Since, the platform has been officially announced, we can now move from the pure speculation thread into a more grounded in reality thread with the official announcement of the -still nameless- platform by Sony today. That NeoGeo Portable (NGP) thing seem to be a codename only, the actual name should be revealed at a later date. And knowing Sony, it should be something groundbreaking like PlayStation Portable 2!
The Facts
So, here's the current information of the portable itself:
Press Release
Known Specs
Current Publisher/Developer support list
Pictures (shamelessly stolen from various sites and then hosted on IMGur):
As you can see, the SGX543MP4+ can render photorealistic Diego Maradonas. Up to 4 Diego Maradona per cycle, I heard from a source close to IMGtech.
The solid-state based media (UMDs not so universal anymore, it seems):
The beauty shots, a.k.a. "If this was yours it will be full of fingerprint smudges and dust particles" shots:
And finally, I have to commend SCE for letting a 14 year old who famously made skins for Winamp, Winzip and jailbroken iPhones design the interface of the NGP:
The Speculation™, a B3D Tradition
So, let's not those silly and overrated 'facts' get in the way of what we do best here on B3D forums, speculate. There are still many technical variables left to be unveiled:
- RAM: VRAM, or Unified architecture? eDRAM? And more importantly, how much of it?
- CPU: Does the Cortex CPU embark the powerful NEON VFPU/SIMD engine?
- GPU: How is SGX543MP4+ setup on the physical die?
- Clock speeds: That holds true for the whole thing (CPU, GPU, RAM). And should we expect a PSP like scenario where the console is down clocked at launch?
- ROM: What technology these solid state cart use and in what size will they be available to publishers at launch? Will it be pricey for publishers?
- OS: What can we expect from the OS? Android related?
I can answer some of these questions already, but where would be the fun in that? It's speculation time... again, B3D!
The Facts
So, here's the current information of the portable itself:
Press Release
Known Specs
Current Publisher/Developer support list
Pictures (shamelessly stolen from various sites and then hosted on IMGur):
As you can see, the SGX543MP4+ can render photorealistic Diego Maradonas. Up to 4 Diego Maradona per cycle, I heard from a source close to IMGtech.
The solid-state based media (UMDs not so universal anymore, it seems):
The beauty shots, a.k.a. "If this was yours it will be full of fingerprint smudges and dust particles" shots:
And finally, I have to commend SCE for letting a 14 year old who famously made skins for Winamp, Winzip and jailbroken iPhones design the interface of the NGP:
The Speculation™, a B3D Tradition
So, let's not those silly and overrated 'facts' get in the way of what we do best here on B3D forums, speculate. There are still many technical variables left to be unveiled:
- RAM: VRAM, or Unified architecture? eDRAM? And more importantly, how much of it?
- CPU: Does the Cortex CPU embark the powerful NEON VFPU/SIMD engine?
- GPU: How is SGX543MP4+ setup on the physical die?
- Clock speeds: That holds true for the whole thing (CPU, GPU, RAM). And should we expect a PSP like scenario where the console is down clocked at launch?
- ROM: What technology these solid state cart use and in what size will they be available to publishers at launch? Will it be pricey for publishers?
- OS: What can we expect from the OS? Android related?
I can answer some of these questions already, but where would be the fun in that? It's speculation time... again, B3D!
I guess Sony is too afraid of PS3 cannibalization.
