Sony: Why the NGP isn't a phone

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 27 January, 2011

"We've elected not to complicate the proposition."

Sony's Next Generation Portable does many things – including 3G – but it is not a phone.

"Deliberately no," Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss Andrew House told Eurogamer. "We've avoided it."

Why?

"We think that voice capability carries with it a whole other set of expectations, and we want this to be first and foremost the ultimate gaming experience.

"We've elected not to complicate that proposition overly by trying to have it be all things to all people including voice and a conventional phone. Clearly [PlayStation Suite] addresses an already vibrant phone marketplace that serves that consumer very well."

PlayStation Suite is a new service which will deliver classic PSone content to Android smartphone devices.

Sony boss Kaz Hirai promised PlayStation Suite, which launches later this year, will bring "legendary original PlayStation content" to mobiles. No specific titles were announced, but a snowboarding game was briefly demoed, with a virtual D-pad and buttons clearly displayed on the phone screen.

"We envision PlayStation Suite as an initiative that is essential to the world of portable entertainment," he insisted.

Yesterday Sony's PlayStation Phone – what we now know is called Xperia Play – was suffered another leak with the publication of a detailed hands-on video. Sony is expected to announce it next month.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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