Sony NGP: Sega 'extremely optimistic' of console's success

Monday 31-Jan-2011 10:04 AM Publisher defends PSP1's record, too

Sega West president Mike Hayes has told CVG that the firm is "extremely optimistic" that Sony NGP (PSP2) will be a sales success.

The firm was one of a handful of major developers/publishers to show their software running on NGP at Sony's Tokyo launch last week.

Sega's Toshihiro Nagoshi showed off Yakuza 4 being played in real time at the event - and revealed that his team has been able to use PS3 shaders and effects on NGP.

"We are extremely optimistic about the new device hence our upfront and early commitment," Hayes (pictured) told CVG, before adding that he had "no idea" what the price of the console will end up being.

Sony NGP's predecessor, PSP, was initially a huge success in the US and Europe after launching in both territories in 2005. But the combination of Nintendo DS's record-breaking sales, the failure of the UMD format and rampant piracy soon had a detrimental effect as sales dried up.

However, Hayes told CVG that Sega games had enjoyed good profitability on PSP, leaving the firm with little reason to doubt Sony's ability to rule at retail with NGP.

"I would disagree on the point that PSP failed," he said. "For those of us that embraced the portable platform from the beginning we had a very successful and profitable run."

UK publisher and developer Codemasters has told CVG that it expects the price of Sony NGP (PSP2) to be in line with Nintendo's 3DS in the UK.

Source computerandvideogames.com

Well no one knows fail better than Sega. So I'm glad they chimed in.

Seriously though, PSP did a great job appealing to a core market thanks mostly to its vastly superior hardware. DS didn't seem to have much of a core audience other than JRPG fans.

3DS seems to delivering where the original DS failed, core games. If the 3DS really takes off I think the NGP is pretty much doomed.

I've heard nothing but good things about the device from devs...haven't seen the SEGA input before so thanks for sharing that

ID also seems to be very impressed with NGP! Can't wait for E3 to see more game reveals!

and most of all GRAVITY DAZE! 0_0 Those few seconds of gameplay was enough to make get my hype level running for it

Yes, it's always encouraging to see developers/publishers be so enthusiastic towards a new platform.    

He is right, the PSP isn't a failure. It successfully took over 30% of the handheld market from Nintendo which no other handheld in the history of handheld gaming consoles managed to accomplish.

Mmmm, now that has been said, what'll SEGA bring to the NGP table?

It could also be said that the PSP failed to dominate the handheld market; and instead of defeating the final section of their biggest competition, Nintendo actually had their most successful system to date.

Hardly relevant. One's success is not always another's failure. If that was the case, we could say Kinect failed, WIi software failed, SNES failed, anything Sega released failed etc. And if we account the iPhone as a handheld of sorts, the DS failed too. 

PSP did fine.  People are obsessed with black/white fail/win comparisons.  As a first entry in the handheld gaming market, for exmaple, the PSP did better than the Xbox (another first entry device) did relative to the main competition - should MS have given up and declared it was a failure and left the market to Sony?

Of course not.  Similarly, the PSP did more than well enough that no sensible company would pack up their bags and just leave the market to Nintendo.  And if there is one thing Sony now knows all to well, it's sometimes easier to take marketshare steadily from someone else vs hang on to huge chunks of marketshare

PSP did well as an initial entry, with over 30% of the total marketshare defined by DS/PSP, and NGP I think is well positioned to do better.  The handheld market is large and while under threat from smart phones and the like I could still see it rising in size to easily allow both the 3DS and the NGP to succeed in their own right.

A lot more people need to realise business doesn't consist of a winner and everyone else just bails out and leaves them to it.  Every new release or change of strategy can change the market.  Sony demolished Nintendo in volume sales yet Nintendo came back with the same result a gen later.  Xbox sold relatively weakly yet MS came back and improved hugely with the 360.  Similarly Sony will look for improvement with their new device even if Nintendo ultimately sell more.

That's the nature of a competitive market.

Give this man a medal!  Why is this such a difficult thing to comprehend...