Sony announced its NGP handheld gaming device earlier this year, an evolution of the PlayStation Portable that includes a more powerful processor, an improved HD display, a bottom-mounted multi-touch interface and twin analog thumbsticks. Though the company said nothing specific about the price, many simply assumed that a gadget with such powerful tech built in would fall closer to the $500-and-up world of tablet computers than the $300-and-under world of portable gaming devices. Now there’s some evidence which points more in the latter direction, though it should be said at the outset that this isn’t any sort of confirmation.
Some of the readers at Gawker gaming blog Kotaku took a survey conducted by research firm Toluna yesterday. The survey was sponsored by Ubisoft, a third-party publisher, and it bore the label, “Ubisoft- NGP concept- US Adults.”
At one point in the survey, the NGP price comes up. It reads, “the retail price of the Sony NGP is expected to be around $350. How likely would you be to purchase the Sony NGP now that you know this retail price?” The survey then goes on to say that the version of the NGP shipping without a built-in 3G wireless radio will cost $250, and then asks the same question of how likely a purchase is based on the price.
Obviously, Ubisoft is not Sony. And even the wording of the survey is vague– the price “is expected to be around,” it says. That said, Ubi is a major publishing house and is without a doubt working closely with Sony on putting together launch window titles for the handheld’s release. The publisher saying what the price is “expected” to be in a survey is presumably informed by its ongoing development work with the device. In other words, if any entity other than Sony is in a position to be suggesting what the NGP price may be, it’s a major publisher like Ubisoft.
So let’s come back around to the survey question. What do you think of a $350 price tag (or thereabouts)? Do you even want 3G on your NGP? Is $250 even a reasonable price to set from the hardware manufacturer’s perspective, given the powerful tech that is built into the NGP? Bear in mind that Sony reportedly sold every PlayStation 3 console at a loss for some time after its release and could be planning to take a similar hit with the NGP.
