Gamescom '12: Sony CEO believes Nintendo 'is always a competitor'

Sony has been addressing the new position that it and its wily old rival Nintendo find themselves in.

The portable gaming market has moved on dramatically over the past five years, to the point where the likes of the Nintendo 3DS and the PS Vita are playing second fiddle to smartphone platforms - at least in terms of popularity.

So, does Sony still consider Nintendo a direct rival? According to Sony Europe CEO Jim Ryan, Nintendo "is always a competitor".

Referring specifically to Ninty's 3DS and his own company's Vita, though, Ryan claimed that the two are "very different propositions," adding that they were "so different right now that I think there's plenty of space for both systems to live side by side quite happily".

That's all likely to change in the future, however. "I think over time that the PlayStation Vita will - like all consoles [tend] to - skew to a younger demographic, so there will be some collision there," Ryan said.

Which can probably be read as: 'once we finally drop the PS Vita's price so that the general public can afford it, then we'll start sniping at Nintendo again.'

Or maybe that's just our reading too much into it.