Sony gave us an early sneak peek at its Next Generation Portable PlayStation Vita (PSV) a few weeks back, and maybe you noticed, but that meant we saw a lot of games. Quite a few articles, including details, impressions, and images, have already hit Destructoid. Here's what you may have missed:
Having played all of these games, that means I've spent a fair amount of time with the NGP. With that said, what I used was not final hardware, but development units. We were told that while the units function, look, and feel like what will hit retail, there will be some minor differences.
While I expect those differences to be cosmetic -- maybe a shinier finish, for instance -- I'm not ready to give you final hands-on impressions just yet. I expect retail units to be available for fondling at E3, so expect more detailed coverage then.
In the meantime, here are my first impressions of Sony's upcoming handheld, with the caveat that they're certainly not final.
It's huge
You're going to hear Sony say it many times: the NGP features a gigantic, five-inch OLED screen. Hearing that or reading it might not convey what that means, but it's probably bigger than you're thinking. If you have an iPhone in front of you for comparison, that screen is 3.5 inches; the extra 1.5 inches makes a startling difference.
This also means the unit itself is massive in both length and height. On the plus side, this means that most folks will be able to get a comfortable grip on it, versus the PlayStation Portable's relatively cramped size. On the downside, the NGP will barely fit into most pockets; add to the fact that the analog sticks are raised, and you'll probably have to put this in a bag rather than into your jeans pocket.
The unit does seem impressively thin, which was surprising, perhaps even smaller in that respect than the current PSP.
While the size kind of goes against the whole "portable" thing, it does elicit awe. The 3DS screen in comparison looks downright tiny, almost insufficient, when held side-by-side.
Hey, did Sony mention it has a gorgeous 5-inch OLED screen yet?
Because it totally does. And Sony isn't exaggerating, either. Colors are vivid and varied, and the graphical power behind the system really shines when seen in person. For the most part, screenshots aren't doing these games any favors; you really have to see them in person on the NGP screen to appreciate the upgrade from the PSP.
Hallelujah, dual analog sticks!
Gone is that obnoxious nub found on the PSP. Instead, it's replaced by two raised analog sticks. Yes, two of them! A novel concept, I know. The result is a handheld that allows you to control games like you would if you were playing them with a standard DualShock controller. I never did experience the same kind of cramps I would sometimes get when playing PSP titles, and the second analog stick was a welcome edition to a third-person shooter game like Uncharted: Golden Abyss.
Oddly, even though there's plenty of room on the face of the system, the main buttons on the right side of the unit are pretty tiny. They're not small to the point of being detrimental to the experience, but I overheard more than a few people taking note of the size after they spent some time with the NGP.
Sony should talk with Apple about touchscreen technology, maybe
The NGP features touchscreens on both of the front and the back of the unit. In conjunction with the standard controls available, this really opens up a lot of possibilities for both gaming and interfacing with the unit's menus. (Note: The system's front-end was not usable in any of the demo units; I crashed a few trying to sneak a peek. Sorry about that, Sony.)
While it worked fine for the most part, it'll probably be immediately clear to anyone who's familiar with current-gen iPods, iPhones, or iPads that Apple is the current king of the touch screen game. I found in many cases the screen to not be as responsive as I wanted it to be, sometimes not reacting at all when I tapped or dragged my finger across it. (It should be noted that this varied from game to game, and it could be software related.) The screen itself also doesn't feel as smooth to the touch as Apple's devices, either.
I hate to harp on comparisons to Apple's devices, but it's always the elephant in the room when talking about touch screens and gaming. As I mentioned earlier, the units we were using were development kits -- any issues I encountered may not be (and are probably not) indicative of final hardware and software. I still wanted to bring it up, because until I get my hands on a more finalized unit, it's definitely a bit of a concern.
An impressive but familiar software line up
Out of the gate, Sony is already coming pretty hard with a solid first-party line-up. While nothing is a direct port, many of the games were just new iterations of titles we're already familiar with. Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Hot Shots Golf, Wipeout 2048, Hustle Kings, Super StarDust Delta, are all examples of this. While all of the games do attempt to take advantage of the NGP hardware and certainly look impressive, at their core they're fundamentally the same experiences we've had before with those titles.
There were a few exceptions to the rule, including Queasy Games' Sound Shapes, which was a definite standout. But I have a feeling that a lot of the NGP library will consist of portable versions of your favorite franchises. For instance, we saw footage of but couldn't play a Killzone NGP title; it looks great, but it looks a hell of a lot like Killzone.
Being able to play new iterations of your favorite franchises on the go isn't a bad thing, especially with the high bar of graphical fidelity that the NGP can meet. I just hope both first- and third-parties start thinking outside the box and surprising gamers with unexpected software that we could only see on the NGP.
The NGP adapts nicely to your PSP titles
The NGP will also be able to upscale and adapt older PlayStation Portable titles, as well. The only one we saw in action was the third-person Resistance: Retribution, which you were able to control with both of the NGP's analog sticks. Visually, the game looked great, bumped up to a higher resolution that gave it a clear edge over playing it on a PSP.
The game's developer, Sony Bend, says it didn't have to do anything to make this happen; the NGP does all of the heavy lifting, adapting titles for the platform itself. How this works and how many games will support this functionality is a mystery, as Sony was being tight-lipped on specifics. Still, the idea of being able to play older PSP titles on your new consoles with dual analog controls and at a higher resolution is certainly attractive.
So many unanswered questions...
In all, I think the NGP has quite a bit of potential, certainly the most capable and powerful piece of portable gaming hardware I've seen to date. But there are still plenty of questions that remain.
Price will be a big factor, as you'd have to imagine that all of this cutting-edge tech can't come cheap. Battery life is also a concern; the units we played on didn't even have batteries in the systems, instead running on power supplied from an outlet. Sony is also promising an entirely revamped front-end HUB, along with innovative social features and functionality. How will they make these features attractive to gamers?
I expect more answers at E3, when Sony will have its big coming out party for the handheld. We'll come back with more impressions of even more games, final hardware, and more. Stay tuned.
Contest:
1:20 PM on 06.02.2011 | 
That's really awesome. I commend Sony Bend for TRYING to make Retribution work with the face buttons in place of a second nub, but we all know it didn't really work. The fact that games will be upscaled properly for both graphics and controls is fantastic!
I'm so happy to hear that it'll add analog support and higher resolutions for psp games. Just amazing.
The fact that I can't just close it and throw it in my pocket is also a huge strike against it. If I have to carry a backpack anyways you might as well give me a 10" screen.
I want one, but I have a feeling i'm gonna have to wait. Just like the ps3.
Also I'm interested what media formats this will support, along with the media format for the game. Are we going to get vanilla Memory Stick Duo's with an uncharted sticker, or proper cartridges? I know it's picky, but I like having an actual game-styled format instead of a random memory format adapted for games. And will they introduce some absurd new MemStick format for it like they pulled with the Go?
Also also, I know there's 3G support, but I assume it will cost me something to use it. I'd like to know what the price on that is (as well as the system, of course) and what all I can do with the 3G. Are we going to have full on App Stores?
The price on the unit itself better not exceed 300 bucks after the 3DS got me for 250. I'm all for cool stuff but 300 is a bit steep, and given the lack of backward compatibility (along with my non-tradable Japanese PSP), I'm not going to have anything to trade towards it like I did with the 3DS.
Also also also, please god be a matte finish this time. And maybe a color besides black, since I'm bored with black and white colored systems. And how about the region free-ness that made the PSP actually worth my while? Is the NGP also going to be region free, because if not I may just import one since Japan will inevetably get all the games I care about, just like PSP.
MS have Operating System for mobile phones, retard. not a mobile device nor handheld console. and i was talking about all gaming devices from sony - their controllers were always too small for everyone over 5-7 years old.
PSP Go; probably the only posotive legacy of that system. You could sync a PS3 controller via bluetooth to play games and some of them recognized the new control and adapted to it. Resistance: Retribution was probably one of them, and the NGP just responds as a DS3.
I still can't see the back touch stuff as anything but awkward. Front touch certainly has applications, but I feel like the back touch stuff was just Sony's excuse to not make the thing truly backward compatible. Or getting you to drop the thing.
That and I have concerns about the memory format. Any variation of Pro Duo sucks balls, it just has to be said. I know Sony loves their proprietary media formats, but just let me stick a more affordable SD card in there. SanDisk won, Sony lost, let's just admit that and move forward.
Lots of internal flash memory would also be nice. While not an issue for the physical media this time out, downloading PSP and PSX games did add up quickly on Pro Duos. A 16GN standard in each unit would he a fair starting point for internal flash memory.
PSP conditioned me for bad battery life, so 3DS and NGP will be manageable in this regard, NGP's durability I have to wonder about, though. That's a pretty big handhand and as they say the bigger they are, the harder they fall. PSP wasn't terribly durable, though I guess a lack of moving parts this time could help increase the durability. Still, its a Sony product, so this could go either way.
The games so far are pretty underwhelming. I just don't get excited about Sony IPs at all. Show me what Square-Enix, Atlus and Xseed are doing with it and I might be more compelled. Then again, its looking like 3DS and NGP may be sharing a lot of franchises, Persona's already making its way to 3DS.
This might be the final reason that pushes me to buy one. I don't have a PSP, and there are some PSP games that I REALLY want to play. As for the size, I always carry my backback with me, so 5-inches is just fine. I can fit a 16oz drink in my jeans pocket, anyway, so I have little doubt I could go that route as well. The touch screen functionality relative to games doesn't mean a lot to me, even if they improve it, since I'm not terribly interested in touchscreen games. I am interested in non-gaming apps, however, and hope we learn more about that at E3. As someone else said, this could replace my mp3 player.
Right now, price is the only thing keeping me from excitement. As much as I want it, I'm not paying more than $299, even if I have to wait for some price cut.
THat's what she said :D
I don't know, but I certainly hope so. I'm picturing the body to have a really shiny finish that requires fingerprints for life, though.
RE UMD to NGP transfers: I doubt it; they offered no solution like that for the PSPgo. It sounds like the PSP games it plays will require downloads from PSN.
not a mobile device?
not a mobile device?
not a mobile device
what do you call windows phone 7?
Actually you're right, that's not a mobile device, it's a piece of shit.
"what do you call windows phone 7?"
I'm pretty sure Microsoft just designed the OS, not the phones themselves...
I'm quite excited that old PSP games will get some visual and control upgrades as well. As for re-buying games, I think Sony should again offer a couple of free download games at launch (the only decent thing they did with the PSPgo) and that would help out a lot. Maybe offer two from a list of ten so that people can have some of their favorites right out of the gate.
Oh, and as for the raised sticks, all there needs to be is a slimline case that surrounds the device but only barely covers the sticks. Basically it would just be a hard plastic screen/touch pad/stick protector.
Basically I'm just looking for Sony to give me a couple more good reasons to buy this thing and I'm sold.
as long as the PSP games look good on it, i'll definitely rebuy some on PSN :P
though will probably wait 2-3 years from now on after it's release.
amazing stuff thanks for the impression =)