New Sony portable could sell for $299-$349 - EEDAR

Sony's Next Generation Portable games consoles could arrive on the market with a price tag of between $299 and $349 (£187-£219), according to one analyst present at the PlayStation Meeting today in Tokyo.

And Jesse Divnich of EEDAR told GamesIndustry.biz that he believes the NPG "will blow away Western audiences."

"The market is ripe for portable high-end gaming. The NGP will be a serious threat to all forms of portable entertainment," he said.

"After seeing the specs today, if the NGP can't succeed, it is clear that the portable gaming landscape has forever changed. The future of portable entertainment is in the hands of Sony."

The high-end hardware was shown off for the first time today, with a list of features addressing the hardcore market such as dual analogue sticks, as well as more social functions and connectivity.

Sony has not yet attached an official price to the unit, nor name, but has said it will launch this Christmas holiday season. Speaking to Eurogamer in Tokyo today, Sony boss Andrew House said that he wouldn't be drawn on a specific price, but that the console would be "affordable".

"I can't put a ballpark on it in terms of figures, but what I would say is that we will shoot for an affordable price that's appropriate for the handheld gaming space," House told Eurogamer.

However, House did reveal that Sony is keen to sell the handheld at a unit profit, rather than just making margins back on software sales.

"Ideally we would want to have our hardware be profitable, in addition to our software," he said. "We've experienced both sides and we know which one we like to be on!"