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PSP UMD games could be re-released on NGP game cards
Backwards compatibility with legacy game formats isn't the sort of make-or-break feature that determines the fate of a new hardware system, but it does score major bonus points with the manufacturer's fan base when it does work -- and elicits plenty of groans when it doesn't. When it comes to Sony's next (generation) portable the answer to "will it play my UMD games" is clearly "no" -- not even the PSP Go supports the original hardware's disc format -- but UMD owners are still hoping the company will do something about it. Speaking with Japanese tech site Gigazine (as translated by Andriasang), a PlayStation representative reiterated that NGP will support the growing list of PSP games available in digital format from the PlayStation Store. Unsurprisingly, Sony has no plans to develop an attachable "UMD reader" for NGP (despite filing a patent that leaves open the possibility), and the UMD-to-digital "good will program" has been dead for 16 months now. Gigazine does report that Sony mentioned plans to re-release original PSP games on the NGP's new game media (flash memory-based cards), though the representative did not detail the possibility further. Certainly, it would be a no-brainer -- even if card-based re-releases could generate some "ill will" from existing UMD owners -- and the expanded storage size of the proposed new card format suggests that old PSP games could be sold in single-card collections or added to NGP game cards as bonuses. Or how about PSP re-releases with "NGP" treatment? Admit it -- you'd buy Peace Walker again if dual-analog and touch controls were added, not to mention some MGS4-ish graphics.
PlayStation Meeting 2011, part three: Developers
This last set of videos have third party developers showing off their NGP plans. Sega showcased a direct port of the newest Yakuza game on PS3, while Hideo Kojima from Konami showed off Metal Gear Solid 4. See all the videos here:
PlayStation Meeting 2011, part one: PlayStation Suite
In this series of videos, Kaz Hirai takes the stage to kick-start the event, going over some of the big trends in the industry today. The second video is dedicated to the first big announcement from the event: PlayStation is coming to Android via the "PlayStation Suite." Watch below:
PlayStation Meeting 2011, part two: NGP
The PSP2 is finally revealed to the world ... with the codename NGP, or "Next Generation Portable." The first video goes over its basic features, while the second video shows off Uncharted running on the handheld. The third video goes over NGP's unique location-based features. Watch below:
Rewatch the NGP reveal with the complete PlayStation Meeting 2011 video
Having a lazy weekend? Then relive the biggest story of the week by watching the entirety of the PlayStation Meeting. It's like you're actually there! Because the presentation is over an hour long, we're splitting all the videos across three posts. Want to skip to the Metal Gear Solid 4 demo? Go ahead. Want to see Uncharted on the NGP? You can do that too. Or, maybe you just want to take it all in: Part One: Opening & PlayStation Suite Part Two: NGP Presentation Part Three: Developers & Closing [Thanks, Matt!]
EEDAR's Jesse Divnich estimates NGP will cost $300 to $350
Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich has a few ideas about what Sony meant by "an affordable price that's appropriate for the handheld gaming space" when talking about the NGP's launch price. Speaking with GamesIndustry, Divnich predicted that the device would retail for between $299 and $349 at launch, which ... um, seems a little high when compared to other contenders in the "handheld gaming space." Divnich says that such a price wouldn't be prohibitive to your average Joe or Jane, explaining "The market is ripe for portable high-end gaming. The NGP will be a serious threat to all forms of portable entertainment," and later adding, "After seeing the specs today, if the NGP can't succeed, it is clear that the portable gaming landscape has forever changed." Wait, you're saying the popularity of casual mobile games like Angry Birds might last forever? Forever-ever? Forever-ever?
Sony 'studied the possibility' of 3D in NGP, decided against it
We've covered an awful lot of Sony news over the last 15 or so hours -- 23 posts thus far and counting, including this one -- and not once did the company bring up its 3D efforts. The entire NGP announcement has remained mysteriously devoid of one of Sony's biggest talking points of 2010, and Sony Europe head Andrew House has an explanation for why that is. "We view 3D as having the greatest potential, in the near term, in what I would call a dedicated entertainment environment," he told Eurogamer. House continued, "That's in the home, around the television, and where it's a shared experience. I think that's really important." A statement from Sony clarified that, "In the development process, we had studied the possibility of introducing stereoscopic 3D feature to NGP, but decided not to install it." House added to that, needling Sony's handheld gaming competition a bit in the process. "We struggle a little bit to see how that 3D, shared experience translates to portable devices as they currently stand." Perhaps he was holding the 3DS at a weird angle? We can't be sure.
Sony wants NGP out in 'at least one territory' by end of holiday 2011
Sony has appended a "Holiday 2011" release date to its next-generation portable system (codename: NGP), but hasn't offered a timetable for individual regions. Will it be a worldwide launch? Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton didn't provide an answer in his interview with Engadget, opting to pin Sony's strategy on providence. "I know that's rather ambiguous, and that's for a reason," Tretton said. "I think our goal is always to launch holidays when the majority of sales are done. You want to have a worldwide simultaneous launch. Having said that, this'll be our sixth platform launch, and it's very difficult to have the quantities to be able to launch on a worldwide basis on the same date." Tretton noted that the goal might overshoot reality -- leading him to pare down the initial promise. "I think our goal is, we would get at least one territory out by the end of holiday 2011." A clearer plan should become visible by fall, well after unforeseen production challenges have been dealt with. Tretton added that Sony had its challenging experience with PlayStation 3 to inform the NGP's road to mass production. "I think we'd look to avoid repeating that, but when you're dealing with new technology there are always roadblocks."
NGP features two proprietary card slots for memory storage, games
The NGP's memory storage capabilities are puzzlingly absent from the hardware specifications released by Sony today. During the PlayStation Meeting 2011 press conference, the company briefly introduced a "new game media" format, a flash memory-based card on which retail titles will be sold (replacing the clunky, power-sucking UMD). These SD-looking game cards -- said to be proprietary -- will feature extra storage for relevant data, including games saves and add-ons. "NGP adopts a new game medium, a small flash memory based card, dedicated for NGP software titles," a Sony press release later confirmed. "Taking advantage of the flash memory feature, this innovative card can store the full software titles plus add-on game content or the game save data directly on to the card. 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." But where will users store non-game data? The NGP's LiveArea UI suggests that multimedia applications will be integral to the handheld, and many of these apps will obviously require data storage -- not to mention the storage requirements for downloadable games. While Sony has not mentioned an internal flash memory component of the NGP, SCE Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida revealed to Game Informer that the device will feature "two slots" for memory cards; one for the new game card format (which Yoshida confirmed would be proprietary -- not SD) and a second port for additional storage. Whether the additional slot has been designed for Sony's existing proprietary Memory Stick (the "Micro" version is used for PSP Go memory expansion) has not been specified. "At this point, all we're saying is it is proprietary storage capabilities," SCEA boss Jack Tretton told Engadget, "we're not getting into defining what it is yet." [Update: In an interview with GameSpot, Yoshida said that the secondary slot is for "the media card that we are developing" (in addition to the game card), suggesting that NGP might use a proprietary media card other than an existing Memory Stick format.]
NGP battery life likely comparable to PSP
A 1UP report quotes Sony head of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida saying that the NGP handheld will have "about the same [battery life] as the original PSP." The PSP's battery life varies considerably from around 3 hours if the UMD disc drive was whirring away, to much longer if played off flash storage. Sony's official estimate for average PSP operation time is 3-5 hours. Meanwhile, Eurogamer has Sony Europe honcho Andrew House saying the device will have a "good, solid battery life because of two factors." The dual delights of life extension are apparently the card-based media (instead of UMD, which requires moving parts) and the OLED screen. Those potential power savers are joined by energy-sapping features like a four-core CPU, 3G, and other factors, helping explain the PSP-like battery life.
Watch two sizzling minutes of NGP games in action
Wasn't it so boss when Sony showed off a full two-minute clip of gameplay footage on its just revealed "next generation portable" last night? You know, the clip that showcased Uncharted, Killzone, Gravity Daze, LittleBigPlanet, Reality Fighters, and all those other games? According to excited attendees of Sony's press conference, the clip was rather thrilling -- unfortunately, Sony has yet to release it. Thankfully, a rogue cameraperson captured the whole thing and, at least for the time being, has made it available on YouTube (with remarkably steady hands, we might add). Call us weird, but Reality Fighters has us more excited than anything else. Maybe you didn't notice there's a banana suit? See for yourself after the break.
GameStop taking NGP pre-orders ... for $999
At the very bottom of GameStop's listing for the NGP is a notice: "official pricing and release dates have not been announced by the publisher." But that's not stopping the retailer from taking pre-orders for Sony's newly announced handheld -- for a whopping $999.99. Before you faint, though, remember that "these are estimates only and subject to change." Talk about a horrible estimate (we hope). Hey guys, why not wait to take pre-orders until the system, y'know, has a name? [Thanks, Howard!]
id's Carmack comments on NGP's theoretical performance
John Carmack, id Software's technical director, reminds us of our technical incompetence daily on Twitter. Yet, one tweet managed to catch our attention and make some semblance of sense to our puny brains. Carmack expects "the Sony NGP to perform about a generation beyond smart phones with comparable specs." That should theoretically give Sony's handheld a competitive edge over the next slate of Android and iOS devices. "Low level APIs" may enable developers to get the most out of the NGP. Essentially, low-level APIs give the developer more direct control. However, it's unclear if Carmack is speaking out of first-hand experience -- we don't see id Software/Bethesda on this list of NGP developers.
Resistance NGP being developed by Nihilistic, isn't a port
Insomniac Games, creator of the alternate-history FPS Resistance for PS3, tweeted its congratulations to Nihilistic Software, the apparent developer of the series' NGP incarnation (which was revealed in a promo reel of in-development games for the handheld during PlayStation Meeting 2011). Insomniac confirmed in a followup tweet that the title would be a "brand new Resistance game. Not a port." While Insomniac has handled all of the Resistance console iterations, including this September's Resistance 3, the well-recieved 2009 PSP spinoff, Resistance: Retribution, was developed by Sony Bend. With Bend currently linked to the Uncharted NGP game, however, it seems Nihilistic got the call to carry on the Resistance for the PSP successor. Little else is known about the title, aside from what can be inferred from the brief clip (pictured) in the promo reel -- which does seem to indicate that, unlike Retribution (a third-person shooter), Resistance NGP will be a first-person shooter. Nihilistic is perhaps most (infamously) known for being the original developer of the failed StarCraft: Ghost project, before going on to complete Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (EA), Conan (THQ) and the downloadable Zombie Apocalypse (Konami). The studio is currently finishing up PlayStation Move Heroes, published by Sony. [Thanks, Brian]
Sony wants NGP hardware to be profitable and affordable
The more responsible gaming hardware enthusiasts among you have probably reserved your excitement over the recently announced NGP until you learn the device's ever-important launch price. Given the impressive specs of the handheld -- as well as Sony's infamous tendency to overcharge for its new gaming hardware at launch -- we wouldn't blame you for worrying. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss Andrew House recently provided Eurogamer with the first potential hints about the console's MSRP, saying, "I can't put a ballpark on it in terms of figures, but what I would say is that we will shoot for an affordable price that's appropriate for the handheld gaming space." However, Sony's not going to be giving the things away; House also shot down a Eurogamer source who claimed Sony would be selling the device at a loss. House explained, "we would want to have our hardware be profitable, in addition to our software," later adding, "We've experienced both sides and we know which one we like to be on!" That seems like a tricky balancing act: How exactly is Sony planning on introducing new (assumedly high-investment) technology at an affordable consumer price point and still hope for the NGP to remain profitable? Wizardry? Alchemy? Both? As far as a firm number, Game Informer was the only outlet able to get anything out of Sony's biggest wigs -- when GI brought up the enormous launch price of the PS3, Sony Computer Entertainment president of worldwide studios Shu Yoshida laughed, and replied, "It's not going to be $599." We're glad events unfolded in that order -- had he said "It's not going to be $599," then laughed maniacally, we would have started to get really nervous.
Here's a big list of developers and publishers working on NGP projects
Beyond the handful of games revealed onstage during last night's big Sony event, an enormous list of developers and publishers currently working on games for this holiday's "next generation portable" device has surfaced. Game Informer posted up the entire list broken down by region, which features big names like Activision, Ubisoft, 2K Games, Square Enix, and Capcom. Perhaps more notable than the big name publishers is the group of listed developers, including Rockstar Games, Capybara Games, From Software, and Grasshopper Manufacture. As GI points out, both Electronic Arts and THQ (and their respective development studios) aren't currently listed as working on games for NGP, though we imagine that will change as the year goes on (we already know that EA has had exposure to the in-development system).
All NGP models include Wi-Fi, 3G available in certain SKU
Either there's a bit of confusion between regions, or Sony will offer NGP system variants with different communications capabilities in certain regions. Europe will have the choice of 3G-equipped or Wi-Fi only models, SCEE president Andrew House told Eurogamer. "The first thing to clarify, which I'm not sure the presentation did a perfect job of doing today, is that all of the devices will have Wi-Fi capability; a separate SKU will have 3G," House said. The Kindle offers a similar choice, as does the iPad and even the iPhone/iPod Touch. However, ITMedia reports through Twitter that all Japanese NGP systems will offer 3G. Whether there's a requirement to sign up for service with purchase, and what the available plans are, is currently "undetermined." No announcements have been made as of yet for North America.
Video: 'Little Deviants' shows unique use of NGP's rear touchpad
It turns out that the NGP game Little Deviants doesn't just have the most amusing and cute name in the handheld's known lineup -- it also has the most interesting use of that inexplicable rear touchpad thing. As shown on stage at last night's PlayStation Meeting, players manipulate said deviants by moving their fingers along the touch panel, which raises the ground on screen, causing them to roll. It's as if you're putting your finger through the system to gouge the game world!
Portable Uncharted developed by Sony Bend, has 'camera mode'
You know how it is when new tech is announced. You let the magic of the moment get to you, the whimsy, and suddenly you're thinking all kinds of crazy things like, "Maybe Naughty Dog is developing the Uncharted NGP game they just showed off!" Sure, we realize in the light of day -- as we sweep up the glitter and take down the disco ball -- that we were just a little too hopeful last night. But luckily, the reality isn't too bad at all: Game Informer reports PortaDrake (working title [ours]) is being developed by Sony Bend (Logan's Shadow, Resistance: Retribution) with oversight from Naughty Dog. Across the web, hands-on impressions of the game seem to be positive, with the "gimmicky" features (swipe the device's back to climb a rope?) either working better than expected or being ignored without incident. Also interesting: PortaDrake features a "camera mode" that lets you use NGP's motion-sensing tech to look around your environment and take photos. No word on connectivity with Uncharted 3 yet, but no one's ruling it out.
Time for bigger pockets: NGP filmed and photographed
It may surprise you to learn that, in some ways, our friends at Engadget are even nerdier than us. While we spent the night imagining all the NGP's gaming possibilities and repercussions, the Engadget staff probably spent it combing high resolution photos of Sony's new device, looking for secret buttons and wondering how many ... wires are in it, or something. But their obsession is your gain since they've come away with a ton of PSP comparison pics and even a video (which you'll find after the break). In the meantime, here's our technical analysis of the NGP: it's right-side up, which, as you can see from the photo, is a big step forward from its predecessor.
