of Sony."

The high-end hardware was shown off for the first time today, with a list of features addressing the hardcore market such as dual analogue sticks, as well as more social functions and connectivity.

Sony has not yet attached an official price to the unit, nor name, but has said it will launch this Christmas holiday season. Speaking to Eurogamer in Tokyo today, Sony boss Andrew House said that he wouldn't be drawn on a specific price, but that the console would be "affordable".

"I can't put a ballpark on it in terms of figures, but what I would say is that we will shoot for an affordable price that's appropriate for the handheld gaming space," House told Eurogamer.

However, House did reveal that Sony is keen to sell the handheld at a unit profit, rather than just making margins back on software sales.

"Ideally we would want to have our hardware be profitable, in addition to our software," he said. "We've experienced both sides and we know which one we like to be on!"

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Latest comments (19)

Greg Wilcox Creator, Destroy All Fanboys! 11 years ago

Ouch, but an expected ouch. Still it's stupid to gripe about the price point, as the PS3 Slim is a smaller cheaper version of the initially more expensive home console and yup, all that stuff PACKED into the NGP (PLEASE change that name, Sony!) is what's "expected" of a device these days (which a chunk of folks may never use as much as it's meant to be)...

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Rob Donald PR & Marketing Manager / Associate Producer, NaturalMotion11 years ago

That's a very good price if true Greg. Sure, it's more expensive than a pork pie from Tesco, but in context, not bad. I was dreading iPad level pricing! Of course... still speculation...

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Rob Donald on 27th January 2011 11:10am

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Graeme Quantrill Mobile App Developer 11 years ago

Seems a fair enough start price point for what you get.
"he future of portable entertainment is in the hands of Sony." is a rather strong statement considering Nintendo are the market leaders in gaming (excluding smart phones and pads). The PSPGo was a flop and the PSP is renowned for piracy.

However, rather than being cynical. I'm looking forward to the NGP

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Show all comments (19)

Greg Wilcox Creator, Destroy All Fanboys! 11 years ago

If it were iPad priced, it would actually price OUT too many folks who just want a pure gaming system and not yet another device that does too much. Both Sony and Nintendo might want to keep an eyeball on those folks who might not be on board for a new device that costs more than they're willing to pay, especially in this very wacky economy.

Of course, in a perfect world (dreamy music ON) we'd see a device like the NGP sold as some sort of super inexpensive core unit with functions and features chosen by the end user as download applications purchased through a main site, allowing those who didn't need everything listed to pick and choose, upgrading when they wanted to (dreamy music OFF)...

And now I want a pork pie, blast you. We don't have any Tesco's here (and it's 6:20am, to boot!)

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Tom Keresztes Programmer 11 years ago

@Graeme,

PSP is renowned for piracy, NDS is renowened for piracy... and then there is the iOS devices.

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Kingman Cheng Illustrator and Animator 11 years ago

I think as a start price that's quite fair but call me a cynic, doesn't seem realistic.

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Greg Wilcox Creator, Destroy All Fanboys! 11 years ago

Oh, I'm a cynic as well - just a slightly more optimistic one... ;P

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Andrew Goodchild Studying development, Train2Game11 years ago

Even if it is $299, that doesn't mean it is £187 over here. The only console I recall being sold in UK based on exchange rate is the 360. More likely it will be $299 or £279.

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Anjel Saez ReviewEditor@GamerGourmet 11 years ago

I can't see the unit being successful at launch with such a high price point, assuming their estimates prove right. Again, assuming Sony goes with a price-point like that, it's like putting all their eggs into one basket that, whatever their demographic is, buys into the brand because, "Hey, it's Sony!" As much as they badly want to believe, the PSP did not set the world ablaze. They simply don't command the same brand power in mobile/handheld gaming Nintendo built. I look forward to the new device but at such a high price? I don't think so.

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Anjel Saez on 27th January 2011 2:51pm

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Zan Toplisek11 years ago

During the Playstation Meeting, I thought to myself that 300 EUR would be the sweet spot. But now that I have had time to think it all over, I'm thinking 350 EUR is a lot more realistic, as high as it may seem. 350 EUR for the Wi-Fi SKU, the Wi-Fi + 3G SKU would then probably run for 400 EUR.

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Zan Toplisek on 27th January 2011 3:41pm

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Terence Gage Freelance writer 11 years ago

It depends what sort of conversion rate we get in the UK, but I think anything below £250 would be pretty reasonable considering all the tech and whatnot. I think they would be extremely wise to at the very least pace the 3DS in terms of retail price, and if possible undercut it.

But, looking at everything they're cramming in there, I would be surprised if they manage to keep the price that low unless they don't mind making a loss on hardware sales initially.

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Thaadd Powell Sales Rep, ACD Game Distribution11 years ago

Wow. I hope they've done their market research - I'm a PC gamer (not console/handheld), but that seems pretty insane for something that has a teeny screen and at least at launch a limited amount of thing to play.

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Ricky Hodgson Studying BA (Hons) Computer Games and Visual Effects, Anglia Ruskin University11 years ago

An iPhone is upwards of £500..

so £200-300 doesn't seem unreasonable to me for a portable system as powerful as that.

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Philip Wilson Project Manager/QA 11 years ago

All that power is nice and all but if the battery life is as terrible as it was on the original PSP then it won't mean much.

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Aodhan O'Donnell11 years ago

This is shaping up to be pretty damn awesome, i'll be pre-ordering for anything under 400 but it's not as though i can really afford it but the chance to play killzone, resistance, uncharted and a proper little big planet on the go is just too much to turn up my nose to.
Saying that, if not under or at 300 euro it's going to bomb imo.
Also i'm skeptical of the 3G, if it's bill pay i might hold off also living in ireland, 3G is inconsistent at the best of times outside of the major citys, but the actual specs and graphical power look bloody amazing

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Josef Brett Animator 11 years ago

I can't help but feel it will be close to the £300 mark in the UK. Hopefully it won't be though!

Of course, as they seem to be going with the multiple SKU business model I could be really wrong!

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Tony Johns11 years ago

Me waiting around 4 or 5 years to see if this one becomes a good buy for me.

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Adam Yaure Studying MSc Games Programming, University of Hull11 years ago

wow I'll definitely buy it for £21X ~!

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Curt Sampson Sofware Developer 11 years ago

Anjel, even if it weren't Sony, the console has some awfully compelling features for core gamers. A great screen, the GPU power to drive it, tons of CPU power (important for good AI), and dual analogue sticks. The touchscreen and touchpad may well make up for the lack of a second pair of shoulder buttons.

It basically addresses all of my biggest complaints about the PSP.

Sony can afford to sell the console more cheaply than something like an iPad because they make money on the software; core gamers are willing to and do spend a lot on software, unlike the casual gaming market where prices are being pushed towards levels where only a million-seller can be profitable, if they can charge at all.

Analysts have been saying that this won't penetrate the mass market, and they're right, for a certain definition of "mass market." But keep in mind, by that definition neither the PS3 nor the XBox 360 are mass-market items, either.

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Curt Sampson on 28th January 2011 9:10am

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