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Sony Reveals the Next Generation Portable Console
UgLyPuNk writes "Of course it's not called the PSP2, because that would be too obvious and straightforward for the games industry. For the moment, at least, you'll be looking forward to news about the NGP – the Next Generation Portable." ARM® Cortex-A9 core (4 core), SGX543MP4+, Front and Rear camera. Rear touch pad, GPS.
Putting a touch pad on the back is actually rather clever. The back is almost never used for anything but battery compartments and whatnot. Of course, having input devices on the back means that when you put it down, it'll either be screen down, or touchpad down. That touchpad had better be ready to last through explosions, otherwise they are probably going to start being broken quickly.
* Quad Core A9 CPU
* Quad Core PowerVR SGX543MP4+ GPU from Imagination Technologies. (They make the PoverVR 530 featured in Motorola Droids, PowerVR 535 in iPhone & iPad, and PowerVR 540 featured in Galaxy S devices, and playbook)
* 5" Multi touch OLED display with 960 x 544 res.
* Rear multi touch pad
* Front and rear cameras
* Three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer, three-axis electronic compass
* GPS
* Dual Analogue sticks
* Bluetooth, 3G and wifi connectivity
Same market, different audiences
It's definitely less novel than the 3DS, and a lot more capable, but then again, if I'm going to drop ~$400* on something like that, I might as well buy an iPad or a fancy smart phone. I think by making this thing ultra feature-full, they're blurring the line between the things they're competing against a lot more, and I think that does carry some risk at backfiring. Would I rather have a fancy gaming/media device and a simple phone, or vice versa. It's asking a lot for people to purchase high end devices on both fronts, and so they're going to have to make a choice. I don't think that choice is going to be overwhelmingly in favor of Sony. *Yes I realize there has been no official price announced, but looking at the specs, the device has to cost sony around ~$450 to manufacture. I expect a ~$400 price point.
I saw a presentation yesterday by some guys who do health care lab system automation. Pretty cool what they do these days. They were saying that, with some of the work that they are doing in imaging and processing images, Sony actually gave them a top secret next gen playstation prototype to use. So, the advances of the gaming industry, are... already helping research on next generation medicine.
How is that for some unexpected crossover?
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
I hope we get some decent games too. There's way too much half-baked Disney-animation licensed crap on handhelds already.
I highly disagree. Sony has blurred the line between the devices it's competing against rather than making a distinction, and I don't think that is going to translate into success. I think the hardware looks great, and I plan on buying one. I'm a tech nerd afterall, but they're launching a device pushed at media success that is going to have to compete much more directly with the smart phone and tablet market which gets frequent updates and a much clearer value proposition. Do I want a simple smart phone and a high tech gaming media device with tons of features, or vice versa? I don't think a significant portion of consumers are going to pay for both. Granted, I think Sony will take a loss on hardware to comp some of the disadvantages of running high end hardware. Other device manufacturers make profit on their hardware, Sony doesn't have to, but cell phone carriers often subsidize the price as well. I don't think sony can eat the $200 price drop that at&t, verizon, etc can. It's going to be an interesting piece of hardware to study, but unfortunately I don't think Sony has a homerun. People already complained at the 3DS's $250 price. This is clearly going to be at least $100 higher, even after taking a loss.
Wasn't there already a portable with the initials NGP?
Yes, because with a few notable exceptions, cell phone game suck, esp. for "serious" games. You ever try to play an action/arcade game on a smartphone? It isn't fun, and unless someone develops a haptic display, it will never be fun. The reason is simple, it's impossible to make an interface that gives you the physical feedback you need for gaming(ie making sure your hand is on the right buttons and whatnot) with an interface that works well as a phone.
So until we have true tactile feedback from a touchscreen smartphone games will be limited to puzzle/casual games and gimicky things that use motion sensors. Not really my cup of tea.
Monstar L
I was looking forward to the Atari Flashback Portable that sadly never materialized. I really don't have a need or desire for a high-powered latest-generation portable console, but retro portable gaming I would pay for.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
It uses Flash-style cartridges, essentially.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
...and Sony are claiming that it will be “as powerful” as a PlayStation 3.
Sorry, but in no universe is the Cortex-A9 'as powerful' as a PlayStation 3's CBE.
...was showing that it won't be using the UMD, but what looked like an SD card of sorts. I'm excited about this mostly because the UMD is terribly annoying, it sounds like the PSP is snorting every time a game loads from it.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
I see a flaw in their plan:
ultra mobile devices ought to fit in your pockets.
just sayin'.
Rumour has it, there's an unnamed Japanese consumer electronics giant who has absolutely no idea what their strategy is. It seems they want all their platforms to "converge", but no business unit will give an inch in case another business unit starts to cannibalize their sales.
it uses some sort of memory card http://www.kotaku.jp/assets_c/2011/01/110127ngp_media-23816.html