PSP NGP

[darkgizmo]

Anyone hear about this new PSP being developed and supposedly released for the holidays? you can read about it Here.

Sounds pretty damn cool to be honest. I plan on picking one up if the price isn't overkill

[Zenks Renway]

I doubt that this may be any good. What worries me greatly is the presence of all these new features that make the console, to me, seem over-designed, with its touchscreen, 2 analog sticks, 2 cameras (can it also make drinks?) and yet, NO MENTION of UMD support!! Didn't Sony learn from that POS PSP Go that UMDs=win (+ bought the game already so i shouldn't buy it again) and that they're better and much more convienient than downloading games?

If it does turn out that this console won't have UMD support then I'm dropping the console and any of my hopes for it being good like a rock.

[Nintendo Master]

Feb 4, 2011 16:50:41 GMT Zenks Renway said:

If it does turn out that this console won't have UMD support then I'm dropping the console and any of my hopes for it being good like a rock.

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, especially when regarding gaming formats, but the truth is that the PSP NGP (New Generation Portable) will not support UMDs. To make sure I've got my facts right, I checked this up on three websites, all of which say the same thing.

Tech Buffalo
www.technobuffalo.com/blog/gaming/psp-umd-games-coming-to-the-ngp/

CVG
www.computerandvideogames.com/286317/news/ngp-sony-negotiating-digital-release-of-psp-umd-games/

Joystiq
www.joystiq.com/2011/01/31/psp-umd-games-could-be-re-released-on-ngp-game-cards/

Now at the very least I would expect Sony to in some way allow you to register your PSP UMD games (As long as they are not second hand) and then port them to the built in memory, but instead you have to purchase them again through the Playstation Store. This is a huge disappointment for me, and on top of that, many older UMDs are still unavailable for download, and despite Sony promising some to make a comeback, I do not trust them at all to do so. If the company cannot fix a simple glitch from Spyro 2 and put the game back on the store in barely less than half a decade, there's no way they can do this.

But anyway, the console itself looks powerful. What I love about my PSP 3000 is the breath of fresh air it gives to portable gaming. The Nintendo DS offers a standard portable gaming experience, with pretty awful graphics, and the iOS offers also a good gaming experience, with slightly better graphics and good use of the accelerometer (or Gyroscope if you have an iPhone 4).
However, I purchased a PSP not for all of the multimedia features that it possesses, my iPhone has brilliant movie and audio playback anyway. I bought it because of it's games. Yes, you can argue that most of it's library consist of rubbish that no-one has ever and never wants to hear of, but when you find a gem, such as Ratchet and Clank - Size Matters you know that you've picked the right console. No other handheld console on the market possesses such power to play 3D games as flawlessly as the PSP. It's also such a treat to be able to download your old favorite Playstation One games such as Crash Bandicoot and play them on the go. In short, I love my PSP. Although the European PSP store seriously needs improving. Where is my Spyro Trilogy, damn it?

The PSP NGP seems to improve on the old design. Slightly. It has a 5" screen in comparison to the 3000s 4.3 inches, has two analogue sticks to make first person shooters a treat to play on the go, and has two rear facing cameras, of which little information has been given. I myself have an attachable PSP camera which is 1.3 Mega Pixels, and the images come out pretty well, even on the computer desktop. I'll send some examples soon. I expect that the cameras will be at least 3MP each.

Now one brilliant feature that has been revealed of the PSP NGP is the availability of 3G networking as well as Wifi. Now, although little information has been given about 3G, I haven't a clue who Sony are going to team up with to give the user this connection. I expect a leading mobile provider such as Telephonica will have to do the job. However, as I am a Smartphone user I know myself that 3G is unavailable in more places than it is available. I also know that 3G is only around two seconds slower than a Wifi connection, and extermely more rapid in downloading files than an EDGE connection or mobile internet. Because of this, downloading iPhone apps on the go is fairly simple for me, but that's because Apple have made only apps 20MB or lower available for download through mobile internet through to 3G connection. This seems fair to me, because even through downloading an app around 100MB through Wifi can take several minutes, so I wouldn't consider trying it through anything else. However, as we all know PSP games are far larger than 20MB, even PS1 games, and because of this I doubt that this download service will be available unless solely through Mini Downloads. Even the online gaming experience that everyone is expecting through 3G (Beware the CoD maniacs) will probably falter through this. The only time that this would become of use is if you've stopped in a city or local fairly large town that has a good 3G connection and want a play. I would be amazed for it to work on your travels and certainly not in a car on a journey.

There are also many other new features with the NGP PSP, some controversial, so check out the video below for more information.

[Zenks Renway]

Pfft, Sony might as well just have given the finger to everyone with UMDs. I mean, why suddenly change the game format you have established since the birth of your console?! Sure I may be wrong, this NGP could end up kicking ass but it's both insulting and retarded to completely abandon your format with no certain redemption for those whose games are now worthless cos they're UMDs, as well as other problems such as not all PSP games on the PSN, not enough good and too many crappy PS1 games on the store; problems that Sony should be answering about.

But OH WAIT, that doesn't matter! The new console has new features and is moving forward so fast that old PSP owners are now gonna get left in the dust even more so than with the PSP Go! What on earth are these guys even thinking?