The PS VITA Thread - New '2000' Model

[Robin]

Hot on the heels of all the Playstation Phone news coming out about a week ago there has finally been lots of chatter about the proper PSP2 at Gamescom.Apparently like with the PSP Phone, special VIP's have seen a working prototype of the next proper successor and according to the media Sony are not taking any chances and want to keep a hold on the portable gaming market.

To do this they need to come up with something cutting edge and also better than the 3DS which is having tons of hype at the moment. It is rumoured that the PSP2 will not surface in more detail till the 3DS has come out and all the frenzy has died down (they dont want to compete just yet!).

The main info that has been gathered so far includes,

- A smaller portable version of the cell processor with 4 cores, most likely to unify development between it and the PS3. Makes devs creating a game on both formats much easier to port.

- A rear facing touch panel, described by those who have seen it to being similar to the Motorola Backflip's unique touch pad. What its used for is unknown but it likely to be Sony's attempt at motion control, similar to the DS's touch system.

- 3G connectivity and dual facing cameras, basically this might be what the iPad / future Touch 4G is to the iPhone. So it wont make calls but have wireless functionality for online gaming, video calling etc.

- 'A rich and detailed screen' is the other comment, it could mean something like Apple's rentina display level of pixel clarity.

Thats all that is known for now, Sony wanting to wait till after the 3DS might mean that they are planning the PSP2 to be 3D but want to see how Nintendo's attempt pans out. All the sources are around the web, just look up the latest news for PSP.

Robin.

 

[Tornado]

PSP was heavily rumoured in mid-July to be using the nVidia Tegra 2, with the reason they haven't shown it off yet being because nVidia ran into massive power usage problems. Then Sony had to delay the press showing, which was probably originally supposed to be this year at TGS or Gamescom, to at least CES of next year, so assuming it is using the Tegra 2 it really has nothing to do with the 3DS.

 

[[empty space]]

A rear facing touch panel, described by those who have seen it to being similar to the Motorola Backflip's unique touch pad. What its used for is unknown but it likely to be Sony's attempt at motion control, similar to the DS's touch system.

this has me slightly worried as i didnt like that phone ...

 

[Robin]

edit - new news was bogus, hopefully more stuff will come out nearer TGS.

 

[alfajamesromeo]

I am counting down the days until the 16th of sept for tokyo game show, really hope the PSP2 is there.
from all of the rumors it sounds as though the new psp will be packing some heat. All I ask is that it isnt a phone and that it has actual buttons aswell as touch (I am sure it will but you never know). Roll on the 16th

 

[Robin]

From industrygamers.com,

PSP2 Is Real, 'Pretty Powerful' And In Developers' Hands

In an PAX 2010 interview about the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot, Executive Producer Shaun Himmerick let slip the existence of a PSP2 development unit at Netherrealm Studios.

IndustryGamers asked about the possibility of a version of Mortal Kombat on the current PSP or the upcoming 3DS, and Himmerick replied:

“We’re not launching day one on all consoles like that. We are looking at them; we have a PSP2 in the house and we’re looking at the engine, like what can it support. Always a big thing for us is the performance. We’re running at 60 fps, what can we do and do we have to build all the art assets over. We’re definitely looking at them. PSP2 looks like it’s a pretty powerful machine. We don’t have a 3DS system in house yet, but we’re looking to get one, and we’ll certainly look at what its power is.”

So Netherrealm has a PSP2 system, but not a 3DS? How far along is the system and possible launch titles? Previous rumors have pegged the PSP2 as a 2011 hardware launch, but Sony has remained mum on their next portable system, choosing instead to focus on the current generation PSP. What are they hiding in PlayStationland?

The rest of the interview with Shaun Himmerick about Mortal Kombat’s return to form will be posted soon.

Robin.

 

[alfajamesromeo]

good news
wish we had been shown it at TGS, because we all know how long it took for europe to get the last psp, what a mess that was. Let's hope they announce something out of an expo

 

[emacs]

Let's hope they announce something out of an expo

E3 2011 would be a good time for an announcement.

 

[Tornado]

CES would be better.

 

[emacs]

CES would be better.

perhaps. CES has become very broad in scope, however.

 

[Tornado]

True, but Sony really needs to get the system on the public mind before the 3DS comes out.

 

[E28]

Well, at the moment the iPod Touch 4th gen is a bigger rival. Sony really need to increase the Blu Rays use, so why not make a blu ray UMD? And to compete with the 3DS, have a touchscreen used for casual gaming, but also have full games (Full GT4 on PSP anyone?)

 

[Robin]

Well, at the moment the iPod Touch 4th gen is a bigger rival. Sony really need to increase the Blu Rays use, so why not make a blu ray UMD? And to compete with the 3DS, have a touchscreen used for casual gaming, but also have full games (Full GT4 on PSP anyone?)

You may have seen this a few years back, Sony was already in the process of developing a miniature Blu Ray laser unit and produced this prototype. I think this is a good sign that they are committed to bring Blu Ray to UMD especially as dev's have been running out of space making PSP games.

Robin.

 

[E28]

Wow... maybe BluRay UMDs are coming sooner than we think! It's a good sign that the PSP2 will probaly support discs, although having an internal hard drive like the Go would be good alongside UMDs.

 

[Alex p.]

Guys, some new rumours:

1.There are two designs, one similar to the first PSP and the other like the PSPgo, which is going to be chosen has not been decided yet.

2.It is also not decided which format is going to be used for the games, either UMD or memory sticks.

3.Two analog sticks now.

4.That one I find VERY interesting. The system is supposed to have twice the memory of the XBOX360 or the PS3, that means: 1GBRam for a handheld-that's insane and I hope it is true.
Let's assume it is, then I think it is very possible that the games look as good as PS3 titles or even better, let me explain why.
1.Twice the memory, 2.needs to calculate lower resolution images (more power for other things), 3.the graphics chip of the ps3 is already now very cheap, so is the Cell, 4.other rumours say a lillte bit weaker Cell will be used with 4 cores, means even less costs, 5.gaphics card could be even a bit better than of the ps3, because of all the advances of the last 5-6 years.

Well, I know, a bit of a wishful thinking on my part but I personally think that the system as a whole does not neccesarely needs to be more powerful than the ps3 or the 360, but that the games themselfes might look better on the small screen for the above mentioned reasons.
You expect something similar?

 

[Tornado]

I have only 2 potential problems with this:

• Ditching UMD drives is fine. There is no reason for Sony to continue with them, and in hindsight it was a stupid idea in the first place (it was done for data capacity and to lower production costs, but the production costs never came down because the UMDs were proprietary). Nor was there ever any reason for Sony to look into Blu-Ray UMDs. That isn't to say that I want a digital distribution-only handheld. But the 3DS is still going to use cartridges and it will offer games of around XBox quality, so Sony should just copy that. Use modified SD cards like the DS family does, and that way you only need to use as much space as the game requires. That way production costs could be lower for smaller games and would continue to shrink as time went on. It would also make the system vastly more reliable and battery-friendly, with the side effect of getting rid of the epic PSP load times.
• Go with the normal PSP profile. The Go's profile and size is already far too cramped for button space, and adding a second analog stick would make it downright unplayable.

 

[Alex p.]

But the 3DS is still going to use cartridges and it will offer games of around XBox quality,

I have to disagree with you on this one very much, nothing I saw from the 3DS titles looked better than the top Xbox games like Halo 2, Doom3, Splinter Cell 3, Ralli Sport Challenge2 or PGR2. Not even MGS on the 3DS looks better than even the ps2 version, my opinion.
I would place it technically exactely between the PSP and the PS2.

Edit: I know Resi on the 3DS looks stunning, but I will believe it when the game's been tested and the game still looks as good as on the current screens.
It happens with EVERY console that before it launches almost every game looks better, than when it releases. Was even the case with MGS4 on the ps3.

 

[Tornado]

I have to disagree with you on this one very much, nothing I saw from the 3DS titles looked better than the top Xbox games like Halo 2, Doom3, Splinter Cell 3, Ralli Sport Challenge2 or PGR2.

Comparing a bunch of launch games with several months to go in development to games made towards the tail-end of a console's life cycle?
There were quite a lot of launch 360 games that looked exactly the same as original XBox games (and in a few celebrated cases, worse), as well. Hell, Halo 3 came out two years into the system's life and it barely looked any better than Halo 2 did outside of certain situations. Does that mean that the 360 is incapable of producing games that look better than original XBox games?
Pure technical specs alone put it somewhere between the Gamecube and XBox in power, and there are a few things that it supposedly is capable of doing (shaders) that the original XBox wasn't.

Not even MGS on the 3DS looks better than even the ps2 version, my opinion.

The lighting engine is astoundingly poor compared to the original, I admit, but the textures are a lot more robust than the PS2 originals were.

 

[Alex p.]

Comparing a bunch of launch games with several months to go in development to games made towards the tail-end of a console's life cycle?
There were quite a lot of launch 360 games that looked exactly the same as original XBox games (and in a few celebrated cases, worse), as well. Hell, Halo 3 came out two years into the system's life and it barely looked any better than Halo 2 did outside of certain situations. Does that mean that the 360 is incapable of producing games that look better than original XBox games?
Pure technical specs alone put it somewhere between the Gamecube and XBox in power, and there are a few things that it supposedly is capable of doing (shaders) that the original XBox wasn't.


The lighting engine is astoundingly poor compared to the original, I admit, but the textures are a lot more robust than the PS2 originals were.

I am VERY sure the original Xbox could do shaders, that is why Splinter Cell 3 looks so unbelievably good on it and other games.
And yes I am taking launch games as representations of the capabilities of the system, why? Here's why...
1.We're talking about Resi and MGS(which ALWAYS got everything of every console it got launched on)
2.As I said, games, which look surprisingly good, before the release of a new console (talking about Resident Evil here), look ALWAYS better than the final result and I gave good examples.
I think Nintendo realized that many people don't care for graphics and that is why they're selling them 2011 systems for 250 euros, which are not more capable than a Xbox (2002) or maybe even the ps2 (2000).
But hey, there is certainly a possibilty that I am completely mistaken, and I would like to be proven wrong.

As a sidenote:Unreal developers said it's IMPOSSIBLE to convert the Unreal 3 engine on the 3DS, but they could convert it on the new Iphones (they showed a techdemo of that and it looked at least 3 times better than Resi on the 3DS).

Again, I could be wrong after all, only thing we can actually do is sit and wait until the system releases.

 

[Tornado]

I am VERY sure the original Xbox could do shaders, that is why Splinter Cell 3 looks so unbelievably good on it and other games.

Xbox has the equivalent of a GeForce 3 in it. It can do shaders, but nowhere near as good as anything with modern shader support can.

And yes I am taking launch games as representations of the capabilities of the system, why? Here's why...

That isn't the problem. You are talking about 3DS launch games which are still very much so in development and comparing them to XBox games that were released several years into the console's life. The comparison isn't even remotely valid.

1.We're talking about Resi and MGS(which ALWAYS got everything of every console it got launched on)

I've never seen Konami do bullshots with any MGS game in the past. I recall the original MGS2 trailer where everyone knew that Konami was faking it, only for the game to come out looking exactly that good.

2.As I said, games, which look surprisingly good, before the release of a new console (talking about Resident Evil here), look ALWAYS better than the final result and I gave good examples.

That would be true if all we have been shown so far is pre-rendered videos. We haven't been.

I think Nintendo realized that many people don't care for graphics and that is why they're selling them 2011 systems for 250 euros, which are not more capable than a Xbox (2002) or maybe even the ps2 (2000).

It (supposedly) has twin ARM11s @ 266 MHz (keep in mind that a single ARM11 at that speed would probably match the Pentium III in the XBox) and 64MB of system RAM (same as the XBox). Its graphics chip is admittedly a little less powerful (though it has 4MB of dedicated VRAM, when the XBox didn't have any), but the system also displays at a considerably lower resolution than the XBox does so it likely wouldn't matter in the long run.

As a sidenote:Unreal developers said it's IMPOSSIBLE to convert the Unreal 3 engine on the 3DS, but they could convert it on the new Iphones (they showed a techdemo of that and it looked at least 3 times better than Resi on the 3DS).

Funny thing about that. I read that interview, particularly this part:

We don't have a 3DS, so there's no way for us to verify that

So, you know.
Besides, this isn't comparing the iPad/iPhone 4 to the 3DS (because those are both far more powerful than probably even the Wii is), so such a statement is completely irrelevant.

 

[Alex p.]

1.I've never seen Konami do bullshots with any MGS game in the past. I recall the original MGS2 trailer where everyone knew that Konami was faking it, only for the game to come out looking exactly that good.

2.That would be true if all we have been shown so far is pre-rendered videos. We haven't been.

3.It (supposedly) has twin ARM11s @ 266 MHz (keep in mind that a single ARM11 at that speed would probably match the Pentium III in the XBox) and 64MB of system RAM (same as the XBox). Its graphics chip is admittedly a little less powerful (though it has 4MB of dedicated VRAM, when the XBox didn't have any), but the system also displays at a considerably lower resolution than the XBox does so it likely wouldn't matter in the long run.

4.Funny thing about that. I read that interview, particularly this part:

So, you know.
Besides, this isn't comparing the iPad/iPhone 4 to the 3DS (because those are both far more powerful than probably even the Wii is), so such a statement is completely irrelevant.

1.You are not reading my posts. That is exactly what I was saying, MGS games always show what the system is capable of, and because MGS on the 3DS did not look all that impressive...you get the idea.

2.I know. I am talking about "touched" footage, not pre-rendered. Again, you are not reading my posts. My example was MGS4, first videos were near realtime or realtime, doesn't matter, fact is, the final game looked worse, period. Even the textures of MGS2 back then had to be a bit lower rez for the final game, that is what I read back then.

3.That point pretty much shows that graphically it will not surpass the Xbox.

4.I didn't know that, my bad.

 

[Tornado]

1.You are not reading my posts. That is exactly what I was saying, MGS games always show what the system is capable of, and because MGS on the 3DS did not look all that impressive...you get the idea.

But it does look impressive. It has a long way to go (the lighting engine needs work), but you can already tell from the comparisons that the 3DS remake has higher-quality models and textures than the original game, seemingly being converted from MGS4 or scratch-built based on their appearance rather than touched up versions of the PS2 assets.

2.I know. I am talking about "touched" footage, not pre-rendered. Again, you are not reading my posts. My example was MGS4, first videos were near realtime or realtime, doesn't matter, fact is, the final game looked worse, period.

And there have since been games on the PS3 that are more impressive looking than MGS4 was regardless of whether MGS4 was downgraded from its original trailers. Similarly:

Even the textures of MGS2 back then had to be a bit lower rez for the final game, that is what I read back then.

That may be the case, but it is kind of moot considering MGS3 came out 3 years later and looked better in every way, never mind any other games that looked better.

As another example, when it first came out, Gran Turismo 3 was the best looking racing game you could buy, period. But despite that, Gran Turismo 4 is almost an across-the-board improvement, and there was no difference in hardware.

3.That point pretty much shows that graphically it will not surpass the Xbox.

I never said it would. I specifically said "around XBox quality."

 

[Alex p.]

Haha okays okays the debate got a bit out of hand here a feel. No hard feelings, I would like the 3DS games to look Xbox quality, but I will never believe pre-released footage but only gameplay, when the system is already out.
Besides, I do agree with your points on MGS 3DS.

p.s. I think GT3 looks better than 4. 4 had texture "mistakes", much more low-rez textures on the buidlings for example and much more pop-ups, anyway, only my opinion.

Let us end the descussion here, after all it's the psp2 thread, not the 3DS thread, but one thing is for sure, the psp2 will kick 3DS's ass, technology wise.

 

[E28]

To be honest, I don't think the 3DS needs better graphics. Why? Because it appeals to families, who don't care about graphics.

The PSP however, needs games more of PS2 quality, even games closer to
PS3 quality. It will be interesting to see about the PSP2, although releasing it soon could alienate GO! users who have recently purchased what seemed like a brand new console.

 

[LaBounti]

I have only 2 potential problems with this:
Ditching UMD drives is fine. There is no reason for Sony to continue with them, and in hindsight it was a stupid idea in the first place (it was done for data capacity and to lower production costs, but the production costs never came down because the UMDs were proprietary). Nor was there ever any reason for Sony to look into Blu-Ray UMDs. That isn't to say that I want a digital distribution-only handheld.

This was 2004/05 when 256MB MS were $70. Could you have come up with a better solution to deliver a 1.3GB game like Midnight club 3 on PSP in 2005?. Or Race Driver 2006 and other games that broke 1gB when 1GB flash was still expensive. UMD was a good idea and the best solution to deliver games in that size for its time.

I have only 2 potential problems with this:

Go with the normal PSP profile. The Go's profile and size is already far too cramped for button space, and adding a second analog stick would make it downright unplayable.[/list]

More than likely they are referring the style of a sliding screen. To have a screen 1" bigger the system its self would be bigger. I made up a handheld with a 7" screen and it was the same width as the standard PSP but with a sliding screen. I'd imagine a 5.3" sliding screen would be bigger than the GO.

But the 3DS is still going to use cartridges and it will offer games of around XBox quality, ]

I agree but what is the storage capacity? Visually I think it could but with 64MB of memory devs will want to maximize it. More data per environment or charactor, more storage. 1GB roms you think for a $40 game?

 

[E28]

I find it hard to believe the 3DS will deliver XBOX quality games on cartridges.

 

[Alex p.]

Alleged leaked dev-kits pics: http://www.4players.de/4players.php...3999/2042368/Sony|PSP2_Fotos_des_DevKits.html

 

[alfajamesromeo]

Alleged leaked dev-kits pics: http://www.4players.de/4players.php...3999/2042368/Sony|PSP2_Fotos_des_DevKits.html

damn you beat me to it! I always feel dissapointed when i see prototypes, they look rubbish compared to the final product, but i cant complain at the two analog sticks. Lovely.

 

[alfajamesromeo]

not long now............

 

[Alex p.]

Yeah isn't it supposed to be unveiled tomorrow? SO looking forward to what this thing can! Btw: How did you find this thread again? I searched for it but no matter what I wrote in the search bar, I couldn't find it.

Oh and a new rumour from Sony: The PSP2 is supposed to have PS3 like power.