Sega has shrugged off suggestions that Sony’s PSP was a commercial failure, and as such has cemented its support for the handheld’s successor – dubbed the NGP – stating the company is “extremely optimistic” over its future.
"We are extremely optimistic about the new device hence our upfront and early commitment," commented Sega West bigwig, Mike Hayes, who told CVG he “no idea” how much the device would cost.
Sega was among the first of many developers signed up to produce games for the pint-sized platform following its unveiling last Thursday in Tokyo. Notably, the firm provided a live demo of Yakuza 4 running in real-time on the Sony portable.
Elsewhere, Hayes also touched base on the original PSP’s sales, pointing out that Sega enjoyed considerable profitability on the handheld, which launched in Japan at the tail end of 2004.
"I would disagree on the point that PSP failed," said Hayes. "For those of us that embraced the portable platform from the beginning we had a very successful and profitable run."
NGP is due out in Japan in late 2011.