Sony Announces PSP Successor

[Joshawott]

Sony Announces PSP Successor

At the 2011 PlayStation Meeting event in Tokyo on Thursday, Sony unveiled the successor to the Playstation Portable (PSP) handheld console; the tentatively titled NGP (Next Generation Portable), which is slated for release by the end of the year.

The Initial specifications include:

Size: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)

Inside:
3G and Wi-Fi Wireless Communication Support
GPS
SixAxis Motion Technology

Outside:
960 x 544 5-inch Display
Dual Analog Sticks
Dual Touchpads (On the screen, one Multi touch pad on rear)
Front and Rear Cameras
Microphone

For those of you who like the technicals, here they are:

Spoiler

CPU - ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)
GPU - SGX543MP4+

Wireless: 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)

Games will be run on memory cards, unlike the UMD discs from their previous handheld. Here a preliminary list of games currently in development for this console:
Uncharted
Killzone
Resistance
WhipOut
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
Lost Planet 2
Yakuza
Dynasty Warriors
Metal Gear Solid 4
A "Call of Duty" teaser was also shown.

Please note that these games are not confirmed to be launch titles; much like how loads of 3DS games we were shown aren't launch titles.

There is something I cam curious about...doesn't the 3DS also have a simlarly shaped control pad and a circle-shaped pad as the only controls on the left side of the console (Except with the 3DS, the circle pad is the one that's higher up), as well as front and back cameras?

I will admit though, 3G sounds tasty.

 

[Ice Tyrant]

If it lacks a UMD drive for the original PSP games, it's a failure here and now. If it does though, it might have something going for it as long as the launch isn't $600 like I'm thinking so far. I can already imagine it being more expensive than the 3DS though.

And Monster Hunter Portable 3rd is a PSP game, not a PSP2 game. It's probably just backward compatible in that case, which'll be good, as long as it has UMD compatibility as well.

Edit: The reason I NEED UMD compatibility with this machine is because I AIN'T BUYING MY ENTIRE PSP LIBRARY AGAIN WHEN SOME AREN'T EVEN ON THE PSN FOR DOWNLOAD. Last I remember, I have 5 PSP games; Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Daxter, Monster Hunter Freedom, Peace Walker, and Birth By Sleep, some of which, as I mentioned, haven't been made downloadable games yet, such as Monster Hunter Freedom. Since the PSP2 is already bound to be very expensive, that'll be around $250 more to pay. And if it isn't compatibile with my 16 GB Memory Stick, that'll only make matters even more worse for this system.

 

[Joshawott]

Yeah, for some reason my source named it there. Although, I wouldn't put it past them to port it xD

 

[Ice Tyrant]

The reason I NEED UMD compatibility with this machine is because I AIN'T BUYING MY ENTIRE PSP LIBRARY AGAIN WHEN SOME AREN'T EVEN ON THE PSN FOR DOWNLOAD. Last I remember, I have 5 PSP games; Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Daxter, Monster Hunter Freedom, Peace Walker, and Birth By Sleep, some of which, as I mentioned, haven't been made downloadable games yet, such as Monster Hunter Freedom. Since the PSP2 is already bound to be very expensive, that'll be around $250 more to pay. And if it isn't compatibile with my 16 GB Memory Stick, that'll only make matters even more worse for this system.

In case you missed it. That pretty much explains how I feel about this dang machine. No UMD compatibility pretty much means it's a dead system. Come on Sony, even the 3DS is hardware compatible with anything able to run on a DSi, and there's even a way to transfer DSiWare over to the 3DS, but did Sony REALLY go as far as to remove UMD compatibility to ruin my chances with the system? I just knew this would happen given how the PSP Go was, which many mean this might not sell as well for that reason as well.

 

[TM2-Megatron]

It's a shame the lack of UMD means no backwards compatibility, however the UMD was a failed format that many at the time of the original PSP's release said was a bad move for a handheld. Perhaps Sony will give existing customers the option to download digital versions of their UMD games, to make up for the lack of true backwards compatibility? It'd be a nice gesture.

In any case, I do think this looks like a more positive step for Sony in some ways. A return to a sensible design, dual analog nubs, moving to a cartridge format and not sticking with the PSPGo's restrictive and consumer-unfriendly digital-only distribution model.

I'd say the only downside is that this will be ungodly expensive. A 4-core ARM Cortex, and all the rest of the specs hint at a significantly higher price than the already-expensive 3DS... and that's not even including the monthly fee for a 3G subscription that's no doubt ideal for 100% functionality.

 

[Gligar13]

Judging by the CPU, it will either have no BC or just an emulator. The PSP had a MIPS cpu, like the PS2 did.

With that said, I am interested in it anyway. Dual analog sticks + better graphics = win. And I have most of my PSP Library through PSN anyway.

As for the size, it's the same as the PSP. And if sony learned, they will use memory sticks instead of UMDs this time. Less load times then umds, and better battery life.

I think this gen, though, portables are trying to stand out from cell phones. The 3ds has 3d, while the PSP has 2 touch pads, one on the front, one in the back. And both are more powerful, the 3ds being slighty more powerful then current cell phones, while the PSP2 being a generation above. And the PSP2 has real thumbsticks this time, not just a nub like the 3ds or the PSP/Go.

 

[Zeta]

People keep on trying to launch portables without a library, which is how Nintendo already beats them.

 

[fate]

People keep on trying to launch portables without a library, which is how Nintendo already beats them.

Well, some of the games there are pretty notable. Metal Gear, Monster Hunter (for Japan, at least), and Call of Duty.

It's a nice device, no doubt. However, I noticed they, like Nintendo, did not release the price. Which usually means, like the 3DS, it won't be pretty. Putting my bet on 399USD.

 

[Trainer-c]

No UMD compatibility shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, especially the people that purchased UMD games. Sony phased that format out completely, granted, they didn't do it in a way that was friendly to the consumers.

Overall, this looks like a nice piece of hardware. Now to see what games they will have to offer at launch.

 

[Gligar13]

People keep on trying to launch portables without a library, which is how Nintendo already beats them.

Only problem is this gen, Nintendo and Sony are trying to compete with a new class of devices: Smartphones. Android and iOs have huge libraries right now, and many people are buying them for games.

Sony has already announced some games, they know where they messed up last gen (umds, PSP to PS2 ports, easy piracy, poor library), so they are going to try not to end up like they did last gen.

 

[Ice Tyrant]

that many at the time of the original PSP's release said was a bad move for a handheld.

Strange, I always thought the reverse was being said. Since the DS was using carts and the PSP was using discs, many thought this would be a repeat of the N64 and PSone days with the PSP winning the console wars. That obviously didn't happen as I thought it would. Care to explain how that might have been? I'm a bit to confused to understand how, since most of the problems for these systems have existed with the N64 and PSone, so what makes the DS and PSP so different from the past console war?

 

[Garren]

Discs aren't something you usually want to carry on the go I guess.

The tiny DS carts are so much easier to carry around with you since they're compact, plus the PSP's disc-reading noise is pretty horrendous.

That's how I see it.

 

[Gligar13]

Strange, I always thought the reverse was being said. Since the DS was using carts and the PSP was using discs, many thought this would be a repeat of the N64 and PSone days with the PSP winning the console wars. That obviously didn't happen as I thought it would. Care to explain how that might have been? I'm a bit to confused to understand how, since most of the problems for these systems have existed with the N64 and PSone, so what makes the DS and PSP so different from the past console war?

UMDs were easily pirated, as the PSP was cracked early on. People wrote UMD emulators, so people could be cheap and pirate. That's what also helped kill third party support on the PSP, and led to developers using one-time-use online keys like on the PC. In short, it ended up a pirates system, like the PC, Dreamcast, the Original Xbox, and the DS.

They were also noisy (they made a whir noise), had long load times (bad for a portable), were fragile, and flash memory is getting cheaper.

Discs were unsutable for portables, so Sony started phasing them out with the PSPgo, and encouraging publishers to release games over PSN.

It's ok if you have PSN games, you can play them on the PSP2. Judging by the power, it should be able to emulate the 2 MIPS cpus. As for the PSP2, it's using (more secure) card based media, instead of fragile discs.

 

[System Error]

You get to use a gyroscope in shooters to aim, which is badass enough to consider it. Along with everything else.

People keep on trying to launch portables without a library, which is how Nintendo already beats them.

Yeah, the 3DS launch library is gonna totally kick ass.

Oh wait...

 

[TM2-Megatron]

so what makes the DS and PSP so different from the past console war?

Primarily, as others have implied, because it was a handheld war, not a console war. Optical media were (and still are, for the most part) unsuitable for handheld platforms. There's also the fact that the DS was released long after the N64, and I think the main disadvantages (primarily the manufacturing cost and limited storage capacity, relative to optical discs) of cartridge-based media had been largely eliminated by advances in technology.

 

[The Outrage]

From a completely superficial standpoint, PSP2 looks very pretty.

Dual touch-pads? Seems interesting.

 

[hurristat]

Cool -- the original PSP was cool, but nothing in their library really enticed me to purchase a PSP or any of the games.

It still pales in comparison to Nintendo handhelds.

 

[mini-chan]

Whipout?


Is that a typo?

 

[Tolan]

How is the touch pad on the back supposed to work? I mean, in what way is that practical?

 

[Juicy Jazzy]

This thing is going to flop harder then the first PSP.