Hardware PSP2 to have no UMDs, Power of the Xbox 360 (Rumour)

[CarbonX13]

Kotaku says along with other new details on PSP2 from earlier this week, that the successor to the PSP will go UMD-less like the PSPgo. Games are said to be stored on the Memory Stick according to one source, though Sony has not finalised this.

The PSP2 will also boast 1GB of RAM, which is twice as much as the Xbox 360, which only has 512MB of RAM. Other system specifications have not been confirmed, but it can be assumed that with Sony's traditions of creating platforms with raw power, you can expect the PSP2 to be reasonably close in line with the Xbox 360. And come with an extremely steep launch price.

To compare, the Nintendo 3DS is said to have 64MB RAM, and processors clocking in at 729 MHz. The Xbox 360 has 512MB RAM, and a 3.2 GHz CPU.

So with the 3DS looking to have Wii-level graphics, it does seem possible Sony will take the power route and dive into a world of portable HD gaming. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if the PSP2 has the horsepower of an Xbox 360. Note that it appears that the PSP2 will not be the same as the Sony Ericsson PSPhone that was posted by Engadget.

My largest concern would be that Sony's again opting to go with the digital download only service. The PSPgo failed at this, but I'd actually blame the lack of advertising, the fact it was released towards the end of a portable's life cycle, and that most games aren't even available on the PlayStation Store for download.

Source

 

[narutofan777]

I wouldn't doubt the psp2 graphics being at least close to the ps3 or xbox 360 because, the 3DS already looks better than a ps2, (in some games) and umm sony is always about graphics so yea..

 

[trumpet-205]

Lack of UMD is questionable. We all know how PSPGo performs in the market when they exlcuded UMD.

 

[Leein]

The whole debacle with the PSP Go was not the lack of UMD, but more to the lack of anything being updated in the hardware. No graphical upgrades, no control improvements (fabled 2nd Analog stick), not to mention the lack of UMD conversion.

Just... the $169.99 price for a normal PSP is already a pushoff for casuals, and the original $249.99 for the Go was too much for current PSP owners to upgrade to.

One can only hope PSP2 is pizzawesome.

 

[ZaeZae64]

A handheld that rivals the XBox 360! It only costs 400 dollars and weighs in at only five pounds!
Also, the removal of physical games = PSPGo2

 

[Bulit]

Graphics close to the 360?

I don't see the PSP2 costing less than $500.

 

[CarbonX13]

Lack of UMD is questionable. We all know how PSPGo performs in the market when they exlcuded UMD.

I think it's partly because that they didn't really advertise the PSPgo as something different from a PSP. It never got its own campaign really. And the fact that the PSPgo doesn't have that many titles available for download in the first place is iffy for that steep price point.

 

[dilav]

Well imo PSPgo was more of a design/umd-less testing for their SE Phone

But how does the PSP going to rival with the 360? In CPU power or GPU power? Is it really necessary on a small screen? (Unless you can plug and play on TV) But what about the battery life?

 

[CarbonX13]

But how does the PSP going to rival with the 360? In CPU power or GPU power? Is it really necessary on a small screen? (Unless you can plug and play on TV) But what about the battery life?

By raw power it appears that, if this rumour turns out to be true, that RAM will be double the Xbox itself. The CPU and GPU power is questionable, but with that much RAM, they could easily get in at least 1 GHz of CPU processing and make it look amazing on a small screen. Battery life would be an issue, but with the technology these days, I wouldn't be worried as Sony wouldn't likely release a portable that only lasts an hour and a half on battery.

 

[Rydian]

SAME GRAPHICAL DETAIL DOES NOT MEAN THE SAME KIND OF POWER WHEN YOU'RE RENDERING THE IMAGE AT A MUCH LOWER RESOLUTION!

Why even a site like kotaku constantly fails to point out that extremely basic fact, I will never understand. :\

 

[tk_saturn]

SAME GRAPHICAL DETAIL DOES NOT MEAN THE SAME KIND OF POWER WHEN YOU'RE RENDERING THE IMAGE AT A MUCH LOWER RESOLUTION!

Why even a site like kotaku constantly fails to point out that extremely basic fact, I will never understand. :\

but people will be expecting the PSP2 to have a HD screen too.

 

[Rydian]

Stop making me sad. XD

 

[tk_saturn]

I'm not a Sony person, but I gather they have previously used Samsung or Sharp LCD panels for the orginal PSP. I know Sony now have their own screens which have a resolution of 800 x 480, which is popping up in many 'Smart' phones, and the PSP2 is still some way off. These screens are very nice, i'd be amazed if it didn't have a 'traditional' capactive touchscreen as well as what ever crap on the back people are suggesting/

Typically I'd guestimate the PSP2 will have ~8x the power or RAM of the original PSP, and the original res is 480 × 272 which means 800 x 480 is 2.94x the resolution of the PSP. Meaning you won't get X360 or PS3 graphics, but it's probably going to be a very big difference from the PSP2. I'd say halfway between a PS3 and a PSP.

The Sony fanboy angle on this makes me laugh. Same graphics as the X360, twice the memory of the X360 blah blah blah. Lets not forget the PS3 has the same 512MB memory, and it's graphics are roughly on par to the X360 (ie I really can't be arsed to start a flame war).

I remember before the PS3 came out, people seemed to think it would be capable of rendering all games in 1080p. That really worked out. People were also suggesting the 3DS woud have PS3/X360 graphics. People need to realistic, these are battery powered devices.

 

[ProtoKun7]

If another console was download only, I'd hope they'd at least reduce the price of the games accordingly.

Or each game could be sold on encrypted Memory Sticks, if Memory sticks were used (it would be closer to the cartridge/card system many of us may be familiar with.

Still, I don't anticipate getting one particularly soon.

 

[Slyakin]

I can only imagine the pain and suffering of downloading PSP2 games.


They are imaginably massive, so I think the downloads will be... oh god.

 

[themuddaload]

im surprised nobody has noted what a scam "HD" is anyways...

its really all about pixels per inch...

 

[KingVamp]

It better have a UMD!!!!

 

[Midna]

I remember before the PS3 came out, people seemed to think it would be capable of rendering all games in 1080p. That really worked out. People were also suggesting the 3DS woud have PS3/X360 graphics. People need to realistic, these are battery powered devices.

Word is, Sony's having big problems with battery and overheating.

That's what you get for trying to build atomic nuclear powered hardware into a portable :\

And with higher res graphics... Can you picture downloading PSP2 titles? Say, a full blown FMV driven Final Fantasy game? Are you still excited?

 

[themuddaload]

IMO sony needs to design a new form of cartridge... the UMD is just TOO SLOW, while it has about a 1.7gb capacity, it can only transfer data at about 2mb/s, and has a random access time of around 900ms!

but they cant go to flash memory cartridges, or ninty fanboiz will call them copycats... soooo

mini holographic disk drive?

 

[Midna]

Nintendo didn't invent the cartridge format. Flash memory is becoming faster, cheaper and smaller all the time. Sony could try it. But I doubt they will, knowing they already tried to put a bloody disk drive into a handheld. If they ever go back to physical storage, I expect a smaller faster version of the UMD.