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RUMOR: Sony developing Android 3.0 powered PSP-Go like phone. [Update: Post 472]

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i think this is a great idea..

playstation type games on a phone - that has a gamepad to it?

i think i would buy this...



the ds / 3ds is pure gaming

the iphone is more phone than game

this psphone is literally in between both the ds and iphone

i think this product would definitely have a competitive advantage..

not sure why so many haters.. i see lots of potential
 
I don't think this will be a follow up to PSP. More of a test the waters from both Google and Sony in the gaming smart phone arena.

Also I very much doubt this is all we'll see from Google/Sony products/services.
 
If they don't use Android directly they at least should have a non-game app store on their next handheld.

Hell, every single console and handheld should have developer APIs for the OS and an app store. There's so much awesome shit that could be added to my PS3 and Sony could profit from it big time.
 
Pimpwerx said:
BUAHAHAHAHAHA!!! :lol

Sorry, but SE's software support has been a running joke for years. I had to rely on TopSony, a spanish-language site to hack my Walkman phone. Good hardware, but shit software support. So if it's stock Android, then firmware updates are in Google's hands...for the most part. The problem with the X10 is SE's skin means they have to handle the firmware updates. The phone is still on 1.6. Other phones have gone through 2.0, 2.1 and are on 2.2 now. PEACE.
The X10 is 2.0 now.
 
I just hope this isn't PSP2, which I really doubt.

3d gaming without even one analog stick? Hell yes what an improvement, I would pay at least double the price of a PSPgo for that privilege!

Don't get me wrong, with a d-pad and buttons it will run circles around any Android Phone and iPhone regarding the pure gaming aspect, but in comparison to a 3DS or even PSP it's a huge letdown. They'd lose out their PSP core customers to Nintendo in a heartbeat.

I guess this means no real PSP2 at TGS or anytime this year ;(
 
There's some subtleties/uncertainties/weirdness in this rumour that makes me wonder if it's accurate or if we're getting the whole story.

One noteworthy subtlety not in the OP, that I think is significant, is that Engadget says 'it looks like it will carry the Playstation branding aswell' as Xperia.

They are also very vague on the games being shown with it, which sort of muddies the water a bit on what the device actually is. The article only says that the games mentioned in the OP are 'possibly on tap', though it does say older PSX and newer PSP games are being shown with. I dunno if the latter jives with the spec? Or are they integrating PSP hardware into it in addition to the 'traditional' Android hardware?

They also seem very uncertain about their date of October, but I think it's safe to say that that's not remotely accurate anyway.

If you were to take all the info at face value though, you could form a interesting theory about what Sony's up to, though.

Mama Robotnik said:
So are they abadoning all hope of competing with the 3DS now, and are going for the App/Mobile phone game market instead?

As much as the 3DS excites me, I was really hoping for some proper competition this time round. Its usually good for the industry.

The 3DS and 'app/mobile phone game market' are broadly in the same market. If Nintendo is trying for PSP marketshare, they'll probably come to realise that more than they did with DS.
 
Polk said:
Even X10 mini and X10 Mini Pro (released in June 2010) are android 1.6 phones.

it is not that big of an deal, they are fast enough and SE has updated it already several times.
Reason it takes so long to update is because Google was changing api's all the time. It is really not manufacturers fault. Apparently that will not happen anymore after 2.2.
 
One question that I have - is this a Sony skin over the default Android, or are they planning to extend android itself?

As a sony only offering with a custom skin over android, it isn't that compelling IMO. You need the numbers that would only come from having a gaming platofrm in the core platform.
 
spwolf said:
it is not that big of an deal, they are fast enough and SE has updated it already several times.
Reason it takes so long to update is because Google was changing api's all the time. It is really not manufacturers fault. Apparently that will not happen anymore after 2.2.
The APIs don't change that much. Or that often. That's not really the reason at all, they just don't really feel the need to keep their phones up to date. It's not like they're phones are actually popular Android phones anyway.
 
mrklaw said:
One question that I have - is this a Sony skin over the default Android, or are they planning to extend android itself?

As a sony only offering with a custom skin over android, it isn't that compelling IMO. You need the numbers that would only come from having a gaming platofrm in the core platform.
I'd assume they would make XMB skin over stock android. Maybe include some software for media playback.
 
Polk said:
I'd assume they would make XMB skin over stock android. Maybe include some software for media playback.
I doubt they would. I think SE has it's own skin already, anyway, I believe. Not sure, don't have an X10.
 
As the rumour puts it, this doesn't strike me as the playstation/android device...in terms of skins, I'd expect it to have whatever ericsson already uses. The games themselves aren't dependent on any specific skin being used.

It strikes me as a playstation/android device. In fact there may not be such a thing as the ps/android device, if you get my drift... the suggestion that Playstation/PSP might be a brand that 'plugs in' alongside an existing phone or device brand (such as Xperia) may carry interesting implications depending on how much you want to read into that.
 
zoku88 said:
I doubt they would. I think SE has it's own skin already, anyway, I believe. Not sure, don't have an X10.
I'm not saying they need to put the same XMB from PSP/PS3, because I don't think anyone would buy phone with such ui, but making similar UI across all their devices makes perfect sense.
 
Polk said:
I'm not saying they need to put the same XMB from PSP/PS3, because I don't think anyone would buy phone with such ui, but making similar UI across all their devices makes perfect sense.
But it's SE's device and they already have a skin (I believe.) So you're basically arguing to have someone put different UI's on their devices.
 
That doesn't look like anything I wuld be interested in. I enjoy a game from time to time on my iPhone but that is not it's primary purpose. I would be interested in a dedicated gaming machine by Sony not this.
 
Google is slowing down; 3.0 will last for a year so updates won't be an issue. Plus if it's "the" PSphone then it would be supported for a long time.

As for the touchpad...it may not be bad. Not everyone was for the analog nub ("it's not a real analog stick, it feels like a penny on the back of a dixie cup!") but it's oddly flat feel wasn't a big deal. If there's anything iPhone taught me it's that a touchscreen is actually pretty decent at replacing an analog stick (touchpad should be better) it's just not great at replacing action buttons.

It's better to give things a chance then to hate them right away because it's different or new imo. On blogs and forums everywhere a PSP phone has been rumored and the discussion is always very positive; Apple is eating everyone's lunch with their games and it's no secret that Sony has been trying to crack into Apple's market (PSP Go + Minis). It's almost like this can't be false.


perfectchaos007 said:
yikes I don't see this thing doing too well if it gets released. The iPhone games sell because they are cheap. Sony sells downloadable games that are $30-$40 dollars on the PSP-Go. They didn't sell then and they won't sell well on a phone

Yeah Sony would definitely have to learn from the mistake they made with the Go. Games have to be cheaper but at least it would give them a platform for Minis to take off.
 
yikes I don't see this thing doing too well if it gets released. The iPhone games sell because they are cheap. Sony sells downloadable games that are $30-$40 dollars on the PSP-Go. They didn't sell then and they won't sell well on a phone
 
I'll rephrase.

I don't mean skin as a literal UI element. I mean as a custom add-on only for SE. That would be a failure IMO. Too many android devices across multiple manufacturers means fragmentation.

If this was real, the only way to succeed is volume. That means somehow it would need to be a basic part of the android platform - every licensee gets it and any user of any android 3.0 phone can play PSP games.
 
mrklaw said:
I'll rephrase.

I don't mean skin as a literal UI element. I mean as a custom add-on only for SE. That would be a failure IMO. Too many android devices across multiple manufacturers means fragmentation.

If this was real, the only way to succeed is volume. That means somehow it would need to be a basic part of the android platform - every licensee gets it and any user of any android 3.0 phone can play PSP games.

I think 'Playstation' on its own has proven it can drive volume...

But, I see what you're saying at the same time. And I do think what you're getting at would be by FAR bigger news if it were the case.

Perhaps the most significant and interesting bit of this rumour, if true, is:

and there will be a new area of the Android Market specifically for the games

We've speculated before that Sony might make ps/android hybrid devices, but I don't think anyone previously suggested it would be something that Google would specifically or explicitly embrace.

However, if Sony were to be distributing for this platform via the Android Markeplace - Google's Android Marketplace - it suggests that Google would be involved, heavily involved, and the relationship between Android and Playstation might be a lot tighter than Sony simply going off on their own to make some custom hybrid.

It also begs the question of the Playstation Store - what of it? Or is this 'new area of the Android Market' the Playstation Store in disguise, integrated with the Android Market?

I guess at the furthest reach of speculation, the most exciting scenario would be Google and Sony hammering out a new specification that would be an official, anointed - but not mandatory - part of the Android platform. One that carries the Playstation branding and, probably, one that encompasses the PSP. I pick up that suggestion in some little bits of this rumour too, and it would indeed be the far bigger news than just one Ericsson device, but it does seem a bit out there at the same time...but it would be HUGE news.

(By the by, it might explain the touchpad 'emulating' the analog stick too...if I were wanting to make a spec that would apply across different devices, I'd want to give device makers fallback options that more neatly fit with existing tech on these devices other than forcing an analog stick on them.

You could say that because it's an Xperia phone, with Playstation co-branding, that fits with this scenario too...Playstation being something that can be 'built in' to other devices and brands...)
 
Hmm, I wonder how much of a drain Android would be on performance of 3D games? PSP has a CPU clocked at 266 MHz (by default) and a GPU at under 200 MHz, I believe, along with 32mb of ram. Despite that, the performance of many of its games seems to run circles around anything on any Android phone (or even iPhone, for that matter).
 
dark10x said:
Hmm, I wonder how much of a drain Android would be on performance of 3D games? PSP has a CPU clocked at 266 MHz (by default) and a GPU at under 200 MHz, I believe, along with 32mb of ram. Despite that, the performance of many of its games seems to run circles around anything on any Android phone (or even iPhone, for that matter).

That bit doesn't fit with the hardware described in the article. I don't think a 1GHz Snapdragon could even emulate PSP games in the first place?

I think if there were in fact PSP games running on this, it suggests probably that the PSP chipset is included IMO.
 
spwolf said:
uhm, how many PSP's did Sony sell?

Very good numbers for their first handheld [over 50mil].

On the other hand 3DS will be Nintendo's ninth[?] handheld console. Maybe its eight, not sure.
 
gofreak said:
It strikes me as a playstation/android device. In fact there may not be such a thing as the ps/android device, if you get my drift...

I don't know the origin of the original rumours but it'd make sense this was the same product they were talking about. Might not be able to run PSP isos, but perhaps something similar compiled for that hardware? Not looking like a PSP 2 yet anyway.
 
zoku88 said:
The APIs don't change that much. Or that often. That's not really the reason at all, they just don't really feel the need to keep their phones up to date. It's not like they're phones are actually popular Android phones anyway.

uhm? They released 4-5 updates for X10 already. And they are pretty popular phones in Europe, only reason SE is making money right now.
 
dark10x said:
Despite that, the performance of many of its games seems to run circles around anything on any Android phone (or even iPhone, for that matter).
Think of it like this - if this were true, it could lead to a "not completely shitty Game-API" on an actual phone.
Of course that says nothing for PSP compatibility (emulation is obviously out of the question, there's nothing even close to fast enough on horizon for phones, let alone in shipping products like the rumoured spec).
 
gofreak said:
That bit doesn't fit with the hardware described in the article. I don't think a 1GHz Snapdragon could even emulate PSP games in the first place?

I think if there were in fact PSP games running on this, it suggests probably that the PSP chipset is included IMO.

i just hope that whoever is reporting on this rumor, saw 1ghz and automatically assumed snapdragon... because thats generally the cpu involved when talking 1ghz for the last year. i'll be a little underwhelmed to "upgrade" my current phone, and still have the same SoC i had a year ago
 
Graphics Horse said:
I don't know the origin of the original rumours but it'd make sense this was the same product they were talking about. Might not be able to run PSP isos, but perhaps something similar compiled for that hardware? Not looking like a PSP 2 yet anyway.

What I'm getting at is, that it may be just one of a number of ps/android devices. Not the one and only.

The WSJ rumours pointed at that, in fact (that there was a phone and a tablet for example).

Moreover, though, PS/android could be a lot more than just one device or set of devices, it could be a more interesting development on a platform level.

As for PSP2, if they were going the kind of route suggested above, I don't think it'd be happening any time soon. PSP, hardware wise, is very competitive in a smartphone gaming kind of context, and even next to 3DS, it may not be in a totally different ballpark. I could see, for example, 3DS and PSP games sharing asset pipelines in a way PSP/DS never did, with them diverging at the renderer.

In other words, if there's still mileage to be had from the PSP hardware in an Android context and if it's still in porting range of 3DS, I'm not sure there's an urgent need on the hardware front for a PSP2.

What this makes of the Tegra/PSP2 rumours though, I'm not sure. But if they were going to push PSP out onto new plains at a platform level, I don't think they'd want to distract with a PSP2 anytime soon. And when a PSP2 did come, yes, there'd be a dedicated device, but it would likely also be a spec upgrade for this Android subplatform too.

Then again, this might just be a one-off device or small set of devices. Maybe there isn't the larger implications at a platform level wrt Android. Maybe now in its waning years Sony's happy to embed PSP out into a few other devices belonging to sister companies, to throw them a bone, while it readies a PSP2 to replace it. Maybe maybe maybe... :)

edit - I'm assuming above that the PSP chipset would form part of the hardware specification for this new 'gaming platform' on Android. That seems to be necessary if the thing is running PSP games, but maybe not, maybe the PSP games referenced are ports to the new platform/hardware for demo purposes...
 
spwolf said:
uhm? They released 4-5 updates for X10 already. And they are pretty popular phones in Europe, only reason SE is making money right now.
But they are nowhere near the most popular android phones.

by up to date,i mean with the os.
 
gofreak said:
As the rumour puts it, this doesn't strike me as the playstation/android device...in terms of skins, I'd expect it to have whatever ericsson already uses. The games themselves aren't dependent on any specific skin being used.

It strikes me as a playstation/android device. In fact there may not be such a thing as the ps/android device, if you get my drift... the suggestion that Playstation/PSP might be a brand that 'plugs in' alongside an existing phone or device brand (such as Xperia) may carry interesting implications depending on how much you want to read into that.
This is my assumption as well. I'm guessing this would be a side project, not a real PSP 2. Sony wouldn't let Sony Erricson be in charge of the real deal.

JaggedSac said:
Most likely Sony and Google's plan to counter WP7's XBox Live functionality and Apple's Game Center.

Exactly.
 
DieH@rd said:
Very good numbers for their first handheld [over 50mil].

On the other hand 3DS will be Nintendo's ninth[?] handheld console. Maybe its eight, not sure.

This is a ridiculous comparison,
Nintendo's first handheld was the gameboy after all :/
 
Man said:
PlayStation games across Android phones? This is huge.
Pretty much. How many posted in the first two pages without reading? Now that's the question. This is going to be very successful.
 
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