Sony has appended a "Holiday 2011" release date to its next-generation portable system (codename: NGP), but hasn't offered a timetable for individual regions. Will it be a worldwide launch? Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton didn't provide an answer in his interview with Engadget, opting to pin Sony's strategy on providence.

"I know that's rather ambiguous, and that's for a reason," Tretton said. "I think our goal is always to launch holidays when the majority of sales are done. You want to have a worldwide simultaneous launch. Having said that, this'll be our sixth platform launch, and it's very difficult to have the quantities to be able to launch on a worldwide basis on the same date." Tretton noted that the goal might overshoot reality -- leading him to pare down the initial promise. "I think our goal is, we would get at least one territory out by the end of holiday 2011."

A clearer plan should become visible by fall, well after unforeseen production challenges have been dealt with. Tretton added that Sony had its challenging experience with PlayStation 3 to inform the NGP's road to mass production. "I think we'd look to avoid repeating that, but when you're dealing with new technology there are always roadblocks."

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/27/so...nd-of-holiday/ ...

Call it an unfortunate coincidence but Nintendo just announced its quarterly numbers only minutes after Sony announced its new quad-core Cortex-A9 pumping PSP (codenamed NGP) and new PlayStation Suite for gaming on Android tablets and cellphones. So what's the damage? Well, to start with, Nintendo's Q3 (October to December) operating profits were down 46 percent (104.6 billion yen ($1.3 billion) compared with 192.3 billion last year) on account of weaker Wii and DS sales coupled with a continued strong yen. The house of Mario also slashed its annual sales expectations projecting 16 million Wii consoles (down from 17.5 million units) and 22.5 million DS handhelds (down from 23.5 million) sold through March. It wasn't all bad news though as Ninty maintained its annual operating profit forecast of 210 billion yen assisted by a projected 25% increase in Wii software shipments. Mind you, that's not chump change, but gone are the days of the Wii / DS one-two knockout punch on the competition. And with a full quarter to go before the 3DS is launched globally, we're not expecting any improvement to the bottom line until the next fiscal year.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/n...e-sales-proje/ ...

Ever since his candid and humorous E3 2009 Sony keynote introduction -- wherein he thanked the audience for showing up despite the big news (PSP Go) having already been leaked -- we've always had something of a soft spot for Jack Tretton. We managed to have a sit-down with the SCEA President-CEO following the company's big Tokyo meeting, a non-working NGP unit in tow. For a brief moment, Tretton "confirmed" that PlayStation Suite games (currently slated for Android devices) would work on PlayStation 3. We asked rather directly, to which he responded, "Yes, they will. Yeah." By the next question, however, he explained that he might've misspoken and wanted to clarify that Suite is only NGP right now. It should come as no surprise, then, that there was no talk of Suite for any other devices, be it Bravia sets or Google TV. Tretton said there was at least one compatible Android device currently on the market but wouldn't elaborate -- given the 2.3 requirement, we're presuming he meant the Nexus S.

We weren't able to get him to budge on the issue of the NGP's price, but we did ask him to opine on the Nintendo 3DS's $250 tag. Instead of offering friendly competitive jabs, he said only, "I think if the quality's there, then the people will find a way to buy it, within reason... I think that if you could create content that consumers sees compelling, they'll find money that they didn't think they had." A bit too reminiscent of former boss Ken Kutaragi's old adages, but hey, it's not like we expected a sub-$300 sticker, anyway. Some other highlights:
Tretton wouldn't definitively say whether or not original PSP titles are in Suite's future -- "at this point, it's PlayStation One games, but I think it can go in a number of directions." This runs a bit counter to what Kaz Hirai said earlier in the day, but either he might've misspoken or the translator erred.
The controller overlay we saw used as an example at the event was just that -- an example, with no guarantee of future use.
That "holiday 2011" launch applies to at least one territory, but Sony was "ambiguous for a reason" (i.e. simultaneous global rollout is a dream but far from a promise.) We probably won't have a clearer image until fall rolls around, sometime after E3.
No discussion on battery life, but Sony is "certainly look to improve upon [original PSP]." For what it's worth, that one measured about 4.5 to 7 hours at launch, and Sony eventually sold an extended-life pack.
PS Suite will have non-gaming apps.
A WiFi-only version? "We haven't made any determination on models yet," which is infinitely more vague than the confirmation of non-3G SKUs from SCEE president Andrew House.
Will Sony or a Sony partner make a flagship device to show off the Suite? A, dare we say, PlayStation phone? "Stay tuned" was all Tretton would say, followed by a laugh. Hey, at least we acknowledged the elephant in the room.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/e...-ngp-announce/ ...

Ever since his candid and humorous E3 2009 Sony keynote introduction -- wherein he thanked the audience for showing up despite the big news (PSP Go) having already been leaked -- we've always had something of a soft spot for Jack Tretton. We managed to have a sit-down with the SCEA President-CEO following the company's big Tokyo meeting, a non-working NGP unit in tow. For a brief moment, Tretton "confirmed" that PlayStation Suite games (currently slated for Android devices) would work on PlayStation 3. We asked rather directly, to which he responded, "Yes, they will. Yeah." By the next question, however, he explained that he might've misspoken and wanted to clarify that Suite is only NGP right now. It should come as no surprise, then, that there was no talk of Suite for any other devices, be it Bravia sets or Google TV. Tretton said there was at least one compatible Android device currently on the market but wouldn't elaborate -- given the 2.3 requirement, we're presuming he meant the Nexus S.

We weren't able to get him to budge on the issue of the NGP's price, but we did ask him to opine on the Nintendo 3DS's $250 tag. Instead of offering friendly competitive jabs, he said only, "I think if the quality's there, then the people will find a way to buy it, within reason... I think that if you could create content that consumers sees compelling, they'll find money that they didn't think they had." A bit too reminiscent of former boss Ken Kutaragi's old adages, but hey, it's not like we expected a sub-$300 sticker, anyway. Some other highlights:
Tretton wouldn't definitively say whether or not original PSP titles are in Suite's future -- "at this point, it's PlayStation One games, but I think it can go in a number of directions." This runs a bit counter to what Kaz Hirai said earlier in the day, but either he might've misspoken or the translator erred.
The controller overlay we saw used as an example at the event was just that -- an example, with no guarantee of future use.
That "holiday 2011" launch applies to at least one territory, but Sony was "ambiguous for a reason" (i.e. simultaneous global rollout is a dream but far from a promise.) We probably won't have a clearer image until fall rolls around, sometime after E3.
No discussion on battery life, but Sony is "certainly look to improve upon [original PSP]." For what it's worth, that one measured about 4.5 to 7 hours at launch, and Sony eventually sold an extended-life pack.
PS Suite will have non-gaming apps.
A WiFi-only version? "We haven't made any determination on models yet," which is infinitely more vague than the confirmation of non-3G SKUs from SCEE president Andrew House.
Will Sony or a Sony partner make a flagship device to show off the Suite? A, dare we say, PlayStation phone? "Stay tuned" was all Tretton would say, followed by a laugh. Hey, at least we acknowledged the elephant in the room.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/e...-ngp-announce/ ...

The description in Software Update may only say that it brings a "number of important stability and performance improvements," but Apple's just-released iTunes 10.1.2 update also adds another fairly important feature: support for the Verizon iPhone 4. That detail is tucked away in the "before you install" document included when you download iTunes from Apple's website (rather than Software Update), and actually only refers to the "iPhone 4 (CDMA model)," which you can read into what you will.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/a...cdma-iphone-4/ ...

The description in Software Update may only say that it brings a "number of important stability and performance improvements," but Apple's just-released iTunes 10.1.2 update also adds another fairly important feature: support for the Verizon iPhone 4. That detail is tucked away in the "before you install" document included when you download iTunes from Apple's website (rather than Software Update), and actually only refers to the "iPhone 4 (CDMA model)," which you can read into what you will.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/a...cdma-iphone-4/ ...

When the crew at Rude Gameware aren't flipping burgers, they're building gaming gear -- like this Fierce Laser Gaming Mouse V2 -- and while we haven't seen anything particularly groundbreaking, there's some bang for the buck to be had. This rodent in particular brings the heat with a 5000dpi laser sensor with a 1ms response time and 1000Hz polling rate, on-board memory to save configurations and macros for each of its seven programmable buttons, adjustable weights and on-the-fly DPI, a braided cord and even a moderately comfortable-looking design. Best of all, it'll manage to deliver all that for a nickel shy of $50 next month. Oh, it'll have some storied competitors at that price point, to be sure, but now you have more choices. Isn't capitalism grand? PR after the break.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/r...long-name-and/ ...

Two Tennessee men were arrested after they allegedly kidnapped one of the men's son-in-law over some stolen jewelry. The victim was beaten and finally freed him in exchange for a neighbor's Xbox 360. The victim was able to reach his mother-in-law and she spoke to a neighbor who suggested they trade his Xbox 360 valued between $400 and $500 in return for the release of the kidnapped victim

http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/0...m-For-Xbox-360 ...

Jennifer Zdenek, the mother of an 11-year-old boy who lives with autism, is outraged at Microsoft Xbox Live for labeling her son a 'cheater' and taking away everything he's earned online. She says her son, Julias Jackson, is so good at playing X-Box games, Xbox LIVE thought he cheated. She says her son got online last week to play Xbox LIVE and saw that he was labeled a cheater and had zero achievements. Microsoft continues to ignore her requests to take 'cheater' off of his account.

http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/0...ic-Boy-Cheater ...