Sony cutting NGP costs to compete with 3DS

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Not only is Sony tightening the PS4 purse strings, but it seems the company is finding ways to cut costs on its NGP handheld console too.

A report on a French tech site claims that Sony is opting for lower-spec components in order to compete with the Nintendo 3DS on price, according to developer sources.

For example, the original plan was apparently for the NGP to offer 512MB of RAM; this has been slashed to 256MB.

Memory loss

Similarly, the site claims that 16GB of internal memory has been canned, with SD cards coming in to pick up the slack.

Although this would keep consumer pricing down – the Nintendo 3DS currently sells for around £200 – it would mean less bang for fewer bucks.

But, on the bright side, none of the original supposed spec nor the cut-down version have ever been confirmed by Sony, so there's no reason to crack out the mourning garb just yet.

There's a possibility that the main characteristics of the console and some launch titles will be revealed at E3 2011.

It also seems that there may be some delay to the console due to components shortages after the natural disasters in Japan; while the French site reckons Japan will still have a December release of the NGP, the West may have to make do with a Q1 2012 release date.

Do you think Sony has a chance at cracking Nintendo’s market-share with its forthcoming Next Generation Portable?