Sony Unveils the PSP2
After much anticipation and leaks galore, Sony has unveiled the PSP2. Except it's not called the PSP2. It's called the NGP, which stands for "Next Generation Portable," a code name for the project to which Sony is sticking for the time being.
Regardless of what they are calling it, the specifications are impressive. Sony claims that it will be as powerful as the PS3, and popular franchises such as Uncharted, Little BigPlanet, Resistance, and Killzone have all been named as titles that we can expect to see once the PSP2 hits the market. Sony has ditched their proprietary data storage technology, the Universal Media Disc (UMD), in favor of a newly developed form of flash memory, made specifically for the PSP2. This means that although the PSP2 is larger (7.1 inches wide) than most phones and handheld gaming platforms, it's surprisingly light.
Sony also boasts built-in WiFi and 3G capabilities for the PSP2, paving the way for social and location-based gaming. Social gaming relates to social networks, and will no doubt entail posting game achievements to Facebook, Twitter, and the like to brag to friends. Location-based gaming, Sony explains, will link players in the same areas into the same game, and pit them against each other, presumably head-to-head or in the highest-score-wins fashion. It will do this using a service called LiveArea, which in conjunction with a program called Near, will allow you to chat with nearby PSP2 users, as well as see what games they are playing.
To Sony's credit, they have not skimped out on any of the features that you would expect in any new handheld device, let alone one that is geared specifically towards portable gaming. It's new, larger, OLED screen is touch sensitive. Combine this with another touchpad on the back of the device, as well as dual analog sticks on the front and SIXAXIS motion controls, and you have incredibly powerful gaming potential. Now, add in front- and back-facing cameras, and 3G and WiFi technology, and you've got one serious handheld device, capable of much more than just "games"
For those of you who just want the meat and potatoes, here are the system specs, courtesy of Kotaku.com:
- CPU: ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)
- GPU: SGX543MP4+
- External Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
- Rear touch pad: Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
- Cameras: Front camera, Rear camera
- Sound: Built-in stereo speakers, Built-in microphone
- Sensors: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic compass
- Location: Built-in GPS, Wi-Fi location service support
- Keys / Switches: PS button, Power button, Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left), Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square), Shoulder buttons (Right/Left), Right stick, Left stick, START button, SELECT button, Volume buttons
- Wireless communications: Mobile network connectivity (3G), IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1x1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode), Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR （A2DP/AVRCP/HSP
Unfortunately, the PSP2/NGP/Whatever-Sony-Decides-to-Call-It won't go on sale until later this year. Which no doubt leaves many of us biting our nails and counting the days.
Sources: Kotaku 1, 2, 3, 4
Waterloo Labs Creates Face-Controller for NES
Ask yourself this question: would you rather control your games with a traditional controller, (like one of those boring Wiimotes) holding it in your hand and constantly weighing yourself down, or would you rather controller video games with your FACE?
If you prefer a regular old controller, suit yourself. But if you are interested in a controller that uses your face, then the guys at Waterloo Labs might be able to help you. They have developed a system of electrodes that measure movement in your eye to control any NES game they choose.
It uses electrodes that measure the changes in the electrical fields around your eyes that occur when you look in different directions. According to the video they used to explain it all, your eyeball actually has a positive and negative side, just like a battery. The back of your eye is more negative, while the front of your eye is more positive. So when you look all the way to the left or right, for instance, part of the negatively charged back of your eye becomes more visible, and changes the electrical field around your eyes slightly. The whole setup is called an EOG, or electro-oculogram.
Once the changes are measured, they are magnified and interpreted through the kind of custom made setup that electrical engineering students make, and plugged into the NES. The result: awesomeness.
Check out the video below to see the system in action!
Source: Engadget
PSP Go to be Relaunched… Somehow
In a recent interview with the Senior Vice President of Publisher Relations of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Rob Dyer, Industry Gamers got an insight to what SCEA itself has to say about the lackluster sales on their PSP Go, and what they plan to do about it.
Apparently, the biggest problem that Sony has been trying to address with regards to their products is piracy. Widespread piracy made attracting bigger developers difficult to say the least, since few people want to invest time and money in a medium that is easily copied and distributed without any recognition. Piracy on PSP games had significantly affected game sales, and the PSP Go was supposed to address that.
With no UMD slot to accommodate regular PSP games, owners download games from the Playstation Store. This was meant to combine the ease of being able to get new games from the comfort of one's own home with legality of paying for them. That proved to be a hard selling point to get across to consumers, however.
“We wanted to find a way to give the consumers what they want... And we were hoping really to eliminate the piracy issue. Did the PSPgo confuse [consumers]? Yeah, I think the higher price point didn't help matters any either," said Dyer. At $249, the PSP Go was only slightly cheaper than a Playstation 3, let alone the original PSP. It remains to see whether a beefier version of the PSP Go will be launched, or if Sony plans on dropping the price, but a change is definitely in the works, sometime soon.
Source: Industry Gamers