Sony's PSP2 will NOT be digital-only, despite the suggestions of some high-ranking execs at the firm over the last year.
Sony's New Generation Portable (NPG), as it's being called, will still carry physical media - but the firm's done away with PSP's UMD in favour of a new flash memory-based card format. This will be dedicated for NGP software titles.
"By adopting flash memory based card, SCE will be able to provide game cards with higher capacity in the future, allowing developers to store more game data to deliver rich and immersive games."
NGP will come equipped with two cameras on its front and rear, as well as three motion sensors, gyroscope, accelerometer and electronic compass.
Comments
45 comments so far...
altitude2k on 27 Jan '11 said:
As I've said before on a number of occasions: cartridges are the past...
...AND the future.
benstevens on 27 Jan '11 said:
Sony really have everything covered. 4 to 5 hours battery life according to playstationlifestyle.net
Nick33 on 27 Jan '11 said:
5 Minutes of the new Uncharted on PSP2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9e3c0k3SrQ
They may as well add gold trim to this thing as it's already going to cost about the same price of a new house.
More games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZltWKV0lFxg
I await the 500 pound + price tag with glee.
runadumb on 27 Jan '11 said:
Common sense for the win!!! Excellent
The_Hun1 on 27 Jan '11 said:
I would like to see high end flashcard's or sticks for future home console media aswell, instant loading, bigger storage than blue ray potentially. As for the battery life of the new psp, 4 - 5 hours isnt too bad considering the size of the screen, brightness and features of the device, not suprised since it's an oled screen, these use a hell of alot less energy to power them, since they dont need a backlight. My only worry with this is will people give up their ipods, ipad, iphones to get a gaming fix on the move?
mfnick on 27 Jan '11 said:
Good to see they learned from the PSPgo
infernoxXx on 27 Jan '11 said:
heres a photo of it.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/01/sony-tokyo-event-1385.jpeg
milky_joe on 27 Jan '11 said:
I never thought I'd see the day where a Sony console would use cartridges...
lwill on 27 Jan '11 said:
I'm a little naive, sorry guys, but will we be able to download games too?
It really sounds like a quality piece of kit, but it seems to have covered so much, I'm getting concerned about the price. Looks like they're going to make it a 'luxury' console, just like the PS3, so I suppose along with that comes the price.
Also intrigued as to how 3G will work. Subscription based? P(l)ay as you go, eh? Oh comon, admit it, you're a little impressed?
No...?
boskersrevenge on 27 Jan '11 said:
I wonder if there is an upper limit on the cards? The 3DS is capped, will the PS3 be?
It's a good move, great in fact. Much approval!
mfnick on 27 Jan '11 said:
The PSN store is on it too. Dont know if PSP2 only games will appear on it though.
boskersrevenge on 27 Jan '11 said:
With games on demand on both Live and PSN, I wouldn't be surprised.
runadumb on 27 Jan '11 said:
"By adopting flash memory based card, SCE will be able to provide game cards with higher capacity in the future, allowing developers to store more game data to deliver rich and immersive games."
boskersrevenge on 27 Jan '11 said:
Well, have you seen how much 32gig of flash memory costs?
There is a price to consider.
altitude2k on 27 Jan '11 said:
Just like any other media, if this format is adopted as the medium of choice by a brand such as PSP and all their games are supplied on it, then the demand of the SD chips from the manufacturer is far higher and the price will plummet.
Remember how expensive DVDs were to begin with?
nuggit3000 on 27 Jan '11 said:
True, but the price drops and the size increases very quick. You can buy 16GB cards right now for little over £10, so they must be made for about £5, in about 3-4 years when the next gen is coming, they will be cheaper and you will get 32GB cards for £10.
I think most games of today will fit on a 8GB card (especially as Xbox is stil using DVD) but as time goes on, especially if the next gen is to last at least 10 years too, games can increase in size without the need for a different media format. (The SDXC format has a theoretical limit of 2TB, but it will be some time before we see those cards)
Ive posted this on a different thread, but it seems more appropriate here.
Its interesting that DLC is saved directly to the card itself, which leads to a few questions.
Will the games only work on the first PSP they are activated on (Like N-Gage) or will we be able to sell the games with the DLC once we have finished them
Is there an increased chance the game can be deleted or become currupt if the card is not read only.
DaKellyFella on 27 Jan '11 said:
How much can the cards store now?
Ram is also I'm curious about, they didn't give specifics on that. They're hopefully putting 1GB in, just to make it smoother and broaden the scope with what is possible on this device
Laughlyn on 27 Jan '11 said:
well that answered my previous question in an earlier article.
Think after the 3DS i may have to look at saving up for the PSP2 as well for xmas, just hope i wont have to remortgage the house or sell a kidney for it
RandyChimp on 27 Jan '11 said:
They won't charge more than £40 for a game, it's not logical.
AJDarkstar on 27 Jan '11 said:
The gadget-loving side of me goes "ooooh", but the fact that Sony let everyone else do the work for them and the fact that the games will likely be PS3 ports (or be ported to PS3, the way PSP games often came to PS2 - and very expensive to develop, meaning that once again hardly anyone will take the risk), make the logical, cynical part of me go "hmm".
We'll see. It would take awesome, exclusive GTA, MGS & LBP for me to even begin considering this.
altitude2k on 27 Jan '11 said:
Plus there's the fact that the price you pay for an SD card at retail will have a significant markup. That's something that isn't reflected in retail game prices.
pRM8 on 27 Jan '11 said:
Great move to drop UMD. Someone in them Sony meetings had their head screwed on the right way!
Like Bosker points out, at what cost though?
Currychips on 27 Jan '11 said:
If it's much more than £250 then it won't sell very well IMO.
Handheld gaming is dead.
pRM8 on 27 Jan '11 said:
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w15/meprim8/worldwide_totals.png
So dead that no one buys them.... oh wait..
The_Jaster on 27 Jan '11 said:
Well, some Sony made ps3 games were £49.99 rrp at the launch so I expect high prices across the board for the device(ngp) & its software.
-----------
As I said elsewhere this is the best thing about the NGP (cartridge media) it kind of makes me laugh as its the whole reason of why Nintendo & Sony fell out with each other in their joint project all those years ago.
Currychips on 27 Jan '11 said:
For a system that has been cheap from the beginning... if the PSP2 is much over 250, it'll bomb. Mark my words.
The_Jaster on 27 Jan '11 said:
Plus there doing things that a lot of their fanbase don't want (from what I'm reading anyway) like touch screen controls, motion sensors etc.
Balladeer on 27 Jan '11 said:
They're also doing everything their fanbase do want, although that touchscreen was a stupid idea blatantly ripped from Apple.
The_Jaster on 27 Jan '11 said:
True.
boskersrevenge on 27 Jan '11 said:
@ Altitude, Nuggit; Chimp - gotcha. Forgot about demand lowering prices and there's me working for Nintendo's pricing dept.
*oops*
altitude2k on 27 Jan '11 said:
Demand = higher prices....HIGHER DAMMIT!
Eh, Bosker?
boskersrevenge on 27 Jan '11 said:
ARGH!
Windowlicker79 on 27 Jan '11 said:
You seriously think Apple invented touchscreens?
WHERESMYMONKEY on 27 Jan '11 said:
Cool, bit like the ds then. But different.
NEO_SUPERMAN on 27 Jan '11 said:
Anyone else think that it looks kinda cool, but just isn't excited about it?
At all? Is it me? Am I just getting older or am I less interested in mobile gaming as I'd rather sit in front of my 40+ HD TV and play online games these days.
Just me then? I'll get my coat.
Balladeer on 27 Jan '11 said:
Nope, but I think that's where Sony got the idea from. They consider the iPhone their greatest rival, don'cha know.
Ochecky on 27 Jan '11 said:
Well, have you seen how much 32gig of flash memory costs?
There is a price to consider.
But their price on 16gig of flash is probably pretty cheap remember they would be buying them millions at a time, and I'm sure 16 gigs is plenty for any game that will run on the psp2.
Windowlicker79 on 27 Jan '11 said:
I'm pretty sure they don't. I think they consider Nintendo as their greatest rival, considering the DS has been selling 3 times as many units as the PSP.
Touchscreen just seems to generally be the way forward for mobile devices, be it mobiles, tablets or gaming devices. Touchscreen is just a practical solution. Its also become a lot more affordable in the last few years.
Balladeer on 27 Jan '11 said:
In which case they got in from Nintendo. The clips just remind me more of the iPhone.
damoxuk on 27 Jan '11 said:
Well I got an ipod touch 4g and certain games work well or better with touch controls. However Racing/FPS are on-rails using motion/touch controls is fail.
PSp2 looks to have all bases covered with touchscreen gaming for casual titles ala PvZ but proper controls for racers/FPS/3rd person's.
And 3DS has a nice 3D screen either way i'm buying both but looking forward to PsP2 more. 3DS to me is a DS with a slighlty better rez with 3D gimmick which most people will end up turning off anyway.
Oh and stylus is like ancient tech
PS3UberTool on 27 Jan '11 said:
And there are people out there that DON'T consider UMD to be yet another Sony format failure.
sarkidormin on 28 Jan '11 said:
This sounds like a great idea. Imagine the potential from a SDXC card!
*Product listing in Argos catalogue*
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Format: SDXC
Release Date: 21/03/2012
Price: £249.99
Preorder Now!
Windowlicker79 on 28 Jan '11 said:
They were a failure from the very start. If you got any grit or anything stuck inside them then they were screwed. The films were also a really bad idea. You can pick them up for £1 each now.
Welsh Jester on 28 Jan '11 said:
Anything more than 12gb on a handheld is a bit overkill imo, a lot psp games were not even 1gb.
Be surprised if many games pass 4-6 gigs on PSP2 which i think the majority probably will be
balhallam1 on 30 Jan '11 said:
Will there be backwards compatability with PSP games downloaded fron PSN? Have to admit I would love to by NGP (PSP2) but price will bw the deciding factor especially with games - if they cost the same as PS3 games then I'm out as I can't really afford two formats.....