Sony Unveils “NGP”
- Scribbled on January 27th, 2011 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in First Look, Sony PlayStation Vita
Sony has unveiled the NGP – that is, the Next Generation Portable – which is effectively the PlayStation Portable 2. The NGP will be released in 2011, promises Kaz Hirai.
Many of the features that were predicted for the PSP2 are here, including a 5-inch OLED screen, dual analog sticks, 3G, Wifi, front and rear cameras, front and rear touch pads, Sixaxis motion control and a three-axis compass. The rear touch panel is actually the same size as the front display, so that if you touch a spot on the back of the device, it’ll correspond with the screen in front. The screen’s resolution is reportedly four times better than the PSP’s.
Since the device has 3G support, it’s “always online”, which will allow social and location-based features and online play over mobile networks as well, and will even give a list of games being played in the local area. Even better, PSP games are completely backwards compatible with the NGP.
Some of the games promised for the NGP are handheld versions of Uncharted, Killzone, WipeOut, Resistance, LittleBigPlanet, Hot Shots Golf, Hustle Kings and Monster Hunter.
Aside from the profoundly unimaginative name, the NGP looks promising – all that needs to be mentioned now is the price.
January 27th, 2011 at 11:52 am
Well you can count me as being excited! As GameStooge’s resident PSP fanboy (I own both a 1000 and 2000 model PSP along with around 40 games purchased at retail) I’m looking forward to the new kit.
Essentially they’ve taken the PSP, goosed the hardware capability and added things that had been optional add-ons to the original system in Japan (GPS, camera.)
I really only have two concerns:
1) Price. Sony made a huge error in pricing the PS3 too high. They did it because they added too much gear and had no other choice. Even at the high price, the hardware still sold at a loss when it was launched. I hope they don’t make the same error here and end up with a $500 hand-held.
2) 3G is awesome, but who’s the carrier? Will we have a choice or will it be locked in with someone who has sub-standard service (cough, AT&T, cough)? What will the data plans look like on the device? I know, questions, questions.
The other HUGE news that Jonah didn’t mention is the announcement of PlayStation Suite, a development tool and app store which will bring PlayStation content to Android phones and tablets running Gingerbread (2.3). Apparently these apps will also run on the NGP and (presumably) the PlayStation Phone which was not part of the announcement last night.
This commitment to Android and the launching of an app store shows that Sony is taking the threat from Apple seriously and they are staging themselves to compete with the iOS devices. Nintendo appears to be ignoring this market at their peril, and my prediction is that the 3DS will lose market share as it’s over-run by Android apps.
January 27th, 2011 at 11:56 am
I sent you the technical specs of the NGP (which someone told me is the placeholder name, so it could change at E3), Jordan.
I’m betting you’ll pay $500 for it, though, Jordan, since it has PSP back compat. It’ll FAIL as a platform with that price, but you’ll still buy it. :p
January 27th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
The PSP Go just wasn’t good in general. It’s kind of like the itoy… no one talks about it anymore, because it was a gaming f-up but that’s okay because sony doesn’t do that too often.
February 2nd, 2011 at 1:23 am
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