Monthly Archives: January 2011

The next generation PlayStation Portable console was announced last week in Japan at the PlayStation Convention. Code named the NGP, this system has a lot to show off about. Sony has made the new NGP with less of an angular look on the sides much like the PSPGo system. The result is that the NGP is far more appealing than if Sony had used the previous 1000 through 3000 mold. The system will come in either Black or White. Knowing Sony, they will try to add a zesty tone to the colors so let’s say they will be Snow White and Artillery Black for now.

Size
 The NGP measures out to be 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5 mm which in inches is approximately 7.16 x 0.73 x 3.29 inches at its most thick parts. The PSP-3000 measures up approximately to be 6.7 x 0.7 x 2.7 inches and the PSP go measure up to be 128 x 16.5 x 69 mm (the specs on PlayStation site for the go system is in millimeters and so there is no reason to convert to inches but this also means the comparison to the 3000 system will be more inaccurate). What does this mean? Simply put when compared to the 3000, the NGP will be slightly longer as well as taller. The NGP will also be a tad thicker than the 3000. Truth to be told it seems slightly unfair to compare to the go system but if we were to compare the NGP will be much longer and taller but only a tiny more thick.

Specs
The NGP comes equipped with an ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core) processor. This CPU is indeed powerful as seen in the demonstration. It allows the NGP to produce near PS3 graphics with no sign of lag whatsoever. The Screen is a 5″ 960 x 544 OLED Multi touch display. This in itself is a big deal. Not only is the screen bigger but the NGP has 4x better resolution when compared to the current PSP systems. If you’ve been listening to the rumors then you already know that the NGP comes with a rear touch pad ( trust me it’s not nearly as dirty as it sounds), front and rear camera, and dual analog sticks. What the rumors didn’t tell you is that Sony has added the same Six- axis motion controller technology found in PlayStation 3 controller into the NGP console allowing a more interactive gaming experience. Like the PSP go, the NGP has built in Bluetooth. Of course being a next gen system, 3G network support has been added ( no carrier or 3G subscription price was mentioned at the announcement).

Software
Sony has completely gotten rid of the XMB bar style for the home menu on the NGP. Instead a new organizational method has been created called Live Area. Icons are now bubble shaped and are oriented as if it were an Android system put in landscape mode except one slides up or down to get to the next page rather than left or right. The menu uses more vivid and appealing colors instead of the grey standard XMB from previous systems. Combined with the touch screen, as Kaz Hirai said, users will “Touch, Grab, Trace, Pull” through the menu as well as games. The “Live Area” expands into games one plays so that users can easily switch from game to game or to compare friends achievements in the same games. “Live Area” uses the 3G connection as well as the new Trophy Support to give real-time updates against friends.

Games
Sony revealed several PS3 games that would be ported to the NGP system. Some of the games that were on the list of ports were, Lost Planet 2, Yakuza 4, Killzone, Dynasty Warriors and Metal Gear Solid 4. Among the original games for the system were Hot Shots Portable Next, Wipeout, Hustle Kings, Little Deviants, Gravity Daze and Little Big Planet. It was revealed at the announcement that the NGP would no long support UMD Disks. Instead the NGP will be using proprietary “SD like” memory cards for each game. No worry though, the NGP will still be able to play PSP games via download at the PlayStation store. This was demonstrated with a digital version of Monster Hunter Portable 3rd.

The final and probably most interesting change was the addition of true Apps to the NGP system. Two highlighted apps pre-installed into the system were “Near” and “Activity”. The “Activity” app records one current location and creates a map of where ones been (score for the stalkers!) and posts it to the network which friends can see and compare with. The “Near” app uses each location ones been to show the most popular games in that area. It will be interesting to see what apps will be available for download as time progresses.

Release Date and Price
Sony has said that the new NGP will be out in time for the holidays so we can expect it to be out around November or December. However, Sony skipped mentioning the price. It wouldn’t be surprisingly to see the NGP priced around 250 to 300 dollars. Even 350 wouldn’t be to shocking coming from Sony. We can expect a full release date and price to be announced at this years E3.

Sony says the battery life of its next portable game machine will be on par with Nintendo 3DS.

Next Generation Portable, which Sony announced on Thursday, will feature 4 to 5 hours of battery life, according to a Eurogamer source. This would put it on the same playing field as 3DS, which lasts 3-5 hours depending on the brightness and 3-D settings.

Sony Europe CEO Andrew House, speaking to the website, would not put a hard number on the battery life, but said that two factors would make it “solid”: “It’s influenced our choice of flash media, versus incorporating a disc drive; and number two, the screen is large and gorgeous –- it’s also OLED, which is fantastically good for low power consumption as well.”

Sony officially announced NGP early Thursday morning at a press conference in Tokyo. Sony has yet to put a price tag on the machine, but it will be released during the 2011 holiday season.

Sony’s NGP will cost somewhere between “affordable” and $599, according to PlayStation execs.

The latest SCE honcho to comment on the handheld’s potential price point is Shu Yoshida, president of worldwide studios.

“From the very beginning of the project – since 2008 – pricing was one of the considerations that we had,” he told Game Informer.

“Hopefully when we announce the price, people will see the proper value,” he added. “It’s not going to be $599.”

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter told GameInformer earlier today that he believes PSP2 could sell for $250/£200, while Lazard Capital Markets’ Colin Sebastian is anticipating a $299 “or higher” price point.

Beyond the handful of games revealed onstage during last night’s big Sony event, an enormous list of developers and publishers currently working on games for this holiday’s Sony NGP has surfaced. Game Informer posted up the entire list broken down by region, which features big names like Activision, Ubisoft, 2K Games, Square Enix, and Capcom.

Perhaps more notable than the big name publishers is the group of listed developers, including Rockstar Games, Capybara Games, From Software, and Grasshopper Manufacture. As GI points out, both Electronic Arts and THQ (and their respective development studios) aren’t currently listed as working on games for NGP, though we imagine that will change as the year goes on (we already know that EA has had exposure to the in-development system).

Japan

• Acquire Corp.
• Alvion Inc.
• AQ Interactive Inc.
• Arc System Works Co. Ltd.
• Arika Co. Ltd.
• Artdink Corporation
• Ascii Media Works Inc.
• Capcom Co. Ltd.
• Chun Soft Co. Letd.
• Codemasters Software Company Limited
• Crafts & Meister Co. Ltd.
• CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd
• D3 Publisher Inc.
• Dimps Corporation
• Edia Co. Ltd.
• Enterbrain Inc.
• From Software Inc.
• Gameloft K.K.
• Genki Co. Ltd.
• Grasshopper Manufacture Inc.
• GungHo Online Entertainment Inc.
• Gust Co. Ltd.
• Hamster Corporation
• Hudson Soft Co. Ltd.
• Idea Factory Co. Ltd.
• Index Corporation (Atlus)
• Irem Software Engineering Inc.
• Kadokawa Games Ltd.
• Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. Ltd.
• Konami Digital Entertainment Co. Ltd.
• Level-5 Inc.
• Marvelous Entertainment Inc.
• Media5 Corporation
• Namco Bandai Games Inc.
• Nihon Falcom Corporation
• Nippon Ichi Software Inc.
• Nowproduction Co. Ltd.
• Q Entertainment Inc.
• Sega Corporation
• SNK Playmore Corporation
• Spike Co. Ltd.
• Square Enix Co. Ltd.
• SystemSoft Alpha Corp.
• Tecmo Koei Games Co. Ltd.
• TOMY Company Ltd.
• TOSE Co. Ltd.
• Ubisoft K.K.
• Yuke’s Co. Ltd.

North America

• Activision Inc.
• Capybara Games
• Demiurge Studios
• Epic Games Inc.
• Far Sight Studios
• Frima
• High Voltage Software
• Kung Fu Factory
• Paramount Digital Entertainment
• PopCap Games
• Powerhead Games
• Trendy Entertainment
• Ubisoft
• Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• 2K Games
• 2K Sports

Europe/PAL

• Avalanche Studios
• Climax Studios Ltd.
• Codemasters Software Company Ltd.
• Eurocom Developments Ltd.
• Eutechnyx Ltd.
• Exient Ltd.
• Firemint PTY Ltd.
• Gameloft SA
• Gusto Games Ltd.
• Home Entertainment Suppliers PTY Ltd.
• Impromptu Software Ltd.
• Rebellion
• Rockstar Games
• Sidhe Interactive
• Sumo Digital Ltd.
• Team 17 Software Ltd.
• Ubisoft Entertainment SA
• Zen Studios Ltd.

Sony has appended a “Holiday 2011″ release date to its next-generation portable system (NGP), but hasn’t offered a timetable for individual regions. Will it be a worldwide launch? Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton didn’t provide an answer in his interview with Engadget, opting to pin Sony’s strategy on providence.

“I know that’s rather ambiguous, and that’s for a reason,” Tretton said. “I think our goal is always to launch holidays when the majority of sales are done. You want to have a worldwide simultaneous launch. Having said that, this’ll be our sixth platform launch, and it’s very difficult to have the quantities to be able to launch on a worldwide basis on the same date.” Tretton noted that the goal might overshoot reality — leading him to pare down the initial promise. “I think our goal is, we would get at least one territory out by the end of holiday 2011.”

A clearer plan should become visible by fall, well after unforeseen production challenges have been dealt with. Tretton added that Sony had its challenging experience with PlayStation 3 to inform the NGP’s road to mass production. “I think we’d look to avoid repeating that, but when you’re dealing with new technology there are always roadblocks.”

Everyone is going crazy for the Sony NGP at the moment, but this might be dampened a bit by the news that there will be multiple versions of the console, and that 3G won’t be standard.

Much like the Xbox 360 and PS3 in its earlier life-cycle, there will be different models, all with different functionality. All devices will have Wi-Fi, much like the PSP, but not all of them will have 3G – this will come at extra cost.

Andrew House, the boss of SCEE explained that it’s “So the user gets a choice. Wi-Fi is available wherever, which clearly is the most important aspect of connectivity and that connected experience; 3G will be a subset of that.”