Last night in Japan, Sony unveiled the long rumored PSP2, or should we say NGP? Sony is currently touting the device as the "Next Generation Portable" and there's some pretty good reasons why. Lets do a quick rundown of what's new in the NGP.
OLED Display and Revolutionary Interface
The NGP touts a stunning 5 inch multi-touch OLED display that can display graphics that have never before been seen on a hand-held device. Another unique feature of the NGP is that it incorporates a multi-touch pad on the rear of the device allowing for a completely unique gaming experience by letting players "touch, grab, trace, push and pull" through movement of the fingers.
Dual Analog Sticks and Oval Design
The NGP finally brings dual analog sticks to a portable device. It's something gamers have been craving ever since the first PSP was released, I guess Sony wanted to make sure everything was just right. The NGP also incorporates a Super Oval Design form factor, allowing it to fit comfortably in the gamer's hands.
LiveArea
Each NGP title will come with a "LiveArea" space. Here's what Sony had to say about "Live Area":
"Every game title for NGP will be provided with a space called “LiveArea™” where users can share the fun and excitement with other players. Users will have access to the latest information of games provided from SCE and 3rd party developers and publishers through PlayStation®Network. Additionally, NGP users will be able to view an “Activity” log that is constantly updated with accomplishments from users who are playing the same game, which in turn can trigger active real-time communication among users."
Sounds like a cool idea to keep portable gamers up to date with each other and it might also be a nice little incentive for other console gamers to jump in on the portable gaming scene.
Near
The NGP will use location-based services to allow players to see what their friends in the vicinity are playing. Sony calls it "Near" and it will be pre-installed on every NGP device and gives players another "virtual" way to meet and share information with new players.
New Game Medium
Sony has adopted a new format for NGP games, a small flash memory based card. The new flash memory card can store the full title and any add-ons that might come out as well as saved data for the game.
Sony also says that this new flash memory card will allow for a higher capacity in the future, giving developers even more room to work with on the NGP and ultimately providing richer and more immersive experiences.
Aside from a new memory format, the NGP also comes with 2 cameras, front and rear, 3 motion sensors, a gyroscope, accelerometer and electronic compass. It seems like these new features will also be incorporated into more casual games that will be associated with the newly announced PlayStation Suite. Sony also states that:
"The newly developed and released game content for Android™ based portable devices can also be enjoyed on NGP. As a result, users will have access to not only the most leading-edge content, but also some of the more casual experiences that typify the mobile market place."
Looks like Sony is aiming to make there mark on the casual, portable gaming market as well.
Sony hasn't officially announced any release titles however, there were demos of some new titles such as Little Deviants, Gravity Daze and Reality Fighters as well as some titles based on existing franchises such as Uncharted, Killzone, Little Big Planet, Resistance and more. According to reports from the NGP launch event, Hideo Kojima also debuted a version of MGS4 on the NGP and people are saying that it looked just as good as the PS3 version. If that's true then this might be a portable device worth checking out.
So far that's about all we know about the NGP. Sony is aiming for a late 2011 release date, probably around the holiday season, and there is still no price announced. However, judging by the amount of hardware and software upgrades to the system, and given Sony's previous price points, I'd be surprised if this thing is less than $300.
Edit: Here's a trailer showing off more of the concepts of the NGP and not much of the device.
Here's a full spec list for those of you who are curious to see what's under the hood of this thing:
NGP Specifications
CPU ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)
GPU SGX543MP4+
External Dimensions Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
Screen
(Touch screen) 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED
Multi touch screen (capacitive type)
Rear touch pad Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
Cameras Front camera, Rear camera
Sound Built-in stereo speakers
Built-in microphone
Sensors Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic compass
Location Built-in GPS
Wi-Fi location service support
Keys / Switches PS button
Power button
Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)
Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)
Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)
Right stick, Left stick
START button, SELECT button
Volume buttons (+/-)
Wireless communications Mobile network connectivity (3G)
IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1x1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode)
Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR （A2DP/AVRCP/HSP
Gallery:
Good job Sony! I only wish that you would put Skype on the new PSP….
awesome, it is!
I’m a HUGE PSP fan!
This is going to be fkn sweet!!
Really thought sony would have made the PSP-2′s Design alot more…. ummm crazy wild new stylish look to it,
A maybe ahead of its time Futuristic Design! Owell still looks BadAss! GG
There’s plenty of time for them to add it!
Glad about the new thumb sticks.The last psp thumb stick brake way to easy imo.Still dont get the concept of how the back touch pad will work in gaming.Out of curiosity i wounder if it actually have a good camera.Ill save any graphical criticism till i get to see any from game developed for it.
The device look good but like the psp it hinges on software.So ill love to see some up and coming game soon.
I hope so! It would enable everyone to keep in touch with friends and relatives when traveling without getting outrages phone bills. Personally, that is something I value a lot.
First look: everything fits. Much more compeling than the 3DS at first sight for me (because I don’t want to play old Nintendo games for the 100th time. Ocarina Of Time and Starfox stole enough time of my life. How much can one play the same games. Yes, I know, more games will follow, but the NSG seems to offer much for developers).
Now it comes to the price and the content (especially the content broke the PSPs neck). If it will get many good games, than I will be definitely interested.
I have got PSP, but I just don’t know why or when I would ever use it. I rarely travel anywhere and when I’m at home I would much rather just play xbox instead.
None of the games that are listed on this list are new as well. All depends what generation you come from.
Unchared = sequel
killzone = sequel
monsterhunter = sequel
COD = sequel
resistance = sequel
Lost Planet = sequel
Metal Gear Solid = swquel
Playstation is not as old as Nintendo with it’s game audience. I’m sure people are sick of MGS remakes aswell, but this is for the people who loves there franchise, this is called fanservice and we should be glad for it.
It would be awesome to play CoD and uncharted (which i didn’t play because i don’t have a PS3) on the go but i just bought a HTC Trophy and usualy i keep my phones until they break.
If it would be just a portable console i would buy it. But as a phone… nope.
This will definitely be a very powerful console, but it will also be very hard for developers to program their games for such a system and even more problematic to use its resources entirely.
The second part is about the phone, the first is about the Codenamed “Next Generation Portable”. They talk about PS1 ports to the phone, aka android.
It looks nice, but much less portable than my current Go (even my slim was a bit unwieldy on travels).
However, if Mr. Kojima’s musings about potentially being able to purchase future titles for PS3 and take them on the road with the NGP turn into reality, they will win me over instantly.
Also, if the porting process for PS3 games to NGP is as easy as they highlight, we might see a bigger/better library around this time.
I wouldn’t preorder it yet, but there are some really interesting possibilities which could really make a difference.