The earthquake and ensuing tsunami that tragically struck Japan last month will likely be felt by Japanese businesses for decades to come. One of those businesses is obviously Sony and it sounds as though their newest portable gaming device, tentatively called the ‘NGP’, will also be affected. If you remember back to when the NGP was revealed, Sony only promised that it was going to be available in one region by the end of 2011 as it was, but the disaster in Japan may have thwarted their attempts to overachieve.
Speaking to Bloomberg last week, SCEA President Jack Trenton, stated that damages to multiple factories in Northern Japan may result in the NGP only being available in one region by the end of 2011.
While this is sure to disappoint gamers out there that were hoping to see the NGP launch in North America or Europe by Christmas, if there were ever a perfectly understandable reason for a delay, this is it.
Source: Bloomberg via Game Informer
tonycawley
Whaaaat? What do they think they’re Doug having an earthquake and delaying the ngp? God I hate Sony, selfish idiots, all they ever think about is their profit they don’t care about their customers blah blah
tonycawley
Haha, clearly that should’ve said doing not Doug!
BrainDiver
Take all the time you need Sony, just make sure it’s awesome :)
Foxhound_Solid
Well said BD – agreed!
kivi95
yeah but they will loss massive sales in one region then. Losing this chrismas is not good as people will then buy 3DS for their Christmas present.
carson321
@ Tony, no doubt some narrow minded people will try and say this is some kind of excuse and bad mouth Sony about it.
Tossers.
KeRaSh
Anyone who complains about THIS delay is an ignorant idiot.
I just hope Japan gets back on its feet quickly.
G_The_Enemy14
There’s someone is my year who has learning difficulties, and when the tsunami hit, on the first day, he was getting really worried that his 3ds was going to be delayed. He was really quite upset (shouldn’t laugh)
hazelam
i think most people expected it would only be out in one region this year, they may have hoped otherwise but i bet few truly believed it would happen.
there are times when you can complain about the reasons for something taking too long to release, duke nukem forever anyone? surely the most ironic title ever, but this is not one of those times.
even for a country used to earthquakes, or as used to them as you could possibly get, this one was especially devastating, so if getting the ngp a few months later is the worst we suffer, we should consider ourselves lucky.
leon
Well said
teddym
Am I the only who notices a writing inconsistency about the 1 region thing
tonycawley
Writing inconsistency? Explain.
bacon_nuts
“If you remember back to when the NGP was revealed, Sony only promised that it was going to be available in one region by the end of 2011” …. “stated that damages to multiple factories in Northern Japan may result in the NGP only being available in one region by the end of 2011”
They both say it’s going to be in one region, which means that there is no bad news. Surely a typo somewhere?
Matt W [Echo]
Reading over it a day later made me realize that I should’ve worded that second paragraph a little differently. He made it sound as though they would’ve been able to launch in multiple regions if not for the disaster in Japan.
Thanks for the feedback!
Charmed_Fanatic
It is understandable, missing christmas will impact alot, but they could not help it
tonyyeb
This has zero importance when it comes to the lives lost and ruined by such a terrible disaster which could become even worse if the hard work of the nuclear plant staff fail in their efforts.
Smallville2106
Completely understandable.
ashw92
I have to be honest and say i will be really angry at anyone who genuinely bitches about this. All the lives lost and all that destruction was always set to have a huge impact on Japanese businesses, I don’t mind when it comes out, I have faith that it will be an amazing bit of kit