Sony unveils PlayStation Suite, next-gen PSP

Neither major announcement comes as much of a surprise, but Sony on Thursday unveiled its portable gaming strategy moving forward. Two key pieces of Sonys mobile gaming future were finally made official: the companys next-generation PSP, known for now as NGP or Next Generation Portable, and its cross-platform mobile gaming framework dubbed PlayStation Suite. The former features a 5-inch, 960 x 544-pixel OLED touchscreen display, two analog controllers, two touchpad control surfaces, two cameras, an electronic compass, GPS, Wi-Fi, integrated 3G connectivity and a quad-core processor. The handheld will launch this holiday season and it also featurescompatibilitywith the latter, Sonys PlayStation Suite, which means a consistent experience across Sonys upcoming new portable and compatible smartphones will be possible.

PlayStation Suite will consist of a mobile gaming platform and a store. Initially, the Suite will include an emulator that will allow first-generation PlayStation games to be played on Android devices, but an Android game store and new development platform are in the works. The offering will require Android 2.3 Gingerbread or later, and it will feature on-screen controls for devices that arent fortunate enough to include dedicated gaming controls like the upcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, which was not announced at Thursdays event.Hit the break for Sonys full press releases pertaining to PlayStation Suite and the NGP.

SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT TO UNVEIL PLAYSTATIONSUITE, DELIVERING THE WORLD OF PLAYSTATION TO ANDROID BASED PORTABLE DEVICES

Simultaneously Launching PlayStationCertified License Program to Provide PlayStation Content and Development Support for Android Based Portable Devices

Tokyo,! January 27, 2011 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today unveiled PlayStationSuite (PS Suite), delivering the PlayStation experience to Android based portable devices*1. Through this entirely new initiative, users will be able to enjoy PlayStation content on an open operating system for the first time in PlayStation history. In the dramatically evolving and diversifying mobile market, the number of users who enjoy games casually on a variety of devices including mobile phones, smart-phones and tablet PCs, has been increasing significantly. By offering PlayStation quality content to this rapidly growing market, SCE will not only deliver the PlayStation experience to a wider base of users around the globe, but will also be able to offer game developers and publishers the potential to further expand their business opportunities to these devices.

In providing the PlayStation experience on Android based portable devices, SCE will commence a PlayStationCertified license program for hardware manufacturers. Through this program, SCE will offer necessary support, including development support as well as logo licensing, to ensure the delivery of PlayStation quality experience across various devices.

On the software front, SCE plans to provide PS Suite content within this calendar year, starting with original PlayStation games*2 (PS one classics) that will allow users to enjoy PlayStation quality gameplay on their Android based portable devices. SCE also plans to open PlayStationStore where users will be able to download content in an easy to use environment, directly via the Android based portable devices. Moreover, SCE will provide a new game development environment in an effort to ensure new and compelling content is delivered on PS Suite, which will also offer opportunities for a wider base of developers and publishers to further expand their business on various portable devices.

Newly developed content for PS Suite can also be enjoyed on the next generation portable entertainment syste! m (coden ame: NGP), which SCE announced today. Users who have never experienced PlayStation content can get a taste of the PlayStation experience through PS Suite and from there, they can enjoy the ultimate portable entertainment experience that is only possible on NGP.

SCE will vigorously enhance the entertainment world delivering the PlayStation experience to a wider base of users.

*1 Android 2.3 or beyond is required.
*2 PS one game console software title. We will announce the tiles when ready.

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 SCEs experience from both PSP (PlayStationPortable) and PlayStation3 (PS3) entertainment systems.

Deep and immersive gaming is at the core of PlayStations 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 PlayStationNetwork. 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 a! dvantage 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.

PlayStationSuite (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.