Sony: Japanese Earthquake Has 'No Impact' On NGP Launch Plans

A spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has refuted a reported remark by SCEA president Jack Tretton that stated the recent major Japanese earthquake might delay the launch of the code-named Next Generation Portable in some regions. "So far we see no impact from the quake on our launch plan," SCEJ spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka told the Nikkei news agency, though he added that the company is continuing to monitor the situation. Calling Bloomberg's report on Tretton's statement "wrong," Fukuoka said the plan to roll the system out in staggered regional launches starting in late 2011 has not changed since the system was first unveiled in January. Bloomberg reported that Tretton referred to the earthquake as potentially "the straw that says ‘maybe we get to just one market by the end of the year.’” He had earlier stated that the initially announced holiday 2011 launch plans were "ambiguous for a reason."