NGP won't "go by the wayside in two years or three years"

Sony Computer Entertainment president Kazuo Hirai has revealed that the company is planning on its upcoming handheld, the NGP, equalling sales of its predecessor as a bare minimum.

"One of the things we want to accomplish with the NGP is match the install base that we have on PSP worldwide," Hirai told PlayStation Blog.

"Over and above that try to go beyond that. The fact that we're working hand in hand with the worldwide studios internally but also with a lot of the third party publishing partners already. That, combined with some of the exciting features, is a really strong combination to really match the install base we have for PSP and certainly go beyond that as well."

Hirai also revealed that he intended on a long life cycle for the new handheld. "Whether it's a homebased console like the PS2 or PS3 or a handheld like the NGP, it's very important that we have a stable platform that is in it for the long haul.

"Once [the consumers] invest in our products, it doesn't go by the wayside in two years or three years, but they are able to really enjoy that particular console for a very long time.

"It's my expectation that NGP is going to have a similar sort of lifespan in the portable space as well."

The group CEO also observed that "Call of Duty... that's a very big thing for NGP."