The Sony PSP2, codenamed NGP

Betcha didn't think this day would come, but it finally has. Sony has just come clean with its next-generation PlayStation Portable. It's actually codenamed NGP and will revolve around five key concepts: Revolutionary User Interface, Social Connectivity, Location-based Entertainment, Converging Real and Virtual (augmented) Reality. It will be compatible with the PlayStation Suite.

Specs include a 5-inch touchscreen OLED display with 960 x 544 resolution, dual analog sticks (not nubs as on the current generation), 3G, WiFi, GPS, a rear-mounted touchpad, the same accelerometer / gyroscope motion sensing as in the PlayStation Move, an electronic compass, and cameras on both the front and back. Oh, and the CPU is described as "the most advanced" in its class. Available this holiday season. Wait... what?!

The Sony PSP2, codenamed NGP





Games will come on "new media," not UMD anymore, but we're unclear on what sort of flash memory is being used. Sony's rather proud of the fact it's offering the world's first dual analog stick combo on a portable device, though we're more geeked about the quadrupling of pixel count from the original PSP.

Games being shown off at Sony's live event right now include Killzone, Resistance, Little Big Planet, and Uncharted -- with the latter serving as a demo platform to show off how the NGP's rear touchpad can be used to more intuitively climb up some vines. That touch panel on the back is the same size as the front OLED display and is "mapped" directly to the game screen, which is allowing for some pretty sophisticated stuff when using the two simultaneously.

The new console's UI will be called LiveArea, which has a bunch of vertically navigable home screens and built-in social networking (presumably through PSN). You can jump between games and the LiveArea without losing your progress and comment on your buddies' great feats of mobile gaming.

PSP2 games and UI





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Oh man, it's beautiful. The analog sticks sound like they'll be fairly awkward to use though, given the way you have to hold the device.

Definitely looks awesome and looks to have a ton of potential. I actually feel more inclined on buying it after seeing these images. The rumored PSP2 image that looked like the PSP GO was a bit... unoriginal? I guess? The whole 3G thing is awesome! Thats like carrying a portable PS3 and being able to play online virtually anywhere. I wonder if they'll come out with an app store on it.

The thing is, because it can support games for the PS3 (third parties got Yakuza 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4 working on it), we could potentially see Home on it.

I am curious if it has cellphone-like capabilities in regards to messaging, such as an on-screen keyboard. Maybe even possibly with Swype functionality. I'm also curious about the UI. It almost seems to be some sort of Android OS geared for the NGP or something similar. Of course I could be wrong. The fact that this thing has the potential to be nearly a "Playstation 3 Portable" I wonder if Home could grace this thing. However the NGP's battery is yet to be determined. With such a powerful device surely comes the need for more power. Hopefully Sony takes the lessons of the PSP to heart and actually have a decent battery life on this thing. Either way... SOLD! Good job Sony =P

Edit: Oh and also, here's a video of the NGP running Uncharted, which btw looks pretty damn close to how it looks on PlaySation 3. You can see the control functionality of the touch screens, both front and back. Also the Dualshock-like analogs. This thing is looking swoooooot.

The fact that the PSP2 is going to have dual cameras like the iPhone4/iTouch4, may indicate that we could have 3rd party apps such as Skype. I agree this thing is going to require a good battery life to support all its features for a decent amount of time. I'm sure they'll add txt messenging features on the PSP2 with the 3G capabilities. Probably to txt other PSN users on the fly! I can't wait till this thing comes out!

Thanks for posting that video Vlaun, the graphics def look more rich and intense, almost ps3 portable status! Looks awesome.

Heres another video:

I'M so getting this thing ... i love PSPs so mucho