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!"
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Rob Donald on 27th January 2011 11:10am
"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
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!)
PSP is renowned for piracy, NDS is renowened for piracy... and then there is the iOS devices.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Anjel Saez on 27th January 2011 2:51pm
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Zan Toplisek on 27th January 2011 3:41pm
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.
so £200-300 doesn't seem unreasonable to me for a portable system as powerful as that.
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
Of course, as they seem to be going with the multiple SKU business model I could be really wrong!
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