Many of us are concerned about the price of the NGP. If by ‘concerned’ you mean ‘scared out of our minds it’ll be the most expensive thing that almost fits in your pocket.’ Sony, however, offered a ray of hope this week, promising they’ve learned their lesson from the PlayStation 3 launch price and won’t be repeating the same mistakes with the NGP.

As we discussed in the last few days, we’re very concerned about the price of the NGP and fearful Sony will repeat the mistakes of the PS3 by pricing the portable too-highly to even be a consideration for many of us. This week, however, Sony addressed that very issue and said that the lessons they learned from the PS3 launch will influence the pricing of the NGP.

In an interview with Edge, SCEI’s senior VP of product development, Shuhei Yoshida said:

“I can’t talk about a definitive price at this stage… But since the very beginning we had a target in mind. So, when considering various features, we always had our price range in mind.There were elements that we found pretty cool, but had to set aside to remain on target. It’s a big lesson we learnt from the PS3. There’s no point putting everything you want into a device and doing the math later. We always had the price and consumer in mind. We had to sell something that people could buy.”

Obviously, without knowing the price range that Sony always had in mind for the NGP, its impossible to determine how close their goals are with consumer expectation. Yoshida did warn that Sony “can’t sell the NGP for the same price as a PSP.” Whether we’re talking about the unit’s original $249.99 debut price or its current $169.99 is unclear. Its probably a safe bet though that Sony realizes the Nintendo 3DS (and its launch price of $249.99) is their biggest competitor.

If they have indeed learned their lesson from the PS3′s super-sized price tag (and subsequent slow adoption) they’d be wise to get extremely aggressive with the NGP‘s pricing right out of the gate.
Does this bode well for YOU? Do you think Sony will keep the price down (even if it means selling at a loss) to compete with Nintendo? Do you have a new target price in mind in light of this new info?

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