With the announcement of the successor to the PSP, the NGP, Sony has created a lot of excitement. The handheld device boasts a quad-core ARM cpu and a dedicated graphics card and Sony has gone on record saying that games will rival their PS3 brethren (Full tech specs can be found here). In fact, at the announcement event, many developers showed footage of their console games ported to the device with minimal loss in quality. This is all exciting stuff, but Sony of all companies should know that it will take a lot more than superior horsepower to compete with the DS and the new mobile gaming juggernaut, Apple.
The NGP is going to be a beast.
Sure, the thing's got power, but Sony needs to back this thing better than the PSP if they hope to succeed. Luckily, there are a number of huge titles already in development for the system. Titles like Uncharted, Resistance, and Killzone are already in the works and it looks like the system has the developer backing it needs to get going out of the gate. Here is a commercial with some more gameplay footage. We'll just have to wait and see if these games can hit the launch window and whether the new developers (Uncharted and Resistance are being developed by SCE Bend and Nihilistic respectively) can do justice to some of the best Playstation franchises.
Other than the games, the NGP has a lot of potential. It's got an OLED touch screen, rear touch panel and, my favorite, actual analog sticks rather than the nub slider of the original PSP. Did I say sticks, plural? Awwww yeah! The NGP has dual analog sticks. Now we might be able to play those console-style games how they're supposed to be played. At least it shows that Sony is taking consumer reactions and industry standards into consideration with the dual sticks and the touch, motion sensing and 3g capabilities.
Sony is also using a new OS that is more "PC like." If Sony can make digital downloads more desirable (read: don't charge the same price as retail games) and integrate 3g multiplayer gaming, this could be the always connected system of the future.
There's a good framework in place, now it's just up to Sony to show us that we need the NGP. There are a few concerns with the device. First off, it's huge! It's bigger than the original PSP and it's screen is the size of the PSP GO. This seems to contradict its portable nature. The analog sticks also seem to stick out and it may be near impossible to throw this thing in your pocket. Sony has stated that the final form factor may change, but I doubt it could be significantly smaller with all this tech jammed inside.
Speaking of all the tech... This is the most powerful mobile device announced and its price tag will surely reflect that. With the 3DS coming out at $250 USD, Sony will likely try and cut the cost as much as they can, but how low is realistic? $350? $400? $500!?! Sony will inevitably be taking a hit for the first years of the NGP's production, but how much of a hit can they take? And how much will additional services like 3G cost? The price will be a huge determining factor in the initial success of the platform, and I'm really hoping Sony has done their research so that they can compete with the 3DS, which is already expensive.
It looks like we've still got a lot of unanswered questions about the NGP (like why the heck is it called the NGP and not the PSP2?), but hopefully some light will be shed in the following months. Sony could have a real winner here, but it's going to take some smart pricing and good developer backing to make the NGP rise above its predecessor.
Other than the games, the NGP has a lot of potential. It's got an OLED touch screen, rear touch panel and, my favorite, actual analog sticks rather than the nub slider of the original PSP. Did I say sticks, plural? Awwww yeah! The NGP has dual analog sticks. Now we might be able to play those console-style games how they're supposed to be played. At least it shows that Sony is taking consumer reactions and industry standards into consideration with the dual sticks and the touch, motion sensing and 3g capabilities.
Sony is also using a new OS that is more "PC like." If Sony can make digital downloads more desirable (read: don't charge the same price as retail games) and integrate 3g multiplayer gaming, this could be the always connected system of the future.
There's a good framework in place, now it's just up to Sony to show us that we need the NGP. There are a few concerns with the device. First off, it's huge! It's bigger than the original PSP and it's screen is the size of the PSP GO. This seems to contradict its portable nature. The analog sticks also seem to stick out and it may be near impossible to throw this thing in your pocket. Sony has stated that the final form factor may change, but I doubt it could be significantly smaller with all this tech jammed inside.
Speaking of all the tech... This is the most powerful mobile device announced and its price tag will surely reflect that. With the 3DS coming out at $250 USD, Sony will likely try and cut the cost as much as they can, but how low is realistic? $350? $400? $500!?! Sony will inevitably be taking a hit for the first years of the NGP's production, but how much of a hit can they take? And how much will additional services like 3G cost? The price will be a huge determining factor in the initial success of the platform, and I'm really hoping Sony has done their research so that they can compete with the 3DS, which is already expensive.
It looks like we've still got a lot of unanswered questions about the NGP (like why the heck is it called the NGP and not the PSP2?), but hopefully some light will be shed in the following months. Sony could have a real winner here, but it's going to take some smart pricing and good developer backing to make the NGP rise above its predecessor.
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