Tretton: I don’t think price makes or kills a platform

Jack Tretton, the president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, has stressed that he does not believe the price of the NGP – which remains unconfirmed – will be the factor that ultimately decides its fate.

"It’s not to say the price of the platform isn’t a consideration, but I don’t think price makes or kills a platform," Tretton told Fast Company, as reported by Gamasutra.

"Something that’s lousy, that’s very inexpensive, is not going to be successful, and something that’s pricey will ultimately find its audience if there’s enough value there."

Referencing both Sony’s upcoming handheld and its past high-price strategy with PS3, Tretton went on to argue that expensive consoles still offer value for money.

"I think when you’re buying a platform, when you’re buying technology, you’re hopefully buying a device you’re going to enjoy for many, many years," he added.

"People are used to spending several hundreds of dollars to get a portable device. I think in the long run, when you look at that total investment in a platform, the amount of money you spend on the hardware is a relatively small percentage of the total investment."