Sony lifts lid on Next Generation Portable console
PSP successor due for release this Christmas holiday
Sony has unveiled the successor to the PSP, codenamed the Next Generation Portable.
The console boasts dual analogue sticks, front and rear touchpads, Sixaxis motion control, a three axis compass and 3G and wifi support.
It also features a physical media slot for a card format and the familiar Dpad and PlayStation buttons, a 5 inch OLED display claimed to be four times the resolution of the PSP and front and rear cameras.
The system is due for release during the Christmas holiday season this year, according to Sony.
"Our goal is to transform every aspect of your everyday life into entertainment," said Sony's Kaz Hirai during the PlayStation Meeting in Tokyo today.
Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida demonstrated a number of games for the system including Golf Next, Gravity Daze and Killzone, augmented reality software, and a title in the Uncharted series, highlighting the use of touchpads and motion control.
With a emphasis on social gaming and interactivity, the NGP's user interface allows for touch control to access games, apps and other features. A Live Area acts as a front-end for games, linking to the PS Store, and is likened to a combination of Xbox Live and Facebook features embedded on the system.
The hardware also supports location based applications, with Sony demonstrating in-built software Near, and augmented reality features using the onboard cameras and using sensors similar to those in the PlayStation Move.
The console will also use the recently unveiled PlayStation Suite, allowing interaction with other mobile devices.
Third-party support from the device has already been promised from Capcom, Activision, Tecmo Koei, Sega, Epic and Konami.
Sony also offered up the latest stats for the PlayStation Network, Hirai confirmed that 80 per cent of PlayStation3 consoles are connected to the internet, with 69 million registered PlayStation3 accounts, across 50 countries and 25 different currencies.
UPDATE: Sony has released the technical specifications for the NGP, which follow:
- 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 = 1×1) (Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode), Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR （A2DP/AVRCP/HSP
Other than that, I'm kind of pleased.
very nice specs as well. and with UE3 mobile and stuff out now this might blow up. piracy will be a big issue too
no more drunken escapades I need to be good so that Father Christmas and his elves can make me one of these
cant wait to get a hands on
Edited 2 times. Last edit by Morris Kanyowa on 27th January 2011 9:24am
Granted, the hardcore and collectors will snap it up ASAP (if the US launch titles are all winners, pre-orders will be zippy, I predict), the celebrities who never play games will get theirs for free (Why? Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton, I want your NGP, damn you both to Hades!) and sure, the big sites that draw in the millions of users with their snarky comments and more clout than lil' ol Mii will also nab those gratis units and major hands-on time. As I'm back on the low end of the totem pole, I'll be content to hit a few Sony events and play the thing while I start scraping up whatever it is they want for it.
Of course, I'm NOT dumping my PSP Slim anytime soon... or after the NGP launches (and really, they'd best change that tentative naming or the curse of the Neo Geo Pocket will strike).
In fact a thriving 3rd party industry sprang up providing expander cases or control beds for just such an audience. It would be nice not to have to invest in those this time around though...
Looks like it'll be really expensive especially as they're still doing the 'everything in one' idea.
At this moment in time it doesn't look like a upcoming puchase for me.
Granted, you can always walk into a shop and say "HEY! I want to pay for the 3DS or NGP what the Wii or PS3 cost when it was first released!" and I'm sure some clerk will gladly take your money (somewhat confusedly, I might add...). Or worse, you can always buy either off ebay after a frantic bid war where you end up paying seven times the retail price because the seller, junkinator275 was jacking up the bids on his mom's PC in the other room... ;P
If this is true (the Android part anyway), it will be a seriously handy crossover pad device. Although I would be amazed if the NGP ends up being open to all Android apps... but I would be very happy to see it!
Sure its gonna land a hole in my pocket, have battery life of 5 minutes and turn my eyes into jelly, but...
I really want one.
Otherwise, seems like a mean overpriced machine. I love portable gaming and I want one but I'm guessing $300 minimum for this thing.... probably north of $350 considering the ridiculous price of the 3DS.
On the days I do decide I can be burdened with another device, I take my ipod for music. If I could play my console games on it while I'm away from home, then it could have some redeeming value. As it stands, the term albatross comes to mind.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Armando Marini on 27th January 2011 2:07pm
Wonder if there will be connectivity between the PSP2 and the PS3 and use it as an extension or controller and use the touchscreen for PS3 games i.e. the hacking game in Mass Effect 2 per touchscreen instead of with a normal controller or in LBP to actually draw shapes when you want to create something instead of piecing different parts together to get the desired shape. Since I`m not a game designer I can only come up with such basic ideas, but sure some smarter people could think about really cool features if the connectivity would be possible.
Reminds me a bit of the potential the old Dreamcast controller with its VMU had. I can think of something like having a game like MGS with a puzzle of hotwiring a terminal by dragging wires on the screen or typing an access code to a door displayed as a keypad on the touchscreen etc.
The missing R2/L2 buttons can be probably replaced by the touchpad on the back of the console.
I now have my phone and music player in one device. Who better than Sony to take it to the next level and finally achieve the holy trinity of phone/music player/gaming device? I'm not into portable gaming, but a phone-enabled, music playing PSP would probably get me to bite.
In fact, it seems to me that they could sell many, many more if they allowed people to rationalize its purchase as a more utilitarian device. But if they were to do that, they'd need to add 4G. 3G will be passé in another 12 months.
It already has 3G (should have had 4g?) why not go the distance and make it a truly useful device that incorporates everything?
One question I have is memory? Will they ship it with 512meg? 2gig? 4gig? it doesn't really matter because this thing will need at least 16 gig to be useful, so add that cost to the base price.
Let the new handheld wars begin!
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Mark Raymond on 27th January 2011 10:56pm
Please don't make this region locked...
I don't think it will be priced too bad, I feel it will be $250 -> $350 or £180 -> £250. They will make a loss but it's needed for market penetration as it doesn't have a 3D gimmick to market.
Anyways that's my 2 cents :)