Next Generation Portable
Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, the wait is over! Please bring your hands together and welcome the Next Generation Portable! Does that ring any bells to you? No? Not to worry, let me refresh your memory. Earlier this year, Sony had unveiled the successor of the PSP in Japan known as the Next Generation Portable or commonly referred to as NGP. I’m sure all of you are familiar with the PSP, a handheld portable gaming device that has pretty much influenced our society for the past few years. According to Sony, the NGP is supposed to be the improved, more advanced version of the PSP, is that true? Let’s find out, from here on out I’ll be comparing it against the PSP 3000.
The first thing you should know about the NGP is; the dimension. Measuring 83.5mm/3.289in in height, 182mm/7.2in in width and 18.6mm/0.73in in depth, the NGP is clearly larger in size compared to the PSP 3000. In fact, it is even wider than the PSP 1000 which measures 74mm in height and 170mm in width. The larger width of the NGP allows it to hold a 5-inch OLED capacitive touch screen display, which can display around 16million colours at 960 X 544 pixels. This increment in resolution allows the NGP to display more define and sharp images compared to the PSP which can only display 16million colours at 480 X 272 pixels.
UMDs anyone? Nope, not anymore! For this latest hardware, Sony has decided to dump the UMD format and replace it with a new flash memory game format also known as the NVG card. This latest format comes in two capacities, 2GB and 4GB. According to Sony, the 2GB card is more likely to support casual games while the 4GB version will support more intensive titles. These cards are also said to reserve 5 to 10% of writable space for saved data and patches. The price for one card is not known yet.
Faster speed! Lags and occasional hang on the PSP have been a thorn in the side for the past few years. Even with newer firmware, these problems still persist. Sony realized this problem and thus packed a Quad-core Cortex-A9 processor as the heart of the NGP. A dual-core configuration that is designed for quality than power can have a clock frequency of 2000Mhz compared to the 333Mhz of the current PSP. Combined with a 543Mhz SGX543MP4+ graphics accelerator, the NGP to will be able to run graphically intense games that are comparable to the PS3 version such as the rumoured Call of Duty portable.
iPad Fever? Well, quench your thirst with the new NGP! Sony’s new toy features a display with multi-touch capabilities and also a rear touch pad. With a six axis motion sensor and a three axis electronic compass, this feature not only benefits the users but also the developers as they can put their creativity into creating motion-activated actions that can bring a whole new life into the NGP. I noted this one day while I was surfing through the NGP features where my attention was attracted by a demo of Uncharted Portable. I realised that the hero in the game was climbing up a rope without the demonstrator tapping a button or moving the direction button or analog stick. When the cameraman shifted to the back of the NGP, the demonstrator caressing the rear touch pad in a downwards motion! That explains why the hero could climb up the rope! This will indeed create a whole new gaming experience for players.
Besides those features, the NGP also has Bluetooth, and WiFi just like the other PSPs. However, what the other PSPs lack is the 3G capability, with this new ability and a 3G plan, users will be able to travel around surfing in their NGP. Video Skype-ing or video calls with friends and family are also possible with the front camera, while you can also snap away with the rear camera unlike the original PSP whereby you have to purchase a separate camera attachment. With this new feature, users can use the money spent for the camera on games. A nice turn for users of the NGP.
Along with the NGP, Sony has also announced a new development framework to make games portable for all sorts of handhelds which obviously includes the NGP. This framework requires Android 2.3 which indirectly tells us that the NGP is able to support the Android system. If these are true, users can enjoy Android applications on the NGP, increasing the system’s flexibility.
Finally, the last most and anticipated main feature of the NGP; the dual analog sticks. All these years the PSP existed, users condemn the lack of another analog stick to shift camera angles or to carry the burden of another purpose. Realizing this, Sony has finally decided to include an additional stick into their NGP designs. So great news for everyone! Users can now rest assured that camera angles are not going to be a problem in their games. While developers also will no longer have to crack their head to find a solution for the lack of buttons on the PSP.
Sony’s new toy has certainly been the centre of attraction for the past two months. It has everything its predecessor does not, which is really a huge turn for fans of the PSP. Unfortunately, we can’t judge a book by its cover; we will have to wait for the release of the NGP in the fourth quarter of this year to properly judge it. However, I personally think that it is safe to say that this is the coolest next generation handheld gaming device ever!
