And you could own one, if you happen to live in Japan or are willing to import one for a boatload of money. Otherwise you’ll have to be patient like the rest of us and wait until its US and Euro release early next year.
Sony hasn’t given an exact release date, just saying that the device will hit retail in the land of the rising sun by year’s end, with a western release in early 2012. The entry level version of the device (without 3G) will still ship in the US for its originally announced price of $249, with Sony unperturbed by the fact that Nintendo’s just dropped the price of its competing handheld by a third.
"We’ve packed so much into the device and made it affordable," said Sony consumer electronics chief Kaz Hirai. "There’s no need to lower the price, just because someone else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to." It’s unfortunate for Sony that they’ll be missing out on the lucrative holiday season spend, but they do seem to be learning from Nintendo’s mistakes though, because the delay in release is so that they can ensure there’s “solid game software†available when it does launch.
As a result of poor momentum, likely driven by a weak game library, Nintendo’s been forced to drastically reduce the price of its 3DS – a device that’s only been on the market for 6 months.
Source : MSN
Last Updated: August 4, 2011
