My thoughs on the Next PSP

My toughts on what the Next Gen PSP could have

 

 

There is no doubt that the 3DS is going to kick ass. It will play 3D games, 3D movies and 3D pictures that you take from its built in camera. However expect to pay a hefty price of $300+ dollars for it or more. Everyone has been talking about the 3DS from its Dreamcast like controller configuration to the type of power it will hold. However nothing is yet mentioned about Sony's new PSP handheld and very little is known. In this article I will express my opinion on what direction Sony might take with the PSP and if it's a very good idea for them.

Minus the colored and different button layout, The 3DS features a control style similar to that of the Dreamcast controller

The PSP2 has been confirmed by some developers and it is said that it is a very powerful machine. With the PSP having a 333MHZ CPU and a 64MB(32 for PSP1000), it is in Sony's best interest to make the next PSP more powerful but exactly how powerful will it be? We have cell phones that boost a 1.2GHZ processor and that is from a different company. Sony is also a computer with their own line of cell phone so I'm sure they have been working on the processing chip for the next PSP which could have a 1.5 to a 1.8GHZ processor making it similar to what a low end machine of today would be in a smaller size. 

Will it matter if it has a 1.8GHZ processor. Actually no. The PSP at first ran at 222MHZ. 1/3 less that its original 333MHZ processor and only until firmware 3.0 the PSP started running at 333MHZ but this was only used on PSone games that require mass amounts of the processor's power to run without much lag despite the original PSone console using only a 32MHZ processor. Yes emulation does take up a lot of memory.

Ram is also important to a console and the iPhone 4 has a total of 512mb of eRam with the Xbox 360 also having the same amount but clocked in at 700mhz. The PSP will likely have a 1GB of total ram but Sony could bring it down to 512 as many devices only 512mb. Sony's aim with the PSP2 is to follow in the original PSP's footsteps and make it a multimedia powerhouse and while 512mb of ram is great putting in 1GB can make it better for games to run smoother and faster not to mention less loading times.

Backwards compatibility. 

From the Playstation 1 to the Playstation 2 to earlier versions of the Playstation 3 Sony has made it clear that all their consoles will be backwards compatible. However that may not be the case with the new PSP2. The PSP Go was an experiment for Sony and if it's not well they better damn well start making it an experiment and use the data gathered and not make the same mistakes again. If the next PSP were to be digital content only, there's a chance that it will be backwards compatible with digital content from the original PSP. But that's where it stays. Sony will want to make their new PSP slimmer and have a better battery life so the next PSP might not have a physical format. 

But what if it did have a physical format? If the PSP2 has a physical format it would stick close to what the UMD is today minus the movie support. UMD movies were the most failed format of any consoles. When they first launched they were priced from $19.99 to $29.99. Yea, I'm going to pay that much for a UMD movie when I could just invest that money on a bigger memory card and just transfer as many movies as I want. The new UMD type will need to hold more memory for games to be able to fit in it. If anything Sony might release a UMD or something similar which can hold 2.5GB - 4.7GB but it has to be small enough to be portable so I'm betting on 2.5GB. 

While it is rumored that Sony will not include a physical medium, it is possible for the next PSP to include one.

Some games today don't even use much of the 1.8GB available in a UMD anyway why would anyone need that much space? With the PSP2 having better graphics and a better CPU developers will want to max out what they can put on their game. It's true some developers don't use all of the memory available on the current UMD but have you seen the one's that did. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 is one of the games that uses a lot of space and that's because they included FMV's which look amazing not to mention the sound. With more memory on the media format, developers don't have to worry about compressing everything and will probably want to add more content to the game. 

The Design is the make it or break it of it all. Would you buy something that is uneasy to hold? Yes you will but probably not for games. The PSP 1000 was heavy the control buttons were a bit awkward for some and FPS games were terrible to play because it only had 1 joystick. Sony will have to think carefully on this one and make sure that it's comfortable to hold as well as light weight and with all that power hopefully not get hot. Adding a second joystick will make games much better to play and easier to control. Sony might go for a PSP Go type design but will have to map out the buttons differently to make it easier for everyone.

Why would Sony go for a PSP Go type design for the PSP2? Think about it. The next PSP is said to have a touch screen. When you look at cell phones how many of them have all the buttons up front? None of them. Making the next PSP with a sliding mechanism works great for everyone if it truly has a touch screen as the controller buttons won't get in your way. Not to mention it wouldn't be poking your leg or make you feel uncomfortable when you put it in your pocket. 

The touch screen is a new feature added to the PSP which many people have been asking for. The touch screen will make it easier to navigate and play some mini games. The games will also look nice as Sony will probably put in a GPU that is 4X powerful than the original making all games look stunning on the next PSP.

How about 3D? Sony is one of the biggest companies to push 3D and just recently released a software update for the PS3 to support 3D. So will Sony let Nintendo beat them at what they are well known for? That will definitely be embarrassing for Sony. Pushing 3D technology when their own handheld doesn't support 3D but your competition who never supports it does. Sony will definitely need to support 3D in order to compete with Nintendo and I'm pretty sure they are or have talked about it with the announcement of the 3DS. At this point I want to say that there is a 65% chance Sony will implement 3D on their Next PSP. 

What about pricing? The economy isn't getting any better and Nintendo announced that their 3DS will cost the equivalent of $300 in Yen. Is it worth that much? No but like stated before Nintendo is the Apple of the gaming industry. It doesn't matter how much it cost them to make it they will charge an arm and a leg just because they can and know that people will buy them. However things have been different here in the states in terms of pricing so I'm assuming the 3DS will cost $250 but can go as high as $300 to maybe even $350. 

UMD Movies will not be missed. An Epic Fail From the start

In order to stay competitive Sony must match or beat the 3DS in terms of pricing or watch it fall into oblivion and exit the handheld market. If both handhelds cost as much they will be competing with their very own Home Consoles as the PS3 and Wii both cost $300 and $200 respectively. Consumers might be at the store take a look at both formats and decide to purchase a console just because it's cheaper. Not to mention the next generation console's might not appear for a while so purchasing a PS3 or 360 might make the most sense to them.

Closing Comments:
The PSP could do everything out of the box when it first launched back in 2004. Sony wishes to keep that up with the next PSP. What do we know? The next PSP will be powerful. Sony will probably include a 1.8GHZ processor with 1GB of Ram as well as touch screen and a powerful GPU. Sony will also need to include some type of 3D support minus the glasses as well as a wireless n adapter for fast web surfing on the go and be priced below or exactly what the 3DS is going to cost. Pricing it higher in this economy when the PSP Go isn't even selling well at $200 ($250 when it first launched) will mean Sony dropping from the handheld market if it cannot sell enough units.

This is my opinion on what the next PSP might have and what Sony needs to do in order to stay competitive. Please do not take this as I got some inside information because I don't. I'm going based on what is currently available today in similar technologies and what has been said about the next PSP.