We all know that it was the worst kept secret in the gaming industry but finally after months and months of rumours and what not, the PSP2 was announced by Sony in Tokyo at their press event meeting. The PSP2 ( official name from Sony is the NGP meaning ‘Next Gen Portable) was shown to the world by Sony’s, Kaz Hirai.
The PSP2 boasts a variety of new features compared to its predecessor the original PSP including, a 5″ OLED touch screen on the front and also a touch screen/pad on the reverse of the hardware as well. The new hardware also boasts both 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS and also includes an electronic compass. Various other new additions include 2 thumbsticks (about time too!), 2 camera’s and also Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer) as well. All the specs of the system can be found below –
CPU
ARM CortexTM-A9 core (4 core)
GPU
SGX543MP4+
External Dimensions
Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
Screen
5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED
(Touch screen)
Multi-touch screen (capacitive type)
Rear touch pad
Multi-touch pad (capacitive type)
Cameras
Front camera, Rear camera
Sound
Built-in stereo speakers
Built-in microphone
Sensors
Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic compass
Location
Built-in GPS
Wi-Fi location service support
Keys / Switches
PS button
Power button
Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)
Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)
Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)
Right stick, Left stick
START button, SELECT button
Volume buttons (+/-)
Wireless communications
Mobile network connectivity (3G)
IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode)
Bluetooth 2.1+EDR ?A2DP/AVRCP/HSP?
The official pictures of the up and coming PSP2 (NGP) can be found below. Also 2 videos have been shown one of Metal Gear Solid running on the system and also another of a Uncharted title which has been confirmed for the hardware as well. Thanks to Gamespot for the videos which can be found below by clicking the links –
Currently the titles that have been confirmed for the system are Uncharted, Killzone, Metal Gear Solid, LBP, WipEout, Resistance, Broken, Reality Fighters. Currently there is no European release date for the PSP2 but it will be released in Japan before Christmas this year. My guess for Europe would be Spring 2012.
