Oh, to be an analyst! They get to look at numbers! They get to talk out their asses and get paid for it! They get the scoop on all that hot video game business before anyone else!
Did you know that Sony holds an annual 'analyst day' and that all the analysts get together and analyze stuff? I'm just guessing at what exactly happens during this unholy Sony-run day, but news has leaked out nevertheless.
News like 75 million registered PSN accounts. Half of those accounts are from North America alone! 1.4 billion pieces of content have been downloaded! INSANE!
OK, OK, so you want to hear about the Next Generation Portable, or NGP? Analysts heard about that too! According to Lazard Capital Markets, Sony "reconfirmed" a 2011 launch for the US market. Sony was less than upfront about details for the UK and Europe. Yeah! Screw the PAL territories! (Hehe, don't hate me England! I hope to visit you someday!)
Sony also showed off NGP games like Uncharted, SOCOM 4, Twisted Metal, Resistance 3, and inFAMOUS 2. The analyst collective hivemind known as Lazard Capital Markets also put away their abaci and said:
A 2011 launch for NGP was reconfirmed, although we expect pricing will be unveiled around the E3 conference. We remain somewhat concerned that an initially high price point could limit the market opportunity for NGP, since Sony continues to balance profitability goals with unit sales. We note that Uncharted for NGP looks impressive vs. some of the early PSP games, which lacked differentiation in many respects.
You can bet we'll hear more about the NGP at E3. And yes, I had to look up the plural of abacus.