Sony: 3D not right for portable devices

Sony is pushing stereoscopic 3D hard – in televisions and in games on the PlayStation 3 – but the feature is absent from the recently announced Next Generation Portable.

While Sony explored stereoscopic 3D for the NGP, it decided against its inclusion. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss Andrew House explained why in a new interview conducted this morning in Tokyo.

"We view 3D as having the greatest potential, in the near term, in what I would call a dedicated entertainment environment," he said.

"And that's in the home, around the television, and where it's a shared experience. I think that's really important. We struggle a little bit to see how that 3D, shared experience translates to portable devices as they currently stand."

In a statement, Sony revealed more detail on its exploration of the tech.

"In the development process, we had studied the possibility of introducing stereoscopic 3D feature to NGP, but decided not to install it. After careful consideration of our goal of offering users the ultimate portable entertainment experience with a revolutionary user interface we have decided to focus on the features and specs announced today first.

"SCE will continue to play an important role within Sony group by promoting 3D in tandem with Sony Corporation's 3D compatible BRAVIA LCD TVs to deliver the sublime 3D entertainment in the living room and without having to go to the cinema. We will continue our effort to provide users with true 3D entertainment experience that only Sony can deliver."

The absence of 3D from the NGP is made all the more noticeable by Nintendo's glasses-free 3DS, due out in March.

While House admitted the NGP is "in competition" with 3DS, he insisted it has more than enough features to stand out.

"I know you'll think me coy, but our wish when we enter markets is to grow the overall market and landscape, and find new audiences. So in that space, I think we're more or less generally competing for consumers' time, and that's where we place the highest premium.

"It's our job to deliver fantastic experiences that merit the consumers' investment of their time with our devices.

"We feel very confident that we have very sufficiently differentiated ourselves from the competition with spec, and in particular the connectivity and network features and interfaces that are all pretty revolutionary. That will set this device apart."

Sony will roll out the NGP worldwide from late 2011. Pricing is yet to be announced.