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Sony To Release PSP Handheld Console In 2004 362
JayBonci writes "According to News.com, in a news conference before this year's E3, Sony announced its plans to release a new gaming handheld called PSP, slated for release late next year. Presumably, this would be to compete against Nintendo's Gameboy Advance, a clear winner in the handhelds department for years now. The games come on a new media format, half the size of a CD or DVD, holding 1.8 gigs. Other Gameboy competitors such as the Neo-Geo Pocket Color have suffered from small game libraries and the inability to get over the GBC/GBA's entrenched marketshare. Despite all of this, Sony isn't SNK, and obviously has a lot of muscle to push its way to where it wants to be. It will be an interesting fight."
Sony also introduced a new accessory for the PlayS (Score:5, Funny)
How will this work?
You jump up and down and little mario on the screen does the same?
And I thought dance mats were scary.
Re:Sony also introduced a new accessory for the Pl (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Sony also introduced a new accessory for the Pl (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Sony also introduced a new accessory for the Pl (Score:2)
Battery Life (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Battery Life (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Battery Life (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Battery Life (Score:3, Informative)
Road trip: cigarette lighter socket.
Flight: Accessory outlet
train: Same
You were saying?
Re:Battery Life (Score:2, Informative)
You've been lucky. Accessory outlets are still not available on all (or even most?) flights.
Trains... (Score:2)
Re:Battery Life (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Battery Life (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Battery Life (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Battery Life (Score:5, Informative)
Wouldn't it be kind of funny if this thing ended up being a PlayStation with a screen, integrated controller, and batteries? That's sure what it sounds like to me. Plus, if they designed it so that it could play PlayStation games that have been copied onto the little disks, then they would have a HUGE library of games already written for it. They would just have to burn them to little DVDs.
Re:Battery Life (Score:2)
Re:Battery Life (Score:2)
Re:Battery Life (Score:2)
My Sony CD player lasted 20 hours on 2AA batteries. Sony MiniDisc players last 100 hours on a single AA battery.
Believe me, if anything, their battery times are going to kick ass.
better article (Score:5, Informative)
Re:better article (Score:2)
I don't think Sony would ever release something that hideous
Re:better article (Score:2)
Games... (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, what are they going to do to entice developers. Gameboy has such market penetration that it'll be hard to convince them that they can make more money with the new handheld. I expect to see a lot of games developed for both systems, or 3d ports of games for the PSP.
Re:Games... (Score:5, Insightful)
Most likely the usual players. Sony has what I would consider to be as strong of a lineup of 3rd party developers (Square, Enix, Konami, EA, Rockstar) with big-name games (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Metal Gear, SSX, Grand Theft Auto) as any company out there. And that's not even mentioning in-house titles like Gran Turismo.
Also, what are they going to do to entice developers
16:9. 3d audio. 1.8 GB storage on 60mm discs. Real-time NURBS rendering. USB 2.0. Not to mention the 50 million+ PS2's already sold worldwide.
How many MEGAbytes are GBA cartridges again?
I think this new system is plenty enticing. Development kits are coming out in June, which gives developers 1.5 years to work with the architecture before release in Dec. 2004, at which point Nintendo will still have the GBA at the forefront of their portable lineup (remember, the original GB went virtually unmodified for almost 10 years).
Re:Games... (Score:2)
Re:Games... (Score:2)
Anyway, depending on the game genre, the storage is just as likely to be for audio data or streaming videos as it is for graphics. For
Re:Games... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Games... (Score:3, Insightful)
I believe they're publishing 512 megabits as we speak, which pretty much translates into 64 MB. I wouldn't be surprised if they reach gigabit (128 MB) sizes in a year or so. However, consider:
Re:Games... (Score:2)
Re:Games... (Score:2)
wow (Score:2)
wow, thats pretty incredible. i remember years ago when my dad bought me the original gameboy.... we had tetris, and that was awesome. now you have media and handheld systems that rival computers that were top of the line just a few years ago.....
xao
Re:wow (Score:2)
Regarless of the technical specs, it's still all about the games. If the games deliver, and it's not unreasonably priced, I'd bet that Sony will have an easy time selling them whether it's got two rubberbands and a paperclip or the latest and greatest portable electronics available inside.
Re:wow (Score:2)
xao
Competition is wonderful (Score:3, Insightful)
GameCube format (Score:3, Interesting)
Wonder if this is a new format or if they are using that one. Don't see why they would roll there own with there's already one existing. Of course this is the same company that came up with Beta-Max and Mini Disk.
Re:GameCube format (Score:2)
Wonder if this is a new format or if they are using that one. Don't see why they would roll there own with there's already one existing.
"
It probably is a new format as Nintendo co-developed it with another company who's name excapes me at the moment to be 'piracy proof'. Due to the probable IP involved, Sony'll probably have to re-invent the wheel here.
There's some that feel that Nint
Re:GameCube format (Score:2)
Re:GameCube format (Score:2)
Does the hardware spin the DVD-R backwards?
if so surely this must be controlled by the software?
Re:GameCube format (Score:2)
What model is the drive? (i.e. what does device manager show)?
Re:GameCube format (Score:2)
However...
Nintendo appear to call it an "NR Writer".
But I think it is just an unbadged Matshita/Panasonic external SCSI DVD-R Burner.
Maybe it is not for creating production discs, and only works with the Dev Kit version of the Game Cube.
Re:GameCube format (Score:2)
Actually, it probably would have been possible to place the laser, motor, spindle, etc. in a CD-Rom. That's not to mention that you could probably spend some money and buy one from the same place Sega did.
Say what now? This was about 1 year a
portable format? (Score:4, Interesting)
----
I sure hope their new format is solid state, because portable units are meant to be.. well.. portable. If it's a disk based format I doubt it will be nearly as durable as the cartridge based gameboy. Also battery time must be considered, if it's an optical disk the unit will not have a battery life nearly as long as the game boy advance.
I have a feeling this system might suffer the problems as some early PDA's: overpowered, too expensive, and not portable enough. Nintendo and Palm both tackled their respective markets aiming for two goals: Portability and Efficiency. I hope sony realizes this before going against the behemoth of Nintendo's Gameboy.
Re:portable format? (Score:2)
Re:portable format? (Score:2)
Think of what a solid-state 1.8 GB cart would cost per unit... EGADS!
the disks sound like game cube disks (Score:2)
on a more On topic note it says that it supports mpeg4 which makes you wonder if sony will come out with a burner that will let you burn you own movie disks, like thats going to happen, chances are sony will drop the mpeg4 deal for fear of possible lawsuits
Haven't we seen this before? (Score:2)
Nintendo reaction (Score:3, Informative)
Expense? (Score:2)
lest we not forget.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Almost like MS and Xbox (Score:2)
The gameboy SP is pretty sweet from the little bit I played it. I'll be tough to beat. I do hope that Sony's media can take a beating.
Uh yeah (Score:2)
"And we do use the term 'new [216.239.57.104]' loosely..."
Whoa .... 1.8 gigs?! (Score:5, Funny)
Disc format... (Score:2)
A new audio format could use encryption, then CD could wither and die, no more RIAA whinging.
Re:Disc format... (Score:2)
Had Sony pushed the minidisc format for computer data by now we probably had gotten rid of floppies and zip disks. Minidiscs are small, hard do damage and cheap. Their capacity is nothing to write home about (140mb, IIRC), though.
An
hrmph, whatever (Score:2, Insightful)
This talk is making me nostalgic, I might go home and find my GB.
Re:hrmph, whatever (Score:2)
I find it really funny to see so many people on Slashdot talking about "classic" systems, and how "new" stuff is all crap..
And no, Gameboy was far from the first portable system. It was the first popular portable for the Nintendo generation.
PSP? (Score:2)
What about something like a SAN disk drive... (Score:2)
What if you could have a USB converter to transfer the games from CD format to the solid-state media, a cartridge, or a storage module on the device itself (just plug in the PSP to the PS2). It could store a max of five or six games at any given time, and, as long as you have the disc, you can keep playing. Sure, I can already see the sorts of abuse that could br
Why the game boy works (Score:4, Interesting)
Additionally, I do not know why Sony is attempting to release an "all in one" portable machine that plays games, places calls, and serves as a PDA. That to me just seems like they are trying too hard to incorporate too many groups of people under the same device. If I want a PDA, I buy a PDA. If I want a cell phone, I buy a cell phone. I doubt there is a big market for people that want a cell phone/PDA/handheld game device. Why pay for this unless you want everything that comes with it? Just my $.02
Re:Why the game boy works (Score:2, Insightful)
Pop that out, pop in Zelda X, all your saved games also available on that memory stick. Run out of space on that stick? Run out and spend
Re:Why the game boy works (Score:2)
Sure, but given the general suckiness of all the attempts so far, it seems that technology hasn't progressed quite far enough....
In addition there are issue with interfaces -- a good interface for a cell phone isn't necessarily very good for playing games and vice-versa (note all the complaints about the ngage's excess of buttons and general fiddliness) Remember the old p
Playboy (Score:2)
GF
too late sony! (Score:2)
I know its not quite the same but still. And this guy has made other cool units, like portable ataris and snes.
The system that would rock (Score:3, Insightful)
I want a portal gaming system that is similiar to the current mp3 player setup... except for games.
Yes, iPod for games!
Just USB or firewire the freaking games onto your gaming system. Sure I won't be able to get a GIG of information now... but come on! Size and jedi ninji graphics isn't the most important thing. Downloading is so more efficent than these little CDs or cartridges. You could even exchange games by connecting the gaming systems to each other.
What would even rock more would be if they would release the SDK for free. Then you could have fresh shareware/freeware stuff to try all the time.
Plus, you could have it play mp3, ogg, divx, whatever...
I would drool to have this setup... I would equally drool to program such a device.
Davak
UMD Pics (Score:5, Informative)
what will give (Score:2)
Portable Play Station (Score:3, Interesting)
On Classic Gaming? This guy ripped apart a Playstation One and a mini-TV and built his own back in September of 1991. It was cool because the CD for it spun freely on the back of it without an enclosure. The builder of it even called it the PSP. Hmm... wonder if Sony "stole" the name for theirs from his sight? =)
Re:Portable Play Station (Score:2)
Pictures of PSP's 1.8GB Media (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.gc-inside.com/news/103/10367.html
http://www.gc-inside.com/media/psp/05.gif
I for one am glad it'll come with Memorystick, being that there are already great Memorystick accesories such as digital camera, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 802.11b, and even a prototype TV tuner.
Re:32-Bit (Score:4, Informative)
How did Sony with with the PS2? They got into the market far later than all except Microsoft; their hardware is far behind the XBox, and yet the PS2 is 3-to-1 the most popular game console of the current state-of-the-art. Sega, who's technology was often cutting edge and who had a long history in the industry, is now defunct in the hardware market. Nintendo, the oldest of the current crop, has true market force only among young children, relying on their classic intellectual property like Mario. Perhaps I am oversimplifying, but, then, I believe so are you.
Re:32-Bit (Score:5, Insightful)
Discounting Sega, they were first to market.
"They got into the market far later than all except Microsoft;"
You forget the generational cycles in the video game industry. To an extent, all bets are off when the next generation of console rolls out, which means (discounting the Dreamcast) Sony had the first-mover advantage.
"their hardware is far behind the XBox,"
Debatable. We're not exactly comparing a Genesis with an SNES.
"Sega, who's technology was often cutting edge and who had a long history in the industry, is now defunct in the hardware market."
Sega's problems were never because of either hardware or software. Their main pitfall was marketing. In my opinion, if the Sega Saturn had been backwards-compatible, Sony would be the one out of the hardware business.
"Nintendo, the oldest of the current crop, has true market force only among young children,"
Never underestimate the spending power of young children in large numbers.
While the PS2 may be outselling the Xbox and GameCube, the GBA is outselling the PS2 hands down. Perhaps even the PS2 and Xbox combined. Why do you think Nintendo is so keen to push GBA link-up with the GameCube?
"relying on their classic intellectual property like Mario."
You seem to believe that's a liability.
Re:32-Bit (Score:2)
1 thing - Back catalogue (Score:2)
The XBox came to the market with very, very few games and no proven track record, so had/has to prove itself.
Re:32-Bit (Score:4, Interesting)
The PS2's hardware was designed from the ground up to run games... where the x-box is basically.. a PC with some optimisations.
The PS2 has a lot of power still that a lot of companies don't (or can't) yet take advantage of. Unfortunatly one of the bad things about the PS2 is that its not eactly the easiest to program for. (Sony isnt exactly helping too much with this either.)
I have a feeling we are going to see games evolve over the years on the PS2... (Same thing that happened on the PS1. Compare almost any first gen PS1 game with one of the last gen PS1 games to see what I mean. They almost look like they are for totally different hardware platforms.) While on the other hand, graphics on the xbox will be more or less the same. (Developers already know how to program its hardware, obviously.)
Anyways... Im in no way trying to say the PS2 is more powerful than the X-Box. I am just trying to explain why compairing the two is kindof useless... atleast when your just going by pure specs. (Which btw, you dont mention anything about the PS2s processor design, which does have advantages over the xbox.)
Anyways... this is the same reason why you cant compare AMD and Intel chips directly just by specs.
Anyways... back to my beer =P
Re:The reason (Score:2)
What killed Sega was exclusivity of games (Score:2)
There were some other things like personal grudges too. EA comes to mind during the Dreamcast years when they stated they would not commit to the Dreamcast platform. And, considering the juggernaut that EA is, it's not surprise that there was little to drive the hardware, even
Re:32-Bit (Score:2)
Not even close. The GBA and the GC combined, almost reach the sales of the PS2.
XBox, Playstation, GameCube and Dreamcast (Score:3, Interesting)
"How did Sony with with the PS2?"
Discounting Sega, they were first to market.
Why discount Sega? - Sega were first to market with a comprarable console *years* before Playstation 2 (the Dreamcast was released in 1998).
"They got into the market far later than all except Microsoft;"
You forget the generational cycles in the video game industry. To an extent, all bets are off when the next generation of console rolls
Re:First to market, back-compat, and franchises (Score:2)
Yes, instead of being a money pit you pour some money into once every few years, the PC is a system you pour money in continuously. That's why it doesn't have the generational cycles consoles have. And there are other differences between console gaming and a PC, but that's a flame for another time.
"please precisely define "video game console""
A "black box" w
Re:32-Bit (Score:2)
I never had a PS2 game crash. I have several XBox games that crash on a fairly regular basis. I've talked to several other people with the same sort of issues.
That said, I hope this handheld does not have the disk read problems that the PS2 develops after a couple years - which is likely the quality problem that the AC is talking about.
Re:32-Bit (Score:2)
RTFA, it is significantly better! (Score:2, Insightful)
It has a larger, higher res LCD than the GBA (480x272 versus 320x240).
It has a USB 2.0 port and a Memory Stick slot. The GBA has basically the same serial port that the original had 10+ years ago.
The PSP is far, far more capable t
Re:RTFA, it is significantly better! (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.raylight.it/Blueroses3dagb/blueroses
It's just one of many methods of achieving 3D on the GameBoy Advance. And it's no less *real* 3D than what was achieved on the Saturn or PSX.
There are true 3D games on the GBA as we speak. Some utilize true 3D and even blend them with paralax scrolling. Go look at IGN and you can get a good idea of what the GBA can do in terms of 3D. It's no powerhouse by any means, but it's up there with *early* PSX/Saturn quality in many ways.
Re:RTFA, it is significantly better! (Score:2)
By using an optical drive, Sony has basically shot themselves in the foot.
Optical drives require a motor, adding bulk. They require juice for these motors. More so than the amount of power needed to drive the ROM on a cartridge. They also aren't really great for situation where the console is in constant motion.
They're going to have to pull something really special out of their ass to make an optical drive feasible for a portable.
1.8 gigs is irrelevant when your batteries l
Re:RTFA, it is significantly better! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mud Slinging (Score:5, Interesting)
Kind of reaching there huh guys? Rockstar told you to go piss up a rope didn't they? Lets face it, with games like GTA and Metal Gear as exclusive titles you guys didn't stand a chance. Zelda isn't _that_ good.
Nintendo has had that stance for, oh, 20 years now. Whether it's successful, or even reasonable, is debatable... but it's definitely NOT some new reaction to Sony. It is to a large part based on Miyamoto's attitude and design philosophy, visible from his earliest games.
Re:Mud Slinging (Score:5, Insightful)
Um... yes, it is. Zelda is one of the reasons that Nintendo is still in the hardware business instead of going the way of Sega. It's the strength of a handful of games like Zelda that kept the N64 afloat. After all, you didn't see the original GTA or MGS on the N64, either.
And while his motives may be questionable, he does have a point: Sony's main customer base are a completely different breed of people than Nintendo's die-hard customer base. They tend to be the people with a teenager mentality that will pay $$$ just to see some blood, tits and ass. In other words, most of the games on Sony's platforms have gone Hollywood.
Re:Mud Slinging (Score:2)
Plus Konami is releasing a rendition of Metal Gear Solid 1 for the Game Cube called "Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes."
Re:I luv SONY (Score:2)
Re:I luv SONY (Score:2)
didn't want to say it, but ... (Score:2)
Re:didn't want to say it, but ... (Score:2)
Re:I luv SONY (Score:2)
Re:I luv SONY (Score:2)
Re:I luv SONY (Score:2)
Re:Too much overkill I think (Score:2)
The question is, what did you show them? Was it a clunky device with lousy controls being used to play a complex console game versus an elegant device with nice controls being used to play a simple game? Sony has -- in my opinion -- a far better record with ergonomics than Nintendo.
For argument's sake, let's suppose there will be games like EverQuest whic
Re:Too much overkill I think (Score:2)
Um, based on what? The PS1? Lousy (the SNES was kinda clunky, but was better than the PS1 for ergonomics, and the N64 was much better). The PS2? Better, but basically just OK (the gamecube's certainly better). So not much evidence from SCE.
If you mean Sony in general (as opposed to SCE), that's also a rather weak bet. Sony has great industrial design in some ways -- their stuff generally looks very cool -- but their us
Re:Too much overkill I think (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Too much overkill I think (Score:2)
"It's overkill, of course. But you can never have too much overkill." - Anonymous Slashdot Coward
http://www.simonpeter.com/techie/slashdot_wisdom.
Re:Nothing like a good slashjob (Score:2)
Re:No Pic? (Score:2)
Re:Remember the gamegear... (Score:2)
-/-
Mikey-San
"I like my women like I like my bread