Research Analyst Michael Pachter got the chance to get hands on with Sony’s NGP yesterday, which is nice. Perhaps at some point we’ll be able to see what the PSP’s successor can do, but in the meantime we’ll have to follow the opinions of those that have.
So, with that in mind, let’s have a look at what Pachter was saying.
“Hands on NGP at Sony yesterday,” he starts. “With the right software, quite awesome. The controls [are] very smooth, the screen flawless.” Sounds great.
“Price will be high.” Oh, wait, sorry. What was that?
“Tretton said NGP ‘between $100 and $599′” he Tweeted, “[I] am betting it’s priced either $299 or $349, depending upon bill of materials.” Well, $349 is probably a little bit beyond the range that we’re personally expecting, especially if Sony do a quick dollar – pound conversion.
He suggests that the 3G version (remember, the NGP will come in two flavours) should only add $50, subsidised by the carrier.
“Uncharted NGP tech demo was cool,” he concludes. “Accelerometer to swing on rope, massage back touch pad to climb, dual analogs intuitive. Gamers will likee.”
I don’t know about you, but if I want to swing my device and rub a screen, I’ll do it on the iPhone. If the NGP is to be the all singing, all dancing super handheld, just leave it to the buttons.
But then, we’ve not played it first hand. Funny that.
gazzagb
I agree with him, I can’t see the price being as “affordable” as Sony says.
TSBonyman
Sony have said that they’ve learnt their lesson regards pricing with the PSP, let’s hope it’s true and that the crisis in Japan doesn’t affect things too drastically.
It will be unfortunate if the cost is expensive due to the novelty input devices because the NGP is a winner in my eyes simply because of the dual sticks.
Tanzil
Personally I ignore Patcher nowadays. He doesn’t seem to like Sony much.
aerobes
Wonder what his salary (he’s American right? or I’d say wages) is? His job really doesn’t seem that hard. All the same, his waffle creates headlines and instigates debate so he’s probably creating favours all over the place to be fair.
I look forward to TSA’s hands-on with the device as your 3DS coverage has been and continues to be pretty exemplary.
nofi
What’s with the Pachter hate? It was Tretton who said between $100 and $600. I’ll bet Pachter’s guess is spot on… :/
colmshan1990
That was probably a throw away comment not meant to mean anything.
If you ask me what the weather will be next month, and I say it’ll be wet or dry, it’s hardly a proper answer, is it?
ico
Bugs me that Pachter is given so much air time / exposure. I could pull a better prediction out of my belly button fluff. Should we stop even reporting his ‘predictions’ and then maybe he’d crawl back under a rock or wherever he is from. Get back to doing some real work man.
sfgdfds
who’s Pachter? ;-)
leon
No matter the price this is on my Xmas list
Galgomite
This thing better be $299 or less. It’s frustrating to hear Howard Stringer talk about how people are willing to pay premiums for devices they want like the iPhone. People can justify the iPhone because it can do many things pretty well (gaming not one IMHO). I’ll be amazed if the NGP is anything but a first-class game machine with a useless web browser, impossible-to-sync music player and oddly restricted video player. Oh, and a four-hour battery. Apples and oranges.
bunimomike
“I don’t know about you, but if I want to swing my device and rub a screen, I’ll do it on the iPhone. If the NGP is to be the all singing, all dancing super handheld, just leave it to the buttons.”
I’d read the whole article but didn’t read who’d written it then read this bit and thought “ha, I bet Alex wrote this”. :-)
The iPhone has a lovely touch-screen and accelerometer/gyroscope in there. No reason why NGP can’t be the best of both worlds. To be honest, I’ve had enough of my fingers getting in the way with accuracy-based gaming like Angry Birds. I’m almost trying to look under my finger to see where it’s touching the screen. Now, give that to me again but with a touch-pad on the back of the console and you have my attention once more.
Re: Pachter hate, etc.
We see him crop up in the news from time-to-time and he comes across as a bit of a nob. Not because he’s an analyst but because his ramblings have garnered more media attention than most which means his Twitter is probably alive with action.
His predictions and feel for the industry are probably just as spurious as anyone trying to predict the future of any particular piece of software/hardware but his general personality comes across in his quotes and I think he’s starting to smack of listening to himself too much. That’s all.
With that in mind, and because most TSAers are so down to earth, we’re just a bit tired of his rhetoric. I for one, however, don’t mind the articles.