It's the talk of the town but one very important fact remains unknown: the price.
After seeing what Sony's Next Generation Portable (NGP) is capable of after the unveiling earlier today, cost speculation has swept the Internet. Yeah, it'll boast a 5-inch screen, front and rear touchpads, 3G support, WiFi, dual micro analog sticks, Sixaxis motion support, an awesome OLED screen, and a bunch of amazing games, but what's that price tag…?
Well, in speaking with GamesIndustry.biz , Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) analyst Jesse Divnich has said it could fall into the $299 – $349 price point. However, regardless of price, Divnich also believes the NGP will redefine portable gaming:
"The market is ripe for portable high-end gaming. The NGP will be a serious threat to all forms of portable entertainment. 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."
Another piece of evidence comes from Sony Europe boss Andrew House, who told Eurogamer the NGP will be available at an "affordable price." Said House:
" 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. "
It'll be interesting to see how gamers respond, and what they'll be willing to pay for this highly advanced piece of handheld technology. The gadget lovers might be all over it, but let's not forget that this is a spiritual successor to the PSP…and Sony has always been all about the games. So maybe it really will cater to a much wider demographic this time around.
Looks like im gonna wait for a pice drop if im lucky in two years i will have one.
When you look at the price of the crappy ipod touch… PsP2 is WAY affordable for what it does.
@Neo,
Indeed!
I'm gonna need a piggy bank.
you may need several lol
you may need and actual bank
may need to rob one by the sounds of it!
I also read on Eurogamer that a "source" told them that Sony expects to sell it at a loss (initially).
They sell everything at a loss initially.
Strangely enough, if Sony is going to be selling the NGP at a loss initially then that is probably a good sign as far as the price is concerned. The video game industry sure is funny sometimes.
Last edited by Looking Glass on 1/27/2011 4:09:35 PM
The thing is that the PSP already contains many of the technologies used in the PSP2. The principle new components are the processor and the GPU. Most of the rest comes from cell phone chipsets, the Sixaxis controller or the existing PSP. I'm not sure that the thing will be as expensive to build as people think. A lot will depend on the cost of the main components – CPU/GPU/screen/motherboard.
Either way, I still think it will be in the $249.99-$299.99 range. I honestly don't believe that Sony will try to price it over a PS3.
I`ll probably be at $350 considering it is new. My guess is they will probably make slimmer versions in the future, but $350 can`t be that bad of a start with all the features it has. I wonder if it will have bluetooth. how is the back tracking pad going to work out. I don`t see much use for it other than that one demo they showed us.
It does have Bluetooth technology. The specs have been released for it and Bluetooth was on there. Here are the specs(Bluetooth on bottom).
HARDWARE SPECS
CPU: ARM Corte-A9 core (4 core)
GPU: SGX543MP4+
EXTERNAL DIMENSIONS:
Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
SCREEN:
(Touch screen) 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED Multi touch screen (capacitive type)
REAR TOUCH PAD:
Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
CAMERAS:
Front camera, Rear camera
SOUND:
Built-in stereo speakers, built-in microphone
SENSORS:
Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer)
Three-axis electronic compass
LOCATION:
Built-in GPS
Wi-Fi location service support
KEYS/SWITCHES:
PS button
Power button
Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)
Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)
Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)
Right stick, Left stick
START button, SELECT button
Volume buttons (+/-)
WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS:
Mobile network connectivity (3G)
IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)
(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode)
Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (A2DP/AVRCP/HSP)
Last edited by Lenoxseer on 1/27/2011 4:47:11 PM
I'm one of the few that never got around to a PSP so I'm definitely anxious for the NPG even if it's over $300.
I think itll be less than the ps3. I mean… Cmon… more? Wouldnt you just rather get another ps3?
The PS3 will be 5 years old by that time.
The new PSP is all new technology…
I guess. I have no worries anyway.
"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."
Ya that's one thing people need to remember, the ps3 was cutting edge when it released four years ago (and like Ben said it'll be 5 when NGP releases) but now it's old technology, and in the tech world 4-5 years is a long time. So it's not that hard to imagine that they can now make a handheld as powerful as the ps3, relatively speaking of course.
I think Sony will surprise everyone with its price; I'm going to say $249-$299. They're gonna want to give the 3DS some stiff competition.
I'm loving those shoulder buttons. I wish they could release this earlier, if it is near november or december it would be a bit late because I will have got KZ3 and R3, LBP2, InFamous 2 and will definately have no time or money left.
I hope they sell it at a loss. Will be beneficial later because more people will buy the software. 🙂
If they have uncharted killzone and littlebigplanet and all that jazz, day 1 for me. I'm just hoping the batt is good.
well it cant b much higher than 3DS, otherwise they will screw themselves even more. (i think they learned their lesson from the PS3 launching too high)
i doubt ill even get it. (im not a hardcore handheld type of guy, only on the big brother console)
They would have to be on a mixture of cocaine, heroin, and meth, to charge any more that $250 for this. It can't cost more than a PS3.
I'll have to wait, just recently retired. Now I'm on a fixed income so have to budget for the extras.
Didn't GameStop have a page up taking pre-orders, and listed the NGP as $999.00?? hahahaha
Like seriously, either list a real price, or just leave it blank. Actually listing a real number will just confused and spread uninformed lies.
I can just see some Xbox fanboy saying to their friends… "Yeah, the new Sony NGP is gonna be $999. Good luck with that! Lulz"
More likely it'll be a DS fanboy, but count on it.
Peepelz iz stoopid.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 1/27/2011 5:57:37 PM
"The future of portable entertainment is in the hands of Sony."
I like the ring of that. 🙂
300 dollars is about 190 english quid.
or in more relateable terms, one veeery skint me.
need it to be about £150 (thats english quid ppl) for me to seriously consider investment. which will happen if it hits that price. im selling a lot of stuff atm… heck, i'll sell my goldfish!
Yeah but what are the chances of that, the U.K consumer will be screwed as always, if it is $300 USD it will be around £300 GBP (approx 477 usd)
Why do you blokes always forget that the VAT is included in Brit prices and tax is not included in NA ones?
Because that makes up the difference in price easily.
😉
Not really Fane.
If bought in New Jersey with a 7% sales tax, the total on a $300 NGP would be $321 (if I buy it in an economic development zone with a 3.5% sales tax, even less).
Also, keep in mind some U.S. states have a smaller sales tax while some have a slightly higher sales tax (New York and Texas are both at 8.25%).
So, to your point, the U.S. sales tax does not easily make up the difference between the U.S. $300 NGP and the 300 pound U.K. NGP.
Orvisman,
You missed my wink. The second sentence was a joke.
Tax is 12% where I live, though.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 1/29/2011 12:48:10 AM
I probably should but the whole hand-held gaming just never appealed to me IDK why but it just doesn't it looks really sleek though I might infest in 1 AFTER a price drop
Please don't infest my NGP.
I meant INVEST instead of infest homie, it's just a typo.
Last edited by GuyverLT on 1/28/2011 11:06:06 AM
Might as well buy a new ps3…this is a waste of money in my opinion, but thats me.
Anything is affordable if you have the money, just that most people don't.
All I know is that it should cost more than the 3DS, which is $250? So my bet is at least $299. With the 3DS at $250, a $299 price tag for the NGP seem like a good deal actually.
As usual, for Nintendo, its hardware will be underwhelming with poor graphics. They're going to depend on its 3D features like they depended on motion gaming for the Wii. Why does Nintendo not care about the hardware specs? It's like they don't appreciate the evolution of graphics/resolution improvement in this gen. Thank goodness Sony cares.
Last edited by daus26 on 1/27/2011 5:59:58 PM
Agreed, it should cost more than a 3DS, but that would be in a fair and realistic market where people don't see the 3DS and NGP as direct competitors.
That said, I still don't think that a price above $299.99 is sensible.
Well assuming it is in that price range I won't be purchasing one. I'd like to, I'd love to own one bu not at that price. I'd much rather play on my PS3 anyways, well a big screen rather. So for myself I just can't find justification spending that much on a handheld device. I mean it took me forever to get an iPhone basically for that reason, then I found one for $70 bux so I bought it. When this thing gets to around $200 then I may purchase one. Until then I'll just be patiently waiting.
Perhaps the NGP will have various skus with varying storage capacities. Like PS3 and iPod etc
Here is a problem, but how do you define affordable? I mean by Sony's standards the $600 PS3 was considered affordable, so with that mind I still stand by the fact that this will be in the area of $500 based Sony's idea of affordable.
As for a $299-349 price mark, this is only speculation. Remember how analyst touted a $400 PS3 and we wound up with a $600 console? If anything I would say the heading of this article is a bit misleading because it doesn't allude $299-349 as being speculation but rather as fact.
Yeah.
Tough to understand the "maybe" part of the title.
Make it 250 and I'm buyng it Day 1. 300 and I'm waiting for a bundle. 350 and it'll have to wait as long as I did for the PSP1, just got one.
My guess is that they are going to price point it at 299. One source got a comment out of Sony saying they wanted to turn a profit from the hardware. Waiting till E3 is going to be hard.
"My guess is that they are going to price point it at 299. One source got a comment out of Sony saying they wanted to turn a profit from the hardware."
Hence why its obviously that the NGP is going to be expensive because you can't turn a profit when you continually sell a new product on the cheap.
Its for this reason why I rightly say that the era of cheaply sold game machines are over may it be arcade machines, the 360, PS3, 3DS or NGP and its a new reality gamers will have to come to accept and live with.
Well all I know is I have about one year to figure out how I'm going to muster up the cash to buy this D1.
also these breaking news articles almost made me wet myself. I'm a huge fan of portable gaming. Always have been. With my travel itinerary I kinda have to be. So this is all coming as great news.
I knew sony would deliver on a promise of quality tech.
Why does Nintendo not care about the hardware specs?
Maybe is has something to do with a focusing on affordability, profitability and offering gamers a unique kind of experience beyond just upgraded graphics. The fact that the inferior NDS have beated the PSP at a 3 to 1 ratio clearly demonstrates this.
That's a solid argument. The DS' style of play is quiet unique, as well as the Wii back in its prime. I guess Nintendo's main strategy is to compete below the radar (low specs) and take advantage of its competitor's high price point due to its more advanced technology. However, I think another reason why they remain highly successful is due to their legendary franchises (e.g. Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, DK, etc.). Without them, it'll be like selling a flip phone next to a Droid.
Actually, now that I think about, with most of Nintendo's main franchises catering to the kids, a high-def resolution wouldn't be as necessary as the more realistic, mature, and main franchises for the X360 or PS3. Characters like Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong are cartoonish characters. Making them look more realistic is actually quiet odd. I guess Nintendo is in a world of its own.
Still, I think Nintendo should keep up a bit more with their specs. Their games haven't really evolved since the GameCube days. How much longer are they going to hold back?
if it wants to compete with 3ds its gotta be like $250 to $300. $400 or even $500 dollars is way to much. look at the psp go it was over priced and it failed miserably in sells.
You are wrong regarding the PSPs price. During the majority of it's lifetime the PSP has been within $40 of the price of a DS and yet it has consistently offered games that are a generation ahead of the DS and features that the DS has never been able to match.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 1/27/2011 11:22:47 PM