Dante Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 New NGP details emerge at private event During a presentation to around 20 UK developers at its headquarters in London yesterday, Sony shared a wide range of information about its new handheld platform, revealing significant new details on launch plans, hardware specifications, networking features and more. One attendee, speaking to Eurogamer this morning under condition of anonymity, said: "NGP is a developer's dream – Sony is finally doing the things developers have been crying out for for years." Studios had been expecting to collect development kits at the event, but were told "late shipments from Japan" meant SCEE would now be "prioritising". According to the source, for a kit to be delivered before April a studio must supply a "20-page concept document on a game they want to release at launch". Eurogamer understands that key UK studios have had early kits for almost a year. But the source claimed the new shipment of kits would be "the first to have the final GPU in them". Sony has not yet dated the system beyond plans to begin rollout worldwide by the end of 2011. But during yesterday's presentation, Sony listed the Wi-Fi only edition of NGP as "2011", while the Wi-Fi plus 3G version was listed as "Holiday Season 2011", implying that the 3G-enabled console would not be available day one. SCEE did not share any solid information on date or price, only adding that details would be revealed "very soon". Sony staff demoed a handful of upcoming first-party NGP titles, including Uncharted, Little Deviants and WipEout. The source said the latter was "the WipEout HD PS3 engine running on PS3 with no changes to the art platform. That means full resolution, full 60 frames per second. It looks exactly the same as it does on PS3 – all the shader effects are in there". With Sony urging developers to create releases that work across PS3 and NGP, the implications of this are significant. "They want us to do cross-platform," said the source, explaining that the submission process has been streamlined, with only a single submission required for a title on PSN and NGP. And developers were told: "All games at launch available on flash [the physical storage medium] would also be on PSN." However, Sony is also insisting that it "does not want exactly the same game" on NGP and PS3 – there "has to be a reason for the NGP title". "They want at least some kind of interactivity between the two versions with NGP-only extras," the source added. The rumoured addition of 'cloud saving' – seen as key for enabling gamers to switch easily between a game on PS3 and NGP – was raised by developers, but SCEE would not officially confirm it. The publisher also moved to reassure developers that the technical hurdles of cross-platform development were being kept as low as possible. "Any shaders for PS3 stuff will just work," said the source. "We won't have to rewrite. What would have taken two-to-three months before looks like it could take just one-to-two weeks now. The architecture is obviously different, but it's the same development environment." Elsewhere with the hardware, it was confirmed that NGP features three gyroscopes, compared with one in PS3's controller, allowing for more accurate movement. And the front and rear touch panels are both capable of six-point multi-touch. "The touch pad on the back is fantastic," the source said. "It does feel second nature, like you're having a real impact on the world." As an example of the potential, SCEE described squeezing an object in-game by pinching the front and the back simultaneously. SCEE further outlined its vision for the first five years of the platform and its target audience, with year one focused on "hardcore" and year two on "hardcore and teens", with the expectation that the audience will expand younger and older after that. Social networking and location-based features were also highlighted for their gaming potential. SCEE suggested, for instance, that "clues could be put on the social networking side" that could lead to "virtual gifts", that could in turn make use of the camera and augmented reality capabilities to distribute "new skins and avatars". "Sony has made it completely developer-centric this time," the source added. "[The development kit] is really simple to plug in and use. It opens direct in Windows Explorer and you can see all systems on a network – so you could, for example, update the firmware of multiple NGPs at once. "A PS3 dev station can take three hours to set-up. This looks like it will take under 20 mins. It just makes everything easier – they've really thought about it this time".
Daft Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 You didn't really bold some of the most important bits, With Sony urging developers to create releases that work across PS3 and NGP, the implications of this are significant. "They want us to do cross-platform," said the source, explaining that the submission process has been streamlined, with only a single submission required for a title on PSN and NGP. And developers were told: "All games at launch available on flash [the physical storage medium] would also be on PSN." "Sony has made it completely developer-centric this time," the source added. "[The development kit] is really simple to plug in and use. It opens direct in Windows Explorer and you can see all systems on a network – so you could, for example, update the firmware of multiple NGPs at once. "A PS3 dev station can take three hours to set-up. This looks like it will take under 20 mins. It just makes everything easier – they've really thought about it this time". Looks like Sony have really listened to what developers want and need.
Nolan Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 I'm happy about using flash as the medium. I took so long to pick up a PSP just because I'd have to pay out the ass for a PSP and then pay more to get a memory card to save games.
Jamba Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Looks like Sony have really listened to what developers want and need. I'd definitely say so; Kaz is obviously making some good headway. Sony sound like they have finally learnt one of their biggest lessons in making games, which brings a very big smile to my face. For 2.5 generations of hardware, they have been making systems that are very difficult to program for and that put them at a massive disadvantage near the beginning of each generation. This approach will really give devs something to be excited about but I do worry about a lot of ports from the PS3. Maybe we will see "double play" versions of games like you get with Disney films so you can have the PS3 version AND the NGP version. But then I worry.... my biggest gripe with the PSP (apart from the XMB) is that very few games were designed for a handheld experience. A lot of that came from the hardware itself (loading times, poor battery life) but many of the games completely forgot that you needed to be able to have a quick blast of fun. I see that being the same problem with ports from PS3.
Aimless Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Whilst I'm sure there will be games ill-suited to quick bursts of play, surely the trick is simply not to play those when you don't have the time? If I only had 15 minutes to play something on a console I wouldn't load up New Vegas, I'd jump into something befitting of the time available. I don't really see the handheld space as being any different. Given the PSP2 — I can't be arsed with the rubbish codename any more — will support minis and other downloadable titles out of the box, I can't imagine you'll ever be stuck for something appropriate to play. That said I hope the sleep function is good and the Kojimas of this world allow you to pause sodding cutscenes! Hopefully there will be some baseline functionality in that regard when you press the PS button.
Magnus Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 That said I hope the sleep function is good and the Kojimas of this world allow you to pause sodding cutscenes! Hopefully there will be some baseline functionality in that regard when you press the PS button. Turning your PSP off while a game is running does the same thing as closing the lid on your DS does (in other words, you can pick up exactly where you left off when you turn on the console again). I'd be very surprised if they removed this function for the PSP2.
Jamba Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Turning your PSP off while a game is running does the same thing as closing the lid on your DS does (in other words, you can pick up exactly where you left off when you turn on the console again). I'd be very surprised if they removed this function for the PSP2. Oh and another point.... I want the sleep mode to be easily distinguished from turning off. I rarely knew when my PSP was properly off and I found that it managed to run down the battery badly.
Ike Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Oh and another point.... I want the sleep mode to be easily distinguished from turning off. I rarely knew when my PSP was properly off and I found that it managed to run down the battery badly. I've turned my PSP off sometimes by accident because I forgot it was in sleep mode which was annoying.
Cube Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 NGP Price Leaked? I doubt that Sony have even decided on the price yet.
Ike Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 NGP Price Leaked? Better than $999.99 they had on the website before :P
ReZourceman Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 Id buy 2 at that price. And by 2, i mean 1. I'd buy one at that price. And by one I mean none. And by none I mean one. But seriously I would buy one at that price. And by one I mean buy. One. I'd buy one. Yeah I'd get it. Get it? Lol. I really would get one though. Well probably.
Nolan Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 Rez....sometimes I want to stab you. As for that price, grand if true, but until Sony confirms it (the real price....cause they aren't going to confirm that) I'm just going to eat a pile of salt.
ReZourceman Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 Rez....sometimes I want to stab you. Only sometimes? I'm offended.
Diageo Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 Only sometimes? I'm offended. You have used that joke before. I'm disappointed.
ReZourceman Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 You have used that joke before. I'm disappointed. I reuse all my jokes. Constantly and shamelessly.
Jamba Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 Having heard about the developer response and if this price point is anywhere near correct (which it totally isn't) then colour me curious. I'm looking forwards to hearing far more about the software. [Just edited my ignore list which has made this thread far more readable].
ReZourceman Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 [Just edited my ignore list which has made this thread far more readable]. Am I on it? :( :( :( :( :( :(
Daft Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 Can you read my posts now? *long silence* ....I see...
heroicjanitor Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 Oh my god that's the first time I completely didn't suspect that, forgot all about it
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