SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES ITS NEXT
GENERATION PORTABLE ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM
Ultimate Portable Entertainment System Makes Its Debut This
Year,
Further Expanding the PlayStation® Business in the Portable
Gaming Market
Tokyo, January 27, 2011– Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE)
today announced its next generation portable entertainment
system (codename: NGP),
which delivers the ultimate portable entertainment experience.
NGP will make its debut at the end of the year 2011.
NGP is designed to offer unparalleled interactive entertainment
that is only possible on PlayStation®. This new system offers a
revolutionary
combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real
world context, made possible by leveraging SCE's experience from
both PSP®
(PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®3 (PS3®) entertainment
systems.
Deep and immersive gaming is at the core of PlayStation's DNA,
and NGP is the latest embodiment of this vision.
By having both Wi-Fi and 3G network connectivity, together with
various applications, NGP will enable infinite possibilities
for users to "encounter," "connect," "discover," "share" and
"play" with friends wherever they are.
Within the device are a range of features that provide a
genuinely cutting-edge, next generation ultimate portable
entertainment experience.
~Stunning OLED and Revolutionary User Interface
NGP incorporates a beautiful multi-touch 5-inch organic light
emitting display (OLED) as the front display. A high-performance
CPU / GPU combined
with OLED enables rich, visually striking graphics never seen
before on a portable entertainment system, for both games and
other digital entertainment
content. The new system also incorporates a unique multi-touch
pad on the rear, and together with the front touch display, NGP
offers new game play
allowing users to interact directly with games in three
dimension-like motion, through "touch, grab, trace, push and
pull" moves of the fingers.
~Super Oval Design and Dual Analog Sticks
While succeeding the basic design philosophy of PSP, NGP adopts
the Super Oval Design form factor, created to fit comfortably in
users' hands.
For the first time, a portable entertainment system will feature
two analog sticks, which enable a wider range of game genres to
be brought into the portable experience.
~LiveArea™
Every game title for NGP will be provided with a space called "LiveArea™"
where users can share the fun and excitement with other players.
Users will have access to the latest information of games
provided from SCE and 3rd party developers and publishers
through PlayStation®Network.
Additionally, NGP users will be able to view an "Activity" log
that is constantly updated with accomplishments from users who
are playing the same game,
which in turn can trigger active real-time communication among
users.
~Near
SCE will also provide location-based services on NGP as part of
the basic features utilizing PlayStation Network. The new
application called "Near,"
developed specifically for this service and the network, will be
pre-installed in the system to let users find out what their
friends in the vicinity are playing
now or what they were playing recently. Users can meet their
friends and new players virtually, regardless of what games they
are playing, simply by sharing
their game information across different dimensions of time and
distance.
~New Game Medium
NGP adopts a new game medium, a small flash memory based card,
dedicated for NGP software titles. Taking advantage of the flash
memory feature,
this innovative card can store the full software titles plus
add-on game content or the game save data directly on to the
card. By adopting flash memory
based card, SCE will be able to provide game cards with higher
capacity in the future, allowing developers to store more game
data to deliver rich and immersive games.
NGP will also come equipped with two cameras on its front and
rear, as well as three motion sensors, gyroscope, accelerometer
and electronic compass,
all of which are designed to enable users to enjoy the world of
entertainment that is linked with real life experiences.
PlayStation®Suite (PS Suite), announced today, will also closely
coordinate with NGP. The newly developed and released game
content for Android™
based portable devices can also be enjoyed on NGP. As a result,
users will have access to not only the most leading-edge
content, but also some of the more
casual experiences that typify the mobile market place.
SCE will vigorously promote NGP towards the launch as the next
generation portable entertainment platform and deploy various
measures to
further expand the portable gaming market.`