PS Vita

[Detective Shadzter]

How so? Considering the way the PSP1 turned out, among things, the pessimism isn't exactly unwarranted.

What do you mean?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

What do you mean?

I think he means how the system sold in comparison to the DS. The PSP1 sold half as many units as the DS, and it definitely didn't have a lot of good games by comparison either. Although I may be wrong on what BL is talking about.

[Alex2Beta]

Hmm...Those screenshots from the device looks...Almost like what they where teasing about the PS3'ish graphics. But this thing will consume your whole wallet ,by the time you decide to get one..But pretty interested.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Hmm...Those screenshots from the device looks...Almost like what they where teasing about the PS3'ish graphics. But this thing will consume your whole wallet ,by the time you decide to get one..But pretty interested.

Wait til the price is announced, dammit. The thing looks expensive as they make it out, but we're still just jumping to conclusions when we don't even know the price.

[Blacklightning]

I think he means how the system sold in comparison to the DS. The PSP1 sold half as many units as the DS, and it definitely didn't have a lot of good games by comparison either. Although I may be wrong on what BL is talking about.

More specifically, this. It's a neat-sounding machine from a technical standpoint, sure, but I wouldn't exactly be compelled to buy one unless I was sure there were more and better games to play with it. And that's to say nothing of what the price could turn out to be, either, but it's a bit early to cast judgement on that factor I guess. Edited January 27, 2011 by Blacklightning

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

More specifically, this. It's a neat-sounding machine from a technical standpoint, sure, but I wouldn't exactly be compelled to buy one unless I was sure there were more and better games to play with it. And that's to say nothing of what the price could turn out to be, either, but it's a bit early to cast judgement on that factor I guess.

To be fair tho, they did just reveal it and weren't trying to give off too many details prior to this point. Although depending on your stance, that may still not matter. And it won't be until near the holidays before they even go on the market, so they got some time, right?

At the end of the day, it had better be able to download Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

[Detective Shadzter]

We're at the very early stage here, so I'm sure we'll get plenty of games announced, detailed and shown off down the line. Kojima said he has a "dream game" he wants to show off at E3 for one.

http://playstationlifestyle.net/2011/01/27/kojima-to-announce-ngp-dream-game-at-e3/

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Kojima said he has a "dream project" he wants to show off at E3 for one.

http://playstationlifestyle.net/2011/01/27/kojima-to-announce-ngp-dream-game-at-e3/

ZOE or a new MGS game. Either one, I'm hooked.

And if he has something better than that, even more so.

[Alex2Beta]

Wait til the price is announced, dammit. The thing looks expensive as they make it out, but we're still just jumping to conclusions when we don't even know the price.

Well, yeah. It just sounds expensive by those specs...But then Sony did say we can expect an affordable price..Hmm..Wonder what would it be?

[Dobkeratops]

So battery life averages the same as a 3DS? For a portable with such insane spects that's quite the feat. Not that I particularly care, because I play portables in bed and there's a nice socket in the wall for all my electricity needs.

I don't have an original PSP so with no UMD based games I have no qualms to purchase them with my PSN account. In fact I actually love that my PSN account with all its contents will be useful on another system and bodes well for future home systems. It's a shame there's no way to transfer disc based titles, but let's be honest: putting an UMD drive on that is the worst idea ever. Noisy, bulky, power hungry and expensive. Ideally the games would've come with cd keys so you could link them to your account and get the digital versions, effectively mimicking Steam which is awesome. Shame, but PSP came out before they had a network system in place.

Honestly? This sounds like the best fucking portable ever. It can do everything that's expected from one, but better - it may not have 3D but 3D is a marketing gimmick completely useless for any *active* use in gameplay. The only possible downside right now is price. The 3DS is $250 and that's already pushing it, exceed much from that price and it's fucked.

Actually, it might be fucked either way 'cuz traditionally we cannot ever have nice things ;P

Also:

PSP has a poor library? What. I could list way more quality titles than one could do for the Wii.

The PSP has sold more than the PS3 and 360 AND is in a better third party situation than the Wii. Plus it's also making money, which is the usual target for these devices. It gets a lot of flak because it doesn't reach DS or PS2 levels, but if that was what you needed for success then pretty much every other console ever made has been a flop.

PSP's problem is perception. (And bad software sales in the west)

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

But then Sony did say we can expect an affordable price..Hmm..Wonder what would it be?

Depends on how you define affordable. For what you get in it (3D panel, analog controls, touchscreen, all the bells and whistles of a Wii Remote, lifetime free news and sport feeds), the 3DS is technically very affordable, but it's still too expensive for many people. From the looks of it the technology in this NGP beast is pretty insane - it's basically a portable PS3 with extra bells and whistles. Definitely that'll be enough for many people, but this thing is as likely to be under £300 on release as a pig flying. I wouldn't be surprised if it's closer to £400 actually.

My main points though, which apparently I made badly earlier given the speed that my earlier post got negrepped through the floor (oh well), are that:

1) There are aspects of this design (touchscreen, flashcard game storage) that have been blatantly ripped wholesale from the DS. Which is fair enough because the DS is a ridiculously successful platform - it'd be like releasing a console without a d-pad in 1995.

2) Sony are hedging all their bets on cramming a handheld with high-end technology to drive sales for the second time in a row and we all know how that went last time. My inner technophile loves it, but most people won't be swayed by raw grunt alone.

3) Speaking of which, there's a quad-core CPU being jammed into a handheld. That's actually more complex than the Cell processor in the PS3, and it's an ARM so it should be easier to code for too. Good news for devs but that means that optimised code will require writing it in Assembly again, so there's going to be the same quality gulf between high-end and low-end NGP titles as there are on the PS3. At least it's not a fully custom CPU this time.

4) To date nothing ever released on a Sony console has been enough for me to buy one personally, and nothing so far has convinced me that I'd be interested in NGP titles either. Obviously this one's subjective, but contrast with the fact that I lost count of the number of DS titles I own at 35 about a year ago... ... *counts* oh hey, I have 42 now. So yeah, I'm confident that the 3DS will be able to provide me games I'm interested in. Not so here.

5) The one big feature that Nintendo just won't match is the online feature set. Near looks pretty nice, I'll admit. I'm not sure how useful the technology will be outside of Japan though; it makes sense in Japan because they have a very high population density but most other countries don't even come close to Japan's PD.

6) Given how hard Sony is pushing 3D in every other medium - in fact they're pushing it the hardest of any company in the entertainment field right now - the absence of 3D on this handheld is a surprise. If they had included 3D then Nintendo would be in serious trouble right now.

I can understand why most are impressed with this. I am not - it will take seeing a game worth buying the system for alone to make me give this serious thought, and my dislike for Sony as a company should be well-known around here by now which makes things worse. I'm also very skeptic about the price of this unit and that's going to turn off far more people than just me.

[Blacklightning]

PSP has a poor library?

Nobody said that. Only that it pales in comparison to the DS's library. Shit steals sales, y'know? Sure, you can argue it wasn't particularly deadly in the PSP1's case, but if it happens again with the PSP2 and they have a big-ass price tag to compound the issue, it could very well be. Of course, this is still speculation at this point, but the PSP2 does have that three-odd page long release schedule for the 3DS to compete with, so they've got a fair bit of catching up to do.

I could list way more quality titles than one could do for the Wii.

I could just as easily argue that's not saying much, but instead I'll have to admit that comparison comes off as somewhat arbitary to me. Any particular reason you chose the Wii of all things?

PSP's problem is perception. (And bad software sales in the west)

Indeed. Most of my issues here is that some of the early signs don't do much to dissuade such issues of "perception", but if they use the time well and learn from previous fuckups, hey, anything's possible.

[Detective Shadzter]

Analyst price predictions:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/285779/news/sony-ngp-price-analyst-predictions/

NGP will have multiple SKU's, all with wi-fi, one with 3G

A portion of a Eurogamer article:

Sony has moved to calm excitement that its Next Generation Portable will allow users to game online while out and about using its 3G function.

Actual simultaneous gameplay will "depend very much on the degree of data traffic that's being driven by that online game" SCEE boss Andrew House told Eurogamer.

What is perhaps more realistic, however, is asynchronous gaming.

Explained House: "One area that I'm particularly excited about is the idea of asynchronous gaming, whereby the game experience is existing either on a PS3 or on your NGP, and then the 3G ability is the real-time, you know, 'you're under attack, you've got to go do something,' messaging, just keeping that link with you, which clearly is not very heavy in terms of data traffic, but creates a whole different sense to the experience."

Multiple versions of the NGP will launch from late 2011, each with Wi-Fi capability. Only one, however, will also feature 3G.

"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.

"So the user gets a choice. Wi-Fi is available wherever, which clearly is the most important aspect of connectivity and that connected experience; 3G will be a subset of that."

Sony is currently "working hard" on 3G partnerships. House confirmed there will be some cost to the user for 3G services.

"You'll hear more from us around that aspect of the strategy as we get closer to launch."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-01-27-sony-outlines-ngp-asynchronous-gaming

Now here's a twist, one that I bet will give us a price difference between SKU's. I can't say I'm interested in 3G myself and wouldn't want to pay for its services either, so if a SKU without it is cheaper, then I'll go for that.

EDIT:

Just spotted at the bottom of that Eurogamer article:

Sony has confirmed that users will be able to access PlayStation Store from both 3G network and Wi-Fi, which can be chosen depending on the network environments or the volume of content. Existing PSN IDs will be used on NGP.

Cool!

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

lol Pachter

But anyway, assuming for a moment this actually does sell for £200, Sony would making an enormous loss on every NGP sold and they'd have to be expecting most buyers to buy a very large number of games to make up for it. I really don't see that happening, not with the sheer guts this beast is packed with.

[Dobkeratops]

Random thought: They should do a "free PSP1 games with your NGP purchase" prrromotion like they tried with the Go. They're relatively inexpensive to offer, entice users to get a PSN account and sweetens the wallet hit of a new system purchase.

Of course, they won't. We don't even get cool & pointless T-Rex tech demos anymore ):

[Dr. SEGA Monkey]

I honestly had no interest in the first PSP, but this new NGP thing is simply brilliant. The graphics, the touch screen, built-in GPS, dual analog sticks, the amount of stuff you can actually do with it. God damn, this thing is awesome! The only thing missing is a phone.

[Detective Shadzter]

New video from Engadget:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V667dbmfnOQ

[Carbo]

The PlayStation font is bugging the fuck out of me. It looks out of place like you have no idea. I hope to god they stylize it some.

Other than that I'm incredibly indifferent to the reveal of this. So far the only good thing I'm seeing out of this is the Uncharted tech demo and at least 3DS had some titles to show at its reveal. All I'm seeing now is impressive specs that will probably be undermined for the longest time and tons of gadgets I could already utilize on my phone. Then again I'm pretty much always indifferent to console reveals, especially ones displayed in a matter like this.

Looking forward to seeing what the devs have in store for this, and hopefully that'll happen before E3.

[Marcello]

Meh. No good games shown yet. The design is ugly. It'll probably be even more expensive than 3DS. The battery life is the same as the 3DS.

So far I'm not interested. The 3DS's announcement was much better.

[Tornado]

... Okay, I might've overdone it, but was the sarcasm really necessary? Jeez.

We get it. Sony bad. Nintendo good. Even when Sony is just doing stuff that Nintendo has already done, or when Nintendo is doing stuff that Sony was raked the hell over the coals for. We don't need incessant and constant reminders of it every single time any shred of news about the system is revealed.

Furthermore:

There's nothing genuinely new

If you are going to say this, you simply have to extend the same standard to the 3DS. The 3DS is a DS with 3D and bigger screens. The PSP2 is the PSP with touch screens and a second analog stick. From what we know so far about the systems, they both carry most of the problems that there predecessors had, plus a handful of new ones that they grabbed from their opponent.

The only practical difference between the two announcements is that the 3DS had a larger game lineup announced when the system was announced, which we later learned wasn't actually a list of games set to come out for the system's launch anyways.

Anyways, in regards to the system itself, my main problem with the design is that it has what looks to be absolutely awful speaker placement. I'd prefer the size to be a bit smaller, but I wouldn't want the screen to be smaller as a consequence, so I will live with it. If Sony can keep it under/at $300 and load it up with ports/remakes of headliner PS3 games, they could end up with quite a monster on their hands.

And Sony, call it something else (and I know they will. I'm joking, people). Only one handheld can have the acronym NGP. That shit is confusing calling it that.

And by the way, despite what it appears to be, I am not actually here on the forum. It is only your imaginations.

Edited January 27, 2011 by Tornado

[Scar]

I like the design. Though seeing as its due in Holiday Season this year the design is subject to change.

Screen is absolutely fantastic.

I think its a smart move for Sony to release NGP so late. Primarily because people will have a chance to recover the money they lost on the 3DS, also Christmas.

That and the hardware will drop in price a fair amount, so they can charge less for it at launch. If they go for a loss-leader strategy, they could even undercut the 3DS.

Also to Ninty fanboys.

If you say that the NGP is nothing more than a more powerful PSP with a camera, I'd like to Remind to you that the 3DS is just a more powerful DS with a 3D screen and an analogue pad.

3DS had a much larger number of games shown on its announcement, but then it turned out, that most of the desirable titles were not planned for launch and are coming WAY down the line. I think all the rumours and the leaks kind of forced Sony's hand at this stage.

[Detective Shadzter]

If Sony can keep it under/at $300 and load it up with ports/remakes of headliner PS3 games, they could end up with quite a monster on their hands.

It seems Sony and the third party publishers they've spoken to don't think ports are the way to go, so hopefully this will be a major advantage for the NGP's launch compared to the 3DS's launch window, where a percentage of the games available are going to be ports.

Eurogamer: That was my next question – what are you going to do to stop people simply porting games across to it? If it's that powerful that you could bring a PS3 game across quite easily...

Andrew House: To be honest, the publishers that I've spoken to have generally indicated that they don't think that that's satisfactory for the consumer. To try and ask the consumer just to re-purchase an existing console experience – I don't think we or they feel that is really going to be the correct strategy.

Where I think it does become really interesting is if publishers, including ourselves, start to think of franchises more holistically. So, here's Uncharted; here's the dedicated PS3 experience and that's what this needs to be; here's a network aspect to Uncharted and that's what that needs to be; and here's the portable offshoot or adjunct to that, and here's what that needs to be. But they're all working together to enhance a franchise.

We were delighted that Philip [Earl, Activision suit] was able to be with us today and to stake a commitment that they've already seen that opportunity for Call of Duty and taking an extension of the most powerful-selling franchise around right now.

EDIT:

Forgot to post the link:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-01-27-andrew-house-talks-sony-ngp-price-3g-version-more-interview?page=3

[SykoTech]

^Nice to hear they aren't going the port route. That's certainly not to my liking. I really wanted to be excited for the new Star Fox, but it's just a 64 port. Lame.

My interest in handhelds is at an all time low right now, so I can't say I'm very hyped for this (or the 3DS). But it's more appealing than I thought it would be. The design in particular is lovely, and a brand new WipEout definitely catches my interest. If they can truly capture the feel of a console experience on a handheld, then I'll definitely be taking this over the 3DS.

I just hope it's more comfortable to hold than the first PSP. Dualstick will certainly help...

[eXtaticus]

Horrendous battery life, bleeding-edge technical specs, a potentially massive launch price and a bundle of age-old console ports as its only source of games - from my standpoint, it sounds more like a bad follow-up to Sega's Game Gear than the genuinely incredible portable that Sony made it out to be...

[Dobkeratops]

Horrendous battery life, bleeding-edge technical specs, a potentially massive launch price and a bundle of age-old console ports as its only source of games - from my standpoint, it sounds more like a bad follow-up to Sega's Game Gear than the genuinely incredible portable that Sony made it out to be...

Actually, it sounds like a Nintendo 3DS