Sony’s lifted the lid on NGP, their Next Generation Portable, during PlayStation Meeting 2011 in Tokyo on Thursday. The currently nameless PlayStation portable platform boasts a touchscreen, dual analog sticks (not stubs, like the current PSP), a 5-inch OLED display, 3G and GPS, wi-fi, front and rear touchpads, and an electronic compass.
“The power is now in your hands,” ended the trailer that introduced it.
The 5-inch OLED display displays media at a resolution of 960×544, which is four times that of the current PSP. Both the front and back of the device have cameras. Games for NGP will run on new media cartridges — they look like SD cards, but have a curve at the top signifying their individuality. The platform itself slides like the PSP Go would.
Sony VP, Kaz Hirai, describes it as “the ultimate entertainment experience.”
Franchises coming to the platform include: Hot Shots Golf, Gravity Daze, Killzone, Reality Fighters, Smart As, Broken, LittleBigPlanet, Little Deviants, WipEout, Resistance, and Uncharted.
Sony president of Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, demonstrated Uncharted on stage. Here’s a sneak preview:
Hirai shared a look at the user-interface, which he described as ‘Touch, Grab, Trace, Push, and Pull’. In the menu we see options for the PlayStation Store, the internet browser, the camera, your messages, your friends, your trophies (yes, it has trophies!), and a few icons for your games.
Take a look:
LiveArea, a platform in which every game for NGP will utilize, was shown off briefly. Hirai describes it as a “game-oriented communication platform.” News, such as game updates, can be found in this area.
With the built-in GPS, NGP can track your every move (hurray for stalkers), and essentially map out a path of where you’ve been. Using this data, you’ll be able to find gamers in your area and see top ten lists of their most played titles.
This is a fantastic way to see which games are popular in your area. Screw reviews written by people like us. See what all the cool kids are playing! All of this is done within the PSP successor’s built-in Near app.
As for backwards-compatibility, due to NGP’s new media drive, UMDs are obviously out of the question. Although, you can play downloadable PSP games on the platform.
NGP will launch this holiday season at an undisclosed price-point. We’re going to go ahead and guess, though. $250.
Images courtesy of Engadget.
