PlayStation Vita (Sony Next Generation Portable)

[X-SOLDIER]

They've finally released a version of the NGP Games Compilation Trailer from the Press Conference in HD, so that we can scrutinize all the little details about the gameplay's appearance.

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[X-SOLDIER]

Eurogamer's got a new article about NGP Game development that's VERY encouraging. Kotaku's got an article overview of the same information that's requesting additional information from Sony, so hopefully it'll have an update today.

It's got a lot of information about the cross-platform compatibility, and hints at "Cloud Saving" though no official confirmation, I think it's a fucking awesome idea to allow you to play a game on your PS3 and then take it directly to your NGP when you leave, and pick up right where you left off. I'm curious about the 3G vs. Wifi-only releases, and whether or not it'd be worth it to wait for a 3G version, and The talk about WipEout HD being able to pull the exact same specs as the PS3 version is good, especially when looking at titles that'll be able to move seamlessly between the two, not to mention that the NGP can use the PS3's shaders without modification, cutting development time from 2-3 months to 1-2 weeks on that part alone. With that being stated, it's also nice to see them being clear on how to make titles specific to NGP with additional functionality.

The confirmation that all Flash-card titles will also be available on PSN, which is a big plus for overall portability, and giving the choice of download vs. buy. Hardware-wise, the 3 gyroscopes make it more like a Move than a Sixaxis controller, plus the six-point multi-touch capabilities on the touch screen/pad are rather impressive. It's also nice to know that they're focusing on core gamers initially, and then expanding to include the teen audience, rather than vise versa. Lastly, the Development process seems like a dream for them, based on the description of being able to set up a Dev station in under 20 mins vs. the ~3 hours for the PS3. It sounds like Sony's really thought their shit out, and was been listening to what people want, both gamers AND developers.


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[Username]

I still hold my hands up for this product, I remember a time a few years back when I was anticipating a great PSP release, I read countless articles about it, they all seemed great and any forum or any piece of information or comment rated it revolutionary/fantastic.

So I bought the PSP, and as much as I initially enjoyed the first month or so of it, soon began to realize that it was just an advanced version of the gameboy, for long trips in the car during holiday seasons.

Ever since then, I never purchased any other model (from the psp 1001), and although this PSP sounds good, It is seriously reminding me of deja vu. Sorry to be a downer, but lets see what shit it actually brings before we drool over some guy making a comment or a sexy picture.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

So some more specifications as to presicesly how powerful the NGP is has been released. While it's not really as powerful as a PS3, because according to SCEA's platform research manager, David Coombes "Well, it's not going to run at 2 GHz because the battery would last five minutes... and it would probably set fire to your pants." To put that in perspective, Epic's Mark Rein says that the device, has four times the power of any other portable device Unreal's been running on, including the iPad 1.

Some more specifics are:

...the NGP will have a console-like architecture, using four symmetrical CPU cores. That's compared to a single core, single hardware thread for the PSP and the PlayStation 3's more complex CELL architecture. The NGP will have "a lot of memory compared to the PSP," Coombes said, but wouldn't provide specifics, only to say that its RAM is closer in size to the PS3.

NGP games will be stored on either 2 GB or 4 GB cards, which also contain some unspecified amount of writable memory.

The system will come in two flavors, Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi with 3G connectivity. Coombes noted that the Wi-Fi only model can still determine a user's location using the Skyhook Wireless positioning service, which references a database of wireless hotspots to determine location. Coombes said that in urban environments, it can be more accurate than GPS.

The NGP will use those location services (Near) for gifting between players and "treasure hunts" that will come after the NGP launches later this year.

Coombes and Tsutomu Horikawa, director SCEI software solution development department, highlighted some of the NGP's other unique hardware characteristics and how developers might use them in games. Head-tracking, face detection and augmented reality tricks via the NGP's dual cameras—Coombes said "they're not really designed for video, they're for game play"—were given special attention. Horikawa showed off an AR demo that rendered an Ape Escape monkey on a PSP game case and a massive dinosaur in the conference room

Joystiq has a video of the Ape Escape Monkey on a PSP Case, and the Giant Dinosaur. It's the second / middle video.


My opinions:

Getting some more specifics on the device is nice. While it's not a portable PS3, it's a significantly powerful device, especially when directly compared against the current portable devices. The other Near features are interesting, but I'm especially glad that a good number of them should still be functional, even without a 3G connection.

While nothing has been shown for it yet, the possibilities for simulated 3D using Head-tracking and face detection are REALLY exciting, especially because they were designed specifically with game uses in mind. Headtracking is PERFECTLY designed for a single player 3D experience that's better than the stereoscopic version more commonly seen now. In addition to all of the other sophisticated Augmented Reality technology that the NGP's already displayed, this would make the NGP capable of some absolutely incredible experiences. Here's a youtube video for anyone who doesn't know what Headtracking does to give you an idea of that combined with all of the rest of the NGP's features. The ideas of what kind of games you could make with all of this just blow my mind.

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[Hisako]

I still really want to see that vision Konami put forwards in their conference and see actual on-the-fly home console save transfers with seamless handheld transitions. That would quite literally be groundbreaking in terms of the fundamental definition of 'portable gaming'.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I still really want to see that vision Konami put forwards in their conference and see actual on-the-fly home console save transfers with seamless handheld transitions. That would quite literally be groundbreaking in terms of the fundamental definition of 'portable gaming'.

Same. I can hardly wait for E3, and see what he has to say about it. Especially because that will likely also be when they announce the Cloud-based Online Saving feature they patented a little while back, and updated with the 3.60 PS3 update. Cross-PS3 will be useful and is essentially a guarantee, but PS3 to NGP would be amazing.


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[X-SOLDIER]

While not specifically an NGP-related update, the PS+ is adding Cloud-based game saving tomorrow, which is a big step in the direction towards getting the cross-platform compatibility up and functional with the NGP, in addition to just being awesome.

Sony's expanding the features list for its PlayStation Plus service tomorrow, March 10, with the launch of online storage for PS3 game saves. As part of the $50 per year subscription, members will get 150MB of space in "the cloud" for up to 1,000 save files. Copy-prohibited files can even be backed up, with the caveat that users can only restore files that have been deleted from their systems once per 24 hours.

Future titles will offer the ability to save directly to PSN, Sony says, bypassing your local HDD entirely. The new feature is being introduced in PS3 firmware v3.60, which rolls out tomorrow, so factor the obligatory download into your game-playing schedule accordingly.

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[Tifabelle]

Unfortunately...

I don't understand what that means.

Why would I want to save games in there? I'm not exactly sure what PS+ is anyway. Why does this help compatibility with the NGP? Why is it a good thing that games save into PSN as opposed to on my PS3?

 

[Tetsujin]

Unfortunately...

I don't understand what that means.

Why would I want to save games in there? I'm not exactly sure what PS+ is anyway. Why does this help compatibility with the NGP? Why is it a good thing that games save into PSN as opposed to on my PS3?

Because then you'd have access to your save file with both your PS3 and NGP. I think.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Unfortunately...

I don't understand what that means.

Why would I want to save games in there? I'm not exactly sure what PS+ is anyway. Why does this help compatibility with the NGP? Why is it a good thing that games save into PSN as opposed to on my PS3?

PS+ is the PlayStation Plus Account. You pay for an upgraded PSN account, and get lots of extra features, free games, and other discounts. You can read all about it here: http://us.playstation.com/psn/playstation-plus/

Mine has more than paid for itself in full at least once over.

The online-saving feature works like this: If I save a game to PSN, I can then go to any other PS3 (at my friend's house for example), sign in to PSN, and start playing that game from my save file. In addition to that, if your PS3 ever breaks, you won't lose any of your saved games, because they're saved online. (Big plus for people who play RPGs).

Because then you'd have access to your save file with both your PS3 and NGP. I think.

Yes, this is the idea. With cross compatible games - ones that are playable on the PS3 and the NGP, like Hideo Kojima (not the TLS member) was talking about - you can save the game on your PS3, leave your house, turn on your NGP, and keep playing from where you left off on your PS3. Likewise, when you save on your NGP, and get back home, your PS3 picks back up from where you were last playing on your NGP. It's building a seamless experience between the console & portable for the games that they share.


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[Tifabelle]

In addition to that, if your PS3 ever breaks, you won't lose any of your saved games, because they're saved online. (Big plus for people who play RPGs).

If my PS3 breaks, would I lose all the games I've downloaded and purchased? Not the saved games, but the actual games? I don't think I'd care if I lost my saved games. It would suck, but I'd get over it, lol.

Yes, this is the idea. With cross compatible games - ones that are playable on the PS3 and the NGP, like Hideo Kojima (not the TLS member) was talking about - you can save the game on your PS3, leave your house, turn on your NGP, and keep playing from where you left off on your PS3. Likewise, when you save on your NGP, and get back home, your PS3 picks back up from where you were last playing on your NGP. It's building a seamless experience between the console & portable for the games that they share.


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So that will only be on new games. That's cool. Is that only on downloadable games? Cause how do you play a PS3 game on NGP if it is a disc? I'm sorry. I have a hard time understanding/following all these words.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

If my PS3 breaks, would I lose all the games I've downloaded and purchased? Not the saved games, but the actual games? I don't think I'd care if I lost my saved games. It would suck, but I'd get over it, lol.

Downloaded? No. You can log into your PSN, and go to the Download section, and re-download anything you've downloaded before. That's just basic functionality. This is ONLY for game saves.

So that will only be on new games. That's cool. Is that only on downloadable games? Cause how do you play a PS3 game on NGP if it is a disc? I'm sorry. I have a hard time understanding/following all these words.

No worries.

When it comes out tomorrow, PS3 to PS3 it will work with any game that uses a Save File. (This is what it's being used for right now). So I can take LBP2 to my friend's house, and we can play through parts on my game.

For the future, it'll work for "cross-compatible NGP games." That means that the game is designed to run on both the NGP & PS3, likely through download, or they'll have a BluRay & SD Card version released together.

Does that make more sense?


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[Tifabelle]

Downloaded? No. You can log into your PSN, and go to the Download section, and re-download anything you've downloaded before. That's just basic functionality. This is ONLY for game saves.

oic. I own a PS3, and I don't really even know everything it does, lol. I just play my games :3

When it comes out tomorrow, PS3 to PS3 it will work with any game that uses a Save File. (This is what it's being used for right now). So I can take LBP2 to my friend's house, and we can play through parts on my game.

That's interesting. I like that.

For the future, it'll work for "cross-compatible NGP games." That means that the game is designed to run on both the NGP & PS3, likely through download, or they'll have a BluRay & SD Card version released together.

Does that make more sense?

Oh yeah that makes sense. Because I was thinking about the PSP and how it connects with the PS3. Like you have to be a certain distance away and the PS3 has to be turned on for their to be a connection.

So with PS+, you can play a PS3 game on NGP anywhere (cause it has 3G) as long as the game is saved in PS+ world.

Thanks for dumbing it down for me

 

[X-SOLDIER]

oic. I own a PS3, and I don't really even know everything it does, lol. I just play my games :3

Oh yeah that makes sense. Because I was thinking about the PSP and how it connects with the PS3. Like you have to be a certain distance away and the PS3 has to be turned on for their to be a connection.

So with PS+, you can play a PS3 game on NGP anywhere (cause it has 3G) as long as the game is saved in PS+ world.

Thanks for dumbing it down for me

Ok, I can see your confusion with the PSP's relationship to the PS3. But yes. With PS+ your PS3 (and NGP) will save to your PS+ account, and either system will be able to play from that game, as long as they connect to your account, and grab the save file.

More than happy to help educate.


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[X-SOLDIER]

The Official UK PlayStation Blog has an two interview with the president of SCE Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida that have some really awesome points about the development process of the NGP and the close relationships with the game Devs.


• Shuhei Yoshida Interview Part 1

• Shuhei Yoshida Interview Part 2



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[X-SOLDIER]

There's an Interview with Andrew House, the SCEE President. Here's one part that should be appreciated.

One thing we learnt from PSP, is that we want to have simultaneous delivery in digital and physical for NGP. Just to clarify that, all games that appear physically will be made available digitally. Not necessarily all games have to be made available physically. And having the option of a digital-only method affords more creative risk-taking, and that’s because you don’t-have that in-built risk of physical inventory.

What I’d like to see is a hierarchy of different games of different sizes. So at the high-end you’ve got these big, premium games, which by and large will be available physically because that is the most convenient way to access them. And then there’s an opportunity for digital-only, where we might see more experimentation.

There's a lot more about the Playstation Suite as well, and how they're designing their business model that I thought was quite interesting.


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[X-SOLDIER]

The latest news is suggesting that, due the the damage that the Earthquake caused in the northern regions of Japan, that they may stagger the release of NGP between regions, meaning that it would only get to one territory be the end of 2011.

UPDATE: Sony sez, "That's bullshit, it's still coming out on time."


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[ForceStealer]

NGP is getting an Uncharted game, as well as some games that are not Uncharted.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Here're the videos & Images from Force's link.

Also - Joystiq has galleries with even more:
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/feast-your-eyes-on-a-menagerie-of-new-ngp-game-images/


Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Joystiq Gallery

WipEout 2084

Joystiq Gallery

Little Deviants

Joystiq Gallery

Reality Fighters
Joystiq Gallery

Super Stardust Delta
Joystiq Gallery

Sounds Shapes (working title)
Joystiq Gallery

Hustle Kings
Joystiq Gallery

Other Titles:
Everybody's Golf
Resistance Retribution

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Looks like Kotaku got to play a LOT of said titles, and has posted about all of them.
Here're all the Hands On reviews:

• Uncharted: Golden Abyss
• WipEout 2084
• Little Deviants
• Super Stardust Delta
• Reality Fighter
• Sound Shapes
• Hustle Kings


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[X-SOLDIER]

Aaaand the US PlayStation Blog has videos up of:


• Uncharted: Golden Abyss

- This one covers the most about the NGP's development, and it's interesting to see how it ties together.
- The fact that almost everything has focused on using touch controls that feel natural, and that people use them because they feel right is really encouraging. It's a good IP, and if this does well, it could make the NGP a big hit at release.


• WipEout 2084

- Looks smooooth, and just what I'd expect.
- 8 player cross platform matches sound like they work well from everything, and it's opening up compatibility between the NGP & PS3, just like I'd expected which is good from a title that can use it right away with WipEout HD.


• Sound Shapes

- Holy shit that level creating interface looks intuitive.
- The game looks like something I could easily sink some time into, and that would really capture the community base to make some really good content.


• Augmented Reality

- Always excited to see how and where they're pushing the technology.
- It's nice that the NGP was built with it in mind, and it's interestinng to see how the technology functions on a portable platform.


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[X-SOLDIER]

REALLY good news for PSP backwards compatibility!

All PSP titles will be able to take advantage of that second analog stick, as well as other NGP enhancements.

"All PSP titles that are currently available on the PSN can be played on the NGP," VP of product development at SCEA Scott Rohde told a crowd of game journalists. "And they'll take full advantage of the graphics smoothing capabilities of the system and the controls will be remapped to take advantage of the dual analog sticks."

While I can't say much about the graphics smoothing – it definitely looked like it was being zoomed up 400% – I can say that the second analog stick worked wonderfully in Retribution. The game originally mapped the right stick to the four face buttons. It's unclear how the tech will work with other games, and the representative we spoke could only say that the technology we were using was early. In fact, the sole NGP prototype that had the emulation software belonged to SCE's Shuhei Yoshida, who was taking it with him back to Japan that night.

While there are a lot of great games that haven't hit PSN (Crisis Core), this is good news for backwards compatibility that may even make some of the older games better than they were on release.


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[Max Payne]

Uncharted game is about the only thing that would make me get this thing

 

[ForceStealer]

I still have no opinion on this, though Uncharted helps. But I do have to admit the graphics are very impressive.

 

[trash panda]

Questionable. I really didn't like what they did with the PSP Go. I bet they thought a bunch of tards would go and download everything they already own just to play on a smaller, less comfortable version of the same system.

At least with the original PSP you can play ISOs. Chyeah right, $10 for a bunch of PS1 gen games I already own. XD