Topic: PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) - previously known as NGP

[Shorty McNostril]

Is the 3DS really over priced or is the NGP severely underpriced?

Both probably.

[Chozo Ghost]

I don't know if the NGP is underpriced, but the 3DS is definitely overpriced. I think all of Nintendo's recent success has gone to their head, because this is so unlike them to charge $250 for a portable. That was the price they launched their consoles at...

Of course, then again... the 3DS is a beast by handheld standards. But I really think they could charge $199 or perhaps less than that, and the only reason they are charging $250 is because they know they can get away with it because of high demand and the popularity of the DS. But such a high price point will impact long term sales. We might see a price cut around the holiday season. That's why I'm going to wait on it.

[Guitar Smasher]

Didn't they admit that they priced the system based on the reaction at last year's E3?  Or that they at least factored it in?

[TJ Spyke]

Yes they did, they said they raised the price based on the strong reaction the system got at E3 last year.

[BlackNMild2k1]

No. they said the strong reaction was a factor in the price that they announced.

[Razorkid]

Eh...The 3DS is not priced outside the value that I perceive it is going to give me, so I'm willing to jump in at launch. It's a portable Gamecube with more functionality, so I don't think it's as overpriced as some would like to suggest. But for others,  the potential experience just doesn't justify the cost. If the NGP launches at $250, I will definitely get it.  Anything higher, and I will simply wait for the inevitable price cut years down the line.  Why? Because my perceived value from that system is not worth more than $250, it's just that simple.


An iPad is not worth $499 to me, but to many others it does. With all this incredible portable tech we are seeing becoming more ubiquitous (but not more affordable) I don't think it's a question of "Is the tech worth the price" anymore, but "Is it worth it for me?"

[fiendcode]

Its not going to be $400; its going to be $399.99.

I am banking on the NGP being $299.99 in the US and Canada. Hopefully this will motivate Nintendo to eventually drop the price of the 3DS to $199.99 and that is what I want to pay for the device.

Sony will have multiple SKUs, expect probably $299 for the "core" model and $399 for the premium one (with 3G, internal flash, etc).  And if PSP/PS3 were anything to go by, the higher priced model will be the only one readily available anywhere.

[BlackNMild2k1]

NGP May Be Delayed Because of Japan Disaster
-One system's Fail is another system's Win-
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-04/sony-new-playstation-portable-may-be-delayed-by-japan-disaster.html

Sony may introduce the PlayStation Portable, codenamed “NGP,” in only one region this year instead of starting sales in Asia, Europe or the U.S. in time for the end-of-year holiday shopping season, Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said. Tretton declined to say which region might get the handheld first.

Production problems brought on by the disaster in Japan have forced the Tokyo-based company to consider rolling it out in only one geographic area, Tretton said.

“It may be the straw that says ‘maybe we get to just one market by the end of the year,’” he said in an interview last week. A delayed introduction may give game developers in certain regions more time to complete their software, Tretton said.

They are saying that they may only get to one market this year, but I'm sure they were saying that before the quake, so maybe this is a way to soften the blow that they must might not be ready to launch this year at all. Nintendo better turn Sony's lemons into some damn fine lemonade and be sure that that Monster Hunter 3DS announcement happens and it releases this holiday season.

[broodwars]

Honestly, I wouldn't mind waiting till 2012 for the NGP.  I just purchased a PSP 3000 a couple of days ago (the clarion call of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, Dissidia 2, and Valkyria Chronicles 2 was very appealing, as well as the free LittleBigPlanet PSP GameStop was throwing in to sweeten the deal this week).  There's more than enough games in the PSP's (digital) library to keep me satisfied with the unit until 2012, especially with the PS3 (and occasionally Wii) games I already play.  Still, that's pretty bad news for Sony, though.  The PSP's market share in the global market is fragile at best, so Sony's going to have to have a stellar Western launch lineup to make up for all the ground they're already giving the 3DS.

[Chozo Ghost]

Honestly, I really believe the disaster in Japan is impacting their production abilities. Much of the world's computer chips are manufactured in Japan and of course the manufacturing requires electricity, so when that nuclear plant went down it was a big deal. This might effect 3DS production as well, unless its chips are manufactured somewhere else.

[Ceric]

When I went to buy my 3DS at launch the manager at the Gamestop mentioned that because of the recent disaster over in Japan Nintendo only gave Gamestop the amount the pre-orderred.  I haven't been to Walmart, Target, and the like since to see how many 3DS I see in the wild.  Though as mentioned the power issue is probably going to be the biggest factor in production.
 
As for the NGP it looks interesting though seriously enough if they sold one that did 3G and tethering without a monthly fee,  I be there for $399.  This is something I need to get in my hands.

[broodwars]

Sony has now come forth and stated that the NGP will not be delayed due to the earthquake/tsunami.  Personally, reading between the lines this sounds like spin to me.  They basically say that it wasn't necessarily their intention on releasing the device in all 3 regions at the same time to begin with.  So we might still see the device in NA in 2012, but it wouldn't be delayed due to the earthquake disrupting production.  In the grand scheme of things, I don't see why that matters since we still probably won't be seeing the device this year, but that's semantics for you.

[BlackNMild2k1]

So they aren't saying that it won't be delayed, just that it won't be delayed because of the earthquake.

So 2012 it is and a possibly very limited JPN launch during Holiday 2011

[Chozo Ghost]

They need the extra time so they can steal another Nintendo innovation by tacking on a 3D screen.

[Ceric]

They need the extra time so they can steal another Nintendo innovation by tacking on a 3D screen.

I was actually sort of surprised that Nintendo was getting the 3D screen out before Sony since they have a lot of different 3D tech in house.  What would have been more perfect to outdo the DS anyway.  Nintendo just beat them to the punch.

[Luigi Dude]

Oh this will be fun.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/296926/news/sony-price-doesnt-make-or-kill-a-platform/

You'd think after the whole 599.99 US dollars incident that Sony would be a little smarter then this.  If they honestly believe they can get away with selling the NGP at a price much higher then the 3DS they're in trouble.  Maybe they can get away with it in Japan where the PSP has ended up creating a large fanbase for itself but in the west where nobody gives a sh!t about the system except as a pirate machine it's just not going to fly.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I meant to post this the other day and comment on how the PSP2 will end up being at minimum $399 at launch. But I never read the whole thing so I never got around to posting it.

Before reading any of it though I was thinking that this could also be used to defend the over pricing of the 3DS in most markets and that Sony was indirectly defending that so they could later justify their even higher price for NGP later.

It's all about perceived value and Sony has a lot of losses to make up for. They can't really afford to take a loss on this hardware and have the software not bring in the expected returns like the PSP did. So maybe they take a page out of Nintendo's book and make their profit on the hardware now and then make more profits on the software later too.


edit:
and how about we follow up that article with this article
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=33710.msg665687#msg665687

[Chozo Ghost]

If price "doesn't make or kill a platform", then why is it that PS3 sales were **** until the price was dropped to $299? Maybe the NGP is going to follow a similar strategy where it launches at a high price and has shitty sales for a couple years, but then Sony will lower the price and hopefully it will pick up steam at that point? That may be what they are thinking.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Then Nintendo can release the 4DS that not only displays in 3D with HD graphics better than the PS3, but also allows you to bend space and time. That way we can do this all over again as if it didn't just happen.

[broodwars]

Looks like Sony's telling analysts to expect the NGP to launch in North American in 2011.  Huh.  I guess Sony's smelling blood in the water with the less-than-phenomenal early sales of the 3DS, so they're trying to get it out here before the big 3DS software can arrive.  Or else in the words of Doc Brown "It could all just be an amazing coincidence."

[NWR_insanolord]

Except it will most likely launch at the same time as the first wave of big 3DS software, with a launch lineup of likely about the same quality as the 3DS's and an even higher price. I'm not sure launching earlier will work out any better for Sony than it has so far for Nintendo. They'd probably be better off waiting until they can put an impressive library behind it out of the gate and get some sales momentum going to build developer support.

[BlackNMild2k1]

or they want to get it out before having to deal with both the 3DS AAA games around Xmas  and then the Wii2 in early 2012. They don't want to be drowned out completely by Nintendo hardware, hype and news.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Look slike the PSP2 isn't the only handheld Sony is releasing this year....
http://www.engadget.com/photos/sony-s1-and-s2-android-honeycomb-tablets/#4087515

a single screen and a Dual Screen Nvidia Tegra 2 powered tablet

[Stogi]

That S2 looks pretty slick. Wish the screens were bigger though.

[BlackNMild2k1]

01net Rumor: NGP Specs Downgraded!! Less RAM & No Internal Flash
From 512MB RAM + 128MB VRAM down to 256MB RAM + 128MB VRAM
http://www.1up.com/news/ram-cut-internal-memory-removed

Rumor: NGP Specs Dowgraded, 2011 Release in Japan

The NGP will release this year in Japan and next year in the rest of the world according to 01.net, a French site tech with a history of reliably reporting leaked Sony information. That same site leaked accurate specs of the NGP weeks before the devices unveiling in January.

According to 01.net's information, non-3G models of the NGP will be priced competitively with the 3DS. Meaning we can expect that the low-end model will cost around $250-$300. In order to reach that price window some sacrifices had to be made. While earlier reports pegged the new handheld as sporting 512MB of RAM, the newest information suggests that Sony has cut that number in half to 256MB. In order to compensate for the loss, the company reduced the size of the OS footprint in memory. 26MB of the 256 is high-speed RAM that can be used for certain tasks that require quicker access to system memory. The 128MB of graphics memory are still in place; however the planned 16MB of internal flash memory have been removed in favor of cheaper external storage.

While none of this information has been confirmed by Sony, 01.net's track record with Sony information lends credence to their claims. One way or another, we'll find out at E3.

Original Source: http://www.01net.com/editorial/533663/la-ngp-sortira-en-2011-moins-puissante-et-moins-chere-que-prevu/


I'm gonna guess that NGP 3Gless will be $299 if this is true. ($399 w/ 3G)