• Sony's PlayStation Portable 2 officially revealed!

    Published on 27-01-11 at 06:57 PM AEST by
    rec
    The PSP2 is real, and now it's official. At a Tokyo event today the new handheld, with the apparent power of a PlayStation 3, was revealed. Code-named the NGP, or Next Generation Portable, it boasts a higher resolution screen, dual-analogue sticks, as well as front and back facing cameras. But that's just the tip of the iceberg, with the event delivering pictures, tech-specs and a heap of new information for you to salivate over...

    The Next Generation Portable also features built-in GPS, Wi-Fi and even 3G data capability. Why the focus on mobile connectivity? Sony plans to be implementing a service named LiveArea, which will actively seek out all other NGP consoles in your area. You will be able to see what they're playing, chat with them, compare ranks and of course go head-to-head.

    On the topic of the display, it's OLED, and it's 960x544. That's four times the resolution of the current PSP, and Epic Games' Tim Sweeney has claimed the unit's multi-core GPU is also "roughly four times as powerful as any portable we've previously seen," somewhat backing up Sony's claims about rivaling the PS3.

    It'll be out ready for Christmas this year, and an Uncharted title is on the launch list! You can also expect NGP versions of Killzone, WipeOut, Resistance and LittleBigPlanet. I'm excited.

    Here are all the specs for you:
    CPU
    ARM Cortex-A9 core (4 core)

    GPU
    SGX543MP4+

    External Dimensions
    Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)

    Screen (Touch 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 (Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode)
    Bluetooth 2.1+EDR （A2DP/AVRCP/HSP）


    And if you're still gagging for more, here's Sony's pre-NGP release video:

    Comments 14 Comments
    1. mepm's Avatar
      mepm - 28-01-11, 01:26 AM
      sweet and i was just about to buy a GO.
      PS4 Wont be far away now that the PS3 been cracked open like a walnut.
    1. Bam Stroker's Avatar
      Bam Stroker - 28-01-11, 02:40 AM
      That video would be so much cooler if it didn't exclusively feature people I felt like punching.

      That said, looking at the specs and what's on offer I can definitely see myself going for one of these. I offloaded my DS Lite last year and have been without a handheld since. 11 months is a long time in tech though so I'll wait and see but come release if there's nothing competitive to catch my eye I think I'll snap one of these up.
    1. rec's Avatar
      rec - 28-01-11, 08:27 AM
      I haven't owned a handheld since the original Game Boy. I've never found the offerings compelling enough. But this... I want this.
    1. Knight Of Nih's Avatar
      Knight Of Nih - 28-01-11, 09:14 AM
      if their targeting teenage boys then there smack bang on the money.
      unfortunately if they wanted to aim for the young adult males the should have implemented phone capabilities because really who wants to carry 2 devices everywhere?
    1. rec's Avatar
      rec - 28-01-11, 09:25 AM
      All signs point to comms capability. Most certainly Skype, and perhaps cellular network calls or messaging too.
    1. mepm's Avatar
      mepm - 28-01-11, 02:53 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Knight Of Nih View Post
      if their targeting teenage boys then there smack bang on the money.
      unfortunately if they wanted to aim for the young adult males the should have implemented phone capabilities because really who wants to carry 2 devices everywhere?
      they are aswell for those who want it.

      Exclusive: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play (PlayStation Phone) preview -- Engadget

    1. rec's Avatar
      rec - 28-01-11, 02:54 PM
      Yeah the PlayStation phone looks decent. Called Xperia Play, it'll play PSOne titles apparently.
    1. Tachi's Avatar
      Tachi - 28-01-11, 07:38 PM
      They actually announced that the PlayStation Pocket service will be available on compatible Andriod phones/tablets not just Sony ones.

      So PSOne titles and maybe things like PlayStation mini's etc on Andriod devices. Natually having a phone with actual controls on it would be better though.
    1. Tachi's Avatar
      Tachi - 28-01-11, 07:39 PM
      Ohh apparently the image quality of the screen looks better then any TV screen
    1. rec's Avatar
      rec - 28-01-11, 07:48 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Tachi View Post
      Ohh apparently the image quality of the screen looks better then any TV screen
      Of course it does, it's 960x544 on 4 inches. That means it has a comparable ppi to the iPhone 4. Your eyes can't distinguish individual pixels at that density.

      For your 1920x1080 24" LCD monitor to look as sharp, it would need a resolution of approximately 6500x4400.

      For your 50" plasma to look that sharp, it would need to be twice that again.
    1. Tachi's Avatar
      Tachi - 28-01-11, 07:51 PM
      Was thinking more along the lines of black levels and how the actual colours look but what you said is true as well .
    1. rec's Avatar
      rec - 28-01-11, 07:53 PM
      It's an OLED screen - so that goes without saying. It's amazing tech... just far too expensive for TV use right now.

      A 32" is being released by LG next year, for US $9000 (which has a far lower ppi than this, it's just the size that bumps the price up).
    1. rec's Avatar
      rec - 28-01-11, 07:58 PM
      PS. games already look absolutely stunning on the iPhone 4. Zenbound 2 and Pool Bar are fine examples of how truly stunning imagery can appear on something with a 320~ppi screen. On a more typical screen ppi, the iPad, those same games look shit with a truckload of jaggies - and nothing has changed bar the pixel density.

      With the processing beef this thing has behind it... my mind boggles at the possibilities. I dare say the launch titles will be little compared to what we see towards the end of its life span as developers truly optimise titles for its resolution vs display. Needless to say, there's absolutely no need for anti-aliasing, and that horse power can be spent elsewhere.
    1. rec's Avatar
      rec - 30-01-11, 10:57 AM
      God of War/Twisted Metal created David Jaffe says: "New hardware is like new p**sy. It's exciting at first but after you've experienced enough fresh vagina over the years - while there's still always a bit of excitement when something new comes along - you learn that sooner than later, the new and exciting becomes the standard and dependable and so it's best to just stay focused and [grateful] on what you've got at the moment and if you need to make a change, it'll just happen organically."
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