NGP to be less 'investment heavy,' more 'affordable'

After years of losses in its PS3 division, it's no surprise that Sony's not attempting a fiscal encore. Just the opposite, in fact. Massaru Kato, Sony's Chief Financial Officer, stated recently that the upcoming NGP handheld won't be as "investment heavy" as previous platforms. What does this mean? Sony probably won't pour cash into developing new semiconductors just for its new handheld, and will instead opt to build NGP hardware with off-the-shelf and readily available components. This could translate to competitive pricing verses Nintendo's 3DS (we hope), but it's all quiet on the pricing front at Sony HQ. That's liable to change at E3 next week, but regardless we'd rather not have to wait four years just to hear Yoshida's good news again.