Earlier today, the Internet practically exploded with news surrounding the official announcement of the PSP’s successor, codenamed “NGP”. Amongst the truckload of news, which we’re covering here, was a fact-sheet which let on just how much horsepower, voodoo and unicorn horns Sony have managed to cram into their new handheld.
As you can see from the below list, if a futurologist has so much as dreamt about a tech, Sony have shoehorned it into its mobile form-factor with the only thing that appears to be missing is a cookie-making hoverboard.
- CPU: ARM® CortexTM-A9 core (4 core)
- GPU:SGX543MP4+
- External Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth)
- Screen: 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED – Multi touch screen (capacitive type)
- Rear touch pad: Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
- Cameras: Front camera, Rear camera
- Sound: Built-in stereo speakers, built-in microphone
- Sensors: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), three-axis electronic compass
- Location: Built-in GPS, Wi-Fi location service support
- Keys / Switches: PS button, Power button, Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left), Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square), Shoulder buttons (Right/Left), Right stick, Left stick, START button, SELECT button, Volume buttons (+/-)
- Wireless communications: Mobile network connectivity (3G), IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode), Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR ?A2DP/AVRCP/HSP
These days, smart phones which feature touch screens, multi-core processors, front and rear cameras, motion sensors, GPS and of course mobile 3G and WiFi chip-sets cost anything up to £600. They are generally only affordable thanks to the heavy subsidies offered by mobile phone operators trying to hook you into a long term monthly contract. So, just how much could the NGP cost?
Speaking to Eurogamer, Sony’s Andrew House said
I can’t put a ballpark on it in terms of figures, but what I would say is that we will shoot for an affordable price that’s appropriate for the handheld gaming space. Ideally we would want to have our hardware be profitable, in addition to our software, we’ve experienced both sides and we know which one we like to be on.
However, a source told Eurogamer that “Sony will make a loss on each unit”, which isn’t hard to believe if Sony want the above spec at an affordable price point. With no official price announcement all talk is little more than educated guess work but at a spec that, in this writer’s opinion looks like it could be closer to £400 than the psychological £200 barrier, it looks like Sony themselves may need to dig deep so users can get their hands on the Next Generation Portable gaming goodness.
Watchful
Compare the NGP to something like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and you can easily imagine that it could cost at least £300-350 (depending on model) even if Sony do subsidise it at the start.
Yeah, the Tab’s got a bigger screen (7″ vs. 5″) but it’s TFT not OLED, the NGP’s got a second touch panel and its CPU and GPU are more powerful. Be interesting to find out how much RAM and ROM the NGP has.
gazzagb
Could you do one of your amazing posts where you explain all the tech stuff? They’re always awesome. Like what exactly is the difference between ‘TFT and OLED’?
Watchful
Seeing as you ask so nicely, I’ll see what I can do. :)
gazzagb
Awesome!! Ty! :D
SpikeyMikey23
I look forward to this too fella ;)
squashme
i think i just did that on other page lol
Bladesteel
Quick and dirty explanation:
TFT: Bottom layer generates light. Light shines through the pixel layer which blocks the light/colour that we don’t want. Light is always on eating battery.
OLED: The pixels themselves light up. Black image = no battery drain.
gazzagb
I’d probably be willing to pay around £200. Not too bothered about 3G as I’ve got wi-fi at home, although it would be useful when out and about.
DrNate86
It hasn’t got a cookie-making hoverboard? Ridiculous, count me out then. Sony should know by now that the only way to shift hardware is to provide baked goods and air miles.
Juelz345
Anything under $400 and I’m a day one adapter. Even if it’s more than $400 I’m still going to try swing it.
hazelam
the reason the phones cost so much is the manufacturer doesn’t get a cut of any software sold for it, that won’t be the case here.
and drnate, don’t be so silly, baked goods and air miles? as if, what’s really needed to be succesful these day is some kind of alcohol dispenser, put a working “beer” button on it it’ll sell like hotcakes, i’d buy one. :)
DrNate86
Ooh yeah that sounds good too. Get on it Sony!
ARUMIR Sympozium
£300 + Monster Hunter = WIN!
dude90
Whatever the price I’m definately going to want the 3G model.
SpikeyMikey23
Not fussed on 3g as Im not one to play games on the bus / train (because i dont use them ;) ) so wifi for me. If theres not much of a price difference between them, then i will consider it.
Also hoping for a £230 release price. Thats a proce im happy to pay. Will allow me to strecth to £250 but I wont pay over that.
BG123
Considering my 3000 series cost £150, The max I would stretch for one of these is £200, I’ll probably be waiting a while for it to come down to that, but no handheld (no matter how awesome) is worth any more than that IMO.
Origami Killer
£250 -£300 is the max i think i can go to, considering my ps3 cost a lot more than that only 2 months after release so i think it mite be more expensive than £300, whens it gonna come out btw?