E3 2011: Sony reiterates NGP price pledge

Whether or not we’ll learn of the final RRP for NGP in the early hours of tomorrow morning remains to be seen, but Sony has again hinted that it is determined to keep the device affordable.

Following the machine’s announcement earlier this year some analysts had estimated an RRP of around 200, though considering the device’s high specs industry chatter had pointed to something perhaps significantly higher.

However, since then Sony has already moved to calm fears of a high ticket price and according to some reports it has even scaled back the machine’s internal components to allow it to remain competitive.

"I feel very comfortably that we are going to be hitting [the right price]," SCE Worldwide Studio boss Shuhei Yoshida told Kotaku.

"We definitely consider this is the price that it has to be for people to even consider purchasing it. At the end of the day gaming portable devices may not be something people feel like they need."

Yoshida, when pushed, also discussed Sony’s internal reaction to 3DS and refuted the idea that it has sold less then expected due to a decreased appetite for standalone portable gaming machines.

"We talked about that a lot in our office," he states. "We have been watching closely the reaction of other people to the 3DS. "I think [the sales are because of] a combination of things.

"It could have been the line-up of titles. It could have been about the 3D stereoscopic capabilities. It could be about many other things. I was a bit surprised about how [the 3DS] is doing."