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[theinfinityissue]

Wow, that is one sexually attractive piece of technology.

 

[Maleficence]

This just looks disappointing to me. Just talking about a design perspective, it looks uncomfortable. I think some other concept art ive seen looks better. I always hate long term game play on these things because people who have big hands just have an uncomfortable experience. Just looking at the guy playing uncharted with his small hands, he doesnt look comfortable. I think I just hate anyting that uses shoulder buttons on hand helds thats why I avoid them like the plague. If uncharted uses those damn shoulder buttons, (and it looks like it for sniping) than I just might pass.

The only thing I dont like about the ergonomics is the location of the two sticks.

 

[dork]

as awesome as that thing looks, its all moot until they say the price. Seeing how they kept trying to sell the psp and psp go at ridiculous prices, i can only imagine . And i was looking forward to some handheld uncharted

 

[Dead Prince]

i would like a different theme. instead of bubbles give it to me in list form on the left side. when you click on the name it shows the image and information on the right. double tap or whatever and it goes to launch the game or whatever. Unless they brought in the killzone kill sound when you tap on bubble then im fine with that.

 

[anddo0]

Wow. Hot Shot Golf POV looks really smooth.

amazing! I will lose many hours of my life playing this game.

 

[spats]

John Carmack had the following to say about the system on Twitter:

Low level APIs will allow the Sony NGP to perform about a generation beyond smart phones with comparable specs.

http://twitter.com/#!/ID_AA_Carmack/status/30655938016837632

 

[gofreak]

Some 'written-up' Gamespot impressions of the hardware.

http://www.gamespot.com/ngp/action/...humb;3&mode=previews&tag=stitialclk;gamespace

The upcoming device is actually surprisingly light with the dazzling screen taking up a fair amount of real estate on it. The button and analog stick layout feels familiar and comfortable. The sticks themselves feel good; Sony used the term micro analog sticks and it seems pretty apt. They have the give that's comparable to the sticks on the PS3's Dualshock controllers which make them comfortable to use. The shoulder buttons feel a bit thinner than the original PSP's, but work out well.

The touch functionality takes some getting used to but works well. We found that the front facing touchscreen was responsive and not as much of a smudge magnet as we expected. While there were Sony staff members on hand with microfiber cloths at the ready, we noticed that the screen didn't look so bad after we played with the system for a bit. The back facing touchscreen took some getting used to and seemed to respond best to a light touch as opposed to our initial Frankenstein-like mashing.

They have a video interview with Shuhei Yoshida at the link too.

Also, Little Deviants impressions:

http://uk.gamespot.com/ngp/action/littledeviants/news.html?sid=6287035&mode=previews

Control in the demo broke down between morphing the world with the back touch pad, which let you raise the ground around and under the deviants to move them, moving the camera with the front touch pad, and flinging deviants by combining the front and back touchscreen. Using the backscreen let you raise the ground under and around the deviants, which let you roll them around in different directions. When the need to change the game’s view would come up, a sliding motion on the front facing touchscreen would shift the view with a swipe. The most interesting use of touch required use of both the front and back touchscreen to “pinch” the deviants and pull back, stretching them like a rubber band allowing you to shoot them in any direction as you release your virtual grip. The only odd thing we encountered was moving the camera which was a little tricky to get used to.

The preview of Little Deviants worked well as a tech demo for how players will make use of the newly-announced hardware’s touch functionality. The intuitive and responsive system for morphing the world and moving the deviants around is interesting and certainly shows the potential for what can be done on the NGP. We’ll be curious to see just what kind of game Little Deviants turns out to be, but it certainly makes for a neat tech demo. Look for more on the game in the months to come.

 

[Maleficence]

Well, from a consumer's perspective it's always better to buy from the one who sell at a loss than from one who makes a profit i guess.

If we're talking purely about value for money, true.

 

[kallisto76]

will buy day1, if price not > 350€

awesome tech

 

[Zoe]

Ugh, please leave an option for the classic XMB

 

[Baron]

No removable battery? Oh man, that is a major strike against it portability-wise for me. I brought both my PSP and DS with me on a 3-week trip last year and thanks to the removable PSP battery I played the PSP almost exclusively, just switching out the battery (the giant extended one, of course) when it was depleted. DS can't easily do that (batteries are not really sold in stores and you need a screwdriver to open the thing) so I basically ignored it for all but a bit of Sudoku.

I was sold on the PSP2 until this little bit of info. Now...I don't know.

Also - no memory stick slot? Is this Sony's attempt to fight piracy? USB port included too?

 

[Vinci]

i would like a different theme. instead of bubbles give it to me in list form on the left side. when you click on the name it shows the image and information on the right. double tap or whatever and it goes to launch the game or whatever. Unless they brought in the killzone kill sound when you tap on bubble then im fine with that.

Yeah. Not caring for the bubbles either. Would prefer something similar to the Palm OS. It's out of the way but easy to access.

 

[Forsete]

Wow. Hot Shot Golf POV looks really smooth.

That alone is more useful than any form of 3D.

 

[Nakazato]

Also - no memory stick slot? Is this Sony's attempt to fight piracy? USB port included too?

yea im not sure about this either

 

[Furoba]

will buy day1, if price not > 350€

awesome tech

Prolly €400 or more, but €350 would be a real sweet spot.

 

[ScrabbleBanshee]

Device looks great. That interface, not so much. I hate those bubbles... what's wrong with XMB?

 

[Deku]

I don't really think so. Power? The difference is similar magnituse, maybe slightly less pronounced on the GPU side (maybe actually more pronounced on the CPU!). Input methods? NGP has all that 3DS plus tons more -- really an enormous variety. 3D? 3DS has it, NGP doesn't. They do use a similar physical distribution mechanism, I guess there's that.

Power in terms of graphics, sure. But based on the very early stuff, the gap is a lot closer than PSP v. DS.

And Sony understands this, and will probably use the later launch to their advantage by repeating or trying to repeat what the PS2 did to the Dreamcast. That is, come out at a far enough interval that they can create the idea that they're a generation ahead. Next gen doesn't start till they say so etc.

When I'm talking about features though, I'm talking about things like wi-fi, gyro etc. One thing most commentators missed five years ago is how the DS had a lot of key functionalities covered, like local play and WiFi internet. DS not having those would have hurt it much more than the gap in graphics. And I see the same important things covered by both platforms this time as well.

I keep asking this but never got an answer, presumably because Sony avoided it. 3G is a big dark horse. The expense, especially if it is not priced in like Kindle or super cheap (and as other threads have laid out, both scenarios are unlikely) will really hinder adoption in the near term.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Feature for feature, NGP and 3DS are probably closer than DS to PSP.

I do not think so... the gap seems to be quite wide. We are talking about a GPU that, clock per clock, is probably more than 4x faster than what you can find in current top range smartphones today and it is a OpenGL ES 2.0 based GPU compared to the ES 1.1+ one that the 3DS uses (still a bold move by DMP, I like their ideas ). The SGX543MP is also a more efficient and versatile core compared to the common SGX535 you can find in a lot of smartphones, we are talking about OpenCL support too (it can help offload some tasks from the CPU).

CPU wise we are jumping so much farther ahead than what even Apple is using with the A4 or what nVIDIA is pushing for Tegra 2 that is almost funny (although it will have to compete with a quad core Tegra 3 when it actually comes out... depending on nVIDIA's schedule for Tegra 3). If they pack NEON SIMD units with the A9 cores (which seems it could be a smart thing to do if you plan to emulate PSP1 titles... Allegrex has a "similar" SIMD VFPU) they have about 4x the FP performance per clock as Tegra 2 based designs.
The Cortex A9 (first OoOE CPU used by SCE in their PlayStation consoles too) is also on a different league compared to the ARM11 cores Nintendo is using even on a per clock basis.

VFPU aside, I do not think the R4000i CPU used as Allegrex core was that much faster, clock per clock, than the ARM CPU's used by DS and DSi.
Also, we are talking about 2x266 MHz ARM11 cores vs 4 Cortex-A9 cores in this case (yes, we do not know the target frequency, but I think it will be quite a bit above the 300 MHz mark).

Still, even if the GPU's were closer than they actually seem to be in terms of performance and features... the gulf in terms of CPU power would be felt by developers and consumers alike IMHO.

 

[Erebus]

NGP concept video.

http://www.giantbomb.com/sony-ngp-concept-video/17-3727/

 

[Deku]

I do not think so... the gap seems to be quite wide. We are talking about a GPU that, clock per clock, is probably more than 4x faster than what you can find in current top range smartphones today and it is a OpenGL ES 2.0 based GPU compared to the ES 1.1+ one that the 3DS uses (still a bold move by DMP, I like their ideas ). The SGX543MP is also a more efficient and versatile core compared to the common SGX535 you can find in a lot of smartphones, we are talking about OpenCL support too (it can help offload some tasks from the CPU).

CPU wise we are jumping so much farther ahead than what Apple is using with the A4 or what nVIDIA is pushing with Tegra 2. If they pack NEON SIMD units with the A9 cores (which seems it could be a smart thing to do if you plan to emulate PSP1 titles... Allegrex has a "similar" SIMD VFPU) they have about 4x the FP performance per clock as Tegra 2 based designs.
The Cortex A9 (first OoOE CPU used by SCE in their PlayStation consoles too) is also on a different league compared to the ARM11 cores Nintendo is using even on a per clock basis.

VFPU aside, I do not think the R4000i CPU used as Allegrex core was that much faster, clock speed difference aside, from the ARM CPU's used by DS and DSi.
We are talking about 2x266 MHz ARM11 cores vs 4 Cortex-A9 cores (yes, we do not know the target frequency, but I think it will be quite a bit above the 300 MHz mark).

Still, even if the GPU's were closer than they actually seem to be in terms of performance and features... the gulf in terms of CPU power would be felt by developers and consumers alike IMHO.

See post above for clarification of what 'features' mean to me. I mention features and it seems the mind naturally wanders to the GPU and processing. I don't blame you

 

[Saint Gregory]

Wow. Hot Shot Golf POV looks really smooth.

That does look great, I especially love the part where he turned the entire device sideways and it was simply like doing the same with a camera

BTW, is Gravity Daze a surprise Grasshopper game? It sure looks like one.

 

[plainr_]

I saw someone this morning (oh god I didn't sleep!) ask if Remote Play was in. Looks like it is.

YES! Maybe they'll have proper Remote Play functionality across all games this time. This should be sweet for GT5 B-spec.

 

[camineet]

NGP is getting a GP-GPU in the PowerVR SGX 543 MP4+

 

[Zoramon089]

Ugh, don't mean to derail this topic but all these talks about Nintendo being lazy are getting a bit ridiculous. Yes, they were a bit lazy with some of their decisions on the 3DS but nothing about it overall screams lack of effort. It's still a huge step up from the DS in terms of power, something that has been the staple of new iterations in consoles/handhelds since the start of gaming.

The DS and Wii, to a smaller extent, were experimental systems by Nintendo. They had strange input methods made to differentiate them from the competition and appeal to new markets. They truly were Nintendo trying to be different and innovative. Maybe that's my inner fanboy speaking but I honestly believe that. The PSP2 or NGP is not the same. Anyone who believes it's Sony trying to be innovative is fooling themselves.

After this gen Sony saw that pure power wasn't always the best answer. It let to situations like the PS3 vs the 360 where it simply came down to dev support because games between the two could easily be ported. So they decided, let's steal Nintendo's thunder. Let's make a device that covers everything theirs can do (within reason. they probably didn't anticipate 3D) and more. That's why the NGP has so many input methods and such.

Anyway, to end my rant, calling the 3DS a bad effort is a bit hypocritical, considering it's as much of a jump as nearly every system over it's predecessor has been.

 

[gofreak]

Hmm. Interesting, and on the face of it a backward step IMO - Yoshida says in the Gamespot interview that the memory card will be proprietary. Not just the game card, but the second memory card for your own expanded storage. They had better compare well, price wise, to generic cards. Sounds like an anti-piracy measure perhaps, although that won't last long I'm sure...

Gamespot also asked him about the publisher/developer list, and it being very Japan orientated. He said that at E3 they'd be announcing more western publisher support.

 

[Graphics Horse]

Do you think the games will be installable & linked to your account without the need to have the card plugged in? The use of a writable flash card means it could perhaps work securely, and each copy of the game could be unique, as they have to be electronically written instead of mass fabricated like DS cards.

It was one thing I was wondering about with the 3DS but it doesn't sound like that happened, The way the PSP2 OS is arranged, it seems possible, but that could be geared towards downloaded games.

 

[Zutroy]

Has this been posted?

Either there's a bit of confusion between regions, or Sony will offer NGP system variants with different communications capabilities in certain regions.

Europe will have the choice of 3G-equipped or Wi-Fi only models, SCEE president Andrew House told Eurogamer. "The first thing to clarify, which I'm not sure the presentation did a perfect job of doing today, is that all of the devices will have Wi-Fi capability; a separate SKU will have 3G," House said. The Kindle offers a similar choice, as does the iPad and even the iPhone/iPod Touch.

However, ITMedia reports through Twitter that all Japanese NGP systems will offer 3G. Whether there's a requirement to sign up for service with purchase, and what the available plans are, is currently "undetermined." No announcements have been made as of yet for North America.

Joystiq

 

[Baki]

I'm disappointed I didn't see any news on BC for PSP, but since they are going with Flash memory instead. It's understandable and preferred. The cards are really that much better for portable gaming. It also doesn't look like it made tremendous strides from the PSPVer 3, but again, it's still a vast improvement over what could have been. I can get over the lack of improve portability and no BC. But that software list is criminally bad. It was everything wrong with the PSP's line-up and it seems to be repeating once more.

There is PSP BC.

Also the cards will hold addon content and save data for the games it ships on.

 

[backbreaker65]

Is it true EA is not supporting this product?

 

[Deku]

There is PSP BC.

Also the cards will hold addon content and save data for the games it ships on.

PSPGO BC and redownloading games? Have they confirmed all titles are covered?

ie: I can redownload my existing PSP library?

 

[Baron]

I wonder how well remote play will be implemented. The games I've tried out on remote play have all been so laggy as to be completely unplayable. The PS3 was essentially running the game and just transmitting the image of the screen to the PSP, right? Now that the PSP2 is much more powerful than the PSP, maybe the game itself will just be, I don't know, transferred to the PSP2, or streamed somehow, not video-wise, but code-wise - I am not a software engineer, just a lowly editor, but my point is if the PSP2 can actually run the game then lag should be nil, right?

 

[Graphics Horse]

Is it true EA is not supporting this product?

It is true that they and THQ haven't announced support so far.

I wonder how well remote play will be implemented. The games I've tried out on remote play have all been so laggy as to be completely unplayable. The PS3 was essentially running the game and just transmitting the image of the screen to the PSP, right? Now that the PSP2 is much more powerful than the PSP, maybe the game itself will just be, I don't know, transferred to the PSP2, or streamed somehow, not video-wise, but code-wise - I am not a software engineer, just a lowly editor, but my point is if the PSP2 can actually run the game then lag should be nil, right?

Simply not possible for existing games, but future PS3 games could theoretically be designed like that. The PS3 wouldn't be needed in the equation at that point though.

 

[Vinci]

Is it true EA is not supporting this product?

You think EA is going to not have Madden on a device? Would be shocking if true.

 

[Cartman86]

PSPGO BC and redownloading games? Have they confirmed all titles are covered?

I suppose they haven't said with 100% certainty that all titles are covered, but they never indicated that it would be limited. I would assume they all work as long as they are on the PS Store. Stuff like Kingdom Hearts is another story.

 

[deim0s]

I'm a lookin and Ima likin.

This is probably answered somewhere in here but I can't find it. If I was playing say COD, how would it perform online over a stable 3g connection?

If you dont have a spotty 3g service area you'll be fine. But really depends on the game's network code. I wont hold my breath, wifi is the way to go.

 

[Maleficence]

Is it true EA is not supporting this product?

Just because they weren't mention in the developer list, does not mean EA will never work on a NGP game. Likely it was a mistake, or they're waiting to gauge reaction to it before committing.

I seriously doubt EA won't jump on this thing quick.

 

[overthehill99]

Have they talked about how memory works? Does this thing have a HDD, or is it all card like the regular PSP?

 

[Jafku]

Thank god for the new game media. My PSP-1000 bless it's heart, still wont read any UMD's.

 

[Cartman86]

Have they talked about how memory works? Does this thing have a HDD, or is it all card like the regular PSP?

They mentioned in an interview that it has a proprietary memory card tech for expansion, but no mention of internal memory.

 

[W1SSY]

I saw someone this morning (oh god I didn't sleep!) ask if Remote Play was in. Looks like it is.

That is one thing that could make this a must have for me. If I could play all the games I have bought for my PS3 through PSN on the PSP2. I though remote play was a great idea but never really got used and just lead to PSN games being ported and sold for the PSP. If more games can implement a cross platform experience between the PS3 and PSP2 it would only make it better.

 

[Kafel]

So why does the UI have all these game bubbles ? Can the games bought at retail be copied on the system and launched without having the game cart ?

 

[xtop]

Hmm. Interesting, and on the face of it a backward step IMO - Yoshida says in the Gamespot interview that the memory card will be proprietary. Not just the game card, but the second memory card for your own expanded storage. They had better compare well, price wise, to generic cards. Sounds like an anti-piracy measure perhaps, although that won't last long I'm sure...

Gamespot also asked him about the publisher/developer list, and it being very Japan orientated. He said that at E3 they'd be announcing more western publisher support.

proprietary for the expanded storage too? ughhhhhh

 

[gregor7777]

You think EA is going to not have Madden on a device? Would be shocking if true.

Agreed. While it's not unprecedented, I can't fathom today's EA not supporting the PSP2 with at least the core sports titles.

 

[sonitii]

Awesome tech, but the design is kind of ugly.

 

[Zoe]

but my point is if the PSP2 can actually run the game then lag should be nil, right?

No, you'd still need to transfer the data.

 

[Graphics Horse]

So why does the UI have all these game bubbles ? Can the games bought at retail be copied on the system and launched without having the game cart ?

I just asked that, would like an answer too. It's not impossible.

 

[Majine]

The hardware design is fantastic. I thought Sony had lost some of it's magic when the PS3 slim and PSP Go came, but consider this a redemption.

The bubble UI looks pretty bad, but supposedly easy to manage with the different control schemes.

But I'll probably just use the buttons, so give me back my XMB please.

 

[StealthGoblin]

He said that at E3 they'd be announcing more western publisher support.

Yeah, I had suspected that. I know for a fact that several developers who have actually been developing for PSP2/Vita/NGP for a while are missing from that list.

The E3 conference will have to be 2 hours long. They need to spend a lot of time on the PSP2, PS3 2012 games, post-June Move titles etc. I'd imagine PSN will get some love this year too.

 

[Rew]

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but I can't seem to find info on internal storage. Did they mention any at all, and if so how much and is it expandable?

 

[thundr51]

Is it bad of me to be glad this is finally announced for the simple reason that now I'll be able to get a Go at a decent price?