Kaz Hirai on the NGP

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Kaz Hirai on the NGP

The day we announced the Next Generation Portable, or NGP, was quite an eventful one. You might have followed the live blog, read the message on the Blog from SCEA CEO Jack Tretton, seen the topics trending on Twitter (6 out of 10 worldwide at one point!), or read the hands-on impressions.

At the very end of the day, I had a chance to catch up with Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. While I knew I’d be unable to gather any more details than what was announced earlier in the day, I was curious about the broader aspects of the news: Why announce NGP now? Where does it fit into the PlayStation console life cycle philosophy? How did publishing partners like Epic Games and Activision get involved in the announcement? I hope you enjoy hearing these answers in detail directly from Mr. Hirai.

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143 Comments

6 Author Replies

  • @Totsoma it was never delayed, it’s actually been pushed ahead.
    as the PSP2 wasn’t expected till 2012 (on sony’s original roadmap)

  • Wowza… if you told me 5 games I wanted at the PSP successor’s launch window, I would have said uncharted, wipeout, lbp, hsg and patapon (wha whaa whaaa!) Way to nail it.

    Secondly, this thing is going to be priced appropriately. With every portable console iteration, it seems it gets closer to a home console experience. With every other piece of home vs. portable electronics (most notably, tower vs. laptop) there is a premium to get close to comparable computing power on the road. Why wouldn’t one expect a similar pricing structure here? The discrepancy between a $1000 dollar tower and a $1000 laptop is HUGE in respect to gaming purposes. If we can get a PS3 lite experience on the road for $299 – $349 without 3G, I will be very impressed. Can’t wait to hear more!

  • Multiple logins with automatic face-recognition would be extra awesome :)

  • well i think its really cool play station is finally getting up and waking up cause with kinect it got a little bit behind but this will beat the @#$%^!@#$%^!@#$!@#$% out of it, price and battery life etc… should be answered plus is it going to be tou purchase cds or buy the game inside like the psp go? real cool

  • I’m pretty sure this will be priced on par with the PS3… so expect at least $300.

    I have to say thou, I’m guessing hardware wise it’s actually worth a lot more, but I expect Sony to do like they did with the PS3 and lose money on the hardware sells, in the short run, in order to capture the market for the software sales.

    I’m really looking forward to:
    – Dual Sticks
    – Hi Res Screen
    – Cameras (go skype!)
    – Gyro / Motion Sensing + Touch Pads

    But most of all Seamless Cross-Console Game Integration.. I want to beable to Play COD on my PS3 and then log into my profile on the PSP (assuming I bought it for that too) and continue playing on the move… Online or Offline.

    Fingers Crossed, the future isn’t too far off.

  • Man if you get DLNA working on this too, and a Dock and HDMI this thing is gonna own!

  • LOVE LOVE LOVE my PS3. Just wanted to comment though on seeing my PSP sitting in the corner with dust on it as I type this… Metal Gear and God of War were really the only 2 reasons I can justify buying the PSP for. If you’re going to move into the realm of making a new better handheld system make the games for it just as important to the system as they would be for the PS3. It’s pointless to have a PSP and PS3 version of a game to come out because I’m just going to get it for the PS3 why even bother with the PSP. I’m rooting for you guys to make the new system work!!

  • Please don’t price this over $300 in AUSTRALIA. Our currency is parity with the US dollar and we pay $300+ for a PSP!!

  • Sony needs 2 Make It So u can Transfer UMD based Games On Tha NGP

  • what do you mean @mrtakeyogirl

  • Gotta Love SONY

  • hey jeff i had the old ps3 and i just cant believe it had a company failure and yet you do nothing i had it for 2.6 years so no warranty and you dont even care about it you should at least give a 10 percent discount or something for the next ps3 cause im thinking that you knew this but you just let it go so about more than 10 million ps3players go and bye the new slim one well lucky for you im a playstation addict and ill still buy the slim just thinking its unfair for me to not even get an appology

  • Oh man, I am SOLD! I would expect (and hope) that the “NGP” or PSP2 will get much more developer support on a more diverse library of games this time around. I can only imagine the possibilities on this! Epic win Sony!

  • @ Fragility

    I couldn’t agree more!

  • Just kind of a random thought but I almost be afraid to see the “slim” version of this thing (if such a thing is possible) lol

  • the 3ds is stupit like all they have is mario and carb the psp2 is going to be the best thing every who needs 3d when all the 3ds is going to have is mario i hate mario i heard about the psp phone thats going to be beast to iu cant wait

  • 3D is a fad.

  • This is gonna be the best selling consol of the year, right Jeff?

  • I also had a feeling the arrival of the NGP have these implications & real time effect on gaming industry as we know it. It has the potential to change everything.

    The overall philosophy of “portable console experience” with all the PS3’s power crammed in a handheld is a very ambitious, often ridiculed, risky & costly ambition. Yet if Sony manages to pull it off will revolutionize video gaming again.

    Imagine playing a 1080p PS3 quality game featuring a 4 PlayStation Move controllers using the NGP’s camera while the NGP is connected to your HDTV via DLNA while consuming only a fraction of electricity !!!?

    So much power & possibilities!
    I hope Sony & I are thinking on the same page here XD

  • this looks SO DARN AWESOME! It might be expensive but eh your getting your moneys worth

  • sony just give a price and battery so people like me can put money away ps. good price $250.00 please…

  • how will wifi work? are we gonna pay for it

  • oh yeah, please tell us if it has better internet, and if flash is not supported, because, definitely that will be needed, all other psp didnt have it, and that was such a setback SMH!

  • Let me play people in call of duty (killzone and resistance would be nice too) that are playing on ps3 and ill buy it,
    If I can get off call of duty on my ps3 then pick it up mobily that’d be fantastic
    I’m guessing the back touch pad will serve as R2 and L2 buttons?
    Looks really cool,

  • just tell me the price and realease date and ill get it for sure

  • Jeff were you able to try the ngp?

  • I have the psp go and it sucks. Is it going to be better than that?

  • Why am I afraid of wearing down the sticks?

  • I think that this is going to be one of the best devices that is going to be built. i also think that it is going to be 10 times better than a 360, no affensse, but 360 sucks.
    couple of question
    1. is the apps or gps or online going to be free
    2. how long is the battery life
    3.why cant it be like a psp go, u kno like how you flip it to reveal the button
    4.why doesnt it have 3d
    5. will it be able to play COD

  • @Jeff Rubenstein…

    1.Please tell me there’s some sort of force feed back like dual shock inside NGP?

    2.Please reconsider the $300 price to $250 like 3DS or $240?

    3.Hasn’t sony learned anything from their own pricing mistakes with the PS3 launch & the PSPgo’s launch?

    4.Lastly didn’t sony realize this is why ds out sold psp by a large margin because the price point & multiple price drops.

    P.S..I would appreciate it if all my questions would be answered asap & not ignored.

    Thank you!

  • ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)
    GPU:SGX543MP4+
    Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth)
    5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED
    Multi touch screen (capacitive type)
    Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
    Front camera, Rear camera
    Built-in stereo speakers
    Built-in microphone
    Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope,
    three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic compass
    Built-in GPS
    Wi-Fi location service support
    Mobile network connectivity (3G)
    IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)(Wi-Fi)(Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode)
    Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR (A2DP/AVRCP/HSP)

  • just thought u guy would want to know that

  • Kaz,

    My question is a simple one, What is it going to cost me to get my hands on one of these. 1k, 2k, 5k I cant go much higher so please give me a place to meet and the account to wire the cash…. I gotta have one the day it hits the shelf………….. I am not picky I will take a used protoype….
    Thanks for keeping us up to date and I am counting the days……

  • Seriously? T.T this always happens to me.. I buy a portable console, and within the next month there’s a new/better one out. I bought the nds a week before nds lite came out (i was too young to figure out to search things first) then I searched for portable ps’s and found the 3000 and the go, i liked the 3000 and saw the go as a new thing, but I got the 3000, and now there this that the news of it comes out only 2 weeks after i buy the 3000. T.T this suxs. lol

  • I was thinking the “PSP NOW” would be a good name.

  • What is that device at 3:33 (kinda reminds me of virtual boy but works and cool looking)

  • I have the PSP-3000 and the PSPgo and im able to download demos,games,movies,etc. to my PSPgo that I downloaded on my PSP-3000 under my account.Can you do the same with the NGP?

  • 3G is really unnecessary. but im still gonna buy it unless it has an outlandish price tag like $500. anything below that i will pay if i got the cash

  • hello Kaz Hirai. . . just want to ask you that i am really a big fan of sony playstation and sony’s all products.. i have everthing from handheld to tv’s, device and so on . . .
    u can say everything that sony made till know i had it…
    i would like to know when will sony be launching the product “SONY PSP2” code name “NGP”. . i have promised to all my 7 children to give them a special gift in the last of month of may . . .
    So please reply soon.
    Thank You !!

  • coooooooooooooooool

  • i like the resolution that the ngp has, 960×544, perfect for porting games, perhaps we could even play games on ngp straight from our ps3

    ill get one just to see what cool stuff i can do with the hardware

  • Will their be online for the call of duty. That’s expected to come out.

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