The new PSP is here!

Here are some of the specs straight from the Sony conference in Tokyo:

Codenamed: the NGP or "Next Generation Portable."



The Full Specs

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)
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 = 1x1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode), Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR （A2DP/AVRCP/HSP）
The Games
Sony showcased a handful of games alongside the reveal of the new PSP, including new titles Little Deviants, Reality Fighters and Gravity Daze, plus games based on the following PlayStation franchises.

Uncharted
Killzone
WipeOut
Resistance
LittleBigPlanet
Hustle Kings
Hot Shots Golf
Sony says the new PlayStation Portable will also play PSone games supported via its PlayStation Suite platform and will be backwards compatible with downloadable PSP games. To demonstrate this, Capcom's Jun Takeuchi demoed Monster Hunter Portable 3rd for the PSP on a NGP.

Third parties have shown demonstrations of Yakuza 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4 running on the system, with Activision announcing a Call of Duty for the new PSP.

AND NO UMDs!!!!!!

Source: Kotaku.com

Sounds pretty awesome. The 3G is the selling point. Before, you'd have to be connected to a wifi source to do anything online on the old PSP. That and the fact that you can play PS3 quality games on a handheld is pretty game changing. (No pun intended) The only thing is the price. It's coming out the x-mas in Japan, so we'll get the price for here and release date likely in the fall when the NGP is coming out there. Looks and sounds pretty impressive...

Thoughts?

I'm excited, though less for the new system and more for the impending price drop the current PSP will see, so maybe I'll finally pick one up.

I'm curious as to what the games will actually play on. I have a serious dislike of the idea of storing my games solely on the memory chip of the device, that they seem to be moving towards. I wasn't a huge fan of UMDs (you lost on beta and won on bluray Sony, stop trying to force media storage formats down our throats), but I liked the fact that I could buy as many games as I wanted and not have to worry about storage. I really hope there is some form of external chip/disc/maguffin for games. Ideally, there would be 2 flash chip reader slots, one for your internal memory (settings, downloads, patches) and one for just games (if they start selling these games on flash chips that is)

Gojiratoho wrote:I'm curious as to what the games will actually play on. I have a serious dislike of the idea of storing my games solely on the memory chip of the device, that they seem to be moving towards. I wasn't a huge fan of UMDs (you lost on beta and won on bluray Sony, stop trying to force media storage formats down our throats), but I liked the fact that I could buy as many games as I wanted and not have to worry about storage. I really hope there is some form of external chip/disc/maguffin for games. Ideally, there would be 2 flash chip reader slots, one for your internal memory (settings, downloads, patches) and one for just games (if they start selling these games on flash chips that is)

It's sounding like it will utilize a memory card along with some internal memory. Not unlike the PSP Go. You'll be able to access Sony's PSN service through the device itself rather than having to connect to a computer to buy games and movies.

See, I don't like that. I prefer having games on some sort of external device (cartridge, disc, chip) rather than having to store everything I buy solely on my device's memory. If I did have to do that, I'd want either a drive large enough that I don't have to worry about deleting the games I buy later to make room for new ones, or having physical copies of the games that I could reinstall/copy later if I so chose.

Gojiratoho wrote:See, I don't like that. I prefer having games on some sort of external device (cartridge, disc, chip) rather than having to store everything I buy solely on my device's memory. If I did have to do that, I'd want either a drive large enough that I don't have to worry about deleting the games I buy later to make room for new ones, or having physical copies of the games that I could reinstall/copy later if I so chose.

It's the future, baby. You and your physical media are dinosaurs. Get used to it.

jfx316 wrote:It's the future, baby. You and your physical media are dinosaurs. Get used to it.

As I said, I'd have no problem is the device's storage capacity were large enough that I could buy games without worrying if I'd have to delete older ones to make room for newer ones, or let me install them a-la computer games and give me a physical copy so I can delete/reinstall at my leisure, not the whim of the company that hosts the download online.

Just because it's the future, doesn't mean it isn't a bad idea (*cough* cylinder records, 8-track, video-8, beta, LaserDisc, VCD, minidisc, DVDAudio, UMD, HDDVD, 3-D, etc. ad nauseum *cough*)

Gojiratoho wrote:

jfx316 wrote:It's the future, baby. You and your physical media are dinosaurs. Get used to it.

As I said, I'd have no problem is the device's storage capacity were large enough that I could buy games without worrying if I'd have to delete older ones to make room for newer ones, or let me install them a-la computer games and give me a physical copy so I can delete/reinstall at my leisure, not the whim of the company that hosts the download online.

Just because it's the future, doesn't mean it isn't a bad idea (*cough* cylinder records, 8-track, video-8, beta, LaserDisc, VCD, minidisc, DVDAudio, UMD, HDDVD, 3-D, etc. ad nauseum *cough*)

Hey, LaserDisc was awesome.......not really. I see you point, but physical media is done. You could use back ups for your games. I'm sure that we'll find out more about that soon.

It looks freaking amazing and I could be down for some portable gaming.

jfx316 wrote: but physical media is done.

No, it's not. It's definitely on the way out, but it's far from done.

But onto the new design, Sony has corrected what was probably the single biggest mistake they could have made with the original device, and that's adding a second analog stick.

Gojiratoho wrote:

jfx316 wrote: but physical media is done.

No, it's not. It's definitely on the way out, but it's far from done.

But onto the new design, Sony has corrected what was probably the single biggest mistake they could have made with the original device, and that's adding a second analog stick.

People will just find something else to bitch about now. It has a touch screen. It has two analog sticks. It has 3G.

Now, where Final Fantasy 7 remake??!?? SONY SUX!!

Whatever. It sounds pretty great. Now, let's hope that they don't crash into the wall with the price.

I'm sure that I read that games will come on flash drives.

This is impressive but I don't care about it, I got a PSP and rarely play it. So unless a really, really awesome exclusive comes out, I won't be tempted.

have no interest in this. as long as they are making games my current psp can play then there is no need for this. and physical media is far from done otherwise they wouldn't be putting games out on discs.

Games on flash drives I can get behind. And that second stick will make me interested in buying more games for mine (if I upgrade, price might be an issue). right now the only games I have are puzzle, strategy/tactics games, and side scrollers.

I'm likely going to write more about this in this week's Game Changer column. I might use some of your thoughts about the new PSP, so if you're not cool with that, let me know.

I'm fine with that.