Sony has officially revealed the successor to the PSP, and it’s codenamed ‘NGP’. The device’s spec list reads like a techhead’s dream, with two cameras, a 5 inch OLED touchscreen (boasting 4x the resolution of the PSP), twin thumbsticks, a front and rear camera, Sixaxis motion control, 3G, WiFi and GPS, front and rear touchpads and an electronic compass. It will use flash based media, as we already hinted at a while back.
Games shown so far include Hot Shots Golf, Gravity Daze, Killzone, Reality Fighters, Smart As, Broken, LBP, Little Deviants, WipEout, Resistance, and Uncharted, and apparently look just as good as their PS3 counterparts.
Trophy support has also been confirmed, and a new UI called ‘LiveArea’ has been talked about. The LiveArea UI is what Sony are calling the ‘gateway to the games’. and will include the ability to launch the game, jump straight to the Store for that game (for DLC, etc) and communicate with others playing the game, and see what they’re up to.
You can even comment on what they’re doing, such as when they get a good score, or hit other milestones.
Kaz Hirai was understandably proud of the NGP, which is still just a temporary name for what everyone will be calling the PSP2, but the specs are indeed impressive – but it’s the control options that’ll really wow audiences – the Uncharted demo offered a variety of inputs, including tapping the X button or the touch screen to jump.
Capcom, Sega, Tecmo Koei, Konami, Epic, and Activision are all supporting the new console, with Capcom showing Monster Hunter 3rd and Lost Planet 2. Tecmo showed off a demo of a touch-screen powered Musou, and Hideo Kojima showed off a realtime cut-scene of Metal Gear Solid 4, massively trumping the 3DS’s MGS3 demo.
“On NGP, we can enjoy the same quality as PS3,” he said. “What I’d like to realise is playing on your PS3, and when you go out, you put the game on your NGP, and when you come back home, you can once again use your PS3 and large screen TV.” We’re told to watch E3 for more on that.
Then, Epic showed off a realtime Epic Citadel-esque flythrough, and then Dungeon Defenders, which was apparently ported from PS3 to NGP in “about a week”, and Activision’s Philip Earl just said three words: “Call of Duty.” This could be huge.
It has also been confirmed that you can play downloadable PSP titles on the NGP.
Finally, Sony confirmed that it’ll be pushing PlayStation branded content to Android phones and other devices, you can read more about this aspect of the presentation here in a separate post.
We’ll be reporting on everything NGP throughout today, but for now here’s the official Fact Sheet.
RocketSOL
It looks awesome!
Mr-Flame-Head
so its getting trophy support and mgs4, does that mean mgs4 gets trophies or was the video shown just to show off the machine
Hoopiness
CC – “I’m not a fan of PSP gaming at all – I game tons on my iPhone, absolutely loads… but IMO the games are better suited to being mobile, for me anyway.”
That’s a key point though isn’t it. They’re two separate types of portable gaming. Even non-core-gamers I know have a mini-game or two (ie, angry birds) on their phones. The PSP2 is not primarily aimed at that market really, is it? It’s aimed at the core who will buy this, sit on their arse somewhere and play it for an hour. That might be the sofa, their bed, their nan’s house, their girlfriend’s house, etc. To these people, it’s not about a quick casual game whilst you’re in a waiting room.
I take it you feel the same about the 3DS with it’s hefty price point and launch titles like Splinter Cell et al?
I doubt I’ll buy a PSP2 for the same reason I’ve not got a PSP, if I’m in the house, I’ll use the PS3. If I’m out, I generally don’t have time to game and if I want a quick play with something for 5-10 mins I’ll get my phone out.
That said though, the thing looks initially impressive and the games listed impress too. We’ll see what the cost is.
Whether I’d get anything out of it is a different matter.
bunimomike
It’s a fair point. If the PSP was profitable then there’s no reason why they wouldn’t want to emulate that this time around too. However, I think CC is pointing out how they’re missing out on a different (and larger) demographic. There’s no reason why the PSP2 has to be such a premium item with a majority of premium titles and marketing attached to those juggernaut-sized titles. For me, it should be able to do everything. Just like the PS3. From truly stunning titles like Uncharted 2 (and 3) to smaller titles on the PSN, like Flower, PJ Shooter, Monsters, etc.
I’m more than happy for it to keep the hardcore crowd happy but can’t help feel that Sony’s missing a fairly simple trick here.
cc_star
The original PSP was head and shoulders above anything else on the market all those years ago. There was nothing else that could do 3D gaming. Now what we’re getting a huge & impressive spec boost, however & this is the biggest however there is loads of competition. next month its Mobile World Congress, there will be a whole plethora of quad-core phones announced and we may see something of the Tegra 3 which will be in phones releasing at the same time as the NGP.
It’s a different world now, there is an unlimited amount of competition which the PSP never faced and I think Sony realise this which is why they’re hedging their bets with the PlayStation Suite so they can dip their toe in both pools at the same time.
kivi95
WOW all this is amking me want the psp2 now but i don’t no if i will wait for the 2th version of psp2 so it maybe have 4g.
bunimomike
Nah, sit tight and wait for the PSP3, fella. It’ll have 5G and a direct connection to the synapses in your brain. Also, the recharge cable plugs directly into your navel and is powered by lint.
Okay, okay. What I’m trying to say is “we don’t even have good 3G throughout the country so why wait?”. :-)
Juelz345
Really…3G is the deal breaker for you? With the amount of features and the specs on this thing I’d of settled for just wifi.
cc_star
Got a hint of over-kill to mee, WiFi would be fine. Sky have bought The Cloud and are going to massively expand it and o2 are rolling out a nationwide free WiFi network… Makes the 3G something which just bumps up the price (IMO of course)
Juelz345
Yeah, i really don’t plan on playing most of these games while i’m out and about anyway, that’s what my iPad and Android are for, games that can be enjoyed in short bursts while in a waiting room or while the wife tries on the 13th pair of shoes.
The games that I’ll be playing on this are Uncharted and the likes, which I’ll be playing while I’m laying in bed with access to wifi.
I read that there will be a wifi only version which will surely be cheaper, so that’s the one for me.
Awayze
OMG Sony have put in every possible feature you could want and more, for once the rumours were right.
As long as it isn’t over £299, I’m getting one ASAP!
brewersteve
The inclusion of trophies makes this a must for me! this could easily replace my PS3!
E8_BALL_
going back to its roots
psp go, not half as well made as its predecessor
gazzagb
Woah, looks good. Hope it has a decent price for me to consider buying it…
skibadee
wow I’m sold.
BigCheese
…But I just bought the ‘Go! D:
Kevling
If only there’d been any sort of hint that a new PSP was on the way ;)