Sony NGP vs. PSP Asian price comparison

Sony's recently revealed handheld gaming platform--tentatively named the Next Generation Portable (or NGP)--is scheduled for release in Japan in holiday 2011. The new machine wowed many gamers last week with its impressive specs, its OLED touch-screen display, and the assurance that it can play games of near-PS3 quality.

What Sony Japan didn't reveal, however, was the price of the console. While the world speculates on its potential price tag, GameSpot Asia dug through the official launch prices of PSP models in Asia set by Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong to see what the company's track record has been when it comes to portable pricing.

(The order of countries per price are: Hong Kong/Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand/Indonesia/The Philippines/ Vietnam/India)

2005 - PSP-1000 (the first model) - HK$1,980/ SG$455/ MYR1,155/ TH 12,890/None/None/None/None

2007 - PSP-2000 (PSP Slim) - HK$1,280/ SG$280/ MYR690/ THB 6,990/None/None/None/Rs 8,900

2008 - PSP-3000 - HK$1,380/ SG$299/ MYR760/ None/ IDR 2,599,000/ PHP 999/ VND 5,990,000/ Rs 9,490

2009 - PSP Go - HK$1,899/ SG$412/ MYR 1099/None/None/None/None/Rs 13,990

If GameSpot Asia factors in the recent announcement of the 3DS's price tag in the US, we can always state the obvious and predict that the NGP's price tag will be significantly higher than the 3DS on a local standpoint. Since Sony HK also has to make sure that its price doesn't exceed the current PS3 console's official price (SG$512), we'll take an educated guess: SG$485.

With the hardware and features tacked on to the NGP and given Sony HK's track record of pricing its new hardware a little high, SG$485 sounds about right to justify the extra cost for potential power.