NGP (PSP2) Discussion

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

NGP (PSP2) Discussion Thread

RELEASE DATE: Winter 2011

 

-Several devs showed on stage. Capcom, Sega, Tecmo Koei, Konami, Epic and Activision. Jun Takeuchi thanked everyone for the success of MHP3. it will play on NGP. "the stick feels great, you can quote me" said Takeuchi as he played MHP3 for the first time on NGP. Capcom will use MT Framework, one of their engines to build on NGP but dubbing the Engine "MT Mobile" they ran LP2 (Lost Planet 2) Cutscenes on it. as per Ashcraft of Kotaku, the polygons were a bit blocky but looked amazing. no NGP titles to be announced until the future. going to be easy to dev for and is flexible. Sega's Toshihiro Nagoshi went up and showed off Yakuza.
Akihiro Suzuki of KT went up and showed off some Musou series. using the Touch, select enemies and the character kills them. Musou attack can be launched with the Touch also. a nice way to get immersed into a Musou game. only experiments as of now. he stated titles can be ported and enhanced on NGP. next, Kojima-san took front stage. sadly, no new game but wanted to talk a little. showed a cutscene from MGS4 running on NGP. talked on cloud computing. feels its the future for gaming and stated that Peace Walker was a test of that cloud computing. his dream is to play PS3 games on a portable system and states it will be true soon, went on to state he cannot reveal it now but would like to at E3. Then Epic's Tim Sweeny came on stage and showed UE3 engine running on NGP. quoting Sweeny "This is made possible by Sony's multi-core GPU... which is roughly 4x as powerful as any portable we've previously seen". after the tech demo, he showed Dungeon Defenders. originally in Development for PS3 by Trendy Entertainment but was ported to NGP within a week's time. the game uses the Unreal Engine 3. lastly, Phillip Earl from Acti goes on stage. Call of Duty on NGP (who didn't see that coming >.>). Kaz went back on stage and a whole list of devs rolled on the screen who will support NGP, most big name developers were on the list (R*, Ubisoft, Q Entertainment). then Kaz Hirai wrapped up the event and thanked everyone. i'll post all links, (Pics, video, specs) as they become available.
LINKS-
PS Suite info- http://kotaku.com/5744509/playstatio...android-phones
Pics- full slideshow via PS Blog Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/playsta...7625915583016/
Vids-
Reveal trailer-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXoVDJWP12I
Little Deviants Gameplay-
Lost Planet 2 Cutscene demo-
Ryu Ga Gotoku 4 cutscene demo-
Uncharted gameplay-
MHP3 Gameplay-
KT Musou "experiment"-
UE3 demo-

ARTICLES:
ALL KOTAKU NGP ARTICLES
http://kotaku.com/5744790/the-comple...yline=true&s=i
^^^^

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6287014...es%3Btitle%3B4
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6287034...es%3Btitle%3B3
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6286995...es%3Btitle%3B2
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6287052...es%3Btitle%3B1

Looking at the specs:

CPU: ARM Cortex-A9 core (4 core)
GPU: SGX543MP4+
Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
Screen: Touch screen 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED, Multi-touch screen (capacitive type)
Rear touch pad: Multi-touch pad (capacitive type)
Cameras: Front camera, Rear camera
Sound: Built-in stereo speakers, Built-in microphone
Sensors: Sixaxis 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)

They are better than the PS3, especially processor-wise. With all this listed, like one of the articles stated..it might be over 300 bucks. Well damn.

I like some of the games they are making NGP version thanks to it power but some are better on PS3. But meh, good list of games still. Also it has backward compability BUT it doesn't have a UMD reader so all your retailer games are gonna be worthless.

[Skylar1]

Wasn't the original DS like $250 when it came out? doesn't seem like that big of a stretch to me. lol

anyways, I'll have to wait and see on this one. A second control stick is great though; glad they decided to get it right this time.

[Ranshiin]

The original PSP was released over here at a price of around £300 or something. The original PS2 was similarly released at that price. £300 is like $450-500 or something.

So $300 for something that's basically a portable PS3? I'd say that's cheap.


Specs are definitely interesting - portables are starting to catch up to their console brethren, it seems (First the 3DS, now this). I probably won't get one unless a handful of exclusive games come out that I want to buy (cough ridge racer cough wipeout cough). That was the case with the PSP - I'm unfortunately not made of money such that I can just buy this for the hell of it. :/

Also if there is no UMD reader then what's the method of running software? Downloads? some sort of mini blu-ray drive? I was actually quite happy with how Sony implemented the UMD concept; it's a shame it never took off since it makes the game discs practically indestructible. (no.1 cause of disc failure for me = scratches from case) :/

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

Also if there is no UMD reader then what's the method of running software? Downloads? some sort of mini blu-ray drive? I was actually quite happy with how Sony implemented the UMD concept; it's a shame it never took off since it makes the game discs practically indestructible. (no.1 cause of disc failure for me = scratches from case) :/

It supports all the games that you downloaded from the PSN store that are PSP1 compatibly, so that includes PSones and minis. Well, now that I think about it the price is not that bad...
And as for exclusives, well...we already have lots of good games that are one the PS3 made into portable. Some that are meant on console but still could be good. It will be the same deal when it comes to exclusivity as the PSP and NDS so might as well get both eventually, I know I will. I got my PSP first so I guess I'll get the NGP(it releases this Winter) first then a 3DS a year later.

Also:
http://kotaku.com/5745921/how-sony-c...ble-a-must-buy

[Gjallarhorn]

I am extremely pleased with all of this news...I was just hoping for the second analog stick and better graphics, but this is pretty crazy.

Price-wise I'd love for it to be ~$250, but realistically it will be toward $300.

[Xeyuzio]

Well at a video game forum the admin said the price would at least be 300 and at most 500 but regardless of the price I will have my parents get me it for Christmas, Sony has made a win the PSP2 (NGP) and I can't wait to see how this competes with the 3DS.

Anyways here are some quotes from an admin at a different forum...

Here's a size comparison: http://kotaku.com/5744563/lets-see-h...psp2-really-is

It's so big. <3

And...

http://www.joystiq.com/screenshots/s...re/3823485/#/0 <------- Nice pictures

And current developers:
Japan
Acquire Corp.
Alvion Inc.
AQ Interactive Inc.
Arc System Works Co. Ltd.
Arika Co. Ltd.
Artdink Corporation
Ascii Media Works Inc.
Capcom Co. Ltd.
Chun Soft Co. Letd.
Codemasters Software Company Limited
Crafts & Meister Co. Ltd.
CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd
D3 Publisher Inc.
Dimps Corporation
Edia Co. Ltd.
Enterbrain Inc.
From Software Inc.
Gameloft K.K.
Genki Co. Ltd.
Grasshopper Manufacture Inc.
GungHo Online Entertainment Inc.
Gust Co. Ltd.
Hamster Corporation
Hudson Soft Co. Ltd.
Idea Factory Co. Ltd.
Index Corporation (Atlus)
Irem Software Engineering Inc.
Kadokawa Games Ltd.
Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. Ltd.
Konami Digital Entertainment Co. Ltd.
Level-5 Inc.
Marvelous Entertainment Inc.
Media5 Corporation
Namco Bandai Games Inc.
Nihon Falcom Corporation
Nippon Ichi Software Inc.
Nowproduction Co. Ltd.
Q Entertainment Inc.
Sega Corporation
SNK Playmore Corporation
Spike Co. Ltd.
Square Enix Co. Ltd.
SystemSoft Alpha Corp.
Tecmo Koei Games Co. Ltd.
TOMY Company Ltd.
TOSE Co. Ltd.
Ubisoft K.K.
Yuke's Co. Ltd.

North America
Activision Inc.
Capybara Games
Demiurge Studios
Epic Games Inc.
Far Sight Studios
Frima
High Voltage Software
Kung Fu Factory
Paramount Digital Entertainment
PopCap Games
Powerhead Games
Trendy Entertainment
Ubisoft
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
2K Games
2K Sports

Europe/PAL
Avalanche Studios
Climax Studios Ltd.
Codemasters Software Company Ltd.
Eurocom Developments Ltd.
Eutechnyx Ltd.
Exient Ltd.
Firemint PTY Ltd.
Gameloft SA
Gusto Games Ltd.
Home Entertainment Suppliers PTY Ltd.
Impromptu Software Ltd.
Rebellion
Rockstar Games
Sidhe Interactive
Sumo Digital Ltd.
Team 17 Software Ltd.
Ubisoft Entertainment SA
Zen Studios Ltd.

Original Topic (Source): http://dsdatabase.org/showthread.php...2-Codename-NGP

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

Now that I remember, I might not get it at release date because we have a lot of games coming in the already existent consoles, like XIII-2 which will cost me 100 bucks to import.

But I am going to get this first before the 3DS, that's for sure as the titles attract me more and it has potential to provide great games on the PS3 to be portable.

What I wonder is..is Sony going to make this Region-Free? That's one of gamers concern as well.

[Ranshiin]

It supports all the games that you downloaded from the PSN store that are PSP1 compatibly, so that includes PSones and minis. Well, now that I think about it the price is not that bad...
And as for exclusives, well...we already have lots of good games that are one the PS3 made into portable. Some that are meant on console but still could be good. It will be the same deal when it comes to exclusivity as the PSP and NDS so might as well get both eventually, I know I will. I got my PSP first so I guess I'll get the NGP(it releases this Winter) first then a 3DS a year later.

Also:
http://kotaku.com/5745921/how-sony-c...ble-a-must-buy

Wait, so if the only way to play games on the PSP2 is by downloading them to the console (storing via memory card or SSD or whatever) then ... what about those people who, say, might not have the broadband speed or package capabilities to download these games?

I don't own a PS3 but if I remember correctly a blu-ray disc can hold something like 50-60GB of data. Now obviously the PSP2 is probably not going to be capable of running any media with that much storage (though correct me if I'm wrong - UMD was capable of 4GB storage, I think). So let's assume there may be a game for the PSP2 that's ... 6GB - like an average xbox game. 6GB is a LOT of data to download and even someone like me is going to have trouble downloading that much - I can only download 3GB during the day due to 'fair usage policies'. which is at the most 1/2 of the game a day.

My parents, on the other hand ... would take at least a week to download the same amount of data - simply because their broadband is that slow.


Obviously I'm now just going on about this, but the PSP2 MUST be capable of some hard storage of some kind - many people still rely on going to game stores to buy hard copies of games (myself included). I can understand downloads being an option but being the only way to download media for the console is out of the question. :/

So ... will we see some sort of mini-blu ray disc?

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

Wait, so if the only way to play games on the PSP2 is by downloading them to the console (storing via memory card or SSD or whatever) then ... what about those people who, say, might not have the broadband speed or package capabilities to download these games?

I don't own a PS3 but if I remember correctly a blu-ray disc can hold something like 50-60GB of data. Now obviously the PSP2 is probably not going to be capable of running any media with that much storage (though correct me if I'm wrong - UMD was capable of 4GB storage, I think). So let's assume there may be a game for the PSP2 that's ... 6GB - like an average xbox game. 6GB is a LOT of data to download and even someone like me is going to have trouble downloading that much - I can only download 3GB during the day due to 'fair usage policies'. which is at the most 1/2 of the game a day.

My parents, on the other hand ... would take at least a week to download the same amount of data - simply because their broadband is that slow.
Obviously I'm now just going on about this, but the PSP2 MUST be capable of some hard storage of some kind - many people still rely on going to game stores to buy hard copies of games (myself included). I can understand downloads being an option but being the only way to download media for the console is out of the question. :/

So ... will we see some sort of mini-blu ray disc?

@Ranshiin:

First of all, all PSP games are less than 1.50GB, compressed. Also, for PSP2 games..it's going to have a hard copy reader, so don't worry about that.

However...that disc reader doesn't read hard copies of PSP games, and you'll have to download them off your PSN account.

That's what I read.

[Xeyuzio]

@Ranshiin:
If the 3DS games are going to be 8gb won't you think Sony will at least double that, I mean the 3DS resolution isn't even greater the normal PSP's which is really disappointing. Also the PSP2 seems to be an extremely extremely powerful device. Also the PSP2 games are not download only and you would know that if you clicked the link to dsdatabase I put above.

Quote by PharaohsVizier (admin) The quote is just the images.

Look at this, it's proof that the games are not download only. (Not apart of the original quote)

Original Thread can be found here.
http://dsdatabase.org/showthread.php...2-Codename-NGP

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

Anyways some interesting quotes from Epic themselves on the system.

Epic: NGP perfect for Gears-style game, PS3/PSP2 Cross Gameplay Happening, More #1

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eurogamer:
"This is the kind of machine that a Gears of War-style experience would be appropriate on because it has the control layout that games like that are designed for and can produce some pretty compelling visuals," he said. "Activision announced Call of Duty for the device so of course a Gears-style game would also be appropriate."
Originally Posted by Eurogamer:
Quote:
Rein went into more detail on the game, and confirmed that PS3/NGP cross-platform play is possible.

"Dungeon Defenders is essentially a PS3 game brought to NGP," he said. "At CES this year, Trendy showed Dungeon Defenders on a Tegra 2 mobile device playing multiplayer against a PlayStation 3. Trendy told me they're planning to have NGP players playing against PS3 players. So this part is already a reality.

"All they need to add is the ability to save your status in the cloud so you can pick up and play on another device and they're done. That's not a hard problem to solve and I suspect Sony will offer a good solution for that via PSN at some point."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eurogamer:
But what of Epic itself? Does it plan to develop NGP games?

"Right now we're concentrating on Unreal Engine 3 and we're very excited with the results," said Rein. "Multiple UE3 licensees tells us they're building games they plan to ship on NGP and I suspect we'll hear more about that throughout the year."
Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ars-style-game
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kotaku:
Rein calls the NGP a "pretty huge deal" for not just Playstation fans, but gamers.

"A truly portable high-end gaming experience just seems so awesome to me," he said. "I've said for a while that triple-A isn't going away, it's going everywhere. The idea of a portable device that delivers the kinds of high-performance dual-analog stick experiences I can get on a console definitely appeals to me as a gamer and the NGP can do that and so much more."
Source: http://kotaku.com/5746092/epic-games...etty-huge-deal

_________
http://playstationlifestyle.net/2011...d-for-the-ngp/

Meh, I don't care. Even with the 3DS, I would've disabled it.

[Ranshiin]

Oh.

That thing looks like a standard SD cart. I thought that when it came to running media, the disc format was ultimately better than cartridge format? Or is it because technology has evolved enough that we're now able to use 32/64GB flash drives?

o_o

[Xeyuzio]

I don't see how a disc would ever better Ranshiin, disc are huge when you compare them to cartridges and the cartridges can probably carry a lot because micro sd's can 32gb, that being said it is obvious that cartridges are better and that they're also more portable.

[Ranshiin]

I don't see how a disc would ever better Ranshiin, disc are huge when you compare them to cartridges and the cartridges can probably carry a lot because micro sd's can 32gb, that being said it is obvious that cartridges are better and that they're also more portable.

I remember back in the Playstation/N64 war days that it was discussed and ultimately agreed on that discs were better for storing larger amounts of data. I think the original Playstation discs could hold ... 6-700MB? compared to the N64 cartridges which could initially only hold something like 128-256MB of data.

I suppose with the evolution of cart media (as I said - 32GB USB drives do exist now) it's now quite easy to mass-produce carts with that amount of storage - but ultimately disc-based media is always going to be better. What's the maximum storage capability for a hard drive? it's in the terabytes now, whereas flash (and cart) based storage is still in the low-mid gigabyte range.

That's why I'm quite surprised Sony have taken this approach, though I can see they must have weighed the pros and cons up (storage space over portability). I hope they're also prepared for the inevitable cart-ROM hacking (and any related Nintendo R4-style carts) that will crop up when the cracking community gets round to trying to jailbreak their little toy. :/

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

I doubt it will be MicroSD cards though, people can easily loose though, more like an SDHC card which is proven to be 32GB. Perfect for like-games of a portable game system.

[Ranshiin]

Judging from the size comparisons of the PSP2 vs other handhelds and the image above with the (I'm assuming prototype) NGP game cart, it's probable that Sony are planning on using something around the same size as a standard SD card.

I'm going to hazard a guess at games at launch being bundled onto 16GB carts. I'm probably wrong, though.


edit

I know that 32GB flash media does exist because my local electronics store sells 32GB USB flash drives. I've been meaning to get one, but will probably wait for the prices to go down or for 64GB drives to crop up.

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

Multiplat games(PS360) are roughly 7GB for the exception of Dead Space 2, Final Fantasy XIII and Castlevania: Lord of Shadows.....I doubt a lot of PSP2 games will hit the 16GB+ mark unless they are first-party titles such as LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted, Resistance etc. etc.

Something like Call of Duty will will be at least 4GB...Remember guys, PSP games are barely 1.50GB.

[Aleyna]

Maybe I'll buy on when the price goes down or a used one.

[Xeyuzio]

I don't think they have even announced the price yet Aleyna. o_O;;

[Ranshiin]

Multiplat games(PS360) are roughly 7GB for the exception of Dead Space 2, Final Fantasy XIII and Castlevania: Lord of Shadows.....I doubt a lot of PSP2 games will hit the 16GB+ mark unless they are first-party titles such as LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted, Resistance etc. etc.

Something like Call of Duty will will be at least 4GB...Remember guys, PSP games are barely 1.50GB.

Hence why I gave the suggestion of 16GB; since multiplatform games are averaging around 6-8GB (the total space on a dual-layer DVD is around 9GB anyway) the NGP is probably going to be capable of more than that amount.

Also considering that devs have been porting games from the PS3 onto the NGP, it's likely that a lot of games will be ported from the blu-ray storage (which, as I said before, is something like 50-60GB? someone confirm that please) which will result in a lot more space required for storing all the game data.


I've also just had to facepalm at myself because, with Sony deciding to use flash-based media for storage rather than disc-based media, they're essentially allowing devs to create games using carts with different amounts of storage (as the DS does) which means that even if launch titles are bundled onto 8 or even 4GB carts, that eventually the evolution of the console will mean games will be released on 8, 16, even 32GB carts.

=/

edit

As for the price ... it's probably going to be around $300-350. I'm just hazarding a guess judged on the trend of prices of new consoles. Also the US is going to get this a lot cheaper than europe is if the price of the 3DS is anything to go by (release price here is £230 (around $400), compared to $250 in america. :/

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

No PSP2 game will pass the 10GB mark, highly doubt that. The average PSP games that uses it's full potential are games like Birth by Sleep or The Third Birthday which are around 1.46GB, PS2 games reached almost the full 4.70GB. Final Fantasy XIII it's at least 26GB and as well as LittleBigPlanet and Uncharted 2, if I recall correctly.
I'm just comparing it to the last era...a PSP would be like a portable PS2 and an NGP is like a portable PS3. Like I said, a full PSP game is around 1.50GB and a PS2 game is around 4.50GB. There's not PS3 games over 30GB, most of them are at 26GB....while they can reach at 16GB as PS3 games can reach 50GB(but they didn't so far)...I still say the max a PSP2 game will be it's 10.00GB.

EDIT:

[Skylar1]

Traditionally, hand helds have always adapted to the 'mini-games'/puzzle type games.

Included in this, but I'm also pretty impressed to see that there are more full-fledged titles like killzone and such.

Seems that hand helds are becoming more and more like a portable console than anything. lol

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

http://gdc.gamespot.com/story/630223...es%3Btitle%3B3

New article about it.

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6304980...es%3Btitle%3B2

Just as I thought. Honestly, while this is bogus in my opinion, as I rather have a hard copy of the games I know, and most of my games are hard copies (except the arcade games/PSN and Army of Two). However, I think this might put a lot of stores and websites as Play-Asia/Yes-Asia out of business as companies might want to take the same route as the NGP is. I mean, for the good side it will make importing games a lot easier than now, which render importing website useless, but sadly it will eat up a lot of your bandwidth, and same goes your regional games as well. Let's see how this is going to help the gaming industry, or rather ruin it a lot more than it already is.

Also, it will defeat the used game market, putting GameStop down, however you can't let your friends borrow games unless you either share the entire PSP or if Sony enables Gamesharing on the system, but it will be a drag to download a huge game. But this should make a lot cheaper as there is no physical media to produce, and there is no third party vendor to collect the middle man revenue.

Your thoughts?

[Ranshiin]

However, I think this might put a lot of stores and websites as Play-Asia/Yes-Asia out of business as companies might want to take the same route as the NGP is. I mean, for the good side it will make importing games a lot easier than now, which render importing website useless, but sadly it will eat up a lot of your bandwidth.

I wonder how that's going to work, considering recently I heard how a certain American ISP is now imposing download caps on their customers (something which probably made most fly into a rage, and something which anyone in the UK has had to suck up and deal with for about ten years).

>_>