Sony has finally unveiled what everyone has already speculated, heard and hoped for. The PSP2, which is simply going by a codename of Next Generation Portable or NGP, boasts a high-resolution OLED screen and impressive hardware both under the hood and in its outward functions. Need any proof that Sony is taking ques from Apple and their interference in the portable gaming market with its touch devices? The PSP2 is touch-sensitive! The new handheld will come with new internal matchmaking software called LiveArea which is intended to connect you with nearby PSP2 gamers for multiplayer gaming and socializing.
Here is a rundown:
* CPU, RAM, GPU: This is still to be determined, but Sony claims it's as powerful as a PS3!
* Storage: Unidentified "new media" for games, on-board Flash storage
* Display: 5 inch OLED with 960 x 544 resolution
* Wireless: WiFi, 3G, GPS
* Inputs: Touchscreen, touch sensitive back panel (!?), D-pad, L/R shoulder buttons, standard PlayStation buttons, SIXAXIS controls
Sony showcased a handful of games alongside the reveal of the new PSP, including demos of old PSP favourites like Wipeout and Hot Shots Golf and also big killer app brands common on the PS3 such as Killzone, Resistance, Uncharted and LittleBigPlanet. Sony also made sure to show off some new titles such as Little Deviants, Reality Fighters and Gravity Daze. Sony says the new portable console will also play PSone games supported via its PlayStation Suite platform (also surprisingly showing up on Android devices) and will be backwards compatible PSP games previously downloaded through the Playstation Store. To demonstrate this backward compatibility, Capcom's Jun Takeuchi demoed Monster Hunter Portable 3rd for the PSP on the new handheld.
The unveiling of the PSP2 is hours away and our buddies over at Joystiq have gone to great detail collating the history of the PSP2 so far.
Once again, we stand on the precipice of a major Sony press event with a mountain of evidence suggesting that the announcement of a new, PlayStation-branded gaming console is mere hours away. Much like the leaks surrounding the PS3 Slim in the weeks preceding its revelation, the rumors buzzing about the PSP2 -- not to be confused with the Xperia Play smartphone (though we wouldn't blame you if you did) -- are wide-ranging and, oftentimes, pretty darn conclusive.
We've collected all the major points of the PSP2's nebulous history and arranged them in as comprehensive and critical a manner as we can muster below. Of course, we can't speak with absolute authority about the accuracy of any of the suggestions therein -- Sony will perform that arduous task for us at 1 AM ET tonight, during its Tokyo-based press conference -- but, with luck and determination, we should be able to separate the credible wheat from the impossible chaff.
Over at the Wagic site they have posted an article which discusses what the new PSP2 will be like, lets see how right they are in a matter of hours.
More and more rumors grow on the internet, as Sony invited journalists to a press conference (the “playstation meeting”) that will be held in a few hours in Tokyo, apparently to announce the PSP2.
Two analog nubs, awesome OLED touch screen, 300TB of Ram, insane graphics and screen resolution, CPU equivalent to that of the PS3, dual cameras, and apparently, it flies, makes coffee, ships with a Nintendo 3DS emulator, and could be providing 3G support with a subscription to the major operator Docomo (for the lucky ones among us who live in Japan…nah, don’t cry, I’ll upload pictures once I get one )…
Well, we’ll probably know which of all that is true in a few hours… As far as I’m concerned, I can’t wait for the PSP2 announcement, to see if the next gaming device I’m getting is a 3DS, a PSP2, or a Nokia NGage (wait, I probably meant an iPhone 5 here…)
The real characteristics?
Joke aside, it seems we have a clearer idea of what the PSP2 will look like. French website 01net announces the following, based on feedback from “trusted sources” (most likely devs who’ve had a debug unit to work on). Some of the features below have been confirmed by trusted game developers, or the Nikkei, Japan’s most known economy newspaper.
•Won’t fit in a pocket
•Will have a touch surface on the back, and a touchscreen on the front
•2 analog nubs
•OLED screen, “comfortable” (slightly bigger than on the PSP?)
•display resolution: 960×544 (4 times the number of pixels we have on the PSP)
•CPU: 4-cores ARM Cortex 9
•GPU:PowerVR SGX 543 MP4+ (that’s a 4 core with 128MB VRam to be confirmed)
•Ram:512MB
•Wifi, 3G, bluetooth (which could allow to connect the PSP to a Playstation phone according to some sources)
•GPS, accelerometer, microphone, front and back cameras
Err… wow… Seems Sony is (again) not targeting the casual gamers here… What do you think?
What would be your Portable device of choice if you had to buy one this year?
Should be an interesting day when the PSP2 is officially announced
