Looks like Sony is, once again, hedging its bets when it comes to their popular PSP handheld. In a move reminiscent of the non-”all in” philosophy of the release of the PSPGo, the company is not going to let all hope ride on the release of a new, albeit amazing sounding, piece of hardware.
Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Computer Entertainment worldwide studios told the Computer and Videogames website:
“The NGP features everything Sony can and wants to do today,” he said. “It’s a platform looking forward with great ambition. It can’t replace a platform that has already been on sale for seven years now. In terms of pricing, we can’t sell the NGP for the same price as a PSP. The PSP has become very affordable and popular, especially with younger generations. I think the NGP needs time to mature and get adopted by users,” he added. “So, for the time being, both platforms will coexist.”
Now, I’m all for supporting your early users and young adopters of technology, but I’m wary of another strategy in which Sony attempts to bring a new aesthetic to the handheld gaming market, but refuses to focus all its considerable energy and marketing power on the new device. Yes, it will be nice for current PSP owners to be able to continue to buy UMDs and use their PSP 3000s, but how can early adopters of the new NGP (insert Prince joke here) assume that their early purchase won’t be wasted, a la PSPGo? They can’t, that’s how. And then add to this heady mix the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLay, and I see a very fragmented Sony.
I find it hard to want to spend the kind of money on a brand new product that will eventually be unsupported as the Go was, post launch. Like Fox Mulder, I want to believe, but with the current track record, I just can’t see this coming out too well.
Your thoughts? Leave them in the comments below, right?
Source: Computer & Video Games
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