PSP 2 'as powerful as PS3'
Sony specs up next-gen portable console
The PSP 2 - or "Next Generation Portable", as Sony has codenamed it for now - has officially been revealed in Tokyo today, and the company claims it's as powerful as the PS3.
As rumoured, the PSP 2 - sorry, NGP - has a high-res OLED touchscreen as well as a touch-sensitive back panel. It features front- and rear-facing cameras, dual analog sticks and tilt-sensitive controls.
As with Nintendo's 3DS, there is huge emphasis on network play, and the device now packs a 3G connection, as well as built-in Wi-Fi. Every game will feature LiveArena, a communication system for chatting with other gamers through the PSN.
It also features Near, a method for sharing game information between local users and offers an option for virtual link-up - not so very different from the 3DS' StreetPass tech.
The NGP will no longer rely on UMD media, but has an all-new Flash memory card system, which Sony claims will provide super high capacity game cards.
Full specs are as follows:
CPU Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9
GPU SGX543MP4+
Display 5in OLED, resolution TBC
Rear touch pad Capacitive multi-touch
Sound Built-in stereo speakers, Built-in microphone
Sensors Six-axis motion sensing system - three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer - and three-axis electronic compass
Location GPS, Wi-Fi location service support
Wireless Communications 3G, 2.4GHz 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR with A2DP
Dimensions Approx. 182 x 84 x 19mm
Sony went on to announce some of the games it will release. These include new titles Little Deviants, Reality Fighters and Gravity Daze as well as several known titles:
Uncharted
Killzone
WipeOut
Little Big Planet
Resistance
Hustle Kings
Hot Shots Golf
Metal Gear Solid 4, on a portable gaming device? Somebody pinch me!
Third-party developers showed Yakuza 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4 on the system, while Activision announced a new Call of Duty. The Playstation Suite platform, which will appear on mobiles as well as the NGP, is backwards compatible with PSP games and has support for PSone titles and Android based games.
There you have it guys - a portable PS3, apparently. Enough to outclass the 3DS? What are your views? ®
COMMENTS
Its just a little bit of history repeating....
One does have to question whether Sony have really learned from their mistakes here.
For me, the biggest problem with the original PSP is that they didnt understand the hand-held market.
In a hand-held, i dont want to play cut down versions of full console games, i dont want the full console experience in my pocket. I THOUGHT i did, before i had it. But then i realised that the hand-held is all about those 5 minute experiences while waiting for a train, pick up, put down, without having to retain anything in between.
Thats why the DS won, and as much as i respect this technology hugely if it is as good as it says, it smells a little like Sony have failed to learn from their mistakes last time around.
Time will tell i suppose.
The right market
"In a hand-held, i dont want to play cut down versions of full console games,"
... so use your iPhone or your DS.
There are lots of people, myself included, who *do* want to play proper console games on a handheld. The original PSP wasn't quite good enough for this - the lack of dual analogues being a massive factor.
The new PSP is aimed at a market that neither Apple nor Nintendo nor Microsoft is competing in. Makes sense to me.
If Sony had aimed squarely at competing with the iPhone and DS markets they would indeed have been making a bad mistake.
It's not a portable PS3
The underlying hardware is very different with the PS3 being based on Sony's Cell architecture and the PSP 2 based on a quad core ARM architecture. Games would have need to be re-engineered to work across the two platforms and will not be compatible.
Enough to outclass the 3DS?
Probably not: the existing PSP technically outclasses the DS in almost every way and look at how that turned out.
i think...
the majority of people who are hardcore gamers just dont even consider buying a handheld.
also, london-centric people, remember the vast majority of people do not commute by train to work. or bus, even. remember there is this big place outside of london, called england, where the majority of people live and work.
if i was to get a handheld it would be a psp2 - the nintendo feels too kiddified to me. but i drive to work.
