Today Sony officially announced the successor to the PSP. It is being referred to by the codename “NGP”, which stands for “Next Generation Portable”. The usage of a codename for the product is nothing new, for example think of Kinect’s original codename, “Natal”.
As it stands, there are currently only two major portable dedicated gaming consoles: Sony’s PSP and the Nintendo DS. So the question is, “How do they compare?”
Screen:
The 3DS has gone for a glasses-free 3.5in screen with an effective resolution of 400x240 per eye. The PSP2 has an impressive 5in OLED touch screen, which should give excellent (all though not fully HD) quality images.
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| Nintendo's 3DS vs Sony's PSP2 |
Although the size and resolution of the screen on the PSP2 is impressive, the edge here has to go to the 3DS. Because the screen is 3D capable without the need for glasses, it offers gamers something they can’t get elsewhere. And to have the ability to take this on-the-go is a big win. At best, the PSP2 is replicating current-gen mobile phone technology. Not to mention something that the previous DS was capable of.
EDGE: 3DS
Power:
In terms of power, Sony remains unrivalled. For the PSP2, they have squeezed in a quad-core processor and a SGX543MP4+ Graphics processing unit. Basically, that means a lot of horsepower under the hood, which in turn means that the device will be capable of Playstation 3 quality gaming. Truly impressive.
Nintendo are yet to fully confirm all of the processor specs, but it is more than reasonable to assume that the PSP2 has them beat in this department.
EDGE: PSP2
Games:
Each system has a strong line-up of games already announced. Nintendo have classic titles such as Street Fighter, Starfox, Madden, Pro Evolution Soccer, Mario Kart, Metal Gear Solid 3, and many more.
The PSP2 boasts games like Call of Duty, Uncharted, Killzone, and other such ‘hardcore’ offerings.
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| Do you really want to play the next installment on a 5" screen? |
Here, the edge has to go to Nintendo for one simple reason. When you look at the games the Sony is pushing, they are all ‘sit-at-home’ games. The kind of thing you spend a couple hours in front of a big screen playing.
Not something you want to play cooped up on a bus or train, or sat in an airport terminal squinting at the 5” screen. Where as with the 3DS is once again offering fun, on-the-go software that fills this need nicely.
Not something you want to play cooped up on a bus or train, or sat in an airport terminal squinting at the 5” screen. Where as with the 3DS is once again offering fun, on-the-go software that fills this need nicely.
EDGE: 3DS
Price:
To make a fair comparison, we should start by stating two caveats regarding the PSP2. Firstly, it isn’t out until Christmas. Secondly, The price is incomplete.
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| Price yet to be confirmed |
However, with the specs discussed above, and Sony’s ever-so-recent history with pricing portable hardware, expect the bill to be steep. My prediction is £299.99.
Compare this with the 3DS, which is out in March with an RRP of $250 (just over £200). By Christmas, this is more than likely to drop. So you can pick up a 3DS for probably about two thirds the price of a PSP2.
EDGE: 3DS
Final verdict:
Historically, sales of the DS have eclipsed the PSP for the simple reason that the DS is genuinely fun to play. The user interface, the games, everything about it is geared for fun and to appeal to a wide audience. Sony’s response to the DS was simply to throw power at it; put out a handheld device that could play games as powerful as a Playstaion 2, and that would control the same. In doing this, Sony missed the point of creating a portable games machine. People need a different experience when on-the-go to that of sitting in their living room. The bottom line is that the DS delivers this, and the PSP doesn’t.
With this generation of portables, it looks like history is repeating itself
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